•NRLF

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THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

International Fisheries Exhibition

LONDON, 1883

THE

FISHERIES EXHIBITION
LITERATURE.

VOLUME VI.

CONFERENCES— PART III.

FISH DISEASES.

THE CULTURE OF SALMONID^E AND THE ACCLIMA-
TIZATION OF FISH.

THE HERRING FISHERIES OF SCOTLAND.

MACKEREL AND PILCHARD FISHERIES.

SALMON AND SALMON FISHERIES.

COARSE FISH CULTURE.

THE DESTRUCTION OF FISH AND OTHER AQUATIC ANIMALS
BY INTERNAL PARASITES.

THE FOOD OF FISHES.

MOLLUSCS, MUSSELS, WHELKS, ETC., USED FOR FOOD OR BAIT.

THE ARTIFICIAL CULTURE OF LOBSTERS.

CRUSTACEANS.

LONDON
WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,

13 CHARING CROSS, S.W.
1884

LONDON :
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,

STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

, L

CONFERENCES— PART III.

CONTENTS.

FISH DISEASES. By PROFESSOR HUXLEY, P.R.S. . . . A°i

THE CULTURE OF SALMONID^E AND THE ACCLIMA*
TIZATION OF FISH. By Sir JAMES RAMSAY GIBSON
MAITLAND, Bart 33

THE HERRING FISHERIES OF SCOTLAND. By R. W.

DUFF, M.P 69

MACKEREL AND PILCHARD FISHERIES. By THOMAS

CORNISH 109

SALMON AND SALMON FISHERIES. By D. M. HOME,

F.R.S.E 147

COARSE FISH CULTURE. By R. B. MARSTON ... 205

THE DESTRUCTION OF FISH AND OTHER AQUATIC
ANIMALS BY INTERNAL PARASITES. By T. SPENCER
COBBOLD, M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S. 245

THE FOOD OF FISHES. By FRANCIS DAY, F.L.S., F.Z.S . 265

MOLLUSCS, MUSSELS, WHELKS, ETC., USED FOR FOOD

OR BAIT. By C. W. HARDING, Assoc. M. INST. C.E. . . 301

THE ARTIFICIAL CULTURE OF LOBSTERS. By W.

SAVILLE KENT, F.L.S., F.&S.* . . . . . 325

CRUSTACEANS. By THOMAS CORNISH 553

M35S666

FISH DI SEASES

BY

PROFESSOR HUXLEY, P.R.S.,

H.M. INSPECTOR OF SALMON FISHERIES FOR ENGLAND AND WALES.

VOL. VI— -C.

CONTENTS.

SYMPTOMS OF DISEASE , . 4$.

DISTRICTS INFECTED 5

SALMON SUPPLY . . 8

NATURE OF DISEASE 9

COMMUNICATION OF DISEASE n

FECUNDITY OF THE ZOOSPORES . . . , . .15

SUMMARY 17

DISCUSSION . . . . . . , , . .19

CONFERENCE ON TUESDAY, JULY 3, 1883,

The MARQUIS OF HAMILTON in the Chair.

FISH DISEASES.

THE title of the present paper is, I am sorry to say, far too
large for its contents, for I propose to speak, not of fish
diseases, in general, but of that particular malady which
attacks freshwater fishes, occasionally assumes the dimen-
sions of a very formidable epidemic, and, in one of its
forms, the so-called " Salmon disease," is too well known.

At the first onset of this disease, small whitish patches
make their appearance on the skin of the fish. The
smooth integument of the top of the head, or of the end of
the snout, is a very usual locality, but the adipose fin, and
the axillae of the paired fins are also among the first parts
to be affected. If there is an abraded or wounded
surface, the disease is pretty sure to attack it, but the
invasion of the malady is in nowise dependent upon the
pre-existence of an injury. In severe cases, the mischief
rapidly extends, until sometimes almost the whole body is
covered with an ashen grey coat, which completely hides
the scales. On brushing off the crust, however, the scales
are usually found undisturbed. In the scaleless parts of
the skin, sloughing soon sets in, and deep burrowing sores
are formed. On the head, the cranial bones may be

B 2

exposed, and the fins are eaten away, and become ragged
Very often one or both gill-covers become partially glued
down to the shoulder, and the gill-openings obstructed, but
I have never yet been able to meet with any sign of disease
on the gills themselves. This is contrary to common belief,
but I can only say that such is my experience. On the
other hand, the disease frequently invades the cavity of
the mouth, and often more or less destroys the mem-
branous veil which lies behind the teeth, and plays a
curious part in respiration. Thus, although, so far as I have
been able to observe, the respiratory organs are not
directly attacked, the performance of the respiratory
function may be very seriously obstructed.

If the mucous membrane lining the mouth be reckoned
with the integument, of which it really is a part, it. may be
said that the affection under discussion is strictly a
cutaneous disease, comparable to ringworm among men.
However badly a fish may have been diseased, there is no
trace of the affection in the abdominal cavity or in any of
the viscera, and the muscles and deep-seated bones appear
healthy. Some say that the liver is enlarged and soft, but
I have seen the liver quite healthy in very severe cases.

The fish appear to suffer considerable irritation from the
disease ; but how far this is a primary symptom, and how
far it results from the entanglement of multitudes of
minute grains of sand in the fluffy coat of the diseased skin,
is uncertain. Badly diseased fish in aquaria, the water of
which contains no suspended particles of sand, do not show
signs of any particular irritation.

The mortality among salmon, sea trout, and freshwater
trout caused by this disease is very considerable. In the
last five years from 2000 to 4000 diseased fish have been
taken out of the Tweed, and a like number out of the

Eden every year. As many as 600 diseased salmon were
taken out of the Lime, which is but a small river, last year.

The course of the epidemic has been very remarkable.
It began to attract attention in the River Eden in 1877 ;
shortly afterwards it appeared in the Tweed, and it has
remained ever since in great but variable intensity in those
and adjacent rivers. On the east coast, a few cases have
appeared in the Coquet, but none have been noticed in
the Wear. Among fresh-run salmon it is almost un-
known on the Tyne, though it commonly appears on
kelts and on dace. But it has never taken an epidemic
character in this river nor in the Tees. In the Yorkshire
Esk fifty diseased fish were taken out in 1882, but there
has been no serious epidemic. Two or three diseased
salmon were taken out of the Ure last season, but south-
ward of this I have no information of any disease in the
rivers of the east coast.

It may be said, then, that there has been practically no
epidemic outbreak in the eastern rivers south of the Tweed.
On the west coast of England the state of affairs is totally
different. Since 1879, the disease in its epidemic form has
made its appearance more and more to the south, until last
season it broke out in the Usk and in the Wye.

These facts are very remarkable and very important.
For if, as I believe to be the case, the morbid affection
the skin is wholly extirpated when the salmon descend to
the sea, it is not possible that the disease should be pro-
pagated from one river to another by the immigration of
fish from an infected into a healthy river. It is quite
possible that the fungus which, as we shall see, is the cause
of the disease, might be transferred from an infected to a
healthy river by birds, but the evidence in the Tyne and
in the Usk is conclusive that the disease has long existed

to a slight extent in these rivers, so that the theory of
transportation is superfluous.

Again, the facts are not favourable to the supposition that
either pollution or overcrowding has much to do with the
matter. The Clerk of the Kent, Bela, Winster, Leven, and
Duddon district reports this year that, in the River Duddon,
there is no obstruction between the sea and its source, and
that it is perfectly free from pollution. The river is to a great
extent unpreserved, and there has been no overcrowding.
The disease was not noticed till last year, 1 88 1-2, when the
watchers removed about forty fish. The Leven is an outlet
of Lake Windermere. The only possible source of pollution
is the sewage of the little town of Bowness, which falls into
the great body of water of the lake, and maybe disregarded.
Disease was unknown in the Leven until the last season,
when it suddenly became the most infected river of the
district.

A very competent authority, Mr. Berrington, Chairman
of the Usk Board, informs me that the disease has always
been known to occur occasionally, especially in late kelts
— rarely in fresh-run fish ; sometimes in dace, trout, and
young salmon. In 1881, however, it was carefully looked
for, but no trace of it could be found. Nevertheless, in
January and February, 1882, it was unusually prevalent
in spawning salmon. In the end of March and in April,
when the river contains the smallest number of salmon,
a violent epidemic broke out among the trout, and lasted
through May and June.

