Fishing industry

A thriving fishing industry, primarily herring, centred on Newhaven harbour in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, eventually declining in the 1950s. The Fishmarket building still stands and continues in partial use today. In the past it had dealt in catches of halibut, plaice, cod, hake and haddock from elsewhere, in addition to the Newhaven herring catches. The Heritage Museum, also housed in the old Fishmarket building, is well worth a visit. Newhaven Fishwives used to be a common sight on the streets of Edinburgh, in their striped aprons, carrying their heavy load of fish for sale in creels on their backs.