In 1968, Queen Juliana unveiled the Urk Fishermen's Monument. 368 names are engraved in the 34 marble slabs at the Fishermen's Monument. Names, of those who stayed at sea. This monument is placed in memory of these many Urkers. The statue shows a woman looking back once more to the sea, the direction from which her husband or son should have returned home.
Fishing and the fish-processing industry brought much prosperity to the former island of Urk. But Urk and its inhabitants also had to pay for it. Previously, fishing was not carried out through modern techniques and large cutters. Vulnerable boats and cutters were and mostly prey to storms and waves. Many paid for fishing with their lives. Perished at sea, often never to be found again. It happened more than once that a cutter and its crew had remained at sea. The sea gives and the sea takes.