The salmon ran up the river early this year ; and, in
April, numerous diseased clean fish were observed. Between
the first week of July and the end of October, the disease
entirely disappeared ; but, in November, a violent outbreak
occurred, trout and salmon, spawned and unspawned,

dying in large numbers. This epidemic lasted until the
middle of May of this year. It then began to diminish ;
salmon could be watched recovering from the disease, and
by the beginning of June it had almost disappeared,
although the river was very low. In the previous year
freshes had no effect in diminishing the disease.

I attach great weight to these careful and precise obser-
vations, and I shall have something to say about their
bearing by-and-by. They prove conclusively that, even while
the fish remain in fresh water, diseased salmon may com-
pletely recover, and they would leave no doubt in my
mind that the epidemic has no necessary connection either
with pollution or with overcrowding, even if this point had
not been settled already. Mr. Byers, formerly surveyor in
the Government service in British Columbia, told the Com-
missioners who inquired into the salmon disease in 1880,
that he was on the Harrison River, one of the tributaries of
the Fraser, in that dependency in 1861, and that he there
saw thousands of diseased salmon. The disease has also
been observed in the Castries rivers in Siberia. Yet neither
in British Columbia nor in Siberia can the rivers be much
troubled with pollution from high farming or industrial
occupations. It is true that Mr. Byers attributes the
disease to overstocking, but this is a mere guess ; and it is
negatived by the facts adduced before the same Commis-
sioners by Sir James Maitland, who kept 12,000 Lochleven
trout, varying in weight from half a pound to five pounds,
from November to March 1878-9, in three ponds, each
about 300 feet long, 45 feet wide, and 6 to 13 feet deep,
without loss of more than I per 1000. Another very sin-
gular fact which has been brought to light by observation,
though it certainly sounds paradoxical, is that even a violent
epidemic of disease, continued for several years, does not

diminish the productiveness of a river. The Tweed has
suffered as severely as any river during the last five years,
and yet the catch of salmon in 1882 (8,808) was more than
double what it was in 1879 (3,472).

I have been favoured this morning by Messrs. Forbes,
Stuart & Co., of Lower Thames Street, with the following
returns, which show that, disease notwithstanding, the
supply of salmon from the rivers of the United Kingdom
to London, in the month of June just past, was far in excess
of that in the same months in the five preceding years.

ARRIVAL OF SALMON IN LONDON IN JUNE FOR THE LAST
5 YEARS IN BOXES.

1879.

1880.

1881.

1882.

1883.

Scotch . . • ,

1,541

1,847

2,544

3,605

6,643

Irish

I. ec-i

1,864

I.QQS

1.243

•2 O73

English ....

409

756

524

848

760

Berwick ....

132

182

197

198

245

Dutch ....

H3

9

45

7

39

Swedish ....

26

122

• •

52

28

Norwegian . . .

131

175

178

80

124

Total ....

3,905

4,955

5,483

6,033

10,912

1

Such are the most important phenomena presented by
salmon disease in this country. Naturally its rise and pro-
gress have excited considerable alarm, and the usual
swarm of empirics have propounded their dogmas about the
causes and their specifics for the cure of the disease.

Nothing is more curious than the readiness of people
who dare not undertake to mend a meat-jack because they
know nothing about machinery, to give decided opinions

about the causes and the method of dealing with natural
occurrences, the mechanism of which is infinitely more com-
plicated than that of the culinary apparatus — while their
ignorance of even the elements of the problem is absolute.

Surely it does not want any science, but only a little
common sense, to see that the first step in a case of this
kind is to find out the exact nature and causes of the phe-
nomena over which we wish to exert a control. The foun-
dations of such knowledge in respect of the salmon disease
were laid by the late Mr. Stirling, in a series of papers
which appeared in 1878 and 1879, and I have been trying
for the last two years to raise the superstructure, which,
however, is, as yet, by no means complete.

If the fluffy whitish coat which is so characteristic of the
diseased skin — and is sometimes tenacious enough to be
stripped off in flakes like wet paper — is examined micro-
scopically, it is seen to consist chiefly of a tangled mass of
fine filaments, on an average about 2^ootn °f an mcn m
diameter, which are at once recognisable as the stems (or
hyphtz as they are technically termed) of a fungus (Sapro-
legniaferax), similar to those which are known as " moulds,"
and which commonly grow upon, and obtain their nourish-
ment from, decaying organic bodies. The so-called " blue
mould " (Penicillium glaucum), which attacks all sorts of
dead organic bodies from cheese and jam to old shoes, is a
familiar example of these plants, which, however trouble-
some to housewives, play a very important part in the
economy of nature as scavengers, by whose agency dead and
decomposing organic bodies are cleared away. All the fungi
which thus prey on dead animals and vegetables are known
as Saprophytes, a term which may be pretty nearly para-
phrased by " rot-plants."

10

But there is a large number of these moulds which are
not saprophytes, but parasites ; that is to say, they attack
living animals and plants, and in many cases destroy them
with great rapidity. The silk-worm culture is sometimes
ruined by the so-called " muscardine " disease, caused by
a mould, the Botrytis bassiana, which enters the body of
the silk-worm and destroys its substance.

In some autumns, our common domestic flies are des-
troyed in prodigious numbers by another curious mould,
the Empusa muscce. Even mankind are not free from the
attacks of fungi, as in the ringworm of children's skins. And
as to plants, multitudes of destructive epidemics of which
the smut of wheat and the potato disease are the most
notorious, are produced by parasitic fungi of various
kinds.

As a general rule, fungi are either saprophytes or para-
sites— that is to say, they live habitually either on dead or
living organic bodies.

Now the Saprolegniaferaxw\\\d\, as we have seen, forms
the cottony covering of the diseased salmon skin, is habi-
tually a saprophyte, especially found on dead insects ; and
when it was first discovered to be a constant concomitant of
the salmon disease, there was very good reason for suspecting
that it might be a saprophyte, preying on the dead tissues
of the skin destroyed by a precedent affection, and not a
parasite, the presence of which was the true cause of the
destruction of the tissues.

When I addressed myself to the study of the disease
two years ago, therefore, I endeavoured in the first place to
obtain conclusive evidence on these two points. I. Is the
saprolegnia of the salmon the cause or only the concomitant
of the disease ? Is it the real enemy or only a camp-follower ?
2. If the Saprolegnia of the salmon disease is a true para-

II

site, is it identical with the Saprolegnia already well known
as a saprophyte ?

It was for this purpose that I went to Bettws-y-Coed, in
the winter of 1881, in order to study, on the fresh fish, the
nature of the epidemic of salmon disease which had broken
out in the Conway ; and I soon obtained the evidence I
sought, for by examining the margins of moderate-sized
fresh patches on the heads of salmon, it was not difficult to
demonstrate that the patch of fungus constantly extends
at the periphery by sending out fresh hyphse into the
healthy epidermis, which it breaks up and destroys ; at the
same time, it drives into the subjacent vascular true skin
hyphse which play the part of rootlets ; these, ramifying in
the superficial layer of the true skin, give rise to sloughing.
If a single strawberry-plant is set in the middle of a bed,
it will send out runners in all directions, and these will
strike root into the soil wherever they go until the whole
bed is covered. The Saprolegnia patch grows in a some-
what analogous fashion, but its " runners " and " roots "
destroy the living tissues in which they are lodged.

These observations left no doubt in my mind that the
Saprolegnia is the cause and not a mere accompaniment
of the salmon disease — that the latter is in fact what
pathologists term a mycosis. And with respect to the other
point, namely, the identity of the parasitic with the sapro-
phytic Saprolegnia, I found it easy enough to obtain
equally conclusive evidence.

If the salmon Saprolegnia was the same as that which
commonly grows on dead insects, it is obvious that one ought
to be able to sow dead insects with it and raise a crop of
the fungus on them ; and in fact nothing is easier than to
do this. Fill a clean tumbler three parts full of clean
spring water, and provide it with a loose paper cover ; then

12

catch two or three common house flies, kill them by squeezing
them gently without breaking the tough skin in which
the body of the fly is enveloped, and rub them softly
once or twice over a patch of diseased skin. Drop the
flies into the tumbler, and they will float at the top on
account of the large quantity of air which their bodies
contain.

If the bodies of the flies are examined at this time with
a good magnifying glass, nothing will be seen but a few
threads representing the hyphae of the saprolegnia, which
have been entangled by their legs and bodies.

