EASTBOURNE HARBOUR
A 30-year-old promise: The development of Eastbourne Harbour By Chris Williams Chris is Associate Fellow at the New Economics Foundation (NEF), who are working towards an economy that works for everyone.
According to local history, in the 1880s Sussex fishermen were said to be of “strong and resolute stock” of Spanish, Norman French and Saxon roots. The “Willicks” or “Willickers”, as the Fishermen of Eastbourne were known, fished for migrating herring, sprat and mackerel. Their boats were known as “Bourners”, and along with the fishing fleets of Hastings and Brighton, the Eastbourne fishermen would follow the mackerel down the English Channel to Devon and Cornwall and even to Southern Ireland; other fishing expeditions would take them as far north as Scarborough. Today, 38 mostly under 10m, family-owned fishing boats operate out of Eastbourne’s Sovereign Harbour. In 2019 they landed over £3 million worth of seafood.
28 QUAY ISSUES
Whelks are the most important species for the Eastbourne fleet and made up nearly three quarters of their total landings by weight. Other important species include crab, lobster, sole and bass. Despite Eastbourne’s long fishing heritage and their continued strong landings, the future of the local fleet has been shrouded in uncertainty for several decades. To understand why, we need to go back to the Eastbourne Harbour Act of 1980.
