Grimsby (or archaically Great Grimsby) is a large town and seaport situated on the South Bank of the Humber Estuary, in England, close to where it reaches the North Sea. The town was traditionally in Lincolnshire, until it was absorbed into the new county of Humberside in 1974. After the abolition of Humberside in 1996, the town was returned to Lincolnshire, and it now serves as the administrative centre of the North East Lincolnshire unitary authority. Grimsby developed as a major sea port on the east coast of England, hosting the largest fishing fleet in the world by the mid twentieth century. The fishing industry dramatically declined following the Cod Wars of the 1970s, and since then the town has battled with post-industrial decline. Since the 1990s the local council has encouraged food manufacturing, promoting the town as "Europe's food town". As one of the largest centres of population in Lincolnshire the Grimsby-Cleethorpes conurbation acts as the cultural, shopping and industrial centre for a large area of northern and eastern Lincolnshire.