GRIMSBY FISHER FOLK AND THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2777, 22 May 1916, Page 8

GRIMSBY FISHER FOLK AND THE WAR

GREAT SHORTAGE OF LABOUR

Tho war Las created an amazing situation ill tile Grimsby fishing trado (writes a correspondent to the "Daily Telegraph"), it, is' duo to the scarcity of men to man.the trawlers. Before t-lio outbreak of hostilities the supply of labour was far in excess of the demand, and owners had the pick of an excellent class of men. To-day good lishevmen are at a premium, and traw-ler-owners are resorting to extraordinary devices in order to secure not only practical men, but any class of inen who will go to sea. This shortage of crews is due to the large nnmbor of fishermen who have enrolled in the Koyal Naval Reserve Trawler Section, to man the mine-sweepers and other vessels on war service. The result is that tho original steam-fishing fleet at Grimsby, which in peacetimes numbered over 600 vessels, lias been materially depleted, and the best type of fisherman is now oil war service; Consequently the residuum is . mixed in character, and comprises largely the class of man who works only When necessity demands. It is a truism in tho fishing trade that- at leqst 50 per cent, of the men now being eagerly selected to go to sea would stand little chance of securing suclr employment in normal 'times. : This eagerness on the part of [ trawler owners to obtain hands has caused'men'to realise, their value at tlio present' moment.. • Owners' Golden Harvest. Tho decrease in the , number of trawlers available for fishing purposes has had the effect of creating a 'financial boom amongst such owners whose' vessels have not been interfered with by tho Admiralty. Voyages are now proiitable in the-widest sense of the term. I'ish has more than quadrupled in value, and, with tho continuous shortage, duo .not .only to the naval require-* ments In regard to vessels, but also to tho restricted fishing area, which has been considerably curtailed, there is always an-overwhelming demand from all parts of the country, and it can by no means be mot. This golden harvest for trawler owners may be better un. derstood by giving- approximately the earnings of the crows. The Mayor of Grimsby (Alderman T. C. Moss), himself a leading trawler owner, has publicly stated that fishermen's earnings at the present time, are fabulous, and correspondingly the owners aro making immense profits; '

There is no fixed scale of. earnings on tho part of the fishermen. One ' firm will give a higher wage and no poundage; another firm pays a lower wageand gives poundage. One must, theretore, striko an averngo, and the subjoined .figures, startling as they may be, are'to be relied upoh. Dealing first of all with.the shippers and mates,'this class of men receivc no wages, their income depending exclusively upon'tho net profits of oacli voyage. In tho case of skippers the sbare is £10 per £100, and in the case of tho mates £7 10s. .per £100. -As a'rule, each vessel is only away a week for North Sea fishing, whereas tho approximate' period in.tlio case of Icelandic boats (now very few), is three weeks, >nd a fortnight in the case of. the boats working the Faroeso fishing gt-ounds. It is a poor kind of trawler which at the _ present time does not mako £350 for its woek's catch. Deduct £50 for expenses; and ther6 is a balance duo to the skipper of £30 for seven or eight days' work., There is probably. no skipper sailing out of Grimsby ac the present moment who is earning jess than £20 per- week, or at the rate of £1000 per annum, whilst a gr<?at' many are enjoying an income of from £20 to £<10 and even £50 a week. Several skippers iiavo for months past been, regularly earning at' loas't £30 per week: ' Only last-week a skipper who had been away sitxeen days to Faroe and back received a cheque for £143 as his share. - The scale of the mates shows pro rata earnings of a high character.

Income of tfta Crews. .Generally-speaking,''no deck hand is now earning less thau £3 per week, and many of them are receiving an income ranging from £3 to £5 per week. ]t is made up of wages, poundage, viz., 2jd. in the pound on the profits of tho voyage,' war bonus, etc. War buuus is at the rate of 10s. upon every £100 earned by tlie vessel. In addition, a sum of £4 is given to each member of the crew (skipper and mate excepted) every quarter if the man has regularly sailed in .the vessel during the ■ period. Auded to all this is the fact that tlie crew receivo food free —a by no means inconsiderable addition to income. Despite this alluring bait vessels are always awaiting crews, and to get them to sea with the least possible delay many owners are adopting methods which have been con-' demned in the Police Court and elsewhere. To get a man to sign on it is now. the custom either to advance him part of his prospective wages, or, if lie demands it, a"'free gift in cash. Men signing on obtain a monetary gift ranging from os. to 305., according to tho more imperative need of the owner for the man or the man's capacity for bargaining. . Many men, after receiving the gift or' advance, proceed to waste it, instead of going to sea. This explains why charges of "disobedience" at the local Police Court have enormously increased during the pa-st few months; yet so eager are owners to secure men that they contimie to 'give this, money inducement, knowing that at least a proportion will not turn up at the time due for sailing To delay 'a vessel until the next tide means a heavy loss for the twelve hours of enforced idleness, and to avoid this owners go to almost any lengths. It has happened more ■ than once that some owner's agent, knowing that a- man has been arrested for not going to sea, 'will to the' Town Hall and pay the. mail's fine in order that •lie may sign on. Many owners are the severest critics of this system of buying men to go to sea,,but they assert they are powerless to 'stop it, because those ivlio contimie this policy would be able to get their vessels away, and thus reap a financial benefit as against the others -who, by declining to continue the practice, would find it. impossible to secure hands.