322 ALONGSHORE 



cannot be revived at will. It is useless to try and dose 

 dead men or dead traditions. 



Adopt modern methods, say some. ... It is precisely 

 modern methods and modern conditions which have 

 hitherto gone all against the small fisherman. Capital 

 is required ; which he does not possess ; and there- 

 fore, relatively, each improvement in method leaves him 

 further astern than ever. Moreover, his very independ- 

 ence makes him excessively reluctant to take up capital 

 for business purposes. 



Steamboats, steam gear, refrigerating apparatuses, and 

 the quick marketing of fish are all costly. Steam has 

 given amazing prosperity to the great fishing ports, but 

 at the expense (to the nation) of turning independent 

 fishermen into wage-paid servants of companies. Fewer 

 fisher-families are supported by the same number of fish 

 caught. The big ports can take care of themselves; they 

 have the means to do so. What calls for attention is the 

 plight of the small ports, where harbourage is bad; of the 

 places where fishing craft have to be brought ashore in 

 foul weather; and, above all, of the many smaU fisheries 

 from lee shores, where there is no anchorage and every 

 craft has to be beached. There, steam is in any case 

 barred, on account of weight. 



Auxiliary motors are proving a success in sailing 

 trawlers and large drifters, for though such boats do not 

 catch so many fish as the large steamers, they have much 

 less capital to pay on, and they save their markets in calm 

 weather or against head winds as other craft cannot 

 possibly do under sails alone. 



If motors can be adapted to beach fishing-boats, in 

 which handiness ashore is every bit as essential as sea- 



