Chapter 19 of 21 · 3982 words · ~20 min read

Part 19

The early years of the 20th century witnessed another great expansion of the sea fisheries of the United Kingdom. The herring fishery has been revolutionized partly by the successful introduction of steam drifters, which have markedly increased the aggregate catching power, and partly by the prosecution of the fishery on one part or other of the British coasts during the greater part of the year. The crews of many Scottish vessels which formerly worked at the herring and line fisheries in alternate seasons of the year now devote their energies almost entirely to the herring fishery, which they pursue in nomad fleets around all the coasts of Great Britain. The East Anglian drifters carry on their operations at different seasons of the year from Shetland in the north (for herrings) to Newlyn in the west (for mackerel). In Scotland the value of the nets employed on steam drifters has increased from L3000 in 1899 to L61,000 in 1906, and the average annual catch of herrings has increased from about four to about five million cwts. during the past ten years. In England also the annual catch of herrings, which reached a total of two million cwts. for the first time in 1899, has exceeded three millions in each year from 1902 to 1905.

In steam trawling also great enterprise has been shown. In 1906 Messrs Hellyer of Hull launched a new steam trawling fleet of 50 vessels for working the North Sea grounds, and the delivery of new steam trawlers at Grimsby was greater than at any previous period, these vessels being designed more especially to exploit the distant fishing grounds, the range of which has been extended from Morocco to the White Sea. About 100 vessels were added to the Grimsby fleet in the course of twelve months. These new vessels measure about 140 ft. in length and over 20 ft. in beam, and exceed 250 tons gross tonnage, the accommodation both for fish and crews being considerably in excess of that provided in vessels of this class hitherto.

Returns of the steam trawlers registered in 1907 in the chief European countries show the expanse of this industry, and the enormous preponderance of Great Britain. The numbers are as follows:--

Belgium 23 Denmark 5 France 224 Germany 239 Netherlands 81 Norway 20 Portugal 13 Spain 12-18 Sweden 11 Scotland 292 Ireland 6 England and Wales 1317

A simultaneous development of the sea fisheries has been manifested in other maritime countries of Europe, particularly in Germany and Holland, but the total number of steam trawlers belonging to those countries in 1905 scarcely exceeded the mere additions to the British fishing fleet in 1906.

The relative magnitude of British fisheries may best be gauged by a comparison with the proceeds of the chief fisheries of other European countries. The following table is based upon official returns and mainly derived from the _Bulletin Statistique_ of the International Council for the Study of the Sea. It represents in pounds sterling the value of the produce of the various national fisheries during the year 1904, except in the case of France, for which country the latest available figures are those for 1902.

_Values in Thousands of L._

+---------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-----------+ | |Herring.| Cod. |Plaice.| Other | Total. | | | | | | Fish. | | +---------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-----------+ | British Isles | 1870 |1015 |1100 |5496 | 9,481,000 | | Norway | 352 | 834 | .. | 443 | 1,629,000 | | Denmark | 117 | 60 | 171 | 223 | 571,000 | | Germany | 220 | 64[2]| 40[2]| 512[2]| 836,000 | | Holland | 575 | 53 | 58 | 311 | 997,000 | | France (1902) | 635 | 851[3]| .. |3562 | 5,048,000 | +---------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-----------+

The total value of the sea fisheries in the three chief subdivisions of the British Isles in the year 1905, according to the official returns, was as follows:

+------------------------+-------------+-------------+ | Fish landed in | Excluding | Including | | | Shellfish. | Shellfish. | +------------------------+-------------+-------------+ | England and Wales | L7,200,644 | L7,502,768 | | Scotland | 2,649,148 | 2,719,810 | | Ireland | 360,577 | 414,364 | | +-------------+-------------+ | Total |L10,210,369 |L10,636,942 | +------------------------+-------------+-------------+

These figures show an increase of L1,000,000 as compared with the total value in 1900, and of more than L3,000,000 as compared with 1895 (cf. Table I. at end).

