[Report 1951] / Medical Officer of Health, Grimsby Port Health Authority.

  • Great Grimsby (England). Port Health Authority.
Date:
1951
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1951] / Medical Officer of Health, Grimsby Port Health Authority. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    6/38 (page 4)
    As far as the near water fleet is concerned, the position cannot be regarded with the same complacency. Many of these vessels are ready for scrapping and, in fact, a small number have been dispensed with during the year. But there are still no signs of a replacement programme being undertaken other than by purchasing similar types of vessel from other ports. It is obvious that the present situation cannot be prolonged indefinitely. A notable event during the year was the settling of the Anglo- Norwegian territorial water dispute in favour of Norway. It now remains to see what effect this cutting off of supplies will have on the fish landings at Grimsby. The popularity of quick-frozen fish continues to increase slowly but surely and the problem presented in Grimsby by lack of cold storage facilities has been tackled energetically. During the year 1950 the conversion of one half of a disused grain warehouse to cold storage was completed and this increased local facilities by 3,000 tons. During 1951 work was commenced on the second half of the warehouse and, when this work is completed in the summer of 1952, a further 3,000 tons of cold storage space will be added. It is estimated that by the summer of 1952, the cold storage space in Grimsby available for public use will amount to 10,000 tons while the private cold stores of the many fish processing firms will amount to another 3,000 tons, a total of 13,000 tons. This figure serves to illustrate and emphasise the tremendous progress which has been made by the quick-freeze section of the fishing industry since the end of the war. Through the courtesy of the Icelandic Government the Chief Port Health Inspector, Mr. J. D. Syme, was able to spend a week in Iceland for the purpose of studying various aspects of the Icelandic fishing industry. This visit to Iceland was a most valuable experience for Mr. Syme, and the invitation from the Icelandic Government was a greatly appreciated gesture. I would like to thank the Officers of H.M. Customs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Immigration Officer and the Officials of the Docks and Inland Waterways Executive for their ready co-operation and assistance during the year.