APPENDIX J
STATISTICS OF
THE NORTH SEA FISHERIES
PART
I
THE FISHERIES OF THE VARIOUS COUNTRIES
BY
P. P. C.
HOEK
AND H. M.
KYLE
CONTENTS
Page
1.
Sweden, with Tables
2.
3.
4.
I— III
(by H.
Norway,
»
-
IV—IX
(
Denmark,
»
»
X— XVI
(
Germany,
•
»
5.
Holland,
»
»
XVII— XXXVIII
XXXIX-LIII
6.
Belgium,
.
-
LIV— LIX
7.
France,
•
•
LX-LXIII
(•
8.
England,
»
»
LXIV-LXXI
(
»
9.
Scotland,
»
•
LXXII-LXXVIII
(
.
Supplement:
the
»
M. Kyle)
—
)
-
)
3
11
20
German by H. M. Kyle).
29
P. P. C.
Hoek, translated from the
(.
P. P. C.
Hoek)
58
(,
-
)
82
—
)
(
»
.
92
96
H. M. Kyle)
-
108
)
The Fisheries of the Murraan coast (North Russia), by L. Breitfuss, translated from
German by H. M. Kyle
122
>
125
List of Tables
N.B. Great assistance has been given by Hr. P.
K obbernagel
in preparing the statistical tables.
Belgium
6.
Short review of fishing
I.
a.
The principal modes of
fishing
sea fisheries of Belgium can be divided as follows:
The
1.
Herringfishery with driftnets,
2.
Codflshery with handlines.
3.
Trawlfishery with sailing boats and steamers, and
4.
Coastfishery (or shrimpfishery).
Like
driftnets is no doubt a very old Belgian industry.
low countries, the Flemish fishermen from Nieuport and other
ports visited the coasts of England, Scotland, Denmark and Norway already in the 12"' and
IS"" century, there to catch the herring with their driftnets. Flemish herring was renowned
1.
The herringfishery with
their neighbours from
in
days;
those
the best of
all.
the
the
barrels
with
the
mark
of the port of
Damme
In Gravelines and Dunkerque (France), in Nieuport,
were considered
Damme
to
be
and Osteiide
a large part of the population lived on the salting of herrings and even grew rich on it,
especially when Edward III, King of England, authorised the Flemish to sell their fish in
his
kingdom and
to export the
money they
received for
it.
In that time, the herrings often visited the Belgian coast in enormous quantities and
when they did not come, the Flemish fishermen, like their colleagues from Zealand, searched
them in the whole North Sea, going as far as Norway and even as Iceland, if necessary.
The Flemish practised the salting of the herring on board their ships as early as the Dutch.
In the 16"" century, Flemish marchands sold for 500,000 guilders herring a year.
At present, there is only one fishing-harbour in Belgium, from which herring-fishing
This must be considered as a coast-fishery
is still in a somewhat larger style exercised.
and, in the
It is
official
publication on statistics,
La Panne, a small
village,
now
is
indicated as the "petite pêche du hareng".
developing into an important sea resort, which owned
2 or 3 cutters (chaloupes) in 1830, 16 in 1872, 24 in 1883, 74 in
1898 and 78 in 1902.
Literature:
2.
Rapport de la commission charge de faire une enquête sur la situation de la pêche maritime ou
Belgique (chambre des représentants). Bruxelles, 1866.
Ostende, 1891—1903.
Bulletin mensuel de l'association maritime, industrielle et agricole d'Ostende.
3.
Forêts,
1.
illustré.
chasse et pêche,
Bruxelles, 1897.
Exposition
internationale
Bruxelles-Fervueren
(Quatrième partie: Pêche maritime,
p.
,
1897.
635—694).
Catalogue
détaillé
et
_
In that
sloops
71
year,
herring fishing.
—
83
with
fish
In 1902, the 71
The same
money.
sloops fish with trawls in the other
Nearly related to the herring fishery
Belgian
of the
also
by
the
seafishery.
open
boats
It
exercised
is
of the
is
months
chiefly
The
of English
of the year.
the sprat fishery, which
whole coast.
Belgian boats landed
about 70 £
of herrings: for each boat also
fr.
BELGIUM
but their fishing
driftnets,
with the cured herring industry of the other nations.
together for a value of 123-975
J:
Coxyde have been engaged in the
is not to be compared
6 from
from La Panne and
These boats
APPENDIX
is
also a notable part
La Panne, but
by the
small
sprats
are often preserved in
boats
of
oil,
like
Germany, especially to Kiel.