In England and Wales the trawl fisheries for cod, haddock, and flat fish yielded about three-quarters of the total, and the drift fisheries for herring and mackerel nearly the whole of the remaining quarter. The line fisheries in England and Wales are now relatively insignificant and yield only about one-fortieth of the total (cf. Table VIII. at end).

In Scotland, on the other hand, there is not so much difference in the relative importance of the three chief fisheries. In 1905 herrings and other net-caught fish yielded rather more than one-half of the total, the trawl fisheries nearly three-eighths, and the line fisheries one-eighth (cf. Table X.).

+-------------------------+---------------------+---------------------+----------+ | | Trawl and Line. |Drift and Stake-nets.|Shellfish.| | Fishery. +----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+ | |Thousands |Thousands |Thousands |Thousands |Thousands | | | of cwt. | of L. | of cwt. | of L. | of L. | +-------------------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+ |England and Wales, 1905--| | | | | | | East Coast | 6017 | 4713 | 3042 | 1145 | 202 | | South Coast | 303 | 245 | 728 | 268 | 64 | | West Coast | 1002 | 720 | 219 | 111 | 36 | |Scotland, 1906-- | | | | | | | East Coast | 2296 | 1202 | 2709 | 819 | 25 | | Orkney and Shetland | 114 | 42 | 1735 | 642 | 10 | | West Coast | 148 | 62 | 591 | 210 | 38 | |Ireland, 1905-- | | | | | | | North Coast | 9 | 5 | 177 | 70 | 7 | | East Coast | 79 | 70 | 110 | 32 | 18 | | South and West Coast | 46 | 35 | 577 | 148 | 28 | +-------------------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+

In Ireland the mackerel and herring fisheries provide nearly three-quarters of the total yield, the mackerel forming the chief item in the south and west, and the herring on the north and east coasts. The remaining quarter is mainly derived from the trawl fisheries, the headquarters of which are at Dublin, Howth and Balbriggan on the east, and at Galway and Dingle on the west coast.

The value of the fishing boats and gear employed in the Scottish fisheries during 1905 is returned as nearly L4,120,000. Upon a moderate estimate, the total value of the boats and gear employed in the fisheries of Great Britain and Ireland cannot be less than L12,000,000.

The relative yield and value of the various fisheries on the separate coasts of the British Isles is illustrated in the table of landings from the latest data available.

From these figures it is manifest that the yield and value of the east coast fisheries of England and Scotland preponderate enormously over those of the western coasts, whether attention be paid to the drift-net fisheries for surface fish or to the fisheries for bottom fish with trawls and lines.

The preceding statistics and remarks, as well as the supplementary tables at the end of this article, indicate that the British fishing industry has enjoyed a period of unexampled prosperity. The community at large has benefited by the more plentiful supply, and the merchant by the general lowering of prices at the ports of landing (see Tables I.-IV. at end). But it is to be noted that this wave of prosperity, as on previous occasions, has been attained by the application of increased and more powerful means of capture and by the exploitation of new fishing grounds in distant waters, and not by any increase, natural or artificial, in the productivity of the home waters,--unless perhaps the abundance of herrings is to be ascribed to the destruction of their enemies by trawling. British fisheries are still pursued as a form of hunting rather than of husbandry. In 1892 the Iceland and Bay of Biscay trawling banks were discovered, in 1898 the Faroe banks, in 1905 rich plaice grounds in the White Sea. In 1905 one-half of the cod and a quarter of the haddock and plaice landed at east coast ports of England were caught in waters beyond the North Sea.