By way of a check experiment it is advisable to put two
or three flies caught at the same time, and treated in the
same way, into a tumbler of the same water, but taking care
that they are not brought into contact with the diseased skin.
In this tumbler, covered as before, the bodies of the flies may
remain for weeks, and gradually decay without showing any
trace of fungus. Sometimes, however, Empusa, and some-
times, Penicillium or Mucor may make their appearance. In
the first case, the germs of the Empusa were certainly in
the body of the fly when it was killed. In the second, they
were very likely on it, but may have been imported from
without. In no instance that has ever come under my
observation, has Saprolegnia made its appearance in flies
treated in this way. This is singular, considering that it is
often stated that Saprolegnia appears regularly on flies thus
treated ; but I imagine that this is the case only when pond
or river water is used.

The phenomena presented by the flies which have
been brought into contact with the diseased salmon skin
are very different. In about four-and-twenty or, at most,
six-and-thirty hours, that part of the body of the flies
which is in contact with the water presents a more or less

extensive coating of fine, short, white hyphse, set so close
together that they look like a close-cropped turf. These
filamentous hyphae grow with great rapidity, and spread
more and more widely. Their increasing weight gradually
drags the fly's body down, until it becomes completely sub-
merged, and at length sinks to the bottom, invested by a
white ball formed by the hyphae, which radiate on all sides
from its body.

Microscopic examination now shows that these hyphae
perforate the tough cuticle of the fly, and ramify in the
interior of its body, destroying and appropriating the tissues.
O n their outer free ends, on the other hand, a large number
of the hyphae are terminated by a sort of fruit (sporangium)
in which the minute bodies (zoospores) which play the part
of seeds or germs are formed, and from which they are
eventually discharged. The comparison of the characters
of the sporangia and spores with those of Saprolegnia ferax
will leave no doubt that the fungus thus transmitted from
the fish to the fly is of that species.

In order to complete the chain of proof, it was necessary
to give the disease to fish by infecting them with Saprolegnia
from the insect. As I had very little time to devote to the
experiments requisite for this purpose, I requested my friend
Mr. George Murray, of the Botanical Department of the
British Museum, to join with me in making them. Our first
attempts yielded negative results, but, on the 2nd of March,
1883, Mr. Murray rubbed a saprolegnized fly on the left
flanks of two healthy dace, at a spot about the middle of
the length of the body.

"On the 5th of March," Mr. Murray reports, "each of
these fish had a small tuft of what was afterwards found to
be Saprolegnia ferax growing on the region of inoculation,
and, by the loth of March, it had grown into a large patch."

14

One of these fish escaped. " The other died on the i6th
of March, its body being nearly covered with a luxuriant
growth of Saprolegnia ferax" Two other fish similarly
infected died, the one in ten days and the other in fourteen
days. This, so far as I know, is the first direct evidence
that the Saprolegnia of the salmon disease is capable of
being transmitted from dead insects to living fish of
other kinds.

Combining these observations with those made on the
epidemic among carp by Unger in 1844, and with those of
Stirling on the fish in the Ightham ponds, I begin to doubt
whether any other fungus than Saprolegnia attacks fishes.
A distinction is often drawn between the " aquarium fungus "
and Saprolegnia. But within a few days of the opening of
this Exhibition, the trout and char in the freshwater
tanks were largely attacked by " aquarium fungus," and I
took the opportunity of subjecting fresh specimens to care-
ful examination. I found it to be all Saprolegnia ferax,
and I could cultivate it on flies just as well as the salmon
Saprolegnia. As yet, I have met with no satisfactory
evidence that the integument of fishes is attacked by any-
thing but Saprolegnia.

The Saprolegnia is essentially a freshwater organism,
which dies as soon as an infected fish reaches salt water.
As, however, it is only the exposed part of the fungus
which comes into contact with the sea water, it was possible
that the hyphae, which are embedded in the true skin,
might retain their vitality during the sea life of the fish,
and make their appearance at the surface on its return to
fresh water. And, when I made my first report on the
disease, I thought it possible that the key to the mystery ot
the appearance of the disease in fish just returned from the
sea might lie here.

15

But this does not appear to be the case. Mr. List,
the Chief Constable of Berwick, has been good enough,
at my request, to repeat some experiments which he had
formerly made upon the effect of confining diseased salmon
and sea trout in coops in the tideway of the estuary of the
Tweed at Berwick ; and, in June 1882, he sent me two sea-
trout which had got completely well under these circum-
stances, though signs of the situation of the patches of
disease remained. Careful examination of the skin in these
regions by means of sections prepared for the microscope,
revealed no trace of the fungus ; so that it would seem
that the parasite is completely rooted out by the sea
water.

In a river which remains year after year the seat of
epidemic salmon disease, therefore, Saprolegnia must be
permanently resident there, in some shape or other ; and
the fish which ascend are infected by this stationary store
of the fungus.

In the experiments which have been described, the
fungus has been brought into direct contact with the fly
or the fish to be infected ; but this is not at all necessary.
In a full-grown specimen of the fungus, the great majority
of the hyphae end in sporangia, and one of these may
contain a hundred or more minute zoospores. These,
when ripe, are ejected from the sporangium, and each is
propelled by a pair of cilia through the water. By these
means, and by the currents in the water, these zoospores
may be drifted a long way, and if any one of them
reaches a fish, it may germinate, penetrate its skin, and
give rise to the disease.

The quantity of zoospores which may be produced from
a mass of Saprolegnia no larger than that which covers
an ordinary fly, is prodigious, and a few diseased salmon

i6

might thoroughly infect the waters of a considerable
stream.

But it is possible that no trace of Saprolegnia may be
present either on living or dead organic bodies in a mass
of fresh water, and that no Saprolegnia may be imported
from without; and that, nevertheless, after a time, these
bodies may be attacked by the fungus. This arises from
the circumstance that Saprolegnia ferax, like other Sapro-
legnice, has two modes of reproduction, the one sexless, by
zoospores, such as have been described, the other sexual,
by oospores, which answer to the seeds of ordinary plants.
Reproduction by zoospores is the ordinary and constant
process, that by oospores takes place with less regularity.
I have never seen an oospore upon Saprolegnia growing on
salmon, and there are some sources of difficulty in the
identification of these bodies which lead me to entertain
a doubt whether any other observer has done so. Mr.
Murray, however, has found them abundantly on Sapro-
legnia growing on dace. Saprolegnia may be cultivated
on flies for many months without the appearance of
oospores, and then, in a solitary specimen, they may
present themselves in great numbers.

These oospores are spherical bodies provided with a thick
coat. Once formed, they pass into a quiescent condition, in
which they may remain for many months. Sooner or later,
however, they awake to new activity, and their contents
either break up into zoospores which are set free and roam
about until they reach an appropriate nidus, or grow
directly into a Saprolegnia. Thus it is possible that the
Saprolegnia in a pond or stream, having given rise to
oospores which fall to the bottom and remain quiescent,
may die away and leave no apparent trace of its existence,
and yet, months afterwards, the oospores may germinate,

and in a few days give rise to an abundant crop of the
fungus.

It is not only possible, but probable, that there are yet
other forms totally different from the ordinary Saprolegnia,
under which the mould may continue its existence. The
recent investigations of Brefeld on the torula condition of
many fungi (Ustilago, Tilletid), known hitherto only as
parasites on plants, are very significant in connection with
this question.

Permit me now to sum up, in a few propositions, the
present state of our knowledge respecting the salmon
disease : —

1. The sole cause of the disease is the fungus Saprolegnia
ferax, which burrows into and destroys the skin of the
fish.

2. This fungus habitually lives on dead organic matter,
and exists only in fresh water.

3. The Saprolegnia is propagated by zoospores, oospores,
and possibly also in other ways. The zoospores and the
oospores give rise either to the saprophyte Saprolegnia,
which lives at the expense of dead organic matter, or to
the parasite Saprolegnia, which lives at the expense of
living freshwater fishes.

4. The zoospores of the Saprolegnia, grown on fish, attack
dead flies, and the zoospores of the Saprolegnia, grown on
flies, attack living fish.

5. It follows, therefore, that the existence of the cause
of salmon disease, or, to speak more generally, of the
integumentary mycosis of freshwater fishes, is independent
of the existence of fishes ; and consequently that the extir-
pation of all the diseased fish in a river does not involve
the extirpation of the cause of the disease in that river.

6. There is reason to believe that the Saprolegnia exists
VOL. vi. — c. C

i8

in its saprophytic form in most fresh waters, and that it
attacks the fish of most rivers occasionally. In other
words, the mycosis of freshwater fishes is a widespread
sporadic disease.