2. Cod-fishery with handlines.
The cod and haddock fishing with line and hooks
has once been an important branch of the Belgian sea-fisheries. It was practised at a
sardines, (Ostende) as they are sent in large quantities to
greater distance from the coast (Doggerbank)
but in winter near the coast as well.
etc.,
The fishermen from Ostende, Anvers, and Nieuport practised the hook-fishery for
cod in summer, those from Nieuport went to sea also in winter and landed the
fresh
long
condition.
line
(beug)
Whereas,
in
the
and the handline
Holland, the fishermen
neighbouring
(kol) as well,
the
always
fishermen from Ostende
salted
fish in
used
the
and other
Belgian places fished with handlines only.
Even in 1872, a number of 162 sloops and cutters went to the North Sea, there to
In 1880,
with hooks: 9 went from Anvers, 141 from Ostende and 12 from Nieuport.
these numbers were 7, 120 and 15, in 1890 3 from Anvers and 46 from Ostende, in
fish
1900 Ostende sent out 21 sloops still to fish with hooks but in 1902, only 6 of these
practised this branch of fisheries. They caught not quite 4000 kg. of fish each, the greatest
catch recorded being that for the year 1873, viz. nearly 13,000 kg. per boat on an average.
These boats from Ostende go to the Doggerbank, there
of
May.
3.
The
fish is
to fish
with lines about the month
landed in salted condition.
This
Trawlfishery with sailing boats and steamers.
is
by
far
the principal branch
what time the trawl
was first used by the Belgian fishermen. They say it has been of English origin and it
was introduced to take the place of the so-called "seine", the net used at the Dutch coast
of the Belgian fishery-industry.
also in
It
seems not
to be well
known,
at
former times.
sailing boats (sloops and cutters) use a beam-trawl of about 40 feet beam,
the steam -trawlers at present use so-called otter-trawls, the open shrimp-boats use shrimptrawls with a beam of about 12 feet.
The trawling-business is exercised from all fishing-
The Belgian
places (towns and villages) of the Belgian coast
Ostende, Nieuport, Oostduinkerke, Coxyde,
:
At the end of 1903, there were in all
433 Belgian boats fishing with this gear (moreover 184 open boats, fishing in coastal
water only). These ships were divided over the coast in the following way
177
Ostende
21 steamtrawlers, 127 sloops, 29 small sloops
Blankenberghe, Heyst and La Panne (Adinkerke).
:
—
Blankenberghe
"
La Panne
»
Heyst
»
Oostduinkerke
«
Coxyde
«
—
—
Nieuport
»
—
Together
—
—
50
88
63
—
"
—
—
....
50
63
27
27
16
16
12
12
433
21 steamtrawlers, 383 sloops, 29 small sloops.
11*
APPENDIX
Ostende
—
BELGIUM
J.:
84
—
by far the most important fishery-harbour
is
good accomodation
repairing
the
for
of
Belgian coast;
of the
the fishing boats (dry dock
etc.),
larger markets for the sale of fresh fish on the continental North Sea coast.
the fresh fish
sold
Ostende in 1903, amounted to 4,823,050
in
Seven eighths of that value was landed by Belgian boats,
them French and English
Blankenberghe has a harbour also;
f
of
st.
one eight by foreign (most of
it
and
has no steamtrawlers
Whereas those from Ostende
are furnished with deck all over and measure from
are called dandy-cutters, old fashioned boats
The boats
The value
or about 192,922
fr.
has
boats).
smaller than those of Ostende.
only.
it
and one of the
36—41
tons, those
measuring from
of Blankenberghe land their fish to
sailing boats are
its
are called sloops (chaloupes),
11
— 25
some extent
in
from Blankenberghe
tons and half-decked
Ostende, there being
own town
La Panne has no harbour; the sloops use the harbours of Ostende or Nieuport, and
The ships from La
are obliged when visiting their own village to [land on the sand.
Panne are small, from 5 15 tons only.
Heyst has no harbour either; in case the fishermen want one they can use that of
Blankenberghe, which is very close by. The size of the sloops varies in Heyst between
8 and 24 tons.
The new sea-port in construction at Zeebrugge includes a good fisherya fish market in their
also.
—
harbour, which
is
whole fishery industry of Heyst and partly that of
to absorb the
likely
Blankenberghe.
Like those from
Oostduinkerke and Coxyde are very small villages without harbours.
