Transcriber’s Notes
Italic text is marked _thus_.
Bold text is marked =thus=
The spelling, punctuation and hyphenation is as the original, with the
exception of apparent printer’s errors.
HALL, RUSSELL & Co.
LIMITED
_Shipbuilders, Engineers
and Boilermakers_
ABERDEEN
_SPECIALITY_
_The designing and building of_
STEAM
TRAWLERS
and
FISHING VESSELS
_for_ NORTH SEA
ICELANDIC
NEWFOUNDLAND
AND TROPICAL FISHING
TELEGRAMS: “HALRUSSEL, ABERDEEN”
TELEGRAMS. MASSEY HULL
TELEPHONES:—{ HULL. 5213 NAT. (6 LINES)
{ GRIMSBY. 2615 NAT.
W. A. MASSEY & SONS LIMITED.
_Ship Salesmen_, _Valuers_, BROKERS for the SALE & PURCHASE of every
description of Shipping property.
STEAM TRAWLERS,
and every kind of
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&c., &c.
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THE FISHING INDUSTRY
PITMAN’S
COMMON COMMODITIES
AND INDUSTRIES SERIES
Each book in crown 8vo, illustrated, 3/-net
=TEA.= By A. IBBETSON
=COFFEE.= By B. B. KEABLE
=SUGAR.= By GEO. MARTINEAU, C.B.
=OILS.= By C. AINSWORTH MITCHELL, B.A., F.I.C.
=WHEAT.= By ANDREW MILLAR.
=RUBBER.= By C. BEADLE and H. P. STEVENS, M.A., Ph.D., F.I.C.
=IRON AND STEEL.= By C. HOOD
=COPPER.= By H. K. PICARD
=COAL.= By F. H. WILSON, M.I.M.E.
=TIMBER.= By W. BULLOCK
=COTTON.= By R. J. PEAKE
=SILK.= By LUTHER HOOPER
=WOOL.= By J. A. HUNTER
=LINEN.= By ALFRED S. MOORE
=TOBACCO.= By A. E. TANNER
=LEATHER.= By K. J. ADCOCK
=KNITTED FABRICS.= By J. CHAMBERLAIN and J. H. QUILTER
=CLAYS.= By ALFRED S. SEARLE
=PAPER.= By HARRY A. MADDOX
=SOAP.= By W. A. SIMMONS, B.Sc.
=THE MOTOR INDUSTRY.= By HORACE WYATT, B.A.
=GLASS AND GLASS MAKING.= By PERCIVAL MARSON
=GUMS AND RESINS.= By E. J. PARRY, B.Sc., F.I.C., F.C.S.
=THE BOOT AND SHOE INDUSTRY.= By J. S. HARDING
=GAS AND GAS MAKING.= By W. H. Y. WEBBER
=FURNITURE.= By H. E. BINSTEAD
=COAL TAR.= By A. R. WARNES
=PETROLEUM.= By A. LIDGETT
=SALT.= By A. F. CALVERT
=ZINC.= By T. E. LONES, M.A., B.Sc.
=PHOTOGRAPHY.= By WM. GAMBLE
=ASBESTOS.= By A. L. SUMMERS
=SILVER.= By BENJAMIN WHITE
=CARPETS.= By REGINALD S. BRINTON
=PAINTS AND VARNISHES.= By A. S. JENNINGS
=CORDAGE AND CORDAGE HEMP AND FIBRES.= By T. WOODHOUSE and P. KILGOUR
=ACIDS AND ALKALIS.= By G. H. J. ADLAM
=ELECTRICITY.= By R. E. NEALE, B.Sc., Hons.
=ALUMINIUM.= By G. MORTIMER
=GOLD.= By BENJAMIN WHITE
=BUTTER AND CHEESE.= By C. W. WALKER-TISDALE and JEAN JONES
=THE BRITISH CORN TRADE.= By A. BARKER
=LEAD.= By J. A. SMYTHE, D.Sc.
=ENGRAVING.= By T. W. LASCELLES
=STONES AND QUARRIES.= By J. ALLEN HOWE, O.B.E., B.Sc.
=EXPLOSIVES.= By S. I. LEVY, B.Sc.
=THE CLOTHING INDUSTRY.= By B. W. POOLE, M.U.K.A.
