Fish drag

Thsi item is probably a grappling iron for recovering lost ropes, creels, chains etc. It would be thrown in the water and dragged past the area where the equipment went over, and the hook would catch on the lost equipment so it could be rescued.

Part of the Buckland Collection.  Frank Buckland (1826-1880) was a keen naturalist, prolific writer, campaigner against river pollution, and researcher on fish-culture and fish farming.  In 1865, he established the UK’s first fisheries museum, the Museum of Economic Fish Culture, on the site of the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London.  After his death, interest in his Museum waned and, over time, many of the artefacts deteriorated.  In 1968 what remained of the collection was transferred to the Scottish Fisheries Museum.