Operation sprats

Description: Looks at the sprat fishing industry in England. Fishing and canning operations are described with emphasis on the introduction of mechanisation. Trawlers, working in pairs, use echo-sounding equipment to locate shoals but netting and pulling-in still require all hands on deck. Machines cope with cleaning, grading, smoking and tin-can production and sealing at the canning factory but dexterous hand labour is needed to fill the tin with correct quantities of fish.