_Table showing, in Thousands of Cwt., the Quantity of Fish landed by Steam Trawlers on the East Coast of England from Fishing Grounds within and beyond the North Sea respectively._

+-----+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+ | | Within the North Sea. | Beyond the North Sea. | |Year.+----+--------+-------+----------+----+--------+-------+----------+ | |Cod.|Haddock.|Plaice.|All Kinds.|Cod.|Haddock.|Plaice.|All Kinds.| +-----+----+--------+-------+----------+----+--------+-------+----------+ | 1903| 729| 2301 | 812 | 4776 | 470| 389 | 114 | 1189 | | 1904| 637| 2032 | 658 | 4228 | 447| 429 | 284 | 1389 | | 1905| 640| 1560 | 621 | 3739 | 603| 518 | 244 | 1682 | +-----+----+--------+-------+----------+----+--------+-------+----------+

The statistics of the English Board of Agriculture and Fisheries have distinguished since 1903 between the catch of fish within and beyond the North Sea, and between the catch of trawlers and liners. Neglecting the catch of the liners as relatively insignificant, and of the sailing trawlers as relatively small and practically constant during the three years in question, we see from the board's figures (see table above) that the total catch of English steam trawlers within the North Sea during 1904 and 1905 was in each year 500,000 cwt. less than in the year before, amounting to a gross decrease of more than 25% in 1905 as compared with 1903, and, in relation to the catching power employed, to an average decrease of 2-1/2 cwt. per boat per diem. This decrease may be largely explained by the occurrence in 1903 of one of those periodic "floods" of small cod and haddock which take place in the North Sea from time to time; but the steady decline in the number of North Sea voyages by English steam trawlers--from 29,300 in 1903 to 26,700 in 1905--affords a clear indication of the fact that many of our trawling skippers are deserting the North Sea for more profitable fishing grounds. The number of Scottish steam trawlers "employed" at Scottish North Sea ports has also declined during the same period from 240 in 1903 to 228 in 1905.

The following table shows the number of British and foreign steam trawlers registered at North Sea ports, and for English vessels the number of fishing voyages made within and beyond the North Sea respectively:--

+-----+-----------+-----------------------+---------+-----------+ | | |English Steam Trawlers.| | | | | | Voyages.[4] | | German, | |Year.| Boats +-----------+-----------+Scottish.| Dutch and | | |Registered.| Within | Beyond |Employed.| Belgian. | | | | North Sea.| North Sea.| |Registered.| +-----+-----------+-----------+-----------+---------+-----------+ | 1903| 1060 | 29,328 | 1822 | 240 | 181 | | 1904| 1049 | 28,589 | 2120 | 233 | 199 | | 1905| 1064 | 26,670 | 2671 | 228 | 228 | +-----+-----------+-----------+-----------+---------+-----------+

Unfortunately the North Sea gains no rest from this withdrawal of British trawlers, since the place of the latter is filled year after year by increasing numbers of continental fishing boats. The number of fishing steamers (practically all trawlers) registered at North Sea ports in Germany and Holland was 159 in 1903, 177 in 1904, 205 in 1905, and 330 in 1907.

It is satisfactory under these circumstances to note the increased attention which has been paid in recent years to the acquisition of more exact knowledge upon the actual state of the fisheries and upon the biological and other factors which influence the supply.

A comprehensive programme of co-operative investigations, both scientific and statistical, was put into execution in the course of 1902 under the International Council for the Study of the Sea (see below). The Fishery Board for Scotland and the Marine Biological Association for England were commissioned to carry out the work at sea allotted to Great Britain, and the English fishery department was equipped soon afterwards with the means for collecting more adequate statistics.

Trawling investigations and the quantitative collection of fish eggs have located important spawning grounds of cod, haddock, plaice, sole, eel, &c.; marking experiments with cod, plaice and eel have thrown much light upon the migrations of these fishes; and the rate of growth of plaice, cod and herring has been elucidated in different localities. The percentage of marked plaice annually recaptured in the North Sea has been found to be remarkably high (from 25 to 50 %), and throws a significant light on the intensity of fishing under modern conditions. It seems probable that the impoverishment of the stock of plaice on the central grounds of the North Sea is mainly attributable to the excessive rate of capture of plaice during their annual off-shore migrations from the coast. On the other hand, it has been shown that the growth-rate of plaice on the Dogger Bank is constantly and markedly greater (five- or six-fold in weight) than on the coastal grounds where these fish are reared,--facts which open up the possibility of increasing the permanent supply of plaice from the North Sea by the adoption of some plan of commercial transplantation (see PISCICULTURE).

