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OFFICIAL DESClilP'J'IVK AND ILLUSTKATEl) CATALOG UK.
of destroying the fishery at Harwich , as the owners couldnot compete with the large capital thrown into the fisheryby the metropolis. The Harwich smack-owners becamebankrupt, ami in a few years the fishery disappearedthere, with the exception of a few vessels, and at thepresent time there are only five well-smacks sailing fromthat place. The number and tonnage of all these vesselsand of their crews, and the names of the ports they hailfor, are as follows:—
Smacks.
Tons.
Men.
5
.100
no
10
500
90
Gravesend
10
600
00
14
900
1.10
Greenwich
41
2,00(5
370
Barking . .
180
10,800
1 ,020
Total . . .
2G0
15,1GG
2,320
These vessels are employed—40 on the cod fishery, Gon the haddock fishery, and the remaining 214 in trawling.
There are also many of what are termed dry-bottomedvessels, viz., smacks built without wells, all fishing withtrawls in the North Sea . The number of these vessels,their tonnage, and crews, now nearly equal those of thewell-smacks; they belong chiefly to Hull, Kamsgate,Kye, lirixham, and Torbay .
The fish caught by both these descriptions of smacksare—cod, ling, halibut, haddock, skate, soles, plaice,thornback, turbot, brill, and other species.
In order to give the reader some notion of the enormousquantity of fish taken, we may here add an account offish sold in Billingsgate Market during twelve months, aspublished in the ‘Morning Chronicle’ on the 12th De-cember 18.10:—
Salmon.
2D,000 boxes atIcwt. ea
203,000 llsh.
400,000 at 10lbs. each
4,000,000 lbs.
„ barrelled . . .
10,000 barr nt2cwt.ea.
450,000 llsh.
„ aalt .
1,600,000 at 5 lbs. each .
8,000,000 lbs.
Haddocks, fresh .
2,250 tons at2 lbs. ea.
2,470,000 fish.
,, smoked
65,000 barr. at 300 ea.
ID,.700,0110 fish.
Soles ......
12,000 tons at. ( lb. t*a.
107,520,000 llsh.
Mackarel.
10,500 tons at 1 lb. ea.
23,020,000 lisil.
Herrings, fresh . .
250,000 barr. at 2 cwt.oa.
3,373,000 llsh.
„ red . . .
U)Q,000 barr. at 150 ea.
50,000,000 llsh.
„ bloaters .
205,000 bask, at 150 ea.
147,000,000 fish.
729 tons at 6 to alb.
9,797,700 llsh.
Whiting.
3,000 tons at 6 or., ea
17,1100,000 fish.
Plaice . .
15,000 tons 1 lb. each
30,000,000 llsh.
Turbot..
500 tons, 2 lbs. to1<> lbs. each.
800,000 llsh.
llrill anil Mullet •
1,500 tons at 3 lbs. ea.
1,290,000 fish.
Oysters.
1,239,740 pecks at 400 ea.
495,890,000 ovsters.
Lobsters.
1,200,000 lobsters.
(’ralis.
000,000 crabs.
Prawns.•
192,295 gallons . . . .
498,428,()2H prawns.
The method of fishing for cod (from May to the middleof October) is by hand-lines. Haddocks are caught inthe same manner. Whiting also, but with smaller gear:a piece of wire is placed across the upper part of the hookto prevent the fish swallowing the hook and killing it.
The fishing-ground for haddock is near what is termedthe N.N.E. Hole, about 45 miles E. of the Humber, inthe dee]> water of the Well Bank, and in the deep waterto the eastward of the Well Bank (called by fishermenBotany Bay, as they considered it a sort of transporta-tion to be sent there, from its lying so completely out ofthe track of vessels). Whitings are caught off Lowestoft ,Southwold, &c.
Coil are taken during the summer at Iceland, Shetland ,Butt of Lewis, Flannan Isles, Bara, Kona, and at Capellock off Cape Wrath, North Isles of Orkney , Penlland
Firth, off Kattrie Brigs, Marr Bank, Fern Islands, andthe shoal grounds lying off the lluinber, from within sightof land to GO and 40 miles off.
The trnwling-ground for sole, turbot, brill, and plaice,is about Smith’s Knowl, 25 miles N.E. of Yarmouth,Great Silver Pits, in lat. 54° N., between the Dogger andWell Bank, and on the Brown Bank, lying half-waybetween Yarmouth and Egmond-aan-Zee, in Holland .
The long-line fishing begins about November, alongshore in thick water, as off in clear water the dogfish eatthe cod very quickly when caught by a hook and confined.
About December the smacks proceed for the DoggerBank , and in moderate weather some of the smacks willlay out lines to the distance of twelve miles; at everymile a buoy with a flag, and every nine feet a hook on asnood about twenty inches long, fastened to the long-line.These are hauled in, and the codfish lanced to let the airout of the sound (or air-vessel), which is so distended withair by struggling in hauling up that they cannot go underthe surface of the water in the well, and would die unlesslanced to free them from the pressure of the air.
The fish that are killed by the violent motion of thesmack in bad weather, are taken out every day and salted.The live fish are taken to Grimsby , Gravesend, and otherplaces where there is railway communication to London ,at the latest hour to save the market. The codfish aretaken out of the well and killed by a blow on the head,about three hours before reaching the market, or justbefore being packed to go by railway; they will thencrimp after several hours, the same as when alive.
To give some notion of the influence of railroads onthe fisheries, it may be mentioned that during the eighteenmonths ending November 1852, the Great Northern Kail-way carried to London from Grimsby (the nearest port tothe Dogger Bank ), 4,780 packages of cod of about 132lbs. weight each box, 230 of salmon, 8,318 of lobsters,and 1,252 of trawl fish, making a total of 14,580 packages,or about 750 tons of fish. This amount is independent, ofthe fish carried by the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lin-colnshire Kailway to the populous districts through whichit passes. Codfish caught near the Dogger Bank at 70miles from Grimsby is not uncommonly exposed for salethe following morning in Lomlon and in Manchester.
The bait used in the cod-fishery are whelks. Eachvessel takes for a voyage about 40 wash (of 5j gallonseach). Haddocks and whitings are caught with mussels.The long-lines are coiled, and hooks baited in trays laidclear for running, having from 480 to G40 fathoms in atray.
On the Dogger Bank the long-line or well-smacks fishin from 12 to 15 fathoms water in December; in from 14to 18 fathoms in January; in from 18 to 22 fathoms (inlat. 54° 10’ N. to 55° 10' N.) in February ; and in should’water, say from 10 to 12 fathoms, in March. The trawlersin summer fish without and within Smith’s Knowl, offYarmouth; at the southern part of the Leman and Owershoals, 25 miles N.E. of Cromer, and on the Brown Bank,within 40 miles of the Dutch coast, abreast of Egmond;and in winter in the Great Silver Pits.
The habits of fishermen are much altered for the better,but still there is room for improvement.
The master of the smack in the cod-fishery gets 12s.per week, and 5/. per cent, on the earnings of the vessel;some get a trifle more. The mates get from 14s. to 18 s.per week; the men get from 13s. to 15*. per week; theapprentices, according to their servitude, from 4/. to St-and 10/. per annum, and occasionally more, besides smaVperquisites.