INTRODUCTION. 15
afford them a constant change of water. Since the use
of steam carriers and ice, these well-boats have not
been of such vital importance, although they are still
valuable adjuncts to the Doggerbank fishery. In
addition to the deliveries of fish by boats belonging to
the port, Harwich is visited by many smacks from
other districts, which here land their catch for carriage
to London. The safety of the harbour, the easy
access to it, the shortness of the railway journey, and
the facilities afforded for placing cargoes on the rail,
make this port a most advantageous one.
Burnham and the Crouch supply a small number
of fishermen both for in-shore and deep-sea trawling.
The number is probably increasing.
Maldon, Mersea, Tollesbury, and the villages on
the shores of the Blackwater have a considerable
population engaged in the sea fisheries, mostly on
trawlers belonging to other ports, both of the North
Sea and the English Channel. I do not think any of
their boats take part in the drift-net fisheries of the
North Sea.
Brightlingsea, Wyvenhoe, and the shores of the
Colne have a larger population engaged in fishing
than any other part of the county. Their boats are
engaged wherever there is fish to be caught in the seas
surrounding the United Kingdom, from the western
shores of Ireland, where the mackerel fishing attracts