14 FISHERIES OF THE NORTH SEA 



waters, and later this security -gave her the 

 maritime power which made her the mis- 

 tress of the seas until the discovery of the 

 Cape of Good Hope passage to the East. 

 The favoured maritime position of Con- 

 stantinople, Marseilles, and Amsterdam 

 gave those cities great opportunities to 

 benefit gradually by the improvement and 

 progress of sea trade, until the early fishing 

 occupation was eclipsed by the rise of more 

 important industries. 



There is very little historical evidence 

 of the early progress of fishing. The early 

 Vikings who inhabited the coast belt of 

 Norway had the prolific fishing grounds of 

 the North Sea close at hand, and were 

 probably driven to fish for food by the 

 barren nature of the land and the im- 

 possibility of sustaining life by agriculture. 

 Becoming in consequence the most able 

 men of that time in seacraf t, they gradually 

 acquired the roving nature which resulted 

 in the discovery of Iceland and Greenland. 

 They soon found it more interesting and 

 profitable to forsake fishing and embark 

 in expeditions of plunder. The East Coast 

 of Britain presented a fertile field to the 



