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Important industry
Charles Dickens, son of the famous author, stated in his "Dictionary of the Thames, 1889," that upwards of 100 sailing boats trawled for shrimps at that time in the northern Thames estuary. Shrimps were caught in a long bag net, stretched on a beam, which scraped the seabed as the boats sailed on. The nets would normally be submerged for no more than 30 minutes at a time.
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Dictionary of the Thames - cover |
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Mr Guilder Shrimp Fishing |
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When raised, the weeds would be removed, and then the shrimps would be shovelled up, and thrown against wire sieves of different grades. The very smallest shrimps were supposed to be thrown back into the sea to grow on, but were usually killed during the trawl. Net sizes were occasionally inspected by an assistant river-keeper, to ensure that they met Thames Conservancy regulations.
Tons of shrimps were transported daily to London, with the largest and finest of them going to the hotels and fishmongers in the West End. Low quality shrimps were sold from baskets by street hawkers.
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Introduction
Shrimping
