Ebook The Sea Fisheries of Great Britain and Ireland

The position occupied by the Sea Fisheries among the industries of the United Kingdom is one of peculiar importance. Their value in adding largely to the food resources of the country is of course very great; but it is scarcely less important, that they cannot be carried on without contributing to the development of particular trades and manufactures, all of which are of essential consequence to a maritime people like our own; and that they are a regular means of training a large number of men and boys to the endurance of hardships and dangers, which are unavoidable elements in a seafaring life. And when we consider the extent of our coast line, and that at even every little village on it, some of the population, and frequently many of them, are fishermen, we can hardly doubt but that the self-reliance and forethought induced in them by the necessities of their vocation, must have some influence for good on the national character.