=TELEGRAPHY, TELEPHONY, AND WIRELESS.= By J. POOLE
=PERFUMERY.= By E. J. PARRY
=THE ELECTRIC LAMP INDUSTRY.= By G. ARNCLIFFE PERCIVAL
=ICE AND COLD STORAGE.= By B. H. SPRINGETT
=GLOVES AND THE GLOVE TRADE.= By B. E. ELLIS
=JUTE.= By T. WOODHOUSE and P. KILGOUR
=DRUGS IN COMMERCE.= By J. HUMPHREY
=THE FILM INDUSTRY.= By DAVIDSON BOUGHEY
=CYCLE INDUSTRY.= By W. GREW
=SULPHUR.= By HAROLD A. AUDEN
=TEXTILE BLEACHING.= By ALEC B. STEVEN
=PLAYER PLANO.= By D. MILLER WILSON
=WINE AND THE WINE TRADE.= By ANDRE L. SIMON
=IRONFOUNDING.= By B. WHITELEY
=COTTON SPINNING.= By A. S. WADE
=ALCOHOL IN COMMERCE.= By C. SIMMONDS, O.B.E., B.Sc., F.I.C.
=CONCRETE AND REINFORCED CONCRETE.= By W. NOBLE TWELVETREES
=SPONGES.= By E. J. J. CRESSWELL
=WALL PAPER.= By G. WHITELEY WARD
=CLOCKS AND WATCHES.= By G. L. OVERTON
=INCANDESCENT LIGHTING.= By S. I. LEVY, B.A., B.Sc., F.I.C.
=THE FISHING INDUSTRY.= By Dr. W. E. GIBBS
=OIL FOR POWER PURPOSES.= By S. H. NORTH
=STARCH AND STARCH PRODUCTS.= By H. A. AUDEN, D.Sc., F.C.S.
=TALKING MACHINES.= By O. MITCHELL
=NICKEL.= By B. H. WHITE
[Illustration: HAULING THE TRAWL
_Frontispiece._]
_PITMAN’S COMMON COMMODITIES AND INDUSTRIES_
THE FISHING INDUSTRY
BY
W. E. GIBBS, D.Sc.
[Illustration: Printer’s mark]
LONDON
SIR ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, LTD.
PARKER STREET, KINGSWAY, W.C.2
BATH, MELBOURNE, TORONTO, NEW YORK
1922
PRINTED BY
SIR ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, LTD.
BATH, ENGLAND
PREFACE
In this little book I have tried to describe concisely, yet clearly and
comprehensively, the great work of our sea fisheries. It is notoriously
difficult to write a small book on a large subject, and I expect there
are many who will detect sins of omission.
The book is chiefly concerned with fisheries for edible fish. I have
included a chapter on whale fisheries, since whale oil is now used
largely in the manufacture of such food substances as lard substitute
and margarine. No account of seal “fishing” is included, as seals are
not fished but are generally hunted on shore. I have not included
fisheries for pearls, sponges or seaweed. To its cost the nation knows
little of the methods and organization and achievements of the Fishing
Industry. I sincerely hope that this little book may do something to
stimulate a wider and deeper interest in this vitally important British
industry.
* * * * *
My cordial thanks are due to Mr. J. A. Robertson, O.B.E., of Fleetwood,
and to Mr. W. T. Sinderson, of Grimsby, who have very kindly read
through the manuscript and given me the benefit of their valuable
experience and advice.
I am indebted to Prof. James Johnstone, of Liverpool University, for
much of the information contained in Chapters I and II, and also for
permission to use the illustrations on pages 17 and 29.
For other illustrations I make grateful acknowledgement as follows: for
Nos. 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17 and 19, from _The Sea Fisheries_, to the
author, Dr. J. Travis Jenkins, and the publishers, Messrs. Constable;
for the frontispiece and No 18, to the Grimsby Coal, Salt and Tanning
Co; for Nos. 11, 14 and 20 to Mr. Walter Wood, of the Mission to Deep
Sea Fishermen.
Mr. R. A. Fleming, of Liverpool University, very kindly copied Nos. 2,
3, 4 and 5 for me from Day’s _British Fishes_.
Chapter V is based upon Bitting’s monograph on “the preparation of the
cod and other salt fish for the market.” (U.S. Dept. Agric. Bur. of
Chem. Bull. No. 133).
