Fishing

Fishing has always been and still is, very important to the economy of the Island although it has drastically changed over the last forty years.
Until then, boats were less than eight metres in length, the vast majority being around 5M. These operated from the cranes at Portland Bill, Durdle Pier, and beaches, Church Ope, Balacalava beach, Castletown, and Chesil Beach. Sadly full time fishermen no

By Ken Lynham

In its earliest form Shell Fishing in the middle English Channel was the simple drop net, baited and fished from rocky out crops and cliffs. The earliest pots were Withy pots, and many copses were cultivated along the coast solely to make crab and lobster pots. Lulworth being the main Dorset one. These pots were worked singly, and were very vulnerable to bad weather and strong tidal areas. Metal pots began to be used in the early 1900’s, these were very labour intensive to construct. The fishermen themselves always made them during the winter months, when no potting was done. The frames of the pots were bound with hemp twine, and the netting, done by hand, was of either manila or sisal twine. The whole pot was then dipped into Coal Tar to help prevent rotting, but it was lucky if it lasted a whole season.

March was the earliest time pots were used. The first boats to start always did well catching the lobsters that wintered close inshore, because right up until the early 1950’s potting was only pursued by relatively small boats. Pots with 7” mouths were used for crabs, and fished until June, when 5” mouths were used to catch lobsters. Bait for lobster was always salted fish, mostly stinking, it deterred both brown crab and

spider crab ( which in those days were deemed a pest and were smashed and thrown overboard ). This continued until late August, when 7” mouths replaced the 5” and fished until the weather broke in November, when potting ceased for the season. Fishermen then used gaps in the weather to fish fixed nets.

In the early 1950’s capstans were produced purely for handling strings of pots, and boats were built, with the assistance of grants from the White Fisheries Association, specifically for potting. These vessels were generally between 26ft and 40ft in length, and potting gear gradually moved further out to sea. Strings of pots varied in number from 20 to 50 and were marked by flags at either end. Specially designed grapples were made to help hold the pots on the sea bed. At this time synthetic materials were being introduced into the industry.
This revolutionised it, because netting that rotted in one season was now replaced with something that did not rot. Hence not nearly as much work to do in the Winter. Potting then started to be done all the year round.