La Panne their fishermen are obliged to use the harbour of Nieuport, when they want
The sloops of these villages are small: from 3—12 tons each. Nieuport has a
shelter.
"port de refuge", but
has no great importance
it
from
the
fishery
point of view.
It
has
only a dozen sloops and these are small ones from 3 to 12 tons.
(Anvers has once been a very important fishing place, but the long distance from the
sea
has obliged
it
to
up
give
the harbours at the coast.
competition with
all
"La Maria" was sold in 1897).
4.
The coastfishery of Belgium
Its last
sloop
is
often
called
shrimpfishery,
most valuable object of the catch ("pêche aux crevettes").
waters and as a rule with
small open boats.
There
is
It is
also
the
shrimp
being the
practised in the territorial
some handfishing
still
going
on along the strand (kruiwers). The shrimp-fishery takes place nearly along the whole Belgian coast and has a rather great importance.
Shrimps from Ostende are
in great
demand
at Paris.
In
1903,
Ostende made use of 168 and Blankenberghe of 16 open boats, the main
industry of these boats being the shrimp fishing.
Fishes of greatest importance
b.
These are the same as
for the
-
herring fishery:
hand
fish
-
Dutch
fisheries:
the herring (Clupea harengus) and the sprat {CI. sprattus).
line fishery: the cod {G.morrhua), the ling {Molva vulgaris), the coal{G. virens) and a few other Gadidae.
trawlfishcry:
sole
for the
the
plaice
{Solea v^dgaris),
the
{Pleuronectes platessa), the dab {PI. linianda), the
turbot {Rhotnhns maxitnus),
the halibut {Hippoglossus vulgaris),
the
brill
{B. laevis),
the cod, the haddock, the ling,
the coal-
_
fish,
85
—
APPENDIX
the whiting {Gadiis merlangus), the red and grey
^
nardvs
J:
BELGIUM
gurnard {Trigla gur-
hirvndo), different rays {Baja), the Skate {Baja hatis) and a few
other fishes of less importance,
for
the
shrimpfishery:
the shrimp
Fishing-grounds at present time
c.
The steam trawlers
[Crangon vulgaris)
the
visit
Schouwenbank, TexelDoggerbank and Fisherbanks,
grounds along the Dutch coast:
grounds, ïerschellingbank; they fish on the Silverpits,
the
them go as far as the Faeroes and Iceland. Some of the steam trawlers, at prethe Bay of Biscay and the coast of Portugal, regularly.
The greater sloops fish in the southern part of the North Sea: from the North- and
Westhinder along the Dutch coast to the east, and the English coast, the Falls, the Cabbard, Yarmouth, Cromer and Flamborough Head to the west.
The smaller sloops and
cutters as a rule remain in the neighbourhood of the Belgian coast and do not go farther
north than Westkapelle on the Dutch coast.
The very small cutters and the open boats remain in or near the territorial sea.
As was told already p. 83, the principal fishing ground for the cod-fishing in spring is
always still the Doggerbank
but the number of boats going there on that purpose has
some
of
sent,
visit
—
greatly diminished.
The herring
La Panne and Coxyde
fishing of the fishermen of
is
a coast fishery.
The
sloops go out for a single tide as a rule.
IL Statistics
Period
a.
As
far
as could
be
made
for
which they have existed
no
statistics
out,
on
the
Belgian sea-fisheries
have been
published going father back than 1872.
Through the courtesy of the Minister "de l'Industrie et du Travail" in Bruxelles, the
its demand received the pages 472—474 of an official publication containing
Bureau on
statistical
information regarding the seafishery (pêche maritimes) for the period 1872
These pages contain two tables (tableaux) on the Belgian
The
first
table gives for the three
main branches
fisheries,
— 1902.
both for the said period.
of the fishery:
Cod-fishery (pêche de la morue)
Coast-herring fishery (petite pêche du hareng) and
Fresh-fish fishery (pêche de marée),
the
number
catches
they
of the
boats
made.
and the harbours from which they
For the cod-fishery,
the catch
is
sailed
given in
as well
kg.,
for
as the total
the other two
fisheries its value is given in francs.
The second
(tonnage) of these
table
gives
the
number
boats (for each harbour,
number of the men engaged
the number of the sloops lost
of "boats
sailing
one figure for
from
all
each
harbour,
the boats together) and
in the fishery (also one figure for each harbour).
at sea
during each year
is
the
size
the
Moreover,
given.
