SEA FISHERIES 133 



curing establishments have been set up along 

 the East coast, new methods of curing have been 

 devised, new kinds of fish have been cured. For 

 instance, in the first part of the last century the 

 haddock, upon which the steam trawler now so 

 largely depends, was seldom brought ashore, 

 only the largest occasionally reached the market. 

 The introduction of haddock curing at Hull about 

 1840 changed all that. 



With the tendency to use larger vessels and 

 more complex machinery came the tendency to 

 form companies and syndicates. The fisherman 

 ceased to own the fishing boat, and now retains 

 at best a share in it. At the present time " by 

 far the greater number of vessels are in the hands 

 of companies or large private owners, and the 

 hands engaged in working them are simply the 

 servants of the owner/' There are those at 

 present who anticipate the formation of a great 

 fish monopoly in the form of a combine or trust. 

 The fisherman at the same time became more 

 specialised as the. work became more complicated. 

 The old fishing community, whose fathers and 

 whose grandfathers before them have been fishers, 

 is disappearing. The fishing village is turning 

 into the cheap seaside resort. 



