INDUSTRIES 



SEA-FISHERIES 



In speaking of the sea-fishing industry of 

 Lancashire the geographical term must not be 

 interpreted too literally. Most other industries are 

 restricted to some particular part or parts of the 

 county, but the fisherman does not as a rule con- 

 fine his operations to any small area of sea or coast. 

 We find that Lancashire fishing vessels, though they 

 may be registered from county ports, pursue their 

 calling anywhere within the British sea-area — 

 from Iceland and the Faroe Isles on the north 

 to the coasts of Portugal on the south. But the 

 consideration of these latter fishing-grounds 

 hardly comes within the scope of the present 

 article, and we may confine our attention to the 

 portion of the sea lying within a line drawn 

 from Great Orme's Head to the Calf of Man, 

 and bounded on the east by the coasts of Lanca- 

 shire, Cheshire, Flintshire, and Denbighshire. 

 Within this area the greater number of Lanca- 

 shire fishing boats ply their occupation, though 

 it is proper to observe that a very considerable 

 proportion of the value of the fish landed in the 

 county is derived from the sea lying without 

 these Lancashire fishing-grounds properly so- 

 called. 



Nearly every variety of sea-fishing is followed 

 within this area. The principal exceptions are 

 the drift-net fisheries for herring and other 

 Clupeiod fishes and the crab and lobster fisheries. 

 Both herrings and sprats are indeed caught in 

 Lancashire waters, but the quantities are quite 

 inconsiderable, and though both crabs and lobsters 

 are also caught, these animals are not abundant 

 enough to form the material for a flourishing 

 fishery — as is the case on some parts of the coast 

 of Wales. The characteristic fisheries of the 

 area we are considering are : — 



1. The steam-trawl fishery for flat and other 

 fishes, carried on both here and all over the 

 British sea-area ; 



2. The trawl-fishery for similar fishes by 

 smacks and second-class boats carried on within 

 the restricted area ; 



3. The fishery for shrimps and prawns carried 

 on by second-class boats and by hand ; and 



4. The fishery for mussels, cockles, and to a 

 less extent for periwinkles, carried on along the 

 shore and from rowing-boats. 



Methods of Fishing 



Trawling. — It is quite unnecessary to describe 

 this well-known method of fishing. Steam- 

 trawling is carried on exclusively outside the 

 territorial waters by steamers which have a 

 length of about 130 ft., a gross tonnage of about 

 150 tons, and a horse-power of about 50. 

 These vessels carry an otter-trawl with a spread 



of about 100 ft. The sailing trawlers are yawl- 

 rigged vessels of about 60 ft. in length and of 

 about 45 tons in gross tonnage ; they carry a 

 beam-trawl of about 50 ft. in spread. They 

 fish both inside and outside the territorial waters. 

 The second-class sailing boats usually fish inside 

 the territorial waters ; they are cutter-rigged 

 boats of about 36 ft. in length and about 10 tons 

 in burden ; they carry a trawl-net of about 

 25 ft. in spread. 



Shrimp-trawling. — While fishing by means of 

 the trawl-net presents no features peculiar to 

 the locality, shrimp-trawling is in many ways a 

 fishing industry characteristic of Lancashire. A 

 large fleet of second-class boats is almost con- 

 tinually engaged in this fishery, and there are in 

 addition a number of fishermen engaged from 

 time to time in fishing for shrimps from shore 

 by means of other apparatus. Then there are a 

 great number of people engaged in various in- 

 dustries connected with the preparation of 

 shrimps for the market — in ' shelling ' and 

 'potting' and selling the crustaceans. Alto- 

 gether it has been computed that the value of 

 the shrimp to Lancashire fishermen cannot be 

 much less than j^50>ooo per annum, as many 

 as 100 second-class boats being engaged in 

 fishing for shrimps from the Liverpool estuary 

 alone. These vessels are small half-decked 

 cutter-rigged boats, each with a crew of two 

 men, or of one man and a boy. Two methods 

 of fishing are practised, viz. trawl-fishing and 

 ' bow-netting.' Trawl-fishing is practised by 

 the Mersey fishermen, a small trawl of 25 ft. 

 beam being employed, and a net which has a 

 mesh of ^ in. from knot to knot. Each boat 

 employs only one trawl-net and hauls it for 

 about an hour and a half at a time. When the 

 net is hauled the contents are sorted out as 

 rapidly as possible, the shrimps being separated 

 from the rest of the catch, which consists of a 

 miscellaneous mass of small fish and various 

 invertebrates, and put to one side. In cold 

 weather the shrimps may be landed ' alive,' but 

 in warm months they are usually put at once 

 into a small cauldron which is carried on board 

 the boat and immediately boiled. The shrimp 

 boats from the Southport district employ what is 

 known locally as the ' bow-net ' ; this is a net of 

 the same general shape as the shrimp trawl, but 

 its mouth is only about 10 ft. wide, and it is 

 not carried on a beam, but is attached to a square 

 frame of wood about 10 ft. wide and about 

 I ft. in width. The lower edge of this frame 

 drags on the sea-bottom in the same way as the 

 foot-rope of the trawl-net does : it is also 

 known locally as a * shank-net.' Two of these 



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