Fishing the European Coast

Book excerpt: No one knows when the first fishing boat set out to sea, although river fishing by boat was quite likely the earlier. Mosaics from the Mediterranean show vessels encircling shoals dating from the first century, although Egyptian tomb reliefs dated to 6000BC show nets being set. In Britain we also know that Mesolithic man was moving about by boat, again in about 6000BC. These people, primarily wanderers, were also hunter gatherers. Jesus, we are told, sailed aboard fishing boats on the Sea of Galilee around the early years of the first century AD, while Caesar noted that wooden boats were in use in Britain sometime after the Roman invasion. However, within these pages, it is really only the last two centuries that concern us. Although the roots of some of the vessels may go back many generations, in the main those in this book are still in existence in some form or other, even if not for their original intended use.