March 1, 1865.] 



THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



FISHING VESSELS AND BOATS. 6b0 



Well-smacks suitable for fishing in the North Sea were first con- 

 structed at Harwich in the year 1712. Fifty years later the first attempt 

 was made to fish for cod with long lines on the Dogger Bank, an exten- 

 sive bank about sixty miles east of Flamborough Head, and in the year 

 1798 the number of vessels had increased to ninety-six smacks. About 

 this period Gravesend, Greenwich, and Barking sent out smacks of similar 

 description. At present the number and tonnage of the well-smacks, and 

 of their crews, and the names of the ports they hail from, are as follows : 



Name of Port. 



Smacks. 



Tons. 



Men. 



Harwich 



Aldborough .... 

 Gravesend .... 

 Grimsby . . 

 Greenwich .... 

 Barking 



Total ... 



5 

 10 

 10 

 14 

 41 

 180 



300 

 500 

 600 

 900 

 2,066 

 10,800 



50 



90 



60 



130 



370 



1,620 



260 



15,166 



2,320 



These vessels are employed — forty on the cod fishery, six on the 

 haddock fishery, and the remaining 214 in trawling. 



There are also many of what are termed dry-bottomed vessels — viz., 

 smacks built without wells, all fishing with trawls in the North Sea. 

 The number of these vessels, their tonnage, and crews, now nearly 

 equal those of the well-smacks. Hull sends out 100, Ramsgate, 96, and 

 Brixham in Torbay, 113, averaging about thirty-five tons and five men 

 each, or a total of 309 vessels, of 11,185 tons, and 1,488 men and -boys. 



"With respect to the shore fisheries, the following statistical account 

 of the number of fishing boats and their crews on the coast of England 

 was prepared by Mr. John Miller, the intelligent General Inspector of 

 Fisheries in Scotland, and is for the year 1850, since which time, it is 

 believed, no record has been kept. It will be seen that in the nine 

 districts into which the coast of England is divided, there were 4,698 

 boats, manned by 20,459 men and boys. 



Extent 



No. of 





Men 



Name of District. 



in 



Sta- 



Boats. 



and 





miles. 



tions. 





Boys. 



North Sunderland district . 



80 



29 



576 



1,238 



Scarborough district . 







130 



10 



283 



950 



Yarmouth district 







180 



34 



859 



5,216 



London district . 







300 



24 



626 



2,826 



St. Ives district . 







200 



37 



940 



3,233 



Bristol district . 







200 



16 



193 



500 



Liverpool district 















371 



1,838 



Isle of Man district . 







70 



4 



605 



3,865 



Whitehaven district . 







120 



14 



245 



793 



