180 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



TECHNICAL S_CHOOL FOR FISHERMEN, GRIMSBY 



A technical school for fishermen, carried on at the Fisherlads' Institute, has 

 been established at Grimsby, England, the admission being free to all men and 

 boys engaged on fishing vessels. The nature of the instruction given may be 

 inferred from a resolution of the Education Committee, of the 2Sth February, 

 1907 : That the instruction at present be confined to navigation, seamanship, net- 

 making and mending, and conducted in a similar manner to the classes estab- 

 lished in Hull. 



During the year, 1913-1914, 893 students attended the school for short 

 courses, the average daily attendance being 66. The majority of the students 

 take the courses in navigation, although the instruction in braiding and mending 

 of nets, wire splicing and knotting is not the least valuable part of the educa- 

 tion given. Prizes are offered in all subjects and, so keen is the competition, 

 that successful first candidates often score very close to a possible. The Insti- 

 tute boasts of turning out the first actual going-to-sea fisherman to pass the 

 Special Compass Syllabus. For this examination a good knowledge of the 

 laws of terrestrial magnetism is required, a knowledge and application of the 

 rules in spherical trigonometry, and a practical demonstration of the method of 

 compensating for the deviations of the compass. The excellent results attained 

 in this and other lines are a tribute to the intelligence and enthusiasm of the 

 fishermen. 



The class in net-mending, as well as other classes, has suffered lately in 

 attendance on account of the War but, no doubt, on the cessation of hostilities, 

 renewed interest will be taken in this branch of fishermen's instruction. 