7. That which it is now desirable to ascertain, is the
nature of the influences under which the sporadic disease
suddenly assumes an epidemic character.

On this point we have very little light at present, for
although there is some reason for thinking that deficient
oxygenation, whether produced by overcrowding or other-
wise, may favour the development of the disease, and
though it is possible that some kinds of pollutions may
favour it, yet the disease sometimes becomes epidemic
under conditions in which these two predisposing causes
are excluded; and it does not always appear when they
are present.

8. Epidemics subside spontaneously, though the fish
remain in fresh water.

9. The productiveness of a salmon river is not neces-
sarily interfered with by even a violent epidemic.

The last three propositions indicate the moral of my
paper — which is to make sure that you know what you are
about before meddling with the salmon disease. Until the
causes which convert the sporadic into, the epidemic disease
are known, all interference is mere groping in the dark ; and
when they are known, it will be a great question whether
the preventive measures adopted are worth their cost.

Fishery doctors at the present day remind me of human
doctors in my youth — they were always for doing something.
I remember one of my teachers laid down the notable
maxim, "when you are in doubt, play a trump," and I
should think that those of us who have followed his advice,
in the last forty years, must have largely added to the

19

bills of mortality. Our fishery doctors are of the same
mind as my friend. They are (or at any rate ought to be)
very much in doubt, and yet they continually want to play
trumps in the shape of stringent regulations and restrictions.
If I might tender a piece of advice, I would say — don't

DISCUSSION.

Mr. FOLLETT asked why it was the diseased fish rose to
the surface of the water, he referred especially to gold fish
in artificial ponds.

Professor HUXLEY said there was probably an increase
in the amount of air in the air-bladder, and very likely in
the viscera also produced by incipient putrefaction.

Dr. SPENCER COBBOLD, having paid some attention to
parasites for a great many years past, had come there
hoping that Professor Huxley would open up the
whole subject, though contemplating its vast extent,
he felt that even he would find a difficulty in compassing
it. This not having been done, he would say a few words
on the parallelism between the role played by external and
internal fungi which might throw a little light on the general
subject. It was found on examination that certain fishes
were covered with Saprolegnia, and when they were dis-
sected they found no trace of internal parasites. In such
cases where death had supervened it was evidently due to
the presence of Saprolegnia alone, but in other cases a
number of internal parasites were also found ; and when
they took into consideration the fact that the role of the
internal parasite was so similar, with regard to the irrita-
tion it created to the external, the only difference being
that the irritation set up by the internal parasites was in
the muscles and viscera, it was impossible for any logical

C 2

20

mind to deduce any other conclusion than this, that the in-
ternal parasites were sometimes associated with the external
in the production of disease and death. On the other hand
there were some instances where no external parasites
were found, but there were hundreds of thousands of small
parasites of the entozoa character, which brought about
the same fatal issue. In illustration he might mention that
a few years ago one particular kind of parasite, which he
he had shown to the Prince of Wales and Prince Napoleon
the night before, killed hundreds and thousands, and, as
one French author said, hundreds of thousands, of coarse
fish. Professor Huxley had shown in a most interesting
manner that the germs of Saprolegnia might be propagated
by other bearers than the salmon itself ; and here again he
would point out that there was a parallelism with the
internal parasites, they being conveyed by bearers or inter-
mediate hosts. The adult parasite required a change of
hosts, passing from small insects to the fish. That was the
case with one which was very common in the perch, and
other coarse fish, and the higher parasites or the larger ones,
the cestodes, were also propagated through the means of
intermediary bearers. It might interest the audience if he
were to state a curious fact in connection with parasites in
fish as he might not have another opportunity of doing so,
owing to his numerous engagements. Whilst showing a
specimen of a large ligula, so common in fresh-water fish, to
Prince Napoleon, he reminded him that they were what
were called in Italy " Maccaroni piato," and were constantly
eaten there as a delicacy, being supposed to be fleshy
growths inside of fish. Fortunately it might be hoped that
this particular parasite would be destroyed with even the
very slight cooking, and even if not cooked, there was no
reason to suppose that the ligula would be transformed

21

into a higher form of parasite in the human body, although
there was a form found in these fish which was transformed
into the well known bothriocephalus latus which was well
known in Russia and sometimes in Ireland.

Mr. MARBER wished to draw Professor Huxley's atten-
tion to a case which had come under his notice this year
in connection with a small river in Scotland. This year
there were a number of fresh- run salmon in the river in the
month of March which had never been known before by
the oldest inhabitant. After they came there were a great
number of diseased fish found with this fungus, that
disease never having been known to his knowledge in the
river before. He should like to ask if any reason could be
given why these fresh-run salmon, which never before ap-
peared in the river so early, had come there and brought
this disease immediately after.

Professor HUXLEY said the salmon were quite innocent
of bringing the disease there; there was no doubt they
caught it in the river.

Mr. MARBER said the river was prolific in salmon, but
they were always very light. They were never known to
arrive so early before, and these were not native salmon
of the river.

Professor HONEYMAN (Canadian Commissioner) said
the subject of parasites had been brought to his attention
for some time past, and not long ago, when preparing the
collections on the other side of the Atlantic for the Exhibi-
tion, he one day bought from a countrywoman a very fine
trout, which he thought would be suitable to exhibit, and
took it with him to the Museum. A friend who took great
interest in subjects of the kind — one of the foremost investi-
gators in fish anatomy — informed him that he had just
discovered that some fish he had bought were full of para-

22

sites, and that he had informed the health officer of the
circumstance, and the sale of the fish had been stopped. On
examination he found that the one he had purchased was
similarly affected. The people who came in from the
country to sell these fish felt annoyed at the sale being
stopped, and very naturally so, but the health officer went
fully into the subject, and the result was that a formidable
collection of parasites was exhibited ; the consequence was
that many people got exceedingly alarmed, and consulted
him about it. He told them if they went inquiring into
everything they ate they would never eat anything at all.
The best way was not to take alarm at the results of
scientific investigation, but to go on eating, and not ask any
questions. He must say he had never heard of anyone
the worse for eating fish, even if they did contain parasites.
They often heard of all the ills that flesh was heir to, but,
judging from what they had now heard, and from the
appearance of a specimen in a glass jar on the platform,
there were many ills which fish were heirs to as well, and
there were certainly a most formidable collection of these
parasites shown by Dr. Cobbold.

Mr. MACKENZIE wished to ask Professor Huxley if he
had taken into consideration the question of preventing the
distribution, of ova from infected rivers. It seemed to him
that was a case where, perhaps, the heroic remedy would be
the only proper one until light was thrown on the modes in
which this disease was propagated.

Mr. SIGGINS said that during last April he spent a few
weeks at Ramsgate, and in conversation with the fishermen
there he remarked that the mackerel were unusually large,
but that they were the worst in flavour he had ever met
with ; their reply was that the fish were out of season, and
no fisherman would ever think of eating mackerel at that

23

time of year, but if he looked under the skin before they
were cooked he would find a large collection of parasites.
It occurred to him that, probably, the fish which were
diseased were the fish out of season. There was a season
for all things, a season for the flowering of plants, and a
season of rest, and without the natural rest there would be
no bloom. He believed the fault of our country was to
rely on fish every day in the year from whatever source it
might come. There was a time for all things. Game was
not shot except at the proper season, for if they did they
might at once repeal the game laws, and by the end of the
year there would not be a single bird left. In the same way
there should be preservation of fish. Oysters were now at
an almost prohibitive price in consequence of the overfishing
of the beds, owing to the greater demand, and the facilities
offered by railway and steamboat carriage.

Professor HUXLEY, in reply to Mr. Mackenzie, could
not say he thought the distribution of ova from diseased
fish was of the smallest consequence. If the ova were
attacked by the disease, they would be immediately dis-
tinguished and weeded out if the most ordinaiy precau-
tions were taken, whilst healthy ova had no power what-
ever to transmit disease.

