44 THE IMPOVERISHMENT OF THE SEA. 



§ i. The Trawling Smack as a Unit of Catching Power. 



I have therefore adopted the deep-sea sailing trawler as a standard 

 unit of catching power, and have sought to express the average catching 

 powers of other vessels in terms of this " smack-unit." It will be seen 

 from Tables A-D, which give the actual annual catches of four Grimsby 

 sailing trawlers for a long term of years, that, however variable the 

 catches are from year to year, there is an appreciable uniformity (with 

 few exceptions) in the individual catches for the same year; and, 

 although the sizes of deep-sea sailing trawlers vary to some extent 

 at different ports, it appears to be admitted that these differences are 

 mainly adaptations to the local conditions of the fishery, and do not 

 seriously affect the gross catches made by the respective types of vessel 

 on the grounds to which they are suited and on which they usually 

 work. 



On the other hand, the gross catches of individual trawlers are 

 undoubtedly affected by the "fleeting" system. The large increase 

 in 1882 in the catches of the Grimsby trawlers (compare Table IV.) 

 is principally due, as Mr. Alward informs me, to a general extension of 

 the fleeting period which took place at Grimsby in that year — from an 

 average of about five or six months in previous years to eight months 

 in 1882. The system could not, however, be maintained owing to the 

 opposition it aroused, which culminated in a general strike of the 

 hands in 1883. The subsequent restriction of the fleeting period in 

 1884 to its former limits was followed, as may be seen in Table IV., 

 by a reduction of the annual catches to their former proportions. The 

 illustration suffices to give an idea of the increased catches which may 

 directly ensue from the adoption of means of propulsion, or methods of 

 work, which save the time spent in voyaging to and from the more 

 distant fishing grounds. Nevertheless it must be borne in mind that 

 the distances to be traversed by the Humber smacks are necessarily 

 greater than those usually covered by the " single boaters " of more 

 southern and of western ports, whose fishing grounds, though more limited, 

 are situated in closer proximity to the ports of landing. Consequently 

 there is no ground for believing that the annual catches of the Eamsgate 

 and Brixham trawlers are very much less than they would be if these 

 vessels were to adopt the fleeting system as carried out at Grimsby and 

 Yarmouth. So far as the Lowestoft trawlers are concerned — and they 

 fish to a large extent on the same grounds and under the same con- 

 ditions as the Kamsgate vessels, and do not fleet for more than a couple 

 of months in the year — this conclusion can be verified ; for in his 

 evidence submitted to the Select Committee in 1893, Mr. Hame stated 

 that the average catch for 1892 yielded by thirty-eight vessels worked by 



