The roots of the fishing industry could, arguably, have been laid in 1814. At that time Bold Hesketh was Lord of the Manor and the Fylde coastline was, largely, uninhabited. Yates's map of the Fylde published in 1786 have it marked as a rabbit warren. Bold maintained a small fleet of boats that fished the rich waters of Morecambe Bay and kept the Rossall estate supplied with fish. The fleet was berthed on the gently sloping beach at Rossall.This position, however, was very exposed to the power and fury of the westerly gales for which the coast was known. After a severe storm pounded the fleet, Bold decided to move it to safer waters at the mouth of the Wyre. For years the river had been known as a safe anchorage with the phrase 'As safe and easy as Wyre water' being in common use.Once the boats had been moved into the more sheltered waters of the River Wyre, he built huts for the fishermen to live in.

By 1836 Peter Hesketh had inherited the manor of Rossall together with almost a third of the coastline between Formby Point and north of the Wyre. He formulated the idea of building a new town to attract visitors from the inland towns to the Fylde Coast. Engaging Decimus Burton as the architect he began to construct the town.

Once the town became established and trading vessels began to visit the port a pilot service was set up to guide incoming vessels down the tricky Wyre channel. To kill time waiting for vessels, the pilots fished from their cutter selling their catch when they came ashore. Eventually they were earning more for their fishing than they could earn as pilots.A consortium bought the pilot cutter Pursuit and established the Fleetwood Fishing Company, supplementing the cutter at a later date with four half decked `Lancashire Nobbies` purchased from Banks, Southport, of the type that would, eventually, become synonymous with the Morecambe Bay fishing or shrimping industry. Soon more of the nobbies, or prawners as they were known locally, began to arrive. They exploited the fish rich waters of the bay, initially landing and selling their catches on the sandy foreshore until the quay was built and quickly became their home. Skate, plaice and codling were just some of the fish that was available from the fishermen during the year, although great care had to be taken to avoid the 'miller's thumb', a small weever fish that increased in numbers during the summer. A prick from one of his spiny fins would result in a rather painful hand.

The Nobbies were single-masted, fitted with a short bowsprit and carried a small sail. They had a long overhanging stern and an open well for working in. These small vessels were the cornerstone of the Lancashire inshore industry for many years, even into the late eighties. By that time, though, they had grown a deckhouse and were fitted with a small engine. This was, usually, a two-stroke petrol/paraffin type. The engine was started, initially with petrol, and switched to paraffin as soon as it had warmed up. By 1851 the town's population had grown to over 3000 and regular fish sales were being held. Fish storage sheds had been erected on the quayside and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company had begun to cater to the needs of the, fast growing, fishing industry. Fish wagons were attached to the trains that were calling at the town, allowing the fish to be transported quickly and easily all over the country. By the time that 1860 came around there were 32 small vessels, including smacks, sailing and fishing from the port on a regular basis. By 1876 this number had increased to 64 and the amount of shellfish and fish being shipped from the town reached 100 tons a day. The larger smacks, at some forty tons, were much larger than the nobbies and were capable of fishing much further afield. Whilst the smaller vessels restricted their operations to Morecambe Bay, the Ribble Estuary and Liverpool Bay, the smacks ranged as far afield as the Irish and Scottish coasts, chasing the skate, hake, cod and dogfish. The edible crab was also highly prized as a catch.