THE FOURTH YEAR 



Looming at the back of the minds of many of the 

 fishermen was the strong hope that time might 

 bring relief in connection with the fleeting system 

 — a system which was bitterly summed up by a 

 smacksman of the old school — " To send a man 

 fleetiu's like senuin' him to the gallows." 



These vague perceptions took clearer shape as 

 time went on and the war progressed ; shadowy 

 ideas were developed into plans of action, and so 

 when the fourth year of war had been entered the 

 men of the deep sea, especiall} 7 those who were asso- 

 ciated with the world's greatest fishing-port, took 

 steps to form a fishing trade union. 



A meeting of fishermen, which included many 

 prominent skippers, was held at Grimsby, and this 

 decision was unanimously reached. Rules were 

 framed, and one of the most significant was that no 

 alien skipper should be allowed to command a ship 

 from port, and that only in special circumstances 

 should aliens be allowed in crews. 



Time alone would show to what extent this move- 

 ment would develop, but the momentous step which 

 was taken at the Grimsby meeting was further 

 proof of the fact that when the fishermen set about 

 to do a certain thing they did not do it by halves. 



Throughout the war the British fishermen had 

 been one of the special objects of the German naval 

 attacks ; but the aim of the Germans was also to 

 sweep as many Allied and neutral fishing vessels 

 off the seas as they could, and they did not hesitate, 

 as time progressed and their own economic situation 



237 



