Trawling on the Solway. 193 



Trawling on the Solway. By Mr W. H. Armistead, 



Of the many methods employed by man for the catching of 

 fish, trawling is one of those of most recent origin. Nets have 

 been used for probably thousands of years in various ways, and 

 fish traps of simple kinds are as old as man, but the trawl net 

 could not be evolved till certain developments in seagoing craft 

 had been arrived at. It was not until about 1500 a.d. that 

 the art of fore and aft sailing was acquired by Europeans, 

 and for long after that date it was confined to the Mediterranean. 

 With this knowledge of sailing to windward came a slow but 

 steady development in the shape of vessels' hulls, and when 

 at last it became possible for small sailing craft to sail where 

 they would, regardless of the direction of the wind, many 

 minor industries arose, and coastal navigation became less hazar- 

 dous and more profitable. The development of craft used in 

 the fishing industry was not hampered by the necessity for large 

 weight-carrying hulls. Speed and handiness combined with the 

 utmost seaworthiness were the ideals sought by fishermen, and 

 the result has been the production of a fleet of sailing craft scat- 

 tered all round our coasts which have deservedly been the pride 

 of generations of hard-working fishermen. Many types have been 

 evolved to comply with the varying conditions of locality and the 

 work undertaken, and the trawl boat is the latest and in some 

 ways the finest type of sailing craft engaged in industrial fisheries. 

 The sailing craft, in which we take so much pleasure and pride, 

 have a greater interest at this time than ever, a melancholy 

 interest, unfortunately, for they are rapidly giving place to power- 

 driven craft, and if it were not for the pleasure fleet, which will 

 probably survive all innovations, we might expect to see them 

 driven from the face of the waters. 



Though I have no definite information on the subject, I am 

 inclined to think that trawling as an industry followed by British 

 fishermen does not date back much further than a hundred years; 

 but so far as the Solway is concerned we have definite facts to fall 

 back upon. 



About seventy years ago the first colony of trawlers estab- 

 lished themselves at Annan, and the founders of this community 

 came from the Lancashire coast. Morecambe Bay is in many 

 ways similar to the Solwav, possessing as it does numerous 