_History._--A brief review may now be given of the history of the administration of British sea-fisheries since 1860, and of the steps which have been taken for the attainment of scientific and statistical information in relation thereto.

In 1860 a royal commission, consisting of Professor Huxley, Mr (afterwards Sir) John Caird, and Mr G. Shaw-Lefevre (afterwards Lord Eversley), was appointed to inquire into the condition of the British sea-fisheries, the harmfulness or otherwise of existing methods of fishing, and the necessity or otherwise of the existing legislation. The important report of this commission, issued in 1866, embodied the following main conclusions and recommendations:--(1) the total supply of fish obtained upon the British coasts is increasing and admits of further augmentation; (2) beam-trawling in the open sea is not a wastefully destructive mode of fishing; (3) all acts of parliament which profess to regulate or restrict the modes of fishing pursued in the open sea should be repealed and "unrestricted freedom of fishing be permitted hereafter"; (4) all fishing boats should be lettered and numbered as a condition of registration and licence.

In 1868 full effect was given to these recommendations by the passing of the Sea Fisheries Act. Regulations for the registration of fishing boats were issued by order in council in the following year. (New regulations were introduced in 1902.)

In 1878 a commission was given to Messrs Buckland and Walpole to inquire into the alleged destruction of the spawn and fry of sea fish, especially by the use of the beam-trawl and ground seine. Their report is an excellent summary of the condition of the sea fisheries at the time, and shows how little was then known with regard to the eggs and spawning habits of our marine food fishes.

In 1882 the former Board of British White Herring was dissolved and the Fishery Board for Scotland instituted, the latter being empowered to take such measures for the improvement of the fisheries as the funds under their administration might admit of. Arrangements were made in the following year with Professor M'Intosh of St Andrews which enabled the latter to fit up a small marine laboratory and to begin a series of studies on the eggs and larvae of sea fishes, which have contributed greatly to the development of more exact knowledge concerning the reproduction of fishes. Under the Sea Fisheries (Scotland) Amendment Act of 1885 the board closed the Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay against trawlers as an experiment for the purpose of ascertaining the result of such prohibition on the supply of fish on the grounds so protected. The treasury also, by a further grant of L3000, enabled the board to purchase the steam-yacht "Garland" as a means of carrying out regular experimental trawlings over the protected grounds. Reports on the results of these experiments have been annually published, and were summarized at the end of ten years' closure in the board's report for 1895. Dr Fulton's summary showed that "no very marked change took place in the abundance of food-fishes generally, either in the closed or open waters of the Firth of Forth or St Andrews Bay," as a consequence of the prohibition of trawling. Nevertheless, among flat fishes, plaice and lemon soles, which spawn off-shore, were reported to have decreased in numbers in all the areas investigated, whether closed or open, while dabs and long rough dabs showed a preponderating, if not quite universal, increase.

The results of this classical experiment point strongly to the presumptions (1) that trawling operations in the open sea have now exceeded the point at which their effect on the supply of eggs and fry for the upkeep of the flat fisheries is inappreciable; and (2) that protection of in-shore areas alone is insufficient to check the impoverishment caused by over-fishing off-shore. (For critical examinations of Dr Fulton's account see M'Intosh, _Resources of the Sea_, London, 1889; Garstang, "The Impoverishment of the Sea," _Journ. Mar. Biol. Ass._ vol. vi., 1900; and Archer, _Report of Ichthyological Committee_, Cd. 1312, 1902.)

A laboratory and sea-fish hatchery were subsequently established by the board at Dunbar in 1893, but removed to Aberdeen in 1900.

In 1883 a royal commission, under the chairmanship of the late earl of Dalhousie, was appointed to inquire into complaints against the practice of beam-trawling on the part of line and drift-net fishermen. A small sum of money (L200) was granted to the commission for the purpose of scientific trawling experiments, which were carried out by Professor M'Intosh.

The report of this commission was an important one, and its recommendations resulted in the institution of fishery statistics for England, Scotland and Ireland (1885-1887).