W. E. G.
RUNCORN, 1922.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
PREFACE V
I. INTRODUCTION 1
II. CHARACTERISTICS AND HABITS OF FISHES 16
III. METHODS OF FISHING 42
IV. THE HERRING FISHING INDUSTRY 54
V. THE NEWFOUNDLAND COD FISHERY 69
VI. TRAWL FISHERIES 77
VII. SHELLFISH 90
VIII. FISHERIES FOR WHALES 99
IX. THE CURING AND PRESERVATION OF FISH 107
X. THE FOOD VALUE OF FISH 115
XI. FISH PRODUCTS 124
INDEX 133
ILLUSTRATIONS
FIG. PAGE
HAULING THE TRAWL _Frontispiece_
1. METAMORPHOSIS OF PLAICE 17
2. COD 20
3. LEMON SOLE 23
4. SKATE 23
5. HERRING 26
6. PLANKTON 29
7. HERRING EGGS 33
8. PLANKTON CONTAINING FISH EGGS 33
9. TRAWLING (_circa_ 1750) 45
10. DRIFTING (_circa_ 1750) 49
11. SINGLE-BOATER AT FOLKESTONE 51
12. HERRING DRIFTER 57
13. CURING YARD (YARMOUTH) 59
14. SCOTTISH FISHER GIRLS 61
15. SECTION OF MODERN TRAWLER 79
16. PLANS OF MODERN TRAWLER 82
17. THE OTTER TRAWL 85
18. THE CATCH ABOARD 87
19. CHART OF TRAWLING GROUNDS _between pp._ 88 and 89
20. A WHALE’S MOUTH 101
THE
FISHING INDUSTRY
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In its essential features the story of the gradual rise and development
of the fishing industry closely resembles that of its sister industry,
agriculture. In both cases man became skilled in harvesting long
before he understood anything of the art of cultivation. Primitive
man roamed from place to place in the wake of the annual wave of
harvest, gathering wild crops of grain, berries and fruits. Ultimately
he became alive to the significance of seed, and the nomad settled
down to raise crops year after year in the same place. Gradually he
acquired a knowledge of the conditions of temperature, moisture, and
quality of soil that favoured the growth of his plants. Finally, he
discovered the principle of the rotation of crops, and, by this,
not only increased the productivity of his land but also laid the
foundations of a systematic agriculture. Of recent years agriculture
has been rapidly developing into a science. Chemistry, physics, botany,
plant physiology, and bacteriology, all contribute increasingly to a
full understanding of the inner processes of the growing plant, and
indicate more and more clearly the exact relations that exist between
the conditions of growth and the character and amount of the resulting
product.
The art of fishing is one of the oldest in the world, yet even to this
day the fisherman is simply a hunter, gathering where he has not sown,
and differing little, save in mechanical efficiency, from his primitive
ancestor fishing with spear and trap.
Only in recent years has any systematic attempt been made to understand
something of the forces that produce the annual harvest of the sea. We
know very little about the habits of the various fishes that constitute
this harvest—their food, their migrations, their reproductive
processes, and, in general, the conditions upon which their healthy
life and development depend. We have developed highly efficient fishing
implements, but we have yet to learn to use them wisely and not too
well; to increase the fertility of the various fishing grounds rather
than depopulate them by over-fishing and the destruction of immature
fish.
The fisherman’s harvest differs from that of the farmer in one
important respect. Fishes grow for three or four, or more, years before
they are mature. Now, only mature fish as a rule have any considerable
commercial value, and only mature fish are able to reproduce their kind
and so maintain the existence of the fishery. On the fishing grounds,
both mature and immature fish are mingled together, and in capturing
the one it is practically impossible to avoid netting the other. To
some extent the capture of immature fish is avoided by making the
mesh of the net of such a size that the smaller fish can escape. With
drift nets only mature fish are caught, the small ones escaping; but
with trawl nets it is otherwise. The trawl net is essentially a large
string bag that is drawn open-mouthed along the sea bottom, scooping
up wholesale all bottom-living fish, such as cod, haddock, sole and
plaice. All go into the net, both large and small, and, although the
young fish ultimately escape through the meshes, many of them are
damaged in so doing, while many young, flat fish, lying on the sea
bottom, are damaged by the foot rope of the net, as it passes over
them. Certain fishing grounds, such as the Dogger Bank, were almost
depopulated of flat fish in the years just previous to the war.
