Peel's harbour, sheltered by St Patrick's Isle, grew into the Isle of Man's most important herring port; harbour improvements were being petitioned for as early as 1759. Its breakwater was built in 1856 and extended in 1896, when the current breakwater lighthouse was established. At the height of the herring fishery, boats from Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man landed catches here to be salted and smoked into the Manx kipper, a trade that shaped the town's economy into the 20th century.