Mr. WlLMOT said it afforded him much pleasure to be
able to say a word or two on this very destructive agency,
which was causing so much injury to the rivers of Great
Britain, Saprolegnia ferax. It had been his misfortune to
have differed with the learned Professor on the protec-
tion of the fisheries of the world ; but on this occasion
he was glad to offer him his best thanks for the interest-
ing lecture he had given on this most important disease.
He felt that in this case science was doing most useful
work, and hoped that by further investigation, a cure for

24

this terrible disease would be arrived at He believed, too,
that it was only within a few years past that it had pre-
vailed very largely in the rivers of Britain; he had
been engaged in connection with fisheries for many years
past, and sixteen years ago this disease was known within
the small confines of the house where he was engaged in
fish breeding, and his opinion, though he might be
wrong, was that it was only brought about by a pollu-
tion of the water, and the increased heat occasioned by
the country being cleared of its forests. This tended to
bring down in the river immense quantities of infinites-
simal vegetable spores, which floating down came in con-
tact with the diseased fish, or fish which had been injured
by the fishermen and others, and produced Saprolegnia. In
catching these fish in the stream, in the province of On-
tario, for the purpose of cultivation, it was found that many
fish died from the following cause. The fish had to be
caught by hand in the stream, and strict instructions were
given to the men always to catch them by the tail, be-
cause, in catching them by the head the gills were always
injured, and that necessarily proved fatal. The men went
into the river, waded up the stream, and caught the fish on
their beds at night, and at other times, in the day time, when
they had their heads underneath the logs which abounded
in the stream. The fishermen then carried the fish twenty
or thirty rods to the house ; but they invariably found, after
the first or second year, that many of these fish died, the
reason being that round the tail where the men had caught
the fish, this peculiar sort of fungoid growth appeared,
which spread until the fish was killed. This was in 1867
or 1868, before he knew anything of Saprolegnia. In order
to avoid it they introduced common gloves, which had been
used ever since, because they were found less likely to

25

injure the fish. Sometimes, also, a man from hurrying or
carelessness, would grab a fish across the back, leaving
finger marks upon it, and in a few days after, they in-
variably found three or four stripes of fungoid growth
appearing, and the fish invariably died. He, there-
fore, came to the conclusion that this fungoid growth
was the result of infinitessimal spores coming down
the stream, which produced this growth on the bruised
portions of the fish, and the fish could not shake it
off because they were generally in a prostrate and
lean condition after spawning. This disease did not pre-
vail generally in the United States, or in any other country
in its natural state. Nearly all the rivers and streams,
when the country was first inhabited, were pure and limpid,
the waters were cold, and these immense numbers of spores
did not float down the rivers ; but as countries became
cleared, and the volume of water reduced by absorption
and evaporation, and by the superheating of the water by
the sun's rays, more of these spores were produced, and
when the fish were injured, as they now were by fishermen
catching them, and by passing through nets, and in getting
injured as they came up into the rivers, they were more
liable to be attacked, and so the disease was produced.
He believed there was no possibility of overcoming it until
they could somehow change the waters up which the fish
migrated. Another mode would be by improving the pro-
tection of those fish which could escape up the river. He
might dilate on this subject, and would assure the Con-
ference that unless some greater efforts were made to pro-
tect the fish in every possible way, they must expect them
to be decimated in the end. He believed the practical
remedy was to preserve fish by judicious laws, and prevent
men destroying them, and also to prevent the polluted
matter being allowed to flow into the stream.

26

Professor HUXLEY said Mr. Wilmot's remarks were very
interesting and important ; but there was one observation
which it was necessary to make in regard to them. There
was extremely good evidence that the salmon disease not
only occurred, but devastated the fish in British Columbia
and Northern Asia, where he need not say there was no
possibility either of over-fishing or pollution.

The Marquis of EXETER then proposed a vote of thanks
to Professor Huxley, and in doing so wished to refer to
one or two points in connection with this fungus. He found
in his own tanks and ponds, whenever they were exposed
very much to the sun and intense light, the fungus had ap-
peared more or less ; he also found that in breeding salmon
from some eggs sent from Canada he succeeded in raising
the salmon, and they lived for about six weeks, and were
apparently very healthy ; but all at once this fungus began
to show upon them, and, though they changed the water,
nothing seemed to do them any good. He should say that
the water in which he bred the fish at Burleigh was very
highly impregnated with lime, so much so that kitchen
boilers got choked in a very short time ; and whenever
they attempted to breed these salmon from ova taken from
Scotland and elsewhere, after they had lived apparently
well for a certain number of weeks, they invariably died of
this disease. In a pond close by where there was hardly
any shelter from the light, the fungus generally appeared,
but it was not so where there was more shade. Latterly,
however, since his present pisciculturist, Mr. Silk, had been
with him, when the fungus began to show upon the fish
they gave them a salt-water bath, which cured them. Some
time ago he gave some black bass to the Aquarium, which
did well for some time, and then the fungus appeared
upon them ; but as Mr. Silk was coming to London, he
called there and gave them a salt bath which cured the

27

disease, and they lived for . some time afterwards ; so that
this fungus was quite destroyed by the administration of
this bath of salt water. Of course these fish were put under
the doctor directly there was the slightest sign of this dan-
gerous disease upon them, and since then they had hardly
ever lost a fish. The black bass also which came over from
America in the fresh-water tanks became very seedy, and he
thought that they should lose a great many, but he got some
salt water out of the sea, kept them in it two days, and they
all recovered and were doing well wherever they had been
sent.

Sir JAMES MAITLAND seconded the motion. He had
hoped that Professor Huxley would have gone very widely
into the question of the diseases of fish, for they were by
no means confined to the Saprolegnia ferax. Although
perhaps of late it had occupied a large portion of the sci-
entific research which had been bestowed on the Salmonidae,
it must be remembered that in old days when they had not
the same restriction and protection they had now, although
the disease was occasionally mentioned in books as the
murrain among salmon, it was uncertain how far it extended.
In those days the waters were frequented by otters, and
there was a good deal of poaching, and he doubted if many
fish that got high up the rivers ever returned into the sea,
and that might account for the contradictory results ob-
tained on the Tweed, which showed that exactly four years
after the disease broke out in a virulent form the number of
fish caught was much larger than before. It might be that
the death of those old fish, which in descending the rivers
would probably swallow a number of smolts, enabled the
river to recoup itself by the growth of the young fish ; and
in the case of a shorter river the results might be different
In the Tweed there was a long stretch of dead water

28

•

between Kelso Bridge and the sea, where kelts congregated,
and would very likely eat smolts nine inches long. He had
just heard that this disease had reached the Don, but it
was very unusual for it to break out in an almost epidemic
form at this time of the year. With regard to parasites,
he found that although many fish bore them they seemed
to occasion very little inconvenience unless the fish were
out of condition at the time. A fish exhausted or spawning
was nearly always infested with parasites, and would very
readily fall a victim to them.

The motion have been carried unanimously,
Prof. HUXLEY in reply said he knew nothing as to the
effect of sun light, but should imagine that the elevation of
temperature must play a considerable part in inducing
the condition of fish which allowed it to take the disease.
He had been much interested in what Lord EXETER had
said respecting the limey character of the water of his
district, because when this Exhibition was opened all the
trout and some other fresh water fish in the new tanks
with one consent began to show disease, and, that they still
showed it, might be seen by the specimen on the platform
taken from one of those tanks. In fact he had an oppor-
tunity of studying in the Aquarium the fungus on one of
these fish, and satisfying himself that it was exactly the
same thing as the salmon disease. That interested him
very much in consequence of a remark made by Mr. Saville
Kent who had paid considerable attention to these subjects.
He said to him, as they walked round the Aquarium, that
that it was a matter of course, because the water had not
been allowed to run sufficiently long through the newly
cemented reservoirs and tanks, and whenever that was the
case the Saprolegnia was almost certain to make its appear-
ance. That opened up to his mind a very interesting

29

chapter of inquiry, though up to the present he had not
been able to make any experiments in regard to it It
was very possible that any superabundance of lime in the
caustic state might have a very considerable effect in bringing
about the development of the disease. In the first place
fungi of all kinds were extremely sensitive to small degrees
of acidity and alkalinity of water, and secondly the
condition of acidity and alkalinity • was extremely likely,
however small its extent might be, to have a very definite
effect on the epidermis of the fish. This, therefore,
suggested a line of investigation, which was likely to prove
extremely fruitful. As to the use of salt, he believed that was
an absolute remedy, and there seemed to be a consensus of
opinion to that effect. Some experiments carried out by
the Conservators of the Tweed showed that fish, even in
an advanced stage of the disease, when confined in cribs in
tidal waters, if they did not die of the confinement, got
well of the disease. Although there was one doubtful
case on record of disease showing itself on fish in salt
water, unfortunately the evidence that the disease was
caused by Saprolegnia was wanting ; and up to the present
he had never been able to see any sufficient ground for
believing that Saprolegnia could appear on any fish in
salt water. Finally he would say one word about fish
parasites. The fuss made about the parasites of fish was
really very extraordinary. The lower animals, and fish
especially, were not at all particular about parasites.
Parasites were regularly and constantly found in particular
parts of their organisms, and might rather be considered
sharers of their repast than anything else, simply taking toll
of whatever came in their direction. In most cases, there
there was not the least evidence that these parasites had any
effect on the welfare of the fish. He remembered that two

30

or three years ago great complaints reached him from
Bristol, where a large number of very fine mackerel were
brought in, and the town was in an uproar, because it was
said that these fish were full of parasites, and they would
destroy all the good people of Bristol who ate them. Any-
one who paid attention to fish must be aware that certain
nematoid parasites were extremely common, but the fish
were none the worse for them, and as to people catching
them, in the first place they were not the same kind as
those which infest man, and, secondly the fish were going
to be cooked ; and although the idea was not pleasant,
cooked parasites per se were not any worse than cooked
fish. As to the prevalence of parasites having anything
to do with fish not being eaten at the right time of year,
he did not think anyone familiar with fish would be likely
to entertain that idea.

