THE FISHERIES.
At present there are two fishing seasons during the year.
The Herring season begins about a fortnight before Michaelmas, and continues till Martinmas. At the beginning of the season the boats sail off to sea, about thirteen leagues north-east of Lowestoft, to meet the shoals of fish. Having arrived on the fishing ground, the fishermen shoot their nets, (extending about 2,200 yards in length, and eight in depth, which, by simple means, are made to swim in a position perpendicular to the surface of the water,) in which the fish are entangled. As soon as the fish are brought on shore they are taken to the fish houses and salted; they remain in salt two or three days, are then washed; then spitted; (i.e. an osier wand, about four feet long, is thrust through the gills of as many as can hang freely upon it,) the spits are then hung upon rafters, with which the upper part of the fish houses are fitted up; fires of oak billet are made on the floors of the houses, by which the fish are at once dried and smoked; the herrings hang thus about a fortnight, and then they are fit for market. [56]
The Mackerel season begins about the middle of May, and continues to the end of June. At the beginning of this season the boats sail to the north-east, in order to meet the fish at the beginning of their annual revolution round the British Isles. A blustering stormy season is best suited to the successful prosecution of this fishery, for only then do the fish rise in large quantities, within reach of the nets, the meshes of which are larger than those used in the herring fishery. The fish are generally brought in every day.
Small boats called ‘along shore boats,’ generally the property of those who use them, are employed in catching whatever fish will come to their nets; these are speedily brought into the town, and disposed of for the consumption of the inhabitants.
There were formerly two other fisheries, the North sea and Iceland fisheries, but they have long since been entirely neglected.