A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



being transplanted they became marketable, and 

 realized this sum. The money spent on the 

 transplanting operations in this year was ^^75, 

 and in paying this sum the Fisheries Committee 

 conferred a double benefit on the mussel fisher- 

 men, for it was spent just at the time when 

 mussel-fishing came to an end in consequence of 

 the onset of the ' close ' season, and so gave 

 employment at a time when this form of fishing 

 was not otherwise permissible. 



Periwinkles. — There is but little fishing for 

 these molluscs on the Lancashire coasts, which 

 do not as a rule aiFord a suitable habitat for 

 them. Nevertheless small quantities are sent 

 away from various localities. At Piel in the 

 Barrow Channel there is a regular fishery for 

 them, and a fair quantity is sent away from 

 this station. Periwinkles are simply picked by 

 hand from the foreshore. In two or three tides 

 an active man may obtain i cwt., and for this 

 quantity he may get 8;. 



The Fishing Ports 



The principal fishing ports in the Lancashire 

 district are the following : — 



Barrow, Piel, and Roosebeck. — None of these 

 ports is of any particular interest, for the amount 

 of fishing which is carried on in the neighbour- 

 hood of the Barrow Channel is quite trifling. 

 Mussels, periwinkles, trawling by a few small 

 half-decked boats and stake-netting, are the only 

 methods of fishing which are practised. 



Baycliff, Bardsea, and Ulverston. — Both at 

 BayclifF and Bardsea there is a considerable 

 amount of cockle fishing carried on as well as 

 some stake-netting and mussel fishing. Salmon 

 fishing is carried on in the estuary of the Leven 

 and along the coast by fishermen who possess a 

 salmon licence. There is also some shrimp 

 fishing carried on in Ulverston Channel, but the 

 boats engaged here usually come from the other 

 side of the bay. 



Cark, Kent's Bank, Flookborough, and Arnside. 

 — Shellfish, cockles, and mussels are the only 

 forms of fishing which are of any importance at 

 these ports. The cockle is, however, of very 

 great value to the fishermen of this part of 

 Lancashire. Most people are surprised to learn 

 that in some years over 3,000 tons of cockles 

 may be sent away from Cark station alone. 



Bolton-le-Sands, Morecambe, Heysham. — The 

 district comprised by these ports is of much 

 greater importance than any we have yet con- 

 sidered. Bolton-le-Sands is indeed of com- 

 paratively little importance : there is some 

 cockle fishing, and stake-netting and trawling 

 by small boats is carried on. Morecambe is 

 of very considerable importance as a fishing 

 port, and a great \'ariety of fishing is carried 

 on in the adjacent waters from this port. The 

 principal fishery at Morecambe is that for mussels. 



412 



but there is also a feir amount of shrimp trawl- 

 ing and trawling for flat fishes in the adjacent 

 waters of Morecambe Bay, and stake-netting is 

 carried on to a considerable extent. Heysham 

 is in itself of very little importance as a fishing 

 centre, but is exploited chiefly by Morecambe 

 fishermen for the sake of the mussels which are 

 found here in great abundance. The salmon 

 fishery in the River Lune is actively prosecuted 

 by Morecambe fishermen : this is one of the 

 best salmon rivers in England, and yields a con- 

 siderable revenue to the fishermen of Morecambe 

 and Glasson Dock. This latter is only a small 

 place : the fishermen there derive also a fair 

 revenue from the mussel beds at the mouth of 

 the Lune. 



Morecambe is one of the most progressive of 

 the Lancashire fishing ports, and one who knows 

 the fishing population there is impressed with 

 the energy and ability of the men and with 

 their keenness and intelligence. It is curious 

 that there has been a considerable amount of 

 intercourse between the fishermen of More- 

 cambe and Annan, many Morecambe families 

 having migrated from Annan and vice versa, and 

 at the present rime Morecambe fishermen often 

 go up the Solway for the shrimp fishing. 



Fleetwood is the most important of the Lanca- 

 shire fishing ports, and indeed one of the most 

 important of the fishing centres of England, 

 standing eleventh on the list of ports as far 

 as the amount of fish landed is concerned, and 

 being, with the exception of Milford, the largest 

 fishing port on the west coast of England. 

 Practically every kind of fishing is carried on 

 from the port, but the principal forms of the 

 industry are steam trawling and trawling by 

 smacks, of which a great number make the port 

 their head quarters. Fleetwood smacks fish prin- 

 cipally in the northern part of the Irish Sea, but 

 the steam trawlers may fish anywhere in the 

 seas round the British Isles. In late years they 

 have frequented the west coast of Ireland to a 

 considerable, extent, fishing off the Blaskets on 

 the coast of Kerry. There is also a very 

 flourishing fishery for prawns by Fleetwood 

 half-decked boats. Trawling by half-decked 

 boats for sea fish, hand-lining, and mussel fish- 

 ing are also carried on, though to a less extent 

 than the other forms of fishing just mentioned. 

 One must not omit to mention the oyster in- 

 dustry of the port : this is not a fishery for the 

 English or narive oyster, but consists of the 

 culture of American oysters which are imported 

 and are then laid down and fattened for the 

 market. The sea-fishing industry has of course 

 brought in its train a number of other industries 

 which have added to the prosperity of the port. 



Blackpool is the only port between the Wyre 

 and the estuary of the Ribble, and it is much 

 more important as a ' pleasure city ' than as a 

 fishing centre. Nevertheless there is a certain 



