
Scarborough Commercial Fishing Port - Scarborough, UK
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N 54° 17.027 W 000° 23.408
30U E 669891 N 6018238
Fishing on the Yorkshire coast has been part of the Yorkshire economy for centuries. The 183 km long Yorkshire coastline, stretching from the River Tees to the River Humber, has many ports, large and small, where the fishing trade thrives.
Waymark Code: WM17J44
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/25/2023
Views: 0
The historic ports at Hull and Whitby are important locations for the landing and processing of fish and shellfish. Scarborough and Bridlington are also sites of commercial fishing.
The fishing industry has been in decline since the mid to late 20th century due to labour problems, fishing quotas and decommissioning schemes. Bridlington is the largest shellfish port in Europe with regular exports abroad which are mostly to European countries.
The Yorkshire and The Humber statistical region is the second largest fishing industry in the United Kingdom (after Scotland) in terms of the number of people who work in the industry.
Up until the 1840s, the fisheries were landing catches that supplied only their immediate area; Scarborough, for example, saw an increase in its fishing fleet from 130 ships in 1840 to 800 ships in 1860. The rise in the number of boats and the increased catch, was down to the coming of the railways, which allowed fresh fish to be transported many miles inland.
Throughout the 1960s, the crab fishery on the Yorkshire coast represented 40% of the catch landed in England and Wales. Cobles landed the catch at Redcar, Staithes, Whitby, Scarborough, Filey, Flamborough and Bridlington.
Commercially, fish is landed at only four Yorkshire ports (Bridlington, Hull, Scarborough and Whitby) though not all fish landed at these ports are from fleets registered at those ports
Detailed history of ports:
Scarborough: In 1252, an edict passed by Henry III dictated the levies imposed on ships entering Scarborough harbour. So the price was between four and six pence for fishermen depending on the size of the boat. Scarborough's fish lands included cod, halibut, ling, turbot, skate, lobster, crab, shrimp, mackerel, sole, dab, plaice, herring, gurnard, whiting , saithe and haddock. But by far the greatest importance was given to herring. This activity represented an important part of the fishing economy, even though the season only lasted in August and September. However, the landings were good; by the 1870s this was such a large tonnage that an express fish train to London left Scarborough daily.
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