"Sea's the Day"
"Sea's the Day" was undertaken with the aim of raising the profile of Selsey’s fishing industry and was launched thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund grant successfully applied for by Selsey Town Council with support from the Selsey Fisheries, Chichester District Council and the Manhood Peninsula Partnership.
From Anglo-Saxon times onwards, fishing in Selsey has evolved. Today, some of Selsey’s fishing families can trace their family’s fishing history back to at least the 16th Century.
Many of these families also have a deep-rooted link to Selsey’s lifeboat with several local fishermen being members of the Selsey branch of the RNLI. It was the fishermen who first concluded that a lifeboat was required in this area as, although they themselves knew the waters, visiting vessels were being wrecked on the rocks.
Selsey's heritage and its fishing industry go hand-in-hand. Modern life may have drawn us away from the traditional ways of living, the social and economic value of this industry should be celebrated.
As stated by Robert Greenwood, Safety and Training Officer for the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, the men and women who fish in Selsey “enrich our town, making Selsey unique and, above all else, they give Selsey its identity, more so than any other trade or group of people. It’s vital that people continue to take pride in our fishing heritage and have a sense of ownership so that our fishermen are protected for many generations to come.”
The book 'Bringing Home the Catch' traces the origins of Selsey's rich fishing heritage and reveals how it has evolved over the years. It is a remarkably candid insight into the everyday lives of Selsey's hard-working fishermen told in their own words, through a series of frank and heartfelt interviews about the past, present and future of the fishery.
Over the years, these courageous, determined and hardy fishermen have embraced good times and many memorable adventures at sea with a sense of shared endeavour, while pulling together in times of adversity to confront hardship, and even tragedy, with an indominable spirit of comaraderie. These stories are captured in the book.
To pick up your copy of 'Bringing Home the Catch' either pop into Selsey Town Council Offices or The Novium Museum. All donations recieved from the book are put towards initiatives to preserve and grow Selsey's Fishing Industry.