THE FISHING INDUSTRY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

Colonist, Volume XXVI, Issue 3701, 4 September 1883, Page 4

THE FISHING INDUSTRY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

"We take the fo 1 lowing from the' fish Trades Gazette:—"The magnitude, of the interests involved in the work; of catching, fish only will; be best realised by those not thoroughly ae-. quainted with the derails of ■ this, emphatically national branch of :cdm«; merce when we say, on the authority of Mr J", W. De Oaux, the well-known fish salesman of Great Yarmodth,t that, the ; capital invested in this part 6f the trade would farm upwards of 6,000,000 acres of land! ' According to the most reliable statistics,' says the able, author of "The Herring and the Herring Fishery " (published by Hamilton, Adams, and Co.)'-' 'there are" fishing round the coasts of tbia island 30,000 vessels, of which the greater number by far is: composed of hei ring "boats. These vessels exceed by 8000 the num--1 her of ships which form our mercantile marine. These 30|000 fishing vessels are of 280,000 tons burden . . . and the capital employed is amply sufficient for the farming of 6,000,000 acres, or about one sixth of the land in the United Kingdom which is now under cultivation.' Then, look at the number of persons employed in manning and working these 30,000 vessels —actually 105,000 men and boys. Add to those handy lads 105,000 persons who, on shore, are directly connected with the aea fisheries, and you have 210,000 individuals, ' representing a population of more than 750,000 souls, all of whom are dependent upon ihe sea fisheries for their daily bread.' 'Not is that all. 'At every stage, from the building of the boat aud the making of the net to the actual delivery of the fish to the customer, intelligent manual labour is and must be' employed. Every season, on an average, the oper ation of counting the herrings landed at the fish wharvea at Great Yarmouth costs upwards of £2200, while for simply helping to lift the herrings from the ground on to the carts which convey them from the-wharf to the various cuciog-houses,or to the railway station, less a sum than £370 is paidl Other equally surprising and incon* trovertible facts might be adduced to prove bow important the fishery industry ia to the nation at large; but these must suffice/" . ■ .:- .