As part of the Act of Parliament for improving the Harbour at Berwick-upon-Tweed which was passed in 1808, a Harbour Commission was set up. Membership of the Commission was to include local people owning property with an annual rental of over £40 and they were given powers to improve and maintain the Harbour, as well as to collect rates and duties from vessels using the harbour. Every ship using the Harbour had to pay a duty of 3s 4d (17 pence) as well as a additional amount depending on their tonnage and destination. This schedule shows some of the dues which had to be paid. For every Ship or Vessel trading between the said Harbour of Berwick and any Place between the Humber and Aberdeen (including that Port) for every Ton, Sixpence.

Berwick Harbour Commissioners still administer the port of Berwick today. All the ports in Northumberland are administered by Harbour Commissioners. There are ports at Blyth, Warkworth, North Sunderland and Berwick, and their records are a valuable source of information. They contain information about the construction of the harbours, any subsequent work done as well as details of who was employed as the Harbour Master or granted licences as pilots. Many of these records have been deposited in the Northumberland and Berwick Record Offices. The Harbour Commissioners records for Berwick date back to the 1820s.