Great Britain Introduction Sea Fishing. 



we have any distinct record. More universal in its use than nets, and of particular importance 

 for the capture of certain kinds of fish, line fishing must always possess a great deal of interest. 

 It represents probably the earliest method of fishing, and fish hooks of some description, 

 and often of the roughest kind, have been found in use among the most uncivilized people 

 met with by early navigators. Line fishing in this country is extensively carried on for the 

 capture especially of cod, ling, haddock and whiting, and hooked fish of these kinds usually 

 command a higher price than those caught in the trawl as their delicacy is not impaired by 

 the knocking about to which they are subjected when massed together among the varied and 

 often crowded contents of the beam-trawl. The various plans adopted in different countries 

 for fitting out the special gear for the capture of particular kinds of fish both by hand-line 

 and long line are well represented, and no doubt may be studied with advantage. 



Objects of special interest will be found in the numerous models of, and designs for, 

 the boats and vessels in which the fisheries are carried on. The increasing tendency in 

 recent times to fish at long distances from the land and to remain at sea for even many weeks 

 at a time, has led to a marked change in the character of the fishing vessels employed, and 

 has induced builders to study the advantages of greater size and improved designs in the 

 construction of vessels Capable of facing the bad weather to which they are sure sooner or 

 later to be exposed. Even in the smaller boats more commonly employed in drift fishing, 

 the advantage of their being decked is daily becoming more evident, for they can stand worse 

 weather and therefore can risk going farther to sea, and seeking the shoals of fish where 

 formerly they dared not venture, The most important improvement, however, in connection 

 with fishing craft is the employment of steam power; and it is applied in various ways, 

 although the additional expense incurred interfered for some time with even its present partial 

 adoption. Its advantage, however, is very great, enabling the fishing boats to go to and 

 return quickly from their fishing grounds, saving both time and labour in hauling their 

 nets, and especially in the case of deep-sea trawling, where fast steam " carriers " collect the 

 fish from a fleet of trawlers, and make the best of their way with it to the nearest market ; 

 so that whether used as a partial substitute for sails, for economising labour on board ship, 

 or securing a quick delivery of the fish at the market, the application of steam to fishing 

 vessels must be regarded as one of the most important steps yet taken in the development of 

 the deep-sea fisheries. The sea-going character of so many of our fishing vessels obliges 

 them also to be fitted out with more elaborate appliances than were ever thought of by the 

 simple-minded fishermen of little more than a generation back. They have now to deal with 

 everything on a larger scale, and they find the benefit of numerous inventions and recent 

 improvements in capstans, compasses, lights, barometers, &c., helping them to do their work 

 more easily, and to take better precautions against the many dangers to which they are exposed 

 in the stormy weather they have so frequently to contend with. 



The dangers to which fishermen are so often subjected when at sea are, however, not the 

 only ones they have to deal with, and on many exposed parts of the coast their greatest difficulty 

 frequently meets them on their return home, when they have perhaps to run before the gale 

 for the narrow entrance of the little fishing harbour which is the only protection they have for 

 their boats. Sad tales of distress might be told of boats being dashed to pieces against the 

 piers in attempting to enter some of the little harbours on the Scotch coast, or, having failed 

 lo properly make the entrance, are helplessly driven on the neighbouring rocks, and perish 

 within sight of their homes. Models of suitable artificial harbours for fishing-boats therefore 

 deserve the best attention, and in connection with this subject some proposed methods for 

 breaking the force of the sea at the entrance to harbours may be examined with interest. 



Life-boats and life-saving apparatus will probably appear to many people to have but little 

 to do with sea-fishing; but unfortunately such is not the case. The large scale on which 

 the deep-sea fisheries are now carried on, and the boat work necessary for conveying the fish 

 from the trawlers to the carriers in all kinds of weather, open a wide field for the use of 

 life-belts, and the adaptation of some of the principles on which life-boats are constructed to 

 the small boats belonging to the fishing vessel. Fishermen are, however, very careless of danger 

 and, like sailors in general, are disposed to regard simple precautions for safety as implying a 

 doubt of their courage and hardihood. The winter storms however rarely pass over without 

 the fishermen finding the advantage of the life-boat system which has been so admirably 



