268 SEA FISHERIES 



quantity of fish would be taken by 566 steamers. In 

 other words, 566 steamers could replace 25,000 sailing 

 vessels of all sizes ; or i steamer = 44 sailing vessels. In 

 Great Britain the case is different. 



A simple calculation shows us that in England 1,991 

 steamers could replace 10,000 sailing vessels of all sizes ; 

 in other words, i steamer =5 sailing vessels. In other 

 words, the average efficiency of the sailing vessels is 

 2'5 per cent, in France, but 20 per cent, in England. 



The reason for this disproportion is that nearly all the 

 English sailing vessels are large boats. Yarmouth has 

 more than 90 herring boats under sail : Lowestoft has 

 220. These vessels are 60 feet in length, 18 feet in beam, 

 and 8 feet in depth. The trawling smacks are 65 feet in 

 length, 1 8 feet in beam, and 16 feet 9 inches in depth. 1 



Thus, the efficient fishing boat must be a vessel of 

 sufficient tonnage, and since with size it must combine 

 speed and the most improved gear, steam becomes 

 essential as the mode of propulsion. Not that the sailing 

 vessels have not their uses ; but they undertake work of 

 a different kind. Sailing vessels are best, or at least 

 efficient, for the capture of the best species "prime" 

 fish such as soles and turbot ; steamers are best for the 

 capture of widely-sold species such as haddock and 

 gurnards ; 2 sailing vessels for the fish eaten by the rich, 

 steamers for the food of the poor, which must be cheap 

 and plentiful. The steamer fisheries are industrial by 

 definition, and therefore we must take them chiefly into 



1 These figures are given by the French consular agent at 

 Yarmouth. 



* More widely eaten in France than in England, though an 

 excellent fish. The reluctance of the retail seller to part with his 

 fish at a low price per pound, and the huge head and capacious 

 stomach of the gurnard, prevent its popularity in England. [TRANS.] 