Mr. FELL WOODS then proposed a vote of thanks to the
Marquis of Hamilton for his conduct in the chair, as well
as for the great earnestness and energy with which he had
devoted himself to the work of the Exhibition. With
regard to the question of parasites, he had observed that
the cockle at a certain stage abounded with a little parasite,
which seemed to leave it in a perfectly healthy condition,
and in no way interfered with it as an article of food if
cooked, but there was this disadvantage that it did seem to
interfere entirely with the fertility of the fish. The same
thing occurred in the oyster in the Mediterranean.

Professor HONEYMAN seconded the vote of thanks, which
was carried unanimously.

The CHAIRMAN, in responding, said they had had a most
edifying discussion in connection with the various diseases
of fishes. They had had the opinion of two very eminent
gentlemen from Canada, and he was certain that Englishmen

had derived much advantage from the instruction they had
brought. They were all aware of the go-ahead ways of the
race on the other side of the Atlantic, but of all the go-
ahead statements he had ever listened to, that of Professor
Honey man, who recommended people to eat fish when they
were diseased, seemed the most remarkable. There had
been many discussions in that hall, but in his opinion none
so instructing and interesting as that which had taken place
to-day, and he felt that the public were much indebted to
Professor Huxley for the time and attention he had devoted
to this important subject. He had confined himself to the
salmon disease, and probably he was quite right in so doing,
the salmon in our rivers being the means of giving such a
vast amount of food to all classes of the population, that
it would be a lamentable thing if, owing to the ravages of
any kind of disease, its supply should be in any way limited.
Two points which he had brought out seemed to him of
especial importance, viz., that though the exterior of the fish
might show signs of the disease, the inside did not appear
to be affected ; and, secondly, that the epidemic could not be
traced either to pollution or overcrowding of the rivers. In
conclusion he would express a hope that as the result of
Professor Huxley's labours, not only scientific, but practical,
men interested in fisheries would devote further time and
energy to study the causes of these diseases, and ultimately
discover a remedy by which the diseases might be entirely
eradicated.

THE

CULTURE OF SALMONIDAE

AND THE

ACCLIMATIZATION OF FISH.

BY

SIR JAMES RAMSAY GIBSON MAITLAND, BART.

VOL. VI. — C.

CONTENTS.

SALMON HATCHING:

THE HATCHERY i .,.>.<• 36

WATER . . . 36

TEMPERATURE 37

APPARATUS . .^ 42

FEEDING THE FRY . . . . . .. • -43

STOCKING 45

NON-MIGRATORY SALMONID/E 48

ACCLIMATIZATION 49

DISCUSSION . * . . . • • • • • • 51

CONFERENCE ON THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 1883.

THE Chair was taken at n o'clock by the MARQUIS OF
EXETER, who, after referring to the Inaugural Address by
Professor Huxley, and the Paper by H.R.H. the Duke
of Edinburgh, said the Conference would to-day be
invited to give their attention to another branch of the
great question of our fisheries, one which, though nearer
home, and perhaps less exciting — for it involved no danger
to either life or limb — was of great importance, and to
many persons formed a most interesting pursuit. He
alluded to the attempts which had been made to increase
the value of our fisheries by artificial breeding and by
importation ; and they were much favoured in having the
subject opened with a Paper by Sir James G. Maitland,
Bart., who had devoted a great deal of time and energy to
fish culture.

Sir James G. Maitland then read his paper as follows :

THE CULTURE OF SALMONIDAE AND
THE ACCLIMATIZATION OF FRESH-
WATER FISH.

The culture of Salmonidae properly understood embraces
not only their artificial propagation, but also the production
of their food ; the regulation of their ascent to their spawn-
ing beds and of their descent to their feeding grounds ; the
manner of their capture and their rapid and economic con-

D 2

36

veyance to market ; just as much as the culture of corn is
understood to mean not merely the sowing, but every step
from the preparation of the seed bed to the marketing of
the harvest.

The acclimatization of freshwater fish I will consider
with special reference to the Salmonidae, and attempt to
foreshadow the results of the importation of some of the
best known foreign species.

ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION.

The artificial propagation of the Salmonidae is still in its
infancy, but the bearing it has on their cultivation in the
future is so important, I propose to commence this paper
with a short description of the process, and explanation of
the principles which are involved in the selection of a site
for, and in the erection of, a hatchery.

THE HATCHERY.

The most important requisite for the hatching house is
pure water ; it is indeed to a hatchery what coal is to a
steam-engine, all hatching apparatus of whatever kind
being merely mechanical devices for extracting and trans-
ferring from it the greatest amount of energy to the ova.

WATER.

Water in its natural state is frequently unsuitable for the
earlier processes in fish culture. It is subject to great
variations of temperature ; it is rendered muddy by rain,
and occasionally it is impregnated with lime or mineral to
a fatal extent. Water in Great Britain, taken from a
natural river even but a few miles from its source, is
generally so contaminated with pollutions resulting from

37

civilization as to be unsuitable not only for the delicate ova
and fry, but also for mature Salmonidae. '

River water, however, if unpolluted and not overcharged
with sediment, can generally by an expensive system of
settling tanks be rendered safe for hatching purposes, and
the alevins from ova incubated in river water in Scotland
commencing to feed at a late period in the spring obtain
much natural sustenance. Filtered water cannot be used
with good results in a hatchery. The best filters deprive
water of all animal life, while inferior filters cannot be run
for six months continuously without great risk either of
their fouling or passing an uncertain supply, especially
where they have to contend with leaves and heavy frosts.
Spring water is more equitable in temperature, generally
free from sediment, and not liable to rapid fluctuation in
the supply, but as the ova hatch out earlier the fry are
entirely dependent for some months on artificial food.
Taking everything into consideration, spring water should
be used for the permanent supply to the hatching house,
care being taken that it contains nothing in solution dele-
terious to the embryo, and of this, experience is the only
safe guide ; but it is very important that a supply of river
water for summer use be also laid on, otherwise the fry
must be removed from the trays four or five weeks after
they commence feeding.

TEMPERATURE.

The average temperature of the water during the period
of incubation fixes the length of that period, which varies
in Scotland from 70 to 150 days. I formerly considered
41° Fah. as the best average temperature, Salmon eggs
hatching in 97 days, while fungus does not grow readily,
byssus taking from three to four days to generate to a

38

dangerous extent on the dead ovum, and the saprolegonei
hardly appearing at all, at least on the charred surfaces of
the hatching boxes ; but I now find by using a larger flow
of water through the trays, and by increasing the flow
during the latter stages of incubation, that with a tempera-
ture of 45° Fah., fully 99 per cent, of Loch Leven Trout
ova can be hatched into healthy well-formed alevins, and
very nearly as good results with the eggs of the Salmo
Salar, the difference being probably due to the difficulty
of obtaining perfect impregnation in the case of ova taken
from wild fish.

Spring water seldom varies more than a few degrees
even in very cold weather, and where it is used the
duration of the hatching period can be accurately ap-
proximated, which is often a great convenience.

At Howietoun in the winter of 1878-79, river water fell
within a degree of freezing, and remained there for three
months, so that Trout ova took 105 days from being
spawned to the first appearance of red blood, which
marks the middle of the period of incubation.