Fortunately for the future of the fisheries, the trawl, can only be
worked on smooth ground, and at depths not exceeding two hundred and
fifty fathoms, so that only a small percentage of the actual fishing
grounds is affected by it. Also, when a fishing ground shows signs of
becoming exhausted by over-fishing, it is less frequented by fishermen,
owing to the reduced catches that can be obtained, and thus it tends
automatically to recover. Nevertheless, it is desirable that fishing
should be so organized and restrained, that the fertility of the
fishing grounds is not imperilled. In the distant future it may become
possible to re-stock partially exhausted grounds with young fish,
artificially reared in a hatchery.
Oceanography—the study of the ocean and its inhabitants—is one of
the youngest of sciences. Yet, to an island people such as we are,
it should be one of the most important, for it is only by the study
of oceanography that we can hope to found a systematic, organized
aquiculture.
The beginning of a simple aquiculture is to be seen in the cultivation
of shellfish, such as oysters and mussels, by the inshore fishermen.
Of recent years, experiments have been carried out by the Fishery
Boards of England, Scotland, Germany, and the United States of America,
with the object of increasing the productivity of certain fishing
grounds by adding large numbers of artificially hatched, young fish.
For some years the Fishery Board for Scotland added annually about
twenty million plaice larvae to certain confined sea areas (Upper Loch
Fyne), and found, as a result, that the number of young plaice on the
shallow beaches was doubled.
In some cases a new species of fish has been introduced into a
particular fishing ground, with marked success. Thus the U.S.A.
fisheries collected and hatched the eggs of the shad on the Atlantic
coast and introduced the larvae into the Pacific, with the result that
a profitable shad fishery has now been established on the Californian
coast.
The application of science to the fishing industry is not restricted to
biological investigations of the food, habits and development of living
fishes. It is developing new processes for the better preservation of
edible fish for food purposes, so that the large quantities of fish
caught periodically—for example, in the summer herring fishery—may be
stored up for gradual consumption during the winter. It has shown that
fish waste can be manufactured into glue, cattle food, and fertilizers.
It has developed into a profitable industry the extraction of oils from
both edible and inedible fish, and the conversion of these oils into
hard fats, suitable for the manufacture of soap and margarine. It has
demonstrated that the skins of certain fish, notably the shark, can be
tanned to make excellent leather.
With the exception of these pioneer experiments and investigations,
however, the fishing industry of to-day is simply an organized art—the
art of catching wild fish. The story of the industry is essentially
a description of the methods that are used for capturing the various
species of fish that are of commercial importance, and for handling,
curing, and disposing of the catch.
Great Britain is situated in the midst of the greatest fishing grounds
of the world. The British fishing industry is the most efficient and
the most highly developed of any. Consequently, since fishing methods
are essentially the same everywhere, it will be sufficient for us to
consider, with few exceptions, the methods and equipment that are used
by our own fishermen around our own shores.
There is direct evidence that, as early as the third century, A.D.,
fish were caught in considerable quantities round the coast of Britain
by the natives and used as food. Little is known about the early
development of a fishing industry in this country. We know that in
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, fish was in demand throughout
the country, partly because of the religious observance of fast days,
and partly, no doubt, because it afforded a welcome change in the
regular winter diet of salted meat. In those days there was no winter
root crop, so that cattle were killed in autumn and salted down for
consumption during the winter.
In disposing of their catch, the fishermen were handicapped by the
almost complete lack of transport facilities from the coast inland.
Their produce would be distributed by pack-horse, so that fresh fish
would be practically unknown beyond a distance of a few miles from the
coast. Consequently, all fish for inland markets were salted. The fish
were pickled in brine, as the art of dry-salting was then unknown in
this country.
To develop a successful fishing industry, it was necessary, then, as
it is to-day, either to dispose of the catch quickly on the spot,
or to preserve the fish so that it could be transported to distant
markets. In 1347, a Dutchman, William Beukels, of Biervelt, invented an
improved means of curing and pickling herring, which was essentially
the modern process of gutting the fish and packing them in dry salt.
