As a young man in his twenties, David Hall-Green found himself working as a trawler man out of Brixham Harbour on the “Leon Jeannine”.

Date: Thursday 16th May 2024
Time: 6 PM to 8 PM
Venue: Formosa Garden Village
Ticket price (adults): R200.00
Tickets: BOOK ONLINE

We invite you to join us on Thursday 16th May at Formosa Garden Village to hear DAVID HALL-GREEN tell us about his experiences 60 years ago as a trawler-man working out of the English fishing port of Brixham.

David’s illustrated talk will include some of his own photographs taken at the time.

Our wonderful location in Plett makes the sea and all that goes on in it very dear to our hearts. There is much talk these days about fish stocks, and seals and great white sharks, and feeding frenzies when “bait balls” make their way through our waters pursued by fish, dolphins and birds. We all remember watching boats on the horizon- concerned they were foreign trawlers overfishing in our waters. More recently the ever-increasing number of “chokka” boats light up our bay at night during the strictly controlled “chokka” fishing season and lead to much discussion. In days gone by our own fishing boats would land on Central Beach and attract great interest. One could buy fish straight off the boats.

The modern fishing trawler was developed in Brixham in the 19th Century. The Brixham Trawler was sleek with a tall gaff rig, which gave the vessel sufficient speed to make long-distance trips out into the fishing grounds around the English coast. They were also sufficiently robust to be able to tow large trawls in deep water. The great trawling fleet that built up in Brixham earned the village the title of “The Mother of Deep-Sea Fisheries”. The revolutionary design made large scale trawling in the ocean possible for the first time.

The elegant Brixham trawler spread across the world, influencing fishing fleets everywhere. By the end of the 19th century there were over 3000 fishing trawlers in Britain alone. They were sold to fishermen throughout Europe and beyond.

David will describe how this method of fishing – known as bottom trawling- remained in use for 200 years. This was very damaging to marine life. Everything was scooped up indiscriminately off the ocean floor and much of the catch was simply discarded. Thankfully, with the use of modern equipment, and a greater awareness of environmental impacts the trawling industry has changed.