This rose to more than 40,000 hogsheads (around 8,400 tons) by mid-19th century.
Fishermen tucking seine nets loaded with pilchards at Gunwalloe, Cornwall, in 1899.
Shoals of fish moved into Cornish water in late summer or early autumn to get to spawn.
The shoals were so large that they could be seen from cliff tops.
He would notice a change in the color of the water to a dark reddish brown.
He would also see seagulls diving in and catching fish.
This was the signal to drop everything and run towards the boats.
“A first to the lea,““And look!
Our men are now going to sea.
Photo:Helston Museum
The job of the huer was an important one.
The huer was usually well-known and a respected member of the community, because much depended on his work.
The huer also directed the movement of the boats at sea using his two bushes to make semaphore-like signals.
The huer usually had a hut on the coast, where he lived and kept watch.
The huers hut in Newquay, Cornwall.
An external staircase leads to a stone roof for an even better view.
There is a large opening on the sea-facing north wall flanked by splayed projecting walls.
This allowed the huer to keep watch during inclement weather when it was not safe to go outside.
The huer would be in his post from sunrise until sunset for three or four months of the year.
The arrival of the pilchard to the Cornish coast would cause great excitement in the community.
While the men fished, the women would prepare hevva cakes, which is still made in the region.
For three hundred years, pilchards were the lifeblood of many communities on the Cornish coast.
Salted pilchards were exported as far away as Rome where they are still considered a delicacy.
Pilchards were particularly popular in Mediterranean countries at Lent, when Catholics were abstained from eating meat.
Photo:Robert Pittman/Flickr
The huers hut in Newquay, Cornwall.