In 1884 the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom was founded for the scientific study of marine zoology and botany, especially as bearing upon the food, habits and life-conditions of British food-fishes, crustacea and molluscs. Professor Huxley was its first president, and Professor Ray Lankester, who initiated the movement, succeeded him. A large and well-equipped laboratory was erected at Plymouth, and formally opened for work in 1888. The work of the association has been maintained by annual grants of L400 from the Fishmongers' Company and L1000 from H. M. treasury, and by the subscriptions of the members. The association publishes a half-yearly journal recording the results of its investigations.

In 1886 a fishery department of the Board of Trade was organized under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act of that year. The department publishes annually a return of statistics of sea-fish landed, a report on salmon fisheries (transferred from the home office), and a report on sea fisheries. It consists of several inspectors under an assistant secretary of the board; it has no power to make scientific investigations or bye-laws and regulations affecting the sea-fisheries. In 1894 the administration of the acts relating to the registration of fishing vessels, &c., was transferred to the fisheries department.

In 1888 the Sea Fisheries Regulation Act provided for the constitution (by provisional order of the Board of Trade) of local fisheries committees having, within defined limits, powers for the regulation of coast fisheries in England and Wales. The powers of district committees were extended under Part II. of the Fisheries Act 1891, and again under the Fisheries (Shell Fish) Regulation Act 1894. Sea-fisheries districts have now been created round nearly the whole coast of England and Wales. Under bye-laws of these committees steam-trawling has been prohibited in nearly all the territorial waters of England and Wales, and trawling by smaller boats has been placed under a variety of restrictions. Local scientific investigations have been initiated under several of the committees, especially in Lancashire by Professor Herdman of Liverpool and his assistants.

In 1890 an important survey of the fishing grounds off the west coast of Ireland was undertaken by the Royal Dublin Society, with assistance from the government, and in the hands of Mr E.W.L. Holt led to the acquisition of much valuable information concerning the spawning habits of fishes and the distribution of fish on the Atlantic seaboard.

In 1892, under powers conferred by the Herring Fishery (Scotland) Act of 1889, the Fishery Board for Scotland closed the whole of the Moray Firth--including a large tract of extra-territorial waters--against trawling, in order to test experimentally the effect of protecting certain spawning grounds in the outer parts of the firth. The closure has given rise to a succession of protests from the leaders of the trawling industry in Aberdeen and England. It seems that the difficulty of policing so large an area, as well as the absence of any power to enforce the restriction on foreign vessels, have defeated the original intention; and the bye-law appears to be now retained mainly in deference to the wishes of the local line-fishermen, the decadence of whose industry--from economic causes which have been alluded to above--is manifest from the figures in Table X. below. The controversy has had the effect of causing the transference of a number of English trawlers to foreign flags, especially the Norwegian.

_Statistics._--The following tables summarize the official statistics of fish landed on the coasts of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and give some information relative to the numbers of fishing-boats and fishermen in the three countries.

TABLE I.--_Summary of Statistics of Fish landed, imported and exported for the United Kingdom._

+------+-------------------------+-----------+-------------+ | Year.| Fish landed | Net | Exports of | | | (excluding Shell-fish). | Imports. |British Fish.| |------+------------+------------+-----------+-------------+ | | Cwt. | | | | | 1890 | 12,774,010 | L6,361,487 |L2,315,572 | L1,795,267 | | 1895 | 14,068,641 | 7,168,025 | 2,453,676 | 2,282,406 | | 1900 | 14,671,070 | 9,242,491 | 2,937,486 | 3,000,852 | | 1905 | 20,164,276 | 10,210,369 | 2,250,259 | 4,164,869 | +------+------------+------------+-----------+-------------+

_Note._--Imported fish afterwards re-exported (consisting chiefly of salted or cured fish to the value of over L900,000 in 1905) are not included in the above values of imports and exports. The exports consist mainly of herrings.

TABLE II.--_Quantity and Average Landing Value of Flat Fishes landed on the Coasts of England and Wales (all caught with Trawl-nets, except Halibut in part)._