6 
The other large grounds are the Bank of Newfoundland, 
the great fisheries of Lofoden and Finmarken on the coast 
of Norway, and Iceland and the Faroe Islands. 
So far as information can be gathered on the question, 
it appears that as early as the beginning of the present 
century the English and Scotch were already taking the 
greatest advantage of the fisheries of the North Sea; the 
Dutch were the only other people who prosecuted deep 
sea fishing to any extent, but these, although holding a 
prominent position in the line fishery of the North Sea, and 
notwithstanding that their method of fishing is of the very 
best, yet in the number and tonnage of their vessels, or in 
the number of men employed, they have been left far 
behind in the race of competition. 
The French have only within the last ten years made 
their appearance as line-fishers in the North Sea; on the 
other hand they prosecute on a large scale the fisheries of 
Newfoundland and those of Iceland, the latter of which I 
shall take occasion to refer to before I conclude. 
Belgium sends a few vessels to the hand-line fishing in 
the North Sea, but these vessels are small and inferior, and 
do not compare with the craft of either England or Holland 
engaged in the same trade. They fish for cod, most of 
which is salted in barrels for home consumption, and in 
this particular branch they certainly succeed in producing 
a very superior quality. 
Holland, as already remarked, takes a prominent part in 
the line-fishing of the North Sea. Besides having a fleet 
of several hundred open boats and vessels of small size, 
which fish with lines along shore when circumstances 
permit, they have a fleet of some fifty vessels or more 
sailing from the fishing ports of Perniss, Middleharniss, 
Zwartewaal, Raardingen and Maasluis. 
