216 SEA FISHERIES 



into heaps of five to ten fish. Cod, ling, halibut, and 

 other fish of greater value are ranged in rows on the 

 quay and sold in groups. The fish intended for prepara- 

 tion is taken in carts the railway is not employed in 

 Aberdeen to the factories, where it is gutted, cleaned, 

 and salted or smoked. Everyone knows the famous 

 " finnan haddock " of Aberdeen. The landward portion 

 of the southern quay is occupied by a floating dock. On 

 the west of the quay and on the opposite portion of the 

 northern quay, a space between the quay and the dry 

 dock is nothing but barrels pyramids of barrels ; it is 

 here that the drifters moor, bows on to the quay, and 

 unload their cargoes of herring. There are often as many 

 as 400 herring boats moored, with a whole population 

 of fishermen, stevedores, packers, coopers and carters 

 jostling round the vessels. Even in the middle of the 

 summer I myself was in Aberdeen in August the 

 animation is extraordinary. In that part of the city near 

 the Fish Dock the signs on the houses are invariably 

 the same : " Fish Merchant " or " Fish Curer." 



Here follows a brief description of four harbours 

 recently built, all situated on the North Sea, and in many 

 details unlike the English ports : Esbjerg in Denmark, 

 Geestrminde and Cuxhaven in Germany, and Ijmuiden 

 in Holland. 



Esbjerg has two entrances, one to the commercial 

 and one to the fishing port. There is no covered market. 

 The fish is bought beforehand by a score of salesmen, 

 who send it to Hamburg and Berlin. In the harbour 

 are a number of huge floating cages in which the 

 fishermen keep alive such fish as are not immediately 

 sold. Unlike the English, the Germans do not care 

 for chilled or frozen fish. Packing is done on the quay, 

 and the cases are loaded direct on the trucks. Esbjerg 



