One of the chief sources for any study of the history of Hull is Gilletts and MacMahon’s “A History of Hull” published by Oxford university press in 1980. The authors report that around the time of the gales, the loss of lives per every 11,000 men employed in the fishing industry was about ten times greater than in the coal mining industry.
In 1881 three new fishing grounds were opened. These were off the shores of Shetland, the Faroes and Iceland and this meant by 1882 there were over 400 trawlers operating out of Hull. All this meant a considerable growth in the number of shore based jobs connected with fishing.
Gillett and MacMahon point out “by 1878 there were 50 smoke houses in which fish was cured, the first having been started by a man named Self in 1849. The yards in which the smacks were built and repaired employed 50 blacksmiths as well as a far greater number of ship wrights and riggers.