46 FISHERIES OF THE NORTH SEA 



that spot, which might be a hundred or 

 might be a thousand miles away from his 

 market ; to get there he has to contend 

 with the dangers of wind, fog, mist, with 

 which the North Sea is well provided ; to 

 navigate his ship clear of other craft 

 trawling the same grounds ; he has to 

 fix the trawl-net in a suitable position and 

 steer a course in trawling which will 

 sweep the fish into the net : all these 

 things require technical knowledge, which 

 has to be gained in the hard school of 

 experience. Unlike the produce of agri- 

 culture, the fish have to be caught before 

 they can be brought to market, and here 

 fortune is often fickle : two ships may 

 trawl the same ground within a few fur- 

 longs of each other 5 one heaves a trawl 

 laden with fish, the other may draw a 

 blank or find his trawl bag cut open by 

 some huge boulder. Notwithstanding all 

 these disadvantages, fishing has proved 

 itself to be, on the whole, more profit- 

 able than agriculture. The fisherman or 

 trawler-owner has no landlord owning the 

 waters he fishes in, bad weather does not 

 ruin his crops although his prospective 



