Page 54 - Sjæklen2011

The visible differences, for example, included the mission
fishermen’s strongly distancing themselves from alcohol,
card games and dancing, and there was a strong internal
solidarity in the mission families, which also included
mutual financial support. This solidarity helped to make
them pioneers in the establishment of seamen’s homes at
Esbjerg harbour in 1903 and 1927 and the first locally based
purchasing and ships’ insurance associations in Esbjerg in
1919 and 1924. The seamen’s homes were used by a very
broad circle of maritime businesses and they were a part of
the face which the mission presented to the outside world,
and the commercial associations were of major financial
benefit for the fishermen, but they also contributed to the
social divide with the non-mission people.
In the years between the wars, the mission fishermen
turned increasingly towards a pattern of fishing which
differed from that of the rest of the fleet in that they
continued with fishing along the coast for live plaice, while
the rest of the fleet engaged in fishing trips of several weeks’
duration, often calling at British harbours. The reason for
this was that a central part of the mission fishermen’s values
was a wish to be home on Sunday to take part in life at the
church and the mission house. Sunday observance was also
a condition for membership of the mission’s ship insurance.
The market for live fish disappeared during and after
the Second World War, and after some years the mission
fishermen instead became involved with a large part of
the non-mission fleet in industrial fishing for herring and
sand eels for fishmeal and oil. The industrial fishing was
performed in short fishing trips with the possibility of being
home for Sunday, but on the other hand it meant problems
with the processing of the highly perishable fish when
so many boats came home to land fish on Saturday. The
result was discord among the fishermen, but the parties
Fiskere ved 1. pier i Fiskerihavnen. 1. pier blev kaldt ”Missionspieren”, fordi missionskutterne normalt lå ved kaj her.
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