A commercial fishing fleet is now a thing of the past at Aldeburgh. Skipper Dean Fryer explains why: ‘Bureaucracy, paperwork, over-the-top EU quotas and the rising costs of simply fuelling and maintaining a boat has driven most fishermen out of business.’
Nevertheless, fishing seems to be a part of the DNA for many. The high tide line along the beach is marked by a sprinkling of small boats and, behind them, a row of black fishermen’s huts. Typically a catch might include sole, skate, bass, flounder, lobster and/or crab.
The shingle beach shelves steeply and ‘vintage’ tractors are used to haul the boats to safe dry land.
