THE BRITISH FISH TRADE. 9 



the east coast of Britain, the Manxmen, and the Cornish- 

 men follow the fish from coast to coast, and, in conse- 

 quence, the whole fishing trade of the country is passing 

 into their hands. 



It may, perhaps, be convenient, before describing the 

 fisheries themselves, to state approximately the employ- 

 ment which they afford. In England and Wales there are 

 probably about 15,000 fishing boats, affording permanent 

 employment to 28,000, and temporary employment to 14,000 

 persons. The English statistics are, however, notoriously 

 imperfect, and no great reliance can be placed on them. 

 In Scotland there were, in 1881, according to the Report of 

 the Scotch Fishery Board, 14,809 boats employing 48,121 

 persons ; in Ireland the Irish inspectors state that there 

 were in the same year 6458 vessels employing 24,528 men 

 and boys ; but they add that only 1844 of these boats and 

 7534 of these persons were exclusively engaged in fishing. 

 In the Isle of Man some 450 boats gave almost continuous 

 employment to 2872 fishermen ; while in the Channel 

 Islands some 300 boats sustained about 1000 fishermen. 

 In the British Islands, therefore, some 37,000 boats give 

 constant or occasional employment to 1 1 8,000 fishermen. 



It will at once be seen from these figures that the fishing 

 population is distributed unevenly through the different 

 branches of the Empire. England and Wales has one 

 fisherman for about every 600 of its people ; Ireland has 

 one fisherman for every 200 of its inhabitants ; Scotland 

 has one fisherman for every 75 ; and the Isle of Man has 

 one fisherman for every 19 of its population. But the 

 statistics would look very different if they were applied to 

 particular localities. Of the 42,000 fishermen of England 

 and Wales, nearly one-third, or 13,000, sail from the four 

 great ports of the Eastern counties Grimsby, Hull, Yar- 