Since 1882, "l'association commerciale maritime industrielle et agricole de l'arrondisse-
ment d'üstende" (Chamber
month gives a table
every
of
Commerce) publishes
a
monthly
bulletin,
of the sale of fresh fish sold at the Osteudo
one page of which
market during the
APPENDIX
J:
foregoing
month.
_
BELGIUM
For
each month,
86
the
—
value of the fish
total
landed by the
The number
Belgian
and
which landed the fish is not mentioned, however; the number of fishings
(pêches) for the steamers and the sailing boats together, is given.
The total value of the
fish landed by foreign fishing boats is published at the same time: one item for the English, one for the French, one for the Dutch and one for the German ships. The quantities
of fish landed are not given, neither totals, nor for the different species which compose
steamers
given,
is
that
the
of
sailing vessels
as well.
of the steamers
sailing boats
the catches.
With regard
these
prices
to prices as paid at the fish
different
for
in
fishes
markets of Bruxelles and Ostende,
lists
of
have been published since many years in local
kg.
papers, and also on the cover of the Belgian monthly "Pêche et Pisciculture".
b.
With regard
seafisheries,
by "M. M.
The
to
which the
in
in
statistics are collected
published
the official statistics
mentioned
les
Manner
by the government, the tables on the
the foregoing chapter, have been composed out of data furnished
commissaires maritimes à Anvers, Blankenberghe, Nieuport
figures
et
Ostende".
published by the Ostende Chamber of commerce are sent in monthly by
the Director of the Fish-Market.
In the
smaller harbours of the
Belgian coast, the quantities of
fish
landed seem not
'
to be registered, or at least, published in a regular way.
Forms of publication
c.
The only statistics which have been published in a distinct form are those mentioned
About the form in which they are published nothing need be added here.
p. 85.
III.
General information which
Regarding the quantity of
a.
About the quantities of
statistics give
the
1872
b.
(see
landed
by the government
official
gives
by
being
the
Belgian fishermen,
quantities
the available
For that fishery
the cod fishery.
in kg. caught in each year,
Table LIV).
Regarding the value of the
The
caught and
fish
be deduced from the statistics
caught by Belgian fishermen over a period of years
fish
no information, the only exception
published
table
since
may
statistics
give
fish
landed by Belgian fishermen over a period of years
figures
regarding the value of the
fish
caught by Belgian
fishermen in separate tables, for the so-called small herring fishery (petite pêche du hareng)
and
for the fresh-fish that is
For the fresh
fish
caught (pêche de marée).
(marée),
the
table
gives for the years 1882
— 1902
for
each of the
fishery-harbours Anvers (until 1895), Ostende, Nieuport, Coxyde, Blankenberghe, Heyst and
La Panne (Adinkerke), the number
of fishing boats
by the fishermen from each place.
As the
'
in
total value of the fish
size
caught
between the boats from the
Through the efforts of the Director of the Belgian section of the international exploration
work has been greatly improved. In future, the number of baskets of each kind
sea, the statistical
and
and the
difference
of the different sizes will be recorded
catches,
is
already acting.
of the
of fish
and a private service of information, concerning the origin of the
-
87
APPENDIX
J:
BELGIUM
APPENDIX
J:
Table LTI
a.
BELGIUM
Value of the fresh
88
fish
caught b;
(N.B.
lisherineii
One
franc
from Anvers, Osteiide, NIeuport and Oostdulnkerke
=
10
d.)
APPENDIX
89
caught by Belgian fishermen
example,
for
1901—1902).
The following
it
greater
than in
As
(Compare as an
any other country.
Oostduinkerke
etc. for
table gives the total value of all the Belgian
under consideration.
stics,
are
the figures given for Nieuport,
the value of the cod fishery was
1895 and 1896 with those
seafisheries
all
has been necessary to give an estimation of that value.
means not
Table IVll.
for the years
not given in the Belgian stati-
This estimation
on a comparison with the value of the cod caught by Dutch longliners:
by
BELGIUM
J:
fr.
is
too low a price.
Tola! value of the Belgian seafisheries
Years
(N. B.
One
franc
=
10
d.,
25
fi-ancs
based
0-60 pro kg.
=
1
£)
APPENDIX
J:
Table ITIII.
BELGIUM
_
90
—
Value of the Ash sold at the Ostende market
Years
(N.B.
One
franc
=
10
d.,
25 francs
=
1
£)
—
Table LIX.
91
FIshlng-boats of the different Belgian harbours
APPENDIX
J:
BELGIUM