Voices from the Shoreline: The Ancient and Ingenious Traditions of Coastal Fishing

An important record of ancient fishing traditions along Britain’s coastal fringes, now rapidly dying out. The Atlantic salmon is an amazing creature: its migration from birth river to Greenland and then back to spawn in the same spot it was born continues to amaze us. The vast shoals of herring make their migration equally amazing, and while salmon are often reliable in their patterns of behaviour, herring can vary their migrations without warning. For generations, those fishers who specialize in these coastal fish have passed their methods down throughout their close communities; today, some methods, such as haaf netting, are in danger of dying out. And while herring stocks collapsed in the second half of the twentieth century but now seem to have recovered, the Atlantic salmon is in more danger of extinction than it has ever been. This detailed study, along Britain’s coastal fringes rather than out to sea, is an important social history of these ingenious fishing traditions and communities, presenting a picture of their lives, past and present. AUTHOR: Mike Smylie is a maritime historian specialising in the fishing industry. He has written widely on the subject for many books and magazines. He is a founder member of the 40+ Fishing Boat association and edits their thrice-yearly newsletter Fishing Boats. 20 b/w illustrations