At this time the Baltic herring fishery, carried on by the Hanseatic
League, dominated the markets of Europe. But the new method of curing,
exploited by the Dutch, improved the quality and keeping powers of
the fish to such an extent that, by the end of the fifteenth century,
the Dutch fishing industry was supreme, and had become a powerful and
valuable national enterprise. In the sixteenth century, as many as
two thousand Dutch herring “busses” (as the boats were called) would
gather on St. John’s day at Brassa Sound, in the Shetlands, to begin
the summer herring fishery. The fish were caught with drift nets, were
salted and packed in barrels, and carried home by the fast-sailing,
attendant “yaggers.” Ashore they were repacked in fresh salt in new
barrels. Over a million barrels were packed in a year. When caught,
the fish would be worth about a million pounds, and when retailed
about two million pounds. Contemporary illustrations of the methods of
curing and salting then in use reveal the astonishing fact that even
to the smallest detail the methods that were employed in Holland in
Elizabeth’s day are identical with those that are employed at Yarmouth
to-day.
As a direct result of the great development of their trade in salted
herrings, the Dutch gradually gained a naval and maritime supremacy
in Europe which they maintained until it was wrested from them by the
English.
English sea-power in the early years of the sixteenth century was in a
decadent condition. The ports and harbours had been neglected, and had
become silted up, so that the condition of the shipping industry in
general, and of the Navy in particular, had reached a very low ebb. In
1561, Mr. Secretary Cecil, alarmed by the growing menace of the Dutch
naval ascendancy, proposed three remedies for restoring the strength
and importance of the navy. He proposed:
(1) That the fishing industry be promoted, as it provided a valuable
recruiting ground for the navy;
(2) That merchandise be extended, and so provide increased employment
for the shipping industry;
(3) That piracy be encouraged, privately-owned privateers forming
valuable auxiliaries in time of war.
He thought that the fishing industry could be stimulated immediately
by renewing the fast days, which had fallen into disuse since the
abolition of the monasteries.
He suggested that two days a week—Wednesday and Friday—should be
meatless days.
In 1563, he tried a measure of Protection, a Navigation Act being
passed, making it illegal to buy or sell foreign-caught fish, and
attempts were made to prevent Dutch and other foreigners from fishing
in English waters. These measures, although passed by Parliament, do
not appear to have been enforced.
James I issued two proclamations, imposing licences and dues upon
foreign fishing vessels fishing in British waters. No attention was
paid to these, and it was left to Charles I, some years later, to
enforce them. Other steps taken by both Charles I and Charles II
consisted mainly in the formation of Royal Fishery Companies. Various
fishery companies and societies succeeded one another up to the end
of the eighteenth century. They do not appear to have been successful
in establishing a flourishing fishing industry, and in 1718 (George
I) an act was passed by which fishermen were to be rewarded for their
catch by a bounty. Bounties were to be paid for several kinds of fish:
thus, for every barrel of white herrings of 32 gallons, exported beyond
the seas, the bounty was 2s. 8d.; for full red herrings, 1s. 9d. per
barrel; for empty red herrings, 1s. per barrel.
The conditions upon which the bounty was to be paid were fully set
forth in a later act in 1750 (George II). The construction of herring
vessels was encouraged by a bounty of 30s. per ton, paid out of the
Customs, for decked fishing vessels of from twenty to eighty tons.
The time and place of fishing were stipulated, as well as rules for the
proper management and prosecution of the fishery. Each vessel was to
have on board twelve Winchester bushels of salt for every last of fish
such vessel was capable of holding, the salt to be contained in new
barrels.
In 1757, the bounty was increased to 50s. per ton, but was reduced to
30s. again in 1771. It was further reduced to 20s. in 1787, and an
additional bounty of 4s. per barrel added. This was made proportional
to the tonnage, so that no vessel could claim more than 30s. per
ton—unless the vessel caught over three barrels per ton, in which case
a bounty of 1s. per barrel was granted upon the surplus quantity.
While the bounty often undoubtedly encouraged the development of the
fishery, the development was not so rapid or so extensive as it would
otherwise have been, owing to the duty on imported salt. The weight of
the duty was such that the fishermen threw fish overboard rather than
cure it, only landing that which could be brought in fresh.
In 1808 the bounty was raised to £3 per ton on every British built and
British owned fishing boat of not less than sixty tons burden, properly
manned, registered, and navigated and employed in herring fishing. The
maximum tonnage on which the bounty was payable was one hundred tons.
Two shillings per barrel was paid on properly cured and packed herrings.
After the peace of 1815, the naval wars and the press gangs had reduced
the sea fisheries to negligible proportions, but the existing bounties
were continued until 1829, and encouraged the rapid revival of the
industry. By 1829, the fishing industry was well established, and
thereafter steadily developed in value and importance.