The quantity of water required in the process of incu-
bation depends partly on the number of eggs, partly on
the temperature of the water, and partly on the hatching
apparatus used, but as I have hitherto only attained the
very best results by the grille and tray system in the
incubation of the eggs of Salmon and Trout, I will con-
sider the water supply solely with reference to it, merely
remarking that the quantity used in this system is greater
than in any other ; the result of eight seasons' experience
has been in favour of the supply of not less than ten
gallons a minute for every hundred thousand Lochleven
Trout ova , about a third more for Salmon ova, and only
a fourth of the quantity for the same number of Fontinalis

39

ova. A very much smaller supply will suffice during the
earlier stages of incubation, but it is absolutely necessary
to be able at any moment to command a sufficient supply
in case of emergencies, such as are frequently occasioned
by frost or by unusually warm weather.

Next only in importance to the water itself are the con-
nections between the source and the hatchery. In making
the connection with the spring it is safest to follow the
spring a few feet below ground and fill in the hole with
large stones. Where many small springs require to be
tapped, a collecting well should be dug, lined with rough
masonry, into which all the springs can be led ; the con-
nection to the hatchery from this well should be made by
leading a glazed spigot and faucit pipe to the point nearest
the hatchery, which will give sufficient pressure to feed the
whole house by gravitation ; here another small well, also
lined with masonry, must be constructed, and from it a
metal pipe (as fireclay will not stand much pressure) led
into the hatchery, this arrangement keeps all the pipes
underground, where they are safe.

The connection with the stream to bring in river water is
not so simple, the greatest care must be exercised to secure
a constant supply, .and the difficulty of forming a perma-
nent and perfectly safe connection is always very great.
Leaves arid debris are in some streams very troublesome,
and ice at the beginning of a frost is a serious source of
danger, floating against the screen or grating, and freezing
to it. I once lost 300,000 Lochleven Trout ova from this
cause. The winter had been unusually severe, the thermo-
meter for several weeks never rose above 25° Fah., but at
the beginning of February a thaw set in, and by the 1st of
March every trace of ice had disappeared. The stream
which fed the Fishery was in spate, and one of my hatching

40

houses is situated within the works, the water supply
being obtained from a 2O-ft. plank pond, used in winter
as a settling tank, and whose feeder is supplied by a
lo-in. pipe from the main inlet works. These in their turn
are supplied by a sluice in a coffer-dam, and guarded by
a screen placed nearly parallel to the surface, formed of
perforated zinc in summer and of wooden slats £ inch
apart in winter. The wooden frame had been removed on
the 3rd of March, when the temperature fell suddenly to
12° Fah., and the thin ice floating down the surface of the
stream clogged the perforated zinc screen, and froze into
a solid mass, entirely stopping the supply of the works ;
the water in the hatching trays unfortunately had been
lowered two days before to increase the current so as to
keep the eggs cleaner during the spate. The water fell in
the boxes sufficiently to partially expose the eggs, these just
showing the coloured globules which precede the formation
of the red blood, and a thin film of ice formed on all the
eggs. A few hours afterwards the screen was relieved, and
the eggs thawed out by a gentle current of water. For a
week no bad symptoms were visible, then several thousand
turned white ; in a month it was evident that, although
few more eggs had actually died, most of them had made
no further progress, and the few which showed a distinctly
formed embryo only proved how thorough had been the
work of destruction : the ice had squeezed all vitality out
of my baby Trout.

The stoppage of water by the screen being clogged with
thin ice is frequently an invisible danger. It cannot occur
when the stream is frozen entirely over, as the thin ice only
travels on the surface, and when it comes against the screen
is held there by the suction of the water in the same way in
which a leaf is (this, of course, must not be confounded with

41

the screen freezing up from insufficiency of water, which
only occurs at a more advanced period of the frost) ; the
stoppage, moreover, is temporary, for as soon as the tem-
perature rises, or the stream freezes entirely across, the
cause is removed, and the water soon clears the passage
for itself, but in this lies the very essence of the danger,
namely, that the water may have been off the works for a
few hours, and the eggs exposed to frost, and in the morn-
ing everything seems as usual, and the cause of the eggs
dying, perhaps a week afterwards, entirely unsuspected. It
is not advisable to place any hake or screen guarding the
inlet perpendicular to the water, as leaves, &c., will collect
in great quantities, and although fir branches laid in front
generally prevent the water being entirely cut off, the
amount of cleaning and watching is considerable, and a
certain risk will always exist.

A leaf screen made of perforated zinc laid nearly
parallel with the surface of the water is probably the safest
way of making a connection with an open river ; if pro-
perly placed, any debris collecting on the screen, so soon
as it begins to reduce the flow, is washed off by the upper
current, and the supply after having passed through the
zinc screen can be led into a small collecting well, and
thence piped to the Hatching-house.

The Hatchery itself should be substantially built on
sound foundations, brick and concrete being probably the
best materials to use ; ventilation, light, and protection
from frost are the principal objects in construction ; and
above all things the drains must be sufficient and rat-proof.
Keeping these points in view, the situation of the Hatchery
should be governed by the water supply. The house also
should be as large as possible, as very much better work
can be done in a few central establishments than in many

42

small ones. Eggs both fresh and eyed are so easily and
safely transported that distance from the spawning streams
is of far less consequence than proximity to a first-class
railway station, from which the distribution of the fry can
be readily effected.

The extreme importance of properly constructed and
efficiently controlled Hatcheries must be my excuse for
having dwelt so long on this portion in the paper, especially
as a very prevalent and to many a very pleasant idea is that
every watershed in the country should teem with small
Hatching-houses, and that the water should be stocked with
the improperly developed eccentricities so freely produced
by dirt, ignorance, and overcrowding.

APPARATUS. ,

The apparatus employed in hatching Salmonidae must
necessarily vary with the species, temperature of water in
hatching, and the character of the waters it is proposed to
stock. The principal object is not to incubate the largest
number of eggs in a given space, but to so incubate the ova
that at some future period — for instance, twelve months
after laying down the ova — the largest number of healthy
fish may result ; and I say this advisedly, for it is quite
possible to hatch a very large percentage of the ova, and yet
a very small percentage of the fry survive the first few weeks
after they commence feeding. With a low temperature,
and where the ova have to be sent away either as eyed ova,
or the fry to be turned out before the conclusion of the yolk
sac period, a very much larger number of Salmon and Trout
eggs can be incubated per gallon of water per minute with-
out any apparent loss than is possible in this country with
a high temperature of water and with fry under constant
observation for months after they commence feeding.

43

At Howietoun I use boxes, each of which will rear 15,000
Lochleven Trout fry for five or six months after hatching, and
this without any appreciable loss, but I do not care to lay
down more than 20,000 eggs on the grilles in each box, the
size of the egg being 35,000 to the gallon. I find that if the
eggs are laid down any thicker than this there is a decided
difference in the vitality of the alevins and feeding powers
of the fry.

I will now consider the Hatchery as a factor in the culti-
vation of migratory Salmonidae, restricting myself for the
present to those species placed by Dr. Giinther in the
group Salmones either with a wide geographical range, as
Salar, Trutta, and Cambracus, or limited to Great Britain
and Ireland, as Brachypoma and Gallivensis, merely point-
ing out that while touching on the general conditions
common to the increase of the above named species, the ex-
termination of the Bull Trout on the Tweed and the Sea
Trout on the Forth forms a very serious point to discuss in
treating of the culture of the Salmon, and that the best results
can only be obtained by the careful protection and arti-
ficial production of the species best suited to each particular
district. The objects here are to increase Salmones whose
pastures are in the sea, and whose nurseries are in the rivers.

The size of the river has no fixed relation to the number
and weight of fish caught in its estuary and contiguous sea-
board, and if a very large number of smolts were annually
turned in immediately above the tidal waters the stock of
Salmones would be increased by a proportion of the number
turned in, fixed only by the conditions of food and of
natural enemies in the estuary and adjoining sea. I do not
mean to say for an instant that all the fish reaching
maturity would return or attempt to return to the mouth of
the river in which they were liberated as smolts, but I think

44

that the evidence tends to show that most of them would do
so. The question at this point resolves itself into a matter
of pounds, shillings, and pence. Salmon smolts of two years
old can now be raised at less than sixpence apiece, and
Salmon in the estuary on their return are probably worth on
an average five shillings each ; rent and the expense of nets,
wages, and rates probably add another five shillings, of course
if there was a much increased take the proportion to each
fish would be less and all the fish that return to the estuary
are not caught, but it will be sufficient for our purpose if we
assume that a Salmon on his road to destruction is worth
while still free five shillings two years after it has been
liberated as a smolt ; if, therefore, 10 per cent, of the smolts
turned in are caught two years afterwards no profit will
result, for the increase would only equal the first cost, and
the interest on the outlay would be nil.

