258 BRITISH FISHERIES 



engaged in each method of fishing as circum- 

 stances and seasons made it profitable or convenient. 

 Thus he might reap the harvest of the' year in the 

 herring fishery, and for the remainder of the year 

 he would be engaged in line fishing. At the 

 present day the fisherman is usually a specialist. 

 He is either a herring fisherman, a trawler, a liner, 

 or he pursues more or less exclusively one of the 

 other branches of sea-fishing. As for the small 

 villages, these are fast losing their former import- 

 ance, and fishing is becoming concentrated in the 

 large centres, like Grimsby, Hull, Aberdeen, 

 Milford, or Fleetwood, where harbour and market 

 accommodation are good, and there are abundant 

 means of transport, so that fish can reach the great 

 inland centres in a very short time. Formerly the 

 fishing boat was, in most cases, owned by the men 

 who sailed her. At the present time, though many 

 fishermen own at least a part share in the vessel 

 they sail, many of the sailing vessels and practically 

 all the steamers are owned by large fishing com- 

 panies. In the course of the last thirty years the 

 fishing industry has undergone the characteristic 

 commercial developments of the age — capitalisation, 

 concentration, and specialisation. Apparently these 

 processes are not at an end. Already there are indi- 

 cations of market " rings," and a great fishing trust 

 is by no means an inconceivable development.] 



4. The area exploited by the fishing fleets has 

 widened very greatly. Long ago, fishing was con- 