The modern organization and development of the fishing industry began
between 1870 and 1880, following the introduction of steam fishing
vessels. The old sailing smacks and drifters were necessarily limited
in their scope and capacity. They could only fish in certain weathers;
they required skilled handling; their effective area of operation was
restricted by the necessity for bringing the catch ashore as fresh as
possible; their trawling power depended upon the wind.
A sail boat was generally the property of a small family group
of fishermen, who worked the boat and fished, while one of their
number—the ship’s husband—stayed ashore to purchase stores and tackle,
and dispose of the catch. The proceeds of the boat were shared among
the owners. These privately owned sail boats were to be found in every
little harbour on every coast of Britain. The fishermen themselves were
a fine, sturdy, independent class of men, skilful seamen, and all-round
fishermen, able to turn their hands to any form of fishing, whether
lining, trawling, or drifting.
The introduction of steam trawlers and drifters has completely changed
the character and organization of the fishing industry. Instead of
being individualistic, it has become collective, and instead of being
the common industry of every seaside village, it has become controlled
by large limited liability companies, and centralized in a few large
ports.
Steamers were first used in 1870, to collect the catch from the sail
boats on the fishing grounds, bringing it home with all speed while
the fishing boats remained at sea. This naturally enabled the fishing
boats to catch more fish, and also made possible the use of larger
boats fishing further afield. A logical development of this step was
the construction of actual steam-driven fishing boats—trawlers and
drifters. These steamers soon proved to be superior to the sail boats.
They were able to fish in all weathers, even in a calm. Owing to their
greater power, also, they were able to use much larger nets and fish in
deeper waters.
Steam trawlers and drifters are much more expensive than smacks or
sailing drifters. They can only be berthed and handled satisfactorily
in harbours that are equipped for the unloading and dispatching of
large quantities of fish. From the very beginning these steamers were
owned by large limited companies rather than by individuals, and the
industry has tended to become more and more centralized at certain
large ports, for example, Aberdeen, Hull, Grimsby, Yarmouth, Lowestoft,
Milford Haven, and Fleetwood. The rise and development of many of these
ports, for example, Aberdeen and Fleetwood, has been in direct response
to the demands made upon them by the new steam fishing industry.
The introduction of steam fishing made longer voyages possible, and led
to the development of new fishing grounds. Steam trawlers from British
ports now fish as far north as Iceland and the White Sea, as far west
as Newfoundland, and as far south as Morocco, making voyages of many
week’s duration.
The re-organization of the fishing industry led to specialization
amongst the fishermen themselves. The old sailing fisherman was
essentially an all-round man. He was equally expert at lining, drifting
and trawling. The skipper of a steamer, however, is a specialist; he
is either a liner-, a drifter-, or a trawler-man. Generally, also, he
keeps to a given region—Iceland, the White Sea, the North of Scotland,
the North Sea, or the Bay of Biscay.
In the three years preceding the war (1911 to 1914) the development
of the steam fishing industry had become almost stationary. This
was probably due in part to over-capitalization, resulting in lower
profits. It was feared also that the greatly increased efficiency of
the steam trawlers tended to produce a condition of over-fishing in
certain areas, with the result that catches obtained in those areas
progressively diminished; for example, the average catch per boat per
day in the North Sea during three successive periods was as follows—
1903 to 1906 17·2 cwts.
1907 to 1910 16·7 „
1911 to 1913 15·3 „
The fishermen became alarmed and development was arrested. This
tendency to over-fish certain grounds has been effectively checked
during the war by the almost complete cessation of offshore fishing.
There is thus every probability that such grounds have now recovered,
and further that, in many cases, grounds such as the Dogger Bank, that
had become almost depopulated, will have become restocked.
The successful development of steam fishing has necessarily reacted
upon the prosperity of the individual fishermen in the various fishing
villages, with their smaller, privately-owned sail boats. They were
faced with two alternatives: either to combine together to acquire
steamers, and so maintain their position in the offshore fisheries,
or to devote their attention to the development of inshore fishing.
Many of the larger sailing drifters have now been fitted with petrol
engines, which make it possible for them to compete with the steam
drifters for herring and mackerel.
