THE THREE GREATEST FISHING FORTS 159 



The first annual report of the Marine Fisheries 

 Society, Great Grimsby, for the year 1889, stated that 

 Grimsby, which was even then the largest fishing port 

 in the world, had a fleet of more than 800 fishing-vessels, 

 including 38 steamers. It was estimated that the value 

 of this floating property was ,1,000,000. These vessels 

 carried 4500 men and boys, and in the course of a year 

 brought to Grimsby Market between 70,000 and 80,000 

 tons of fish. In those early days several trawling 

 excursions were made in and about the mouth of the 

 H umber in the steam-launch Chapman, belonging to the 

 Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway now 

 the Great Central. 



The enterprise of a railway company to which 

 Grimsby owes so much has its counterpart in the 

 operations of the North-Eastern Railway Company 

 with respect to Hull, the third port of the realm. The 

 fishing industry here is conducted on a vast scale, 

 although the total number of vessels registered at Hull 

 is considerably smaller than Grimsby's. There are, 

 however, about 500 steam-trawlers, with a tonnage of 

 about 374,000 tons. During 1910 there were landed at 

 the port 141,246 tons of fish, of the value of ,1,300,000. 

 Special trains and special waggons are used by the 

 North-Eastern Railway Company to convey the fish 

 to all parts of the United Kingdom. Ice factories, 

 curing-houses, and every necessary convenience for the 

 transaction of trade are provided, and there are four 

 slipways for the repair of fishing-craft. With one 

 exception all the docks at Hull are owned by the North- 

 Eastern Railway Company. 



Aberdeen has grown with almost phenomenal 



