Specialisation in agriculture shaped an integrated market despite the shortcomings of the transport network. Retailers and manufacturers benefited from the increased purchasing power of the well-to-do farming middle class, and shops opened in major towns around Catalonia and in the more active agricultural areas. Family companies and businesses with a modest share capital conducted colonial trade, and shipyards along the coast built the vessels required for this traffic. The fishing industry was modernised and Catalan fisheries were set up in Galicia, Andalusia and Patagonia.