HEROINE OF THE SEA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20668, 13 September 1930, Page 3 (Supplement)

HEROINE OF THE SEA.

FAMOUS FISHERWOMAN.

ELLA TROUT AND HER WORK

Nestled under tho cliffs which tower the Devonshire coast from Start Point to Slapton Lea are tho ruins of tho cottages of the fishing hamlet of Hallsands. Standing conspicuously on the cliff ledge above the shingle of golden buo is tho modern residence of Ella Trout, England s most famed longshore fisherwoman. It was during the period of the intensive warfare by the enemy submarines ori the British Mercantile Marino that Hallsands presented to tho nation a real sea heroine in the personality of Ella Trout, says a correspondent of tho Daily Express. In a boat with a boy Ella Trout was whiffing about under full sail for mackerel. A terrible report stiowed a steamboat blown to pieces. Motor-boats sped away as fast as their powers permitted, but Ella Trout helmed her boat towards the wreckage, found a coloured seamau floating helplessly among tho litter, and rescued him. For this she received a British Empire decoration.

Ella Trout still continues her vocation as a longshore fisherwoman. She is an outstanding personality in the fishing world. She succeeds where longshore fishcrmon fail. She is an adept in all phases of fishing, and ventures out with her fisher brethren in ail conditions of weather. She handles her boat just a*, weatherly as the fishermen. 1 Sho knows Iho intricacies of her motor engine from A to Z. Sho is easily the first longshoie fisherwoman in Britain.

Ella Trout manipulates tho crab-pot industry with great success. At tho period of slack tide, when the cork buoys riso and float at tho surface, sho hauls her complement of pots in competition with her fisherfolk of tho sterner sex. Sho knows precisely tho locality of tho beds of escallops during the escallop season. She works the dredges with a fervour that not only keeps paco with, but ofttimes excels tho catches of tho other crews. Whenever the grey mullet shoal round Start Point into the quieter waters off Hallsands and Beesands it is Ella Trout who locates thern and directs operations for their capture. Only recently she superintended Ihe seining of quite a ton and a half of grey mullet, an extraordinary feat when it is remembered that grey mullet are a peculiarly difficult fish to net, as they speedily sense out tho tiniest exit for escape. She is also an expert in tho seining and hooking of mackerel. Hallsands without tho personality of Ella Trout as tho premier longshoro fisherwoman would be a dormant, insignificant fishing hamlet.