Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
£20 million a year. Unlike elsewhere in Britain, where migrant workers have been used, with results such
as the tragic drowning of 20 cockle gatherers in Morecambe Bay in February 2004, the licensing system
has so far meant that the licence holders are still the same people and families that have worked in the
fishery for decades.
FISH AND FISHERIES
SpecimensofalmostallBritishmarinefishspecieshavebeenrecordedfromthearea,butseabass,mullet
Chelon labrosus
and flounder
Platichthys flesus
are regarded as typical of the estuary and surrounding
coastal waters. Other species such as plaice, sole, cod and whiting are regarded as regular visitors. In the
past herring
Clupea harengus
was also plentiful. The principal methods of fishing for these species are
by fixed net or rod and line (Fig. 107). Boat netting is not allowed and no regular trawling takes place.
Fishing takes place on a seasonal basis according to the availability of species, with bass and mullet in
summer and autumn, flounder in autumn and winter and cod in winter.
Total commercial landings of these species from within the estuary are minimal, with only a few
people now setting nets on an irregular basis, often 'for the pot'. At low tide lines of abandoned metal
stakes, formerly used to support fixed nets, can be seen at the tip of Whiteford Point, clear evidence of
the much greater fishing activity in the past. Many of the fishermen were miners seeking to supplement
theirincome,fishingtheinletandestuarywith'fieldnets'inbetweenworkingshiftsatthecolliery.Much
of the work was done at night, alone or in small groups. It was dangerous work, but the men knew every
part of the shore and could operate in almost complete darkness if necessary. Most of the nets were fixed
to the base of the poles, although the herring fishermen strung their nets three-quarters of the way up the
pole, as the herring came into the inlet much nearer the surface than other fish. The catch, often 18 to 20
kilograms of fish, would, as with the cockles, be transported back to the shore by donkey.
