A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



mussels, periwinkles, and cockles total 

 weight, 747 tons 19 cwt. l qrs. ; value, 



i,473 9'- "K 



In the year 1900 the first and second class 



fishing boats had some excellent takes of 

 various kinds of fish throughout the district, 

 including soles, haddocks, and plaice, and 

 more especially on the south side of Silloth, 

 where such an abundant supply has not been 

 known to exist for many years. The fish 

 were of good size and quality. The stake- 

 net and draft-net fishermen also had a very 

 profitable season among the plaice in the 

 northern portion of the district. Skate and 

 sparling have not been so plentiful for years, 

 but herring and mackerel (as was the case 

 during the past two seasons) and cod were 

 very scarce indeed. 



Long-line fishermen along the coast from 

 Silloth northwards, however, were very suc- 

 cessful among small cod, the Firth being 

 literally alive with this class of fish, but during 

 the quarter ending 3 1 December of that year 

 the stormy weather which prevailed seriously 

 interfered with the efforts of the fishermen 

 who pursued this industry. Off the coast of 

 Worlcington and Maryport there were again 

 some excellent takes of ' prawns,' the fishing 

 for which, as mentioned before, only com- 

 menced in June 1899, and good prices were 

 realized. The prawn trawlers had also some 

 very successful catches from Workington 

 northwards among small soles and plaice, 

 which were very abundant in that portion of 

 the district. Lobsters, shrimps, mussels and 

 cockles of good size and quality were also 

 plentiful in different parts of the district, and 

 the prices obtained were, it is understood, in 

 all cases equal to those of the year 1899. 



On comparing the weight of fish landed on 

 the Cumberland coast during the year 1900 

 with that of the previous year, there is an 

 increase of 56 tons odd. The total weight 

 and value are as follows : 



tons cwt. qrs. 



1900 . 804 7 o|- 

 1899 . 747 19 ii 



. . 



value 1 2,049 J 3 71 



i<M73 9 I IT 



i,57 6 3 8 



Increase 56 7 3 weight 



There is a large number of sailing and 

 steam trawlers hailing from Scotland, Lanca- 

 shire, Isle of Man, and Grimsby that con- 



stantly fish in the Firth, but as their catches 

 are invariably taken to other markets it is 

 impossible to say what weight of fish is landed 

 by them annually. 



In the year 1897, when the Cumberland 

 Sea Fisheries bye-laws came in force, there 

 were only two trawl boats fishing out of 

 Maryport harbour, and now there may be 

 seen at times forty boats sailing from that port, 

 twenty-four belonging to Maryport, and the 

 remainder hailing from other places. 



Herrings were very plentiful in the years 

 1888 and 1889, some of the boats (containing 

 three men each) getting as much as 30,000 

 herrings in one night's fishing. These fish seem 

 to frequent the coast intermittently, one year 

 they may be very plentiful and the next year 

 very scarce, but so far as can be ascertained 

 no reason has been discovered for this strange 

 condition of things. Crabs are also plentiful 

 along the shores of the Firth. Oysters, which 

 were almost extinct in the year 1867 owing 

 to overfishing, are now very plentiful, the 

 beds extending from opposite Maryport to 

 Selker rocks, a distance of about twenty-six 

 miles. 



There are hundreds of acres of cockles, the 

 main bed extending from opposite Silloth to 

 West Scaur near Bowness, a distance of about 

 six and a half miles, and there is also a very 

 fine mussel bed at Ravenglass extending for a 

 distance of about a mile long. 



It is not easy to calculate with accuracy 

 the number of persons who are dependent on 

 this industry for their livelihood, but we shall 

 not be rating it at too high a figure if we 

 place it at about 450 men. At times during 

 the year when the rough weather prevails and 

 the small boats are unable to get out to fish, 

 some of the men follow other employments. 

 There are also about 200 men and boys who 

 follow line-fishing for cod, skate, crab and 

 lobster along the shores. So that taken to- 

 gether perhaps 650 people dwelling on the 

 seaboard are more or less dependent on the 

 fishing industry for their subsistence. 



In conclusion there can be no doubt that 

 the Solway Firth is one of the finest firths in 

 Great Britain as a fishing ground, and is 

 yearly proving of greater value ever since the 

 adoption of the Cumberland Sea Fisheries 

 bye-laws and, it would seem, entirely through 

 the protection thereby afforded. 



418 