Generally speaking, however, the outlook for the small fishermen
of the English and Scottish coast villages—the real fisher folk—is
discouraging. The tendency of legislation, however, just before the war
was to encourage this class of fishermen by restricting the operations
of the steam trawlers in certain localities. In 1910-1914, with the
object of protecting the inshore fishermen, the Fishery Board of
Scotland prohibited trawling in the Moray Firth area, only drifting
and lining being permitted. Since this prohibition only applied to
British subjects, certain East Coast fishing companies evaded it by
transferring their vessels to foreign flags, registering them in a
foreign port and employing a foreigner as a dummy skipper. The Board
secured convictions against these offenders in the Sheriff’s Court,
but the convictions were upset subsequently by the Foreign Office. The
original prohibition was then strengthened by a new law which made it
illegal to land fish in Scotland, if caught by vessels registered in a
foreign port.
During the war, the inshore fisherman found himself in a comparatively
advantageous position, as the high price of coal made steam fishing
less profitable. Further, the offshore trawling grounds were mostly
closed, and the majority of the steam trawlers and drifters were on
war-service. For the time being, therefore, inshore fishing with smacks
was placed at an advantage.
A number of fishermen’s co-operative societies were formed to organize
the sale and distribution of the produce of these inshore fisheries.
This also tended to make the position of the inshore fisherman more
secure.
The old order changeth, and although there is that connected with this
transformation in the fishing industry which is to be regretted, yet,
on the whole, the developments of the past forty years have undoubtedly
transformed the fishing industry into a very efficient and valuable
national asset. Individually, the present-day steam fisherman is very
much inferior to his sailing predecessor. The centralization of the
industry in a few big ports, although undoubtedly making for much
greater efficiency, bears hardly on the type of the old class of expert
fishermen; but these are the almost inevitable consequences of such a
transition.
But what is the present condition of the industry, and what is its
future likely to be? The prosperity of the inshore fisherman, as well
as that of his offshore rival, is vitally important to the welfare
of this country; there should be room and opportunity enough for
both. The inshore fisherman, protected by legislation and secured
by well-organized co-operation, can increase very considerably the
amount of our available home-grown food supply. The superior power and
equipment of the big steam trawlers and drifters, properly utilized and
encouraged, should be one of the most valuable industrial assets of the
State. We are not a great food-producing nation; on the contrary, in
the years before the war, we actually imported more than 40 per cent of
our total food requirements. We are surrounded by seas that teem with
every form of edible fish. British enterprise has built up a fishing
industry which is the greatest and most efficient in the world. In
1914, our fishing boats were practically equal in numbers and equipment
to those of all the other countries in North-West Europe put together.
Nearly 70 per cent of the fishing boats in the North Sea were British.
The total produce of our sea fisheries has nearly doubled since the
beginning of the century. The annual catch in the last few years before
the war averaged over a million tons. It was worth about fifteen
million pounds when landed, and may be valued at nearly fifty million
pounds by the time it reached the consumers. Of all this splendid food
that is obtained at our very doors by our own people, less than half
is retained for consumption in this country. Out of 600,000 tons of
herrings landed annually in this country before the war, over 500,000
were exported, chiefly to European countries. Herrings have a high
food value, and contain a large amount of easily digested fat, and
if all the herrings landed in this country were consumed at home, it
would only allow two herrings a week to each adult individual in all
the population. An increased home consumption of fish, would effect a
corresponding saving in imported meat.
Owing to this remarkably small home demand for fish, the fisherman has
had to depend upon foreign markets, chiefly Germany, Poland, Russia and
the Levant. The present adverse rate of exchange with these countries,
and the increased cost of fishing operations, make it impossible for
the foreign importer to take our fish, except on terms which our
fishermen cannot consider. These markets are therefore closed, and
unless other outlets are found for its produce, the industry will be
threatened with ruin.
In 1920, the Government guaranteed the cure of herrings up to 880,000
barrels; unfortunately, they were only able to dispose of them in
European markets at a great loss. The Government, therefore, have
decided this year (1921) to withdraw their guarantee.
It would seem that, in view of the present failure of the foreign
markets, vigorous steps should be taken to encourage the consumption of
fish in this country, and so preserve this valuable industry from ruin.
A national scheme of development should be inaugurated, having for its
objects, (1) the systematic exploitation of local and periodic coastal
fisheries; (2) the discovery of methods of preserving for future
consumption fish that cannot be disposed of just when it is caught; (3)
the education of the public to use more freely the large supplies of
excellent fish food that are available at our very doors.