TRAWLING IN ARCTIC WATERS

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31984, 10 May 1969, Page 4

TRAWLING IN ARCTIC WATERS

Lovely She Goes! By William Mitford. Michael Joseph. 192 pp. “Distant Water trawling is Britain's most dangerous job. The death-rate is four times that of miners and one hundred times that of factory workers: it’s the hardest life a man can have." This statement in the blurb is fully borne out by the contents of a book which is written with authority about Grimsby trawlermen by one Of them During the three weeks in January, 1967, when the 1000ton Arctic. Fox. (a fictitious name for a real ship) was plying her dangerous trade in dark, hideously, turbulent waters, well ■ inside what Is commonly called the Arctic Circle, several things happened to her, hone of' them pleasant, except for the final result—Bo hauls had brought her in. 126 tons of fish. For. this reward, which might in a favourable market bring up to £lO,OOO, site had steamed a distance of 3421, nautical mlle«,;had all but ibtindered mor* than once, in mountainous seas, with the weight of ice on her superstructure, and bad narrowly escaped being irreparably damaged by icebergs. > It might be supposed that the hazard* of tire profession would make for * bond of in lts ranks. The opposite appears be the

case. Between the captains of the various trawlers there is a deep, suspicious rivalry as strong as It could- be between the head executives In any other competitive Com* mercial undertaking. Actual life-saving will be carried out (it has rewards attached) when a trawler sinks, but tiie size of a catch and the lucky discovery of a “fish shop” (the name for an unusually rich shoal) are never disclosed. Neither is loyalty a feature of the crew towards each other, especially in the rela-

tionship existing between a Mate and his Captain. On the latter rests the responsibility of choosing his fishing grounds upon which the success or failure of the expedition depends. He Is ■ lonely man, never revealing his intentions, but simply giving orders. The management of the ship in every hazard rests solely with the Mate. In the Arctic Fox the two men were, at best, barely civil to each other. The crew are not given much to personal friendships, but a high standard of very coarse humour becomes evident in the general conversation aboard. This particular voyage was notable, for the Arctic Fox and other trawlers, for their blunder into the middle of a Russian naval exercise. They were g(ven abrupt orders by

the Russians to clear off—an Injunction Which was smartly obeyed. Polar wild life, though only observable by the ship’s lights in the perpetual darkness of an Arctic winter, serve to enliven the lives of the ship’s company, and the mollies and other seabirds which occasionally perch on the rails evoke something approaching affection from the crew.

Trawlermen hate and love their work-—signing on for it again and again—but have itttie feeling for the ship which shares in their ordeal. They may not quite match up to what dear old ladies mean by the term “our brave boys,'* but they must command the respect of anyone reading this eminently readable book. A glossary of technical terms in a highly technical is given at the end. Cassel’s Guides In Colour are made in a convenient size to be slipped into the pocket or the handbag. Each presents in coloured and black-and-white pictures a city to which people from all over the world go on pilgrimage. Each book includes a large, folded map, suggested itineraries and descriptions of famous buildings. The cities chosen for <the first three number* are Rome, Florence and Venice.