Cllr Philip Jackson, Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council:
Contrary to recent reporting, we can confirm that North Sea fishermen are not set to be “decolonised”. We have, and always will, celebrate our fishing heritage and give our thanks to those that dedicated their lives to providing food for the nation.
Alongside the award-winning Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre, the museum collection of the whole of North East Lincolnshire, comprising more than 70,000 items, is held at its stores. The collections include items of archaeology, written and painted items and many others. There are around 9,000 items of maritime history, which includes many items related directly to fishing.
Working as part of the Humber Museums Partnership, a review of the collections is being carried out to find hidden stories.
As an accredited museum, we have a responsibility to make sure that we represent all communities and consider objects through modern eyes.
We do this following the national Museums Association guidelines, something that many museums across the country are undertaking at the same time.
This is not about erasing or changing our past – that is something we would never seek to do. We are proud of our history and in particular, the work of the fishing fleets and those that worked on them.
This piece of work is about checking and updating the explanation of some objects so that people understand more about them when they visit, and making sure our communities are accurately represented.
The results may include, for example, updating the description of an item, or making notes on the internal collections log so that when an item is on display in the future, an appropriate description can be put alongside it.
Grimsby has a long and proud fishing heritage, one that we celebrate, in our Fishing Heritage Centre, and that our community is deeply connected to.
At the museum, we have people who worked on fishing boats in the heyday, explaining the past, and who work as guides on the Ross Tiger. We celebrate their work – it helped to build the town.
The museum was created in the 1990s, and for the last 30 years, has sought to represent and honour our fishing community and that is what we’ll continue to do, bringing the work of the fishing industry to life for generations to come.
The town has always been connected to the sea in its prime place at the entrance to the Humber estuary – whether through its fishing fleets of the past, the seafood processing of modern era, or through the operations and maintenance centres of the renewables industries. Each part of history is to be celebrated, and is fundamental to the town’s past, and future.
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