44 THE BRITISH FISH TRADE. 



trawler ; and the chief fishing port of the United Kingdom, 

 Grimsby, owes its origin and prosperity to the fact that it 

 is immediately adjacent to the Silver Pit. 



This fact is so curious that it is worth while to trace the 

 rise of Grimsby during the last half century. Rather more 

 than fifty years ago, Grimsby is said to have owned one 

 fishing- boat. In 1843 the Silver Pit was first worked, but 

 it was worked by Brixham and other vessels coming to the 

 port. But the trade, when it once began, rapidly developed. 

 The Manchester and Sheffield Railway was carried into 

 the port. Large sums of money were spent in building 

 docks, the fishing fleet increased by " leaps and bounds," till, 

 in 1 88 1, the port, which in 1830 had possessed one boat, 

 owned 607 vessels registering 35,000 tons, and employing 

 nearly 4000 persons. 



The North Sea trawlers follow two systems of fishing. 

 Some of them, fishing the adjacent grounds, return con- 

 stantly to port, and send their fish direct by railway to 

 London or to other populous towns ; others of them repair 

 in fleets to the distant grounds, and are absent from home 

 for weeks at a time. In consequence of their prolonged 

 absence they in turn have created a fresh industry. 

 Steamers are employed to repair to the fleet and take the 

 fish which have been caught from the boats, and carry them 

 to England. Boats for this purpose ply from Hull, from 

 Grimsby, and from London. The fish are carried from the 

 smack to the steamer in open boats, and some loss of life 

 unfortunately results from this ferrying trade. No means, 

 however, have yet been invented of transferring the fish from 

 the smack to the steamer without the assistance of the 

 small open boats. 



In addition to the legitimate trade of carrying the fish 

 from the fleet to the market, another more objectionable 



