17th August 1893
St Peter Port inundated with fish
Under the headline “Extraordinary Sight on the Breakwater,” The Star of 17 August 1893 reported that at least 150 people had been lining Castle Breakwater every night for several days, “fishing with rods and ground lines, and hauling up high and dry, mackerel, horse mackerel and whiting in wonderful numbers. The sea below the breakwater, during the time mentioned, was literally alive with the fish which were distinctly observable swimming about in hundreds.”
There had been an unprecedented run on fishing tackle, said the paper, and “individual catched of 40 and 50 mackerel etc were not uncommon – in one instance a gentleman pulled up no less than four horse mackerel in three minutes.”
Most likely explanation was that a shoal of white bait, the mackerel’s food, had clustered close to the breakwater.
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Other events that occured in August
A tomato ship and a tanker collided
- A Guernsey tomato ship was sunk when it struck a Liberian tanker
- Read more…
The Saumarez Memorial foundation stone was laid
- The memorial was later destroyed by the German occupying forces
- Read more…
Jersey swimmers set a round-Guernsey record
- They completed the circuit in just under nine hours.
- Read more…
Jethou tenant was rescued from an up-turned boat
- William Hedley Cliff had set out with a friend who lost his grip and was swept away
- Read more…