Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

64 THE SEA FISHERIES OF GREAT BRITAIN. THE Sea Fisheries of Great Britain have a just claim to rank with the oldest industries of the country, having been followed with increasing vigour and profit for several centuries past. The story of their growth is intimately associated with the history and expansion of our Empire, for by training and accustoming large bodies of men to a sea life the fish- eries have played no mean part in building up and consolidating the vast dominions we have acquired as a direct result of cut supremacy of the seas. Since the days when ships were first recognised as important factors in the defence of our shores, and were equipped and manned by private enterprise to strengthen the royal ships of the navy and assist in STEAM TRAWLER WITH TRAWL DOWN. repelling the king’s enemies; to the time when, under Nelson, the nation possessed a formidable navy and obtained a complete and final mastery of the seas by defeating all rivals, the fisheries have taken an impor- tant part in providing some of the best fighting material the world has ever seen. It was chiefly from our fishing villages and seaport towns that the men who were the backbone and leaven of the very nondescript crews who manned our wooden walls were drawn. Nor are the fisheries fulfilling a less important part to-day. Thousands of the fine class of men composing them are enrolled in our Naval Reserve, and should at any future time our shores be threatened by a powerful foe, there is every reason to expect the fishermen’s response to their country’s call will be as prompt as that of other classes of the community. It is computed that some 87,000 men and boys are con- stantly engaged in the fishing- industry afloat, while a further 8,000 occasionally take part in it. Being constantly exposed to danger, the fisherman learns to remain cool in circumstances of peril, to use his judgment, to develop powers of endurance and resource, and also acquires