‘To save the industry from complete ruin’: Crisis and response in British fishing 1945-1951

Wilcox, Martin

Abstract

Fishing is a small, complex and fragmented industry, which arguably exerts political significance disproportionate to its size. This article traces the prolonged period of depression which affected British deep-sea fishing between the wars, and then a more virulent crisis which erupted in the post-war years. It explores how the industry proved unable to respond effectively, requiring intervention from government which followed a similar pattern to that elsewhere in the economy, albeit tailored to the industry’s peculiar circumstances and idiosyncratic nature.

Citation

Wilcox, M. (2021). ‘To save the industry from complete ruin’: Crisis and response in British fishing 1945-1951. Business history, 63(3), 353-377. https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2019.1576634

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 22, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Mar 20, 2019
• Publication Date: 2021
• Deposit Date: Feb 6, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 21, 2020
• Journal: Business History
• Print ISSN: 0007-6791
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 63
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 353-377
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2019.1576634
• Keywords: Fisheries; Labour; productivity; crisis; reorganisation; industrial policy
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/1280010
• Contract Date: Feb 6, 2019