Fishing for the Soul ‘Nor’ard of the Dogger’

The waters of the North Sea are shallow, and the weather there can be severe. On and around the Dogger Bank sudden gales cause high and heavy seas. The smacksmen of the fishing fleets in the 80s and 90s of the last century were there throughout the year on voyages which could last eight weeks, and their 50–80 ton yawl-rigged smacks were entirely at the mercy of the weather. Their fishing grounds were too far from land for them to run for shelter. They were compelled to ride out the heaviest gales or founder. In 1881 it was estimated that the North Sea fishing population numbered upwards of 12,000, the ‘Short Blue’ fleet alone consisting of 220 smacks crewed by 1,500 men

Biology · Fishery · Fishing · Geography · Population · Sociology · Demography · Marine and fisheries research

• Wilfred Grenfell

  H G R King, J Lennox Kerr•Geographical Journal•1960

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