The old idea in this country was to turn out young fish big
enough (and big enough does not necessarily mean suffi-
ciently educated) to take care of themselves. The results
from the Stormontfield experiment at first, when everything
was new and in working order, were sufficiently marked, but
they have not been permanent, and if pisciculture had
achieved no more, Salmon culture, in this country at least,
would be an interesting exotic, with magnificent results in
some cases, far oftener with none ; but fortunately it is not
necessary to depend on two-year-old smolts for the future
increase of our Salmon fisheries. Mr. Spencer Baird, who
I am glad to see so ably represented at this Exhibition, in
a letter to the Commission of Fisheries of the Dominion of
Canada, refers to the magnificent increase of Salmon in
California, an increase in five years from five to fifteen million
pound weight in one river, an expenditure of merely two
million Salmon fry per annum, which in this country

45

would entail less than a thousand a year after making a full
allowance for all expenses. But stocking with fry or with
smolts is but a small portion of the great question ; parts of
some of our Salmon rivers are too fouled by pollution
to rear fry after they are liberated ; it is only by adapt-
ing the means to the end that Salmon culture can reach
the highest degree of success. In many parts of the country
where the pollution is only moderate, we can meet it by taking
advantage of the pure water above or by turning smolts in
directly above the tidal waters, but I am certain the surest
remedy for pollution is to make pure water pay. It is easier
to shake an industry to its foundation than to put some-
thing better in its place, and if, through fish culture, pure
streams and more plentiful food would displace the black
sewers of our midlands without the intervention of harassing
legislation, fish culturists will not have laboured in vain.

The next important point in Salmon culture is a con-
sideration of the mode of stocking. The watershed must
first be carefully surveyed, and the quantity of natural
feeding for young fry, yearlings, and smolts estimated.
Where clear spring water can be obtained close to gravelly
shallows suitable for alevins, the most economical and
efficacious manner of stocking is to cut narrow ditches just
above flood water mark, fill in with gravel, and sew down
eyed ova a few days from hatching, cover over with
branches, and leave alone.

Where no springs exist young fry a few weeks after
commencing to feed should be turned into the gravelly
ripples, but where the stream is too sluggish or too large to
be safe for fry, yearling fish can be turned in in spring as
soon as the kelts are out of the water, but smolts should
only be used immediately above the tidal water.

The temperature, hardness of water, earthy particles in

46

suspension, rainfall, &c., must be carefully studied in
connection with turning in the young salmon, but with a
little experience ultimate success is assured.

The Hatchery can supply eyed ova for the redds and fry
for the shallows, and ponds should be constructed near the
Hatching-house for yearlings, but where* it is necessary to
stock with smolts ponds for the purpose must be constructed
near the head of the estuary, as the carriage of two-year-old
samlets is neither easy nor economical. The time that inter-
venes between the smolt just entering the tidal water and
its first return towards the river varies considerably on the
east coast of Scotland ; two summers may sometimes inter-
vene, and we must be careful not to assume that all fish
return or attempt to return in the grilse stage, for I have
found in the case of the Lochleven Trout only a small
proportion spawn in the corresponding state.

But whatever the time is we know that his growth is most
rapid, and his sea food must be studied before much further
advance can be made in Salmon culture ; garvies and young
herring probably form a great portion of his food, but what-
ever it be his paths in the sea are as well marked, and to
some fishermen, alas, as well known, as in the river.

Trammels in the sea are successfully dropped by east
coast fishing boats on their way out and lifted on their
return. The food of Salmon at sea may possibly be
influenced by the modes of fishing. Boats year by year go
farther north and farther to sea for their Herrings ; the
fishing grounds are slowly but surely receding from the
shore. It is too early yet to foreshadow the results, it may
be that food inshore grows more plentiful now that the
Herrings are further out, or it may be that the Herrings are
further out because the inshore food has decreased, it may
be, and to a certain extent it must be, a matter of changing

47

currents and temperatures ; but what I wish to impress in
this paper is that the sea food of the migratory Salmones
forms a very necessary preliminary study to the great
question of Salmon culture.

A diagram expressing the art of Salmon culture would
contain no broad, hard, rectangular lines, no vivid colouring
easy to be understood, but flowing curves traced by the ever
varying intensity of the now few now many circumstances
whose combination constitute the problem of the migratory
Salmones. Temperature and food are here, as with the non-
migratory species, the principal factors. The modes of
capture and obstructions in rivers also weigh heavily against
the increase of Salmon. But when one of our watersheds is
sufficiently artificially stocked so that the advantages of the
process are brought clearly and directly before the public an
alteration in the modes of legal capture will assuredly follow.

Of obstructions in the river it is difficult to treat ; many
upper proprietors prefer good Trout fishing to the pleasure
of dragging about a few kelts in spring, and it cannot be
too strongly impressed that Trout are most destructive to
Salmon spawn, and that Salmon in their turn are after
spawning most destructive to Trout.

I am aware it is very commonly held that Salmon do not
feed in fresh water, probably because in common with all
large-ovaed Salmonidae the ovaries for from two to eight
weeks completely fill the cavity of the abdomen, and should
the fish yield to hunger during this time the freshly
swallowed food causes the immediate extrusion of the ova.

If Salmon never fed in fresh water a well-mended kelt
would be a superfluous expression in the parlance of
fishermen.

The deduction as to kelts in certain parts of the rivers is
obvious.

48

Obstructions in the river will interfere little with young
fish artificially bred descending to the sea, although they are
often fatal to the ascent of spawning fish. Returning to the
artificial propagation of salmon, the selection of breeders is
very important, eggs from young fish being far smaller in
size and the fry hatched from them more delicate than is
the case with ova spawned from mature breeders. I think
it therefore necessary that the Salmon should be caught and
selected so soon as the rod fishing closes, as by selecting the
best hen fish the future stock of the water will be much
improved.

The non-migratory Salmones in this country are
classed by Doctor Giinther under the following species —
S. Fario : Ferox : Gilleroo Nigri-pinnis ; Orcadensis and
Levenensis, but probably with the exception of the
S. Levenensis, which more nearly approaches a marine form,
these are all more or less permanent varieties of Fario ; and
their fry, at least those produced under artificial conditions,
are more easily reared than the fry of the migratory species.
Their cultivation may be said to consist in the selection of the
oldest females for breeding purposes, in the artificial incuba-
tion of the ova and the rearing of the fry ; beyond this their
culture resolves itself into a question of habitat and food, of
habitat by choosing the species or variety best suited to the
ends in view, and of food, for it is only by increasing the
food supply in the water that the heaviest weight per acre
and the most delicate quality of the flesh can be produced.
The cultivation of the food supply in fresh water is effected
by the reduction of coarse consumers of food who come in
competition with the Salmones, by the cultivation, intro-
duction, and acclimatization of fish whose value as food
for Salmones is greater than the value of the sustenance
they themselves derive from the water, as, for instance, the

49

Char of Loch Rannoch, who subsist almost entirely on the
daphnae pulix. The smelt, and some of the white fish also,
may be the link in the chain which will bind the land-locked
salmon to our northern lakes, and prove a very disturbing
weight in the scales on the side of the upper proprietors on
waters now tenanted by the migratory Salmonidae. I have
only just commenced the construction of a botanical pond
to enable me to study water plants as herbage for molluscae,
shelter for grammari, and the natural production of myriads
of ontromostrica. On the sea-shore of the Western High-
lands if the kelp be not regularly cut, or in other words
rudely cultivated, for cutting is most assuredly a process in
cultivation, the whelks and bukies decrease on account of
the want of the young tender shoots of seaweed, and the
fishing in the neighbourhood is sensibly diminished.

From this it is easy to understand what a great future
may be opened out by the systematic culture of water
plants in our inland waters.

Food limits the culture of non-migratory Salmonidae,
therefore our study must be where to grow it, how to grow
it, when to grow it, and what to grow. In lakes some
shoal swimming fish is essential to the growth of the large
species of non-migrating Salmonidae. Since the Char have
disappeared from Lochleven in the first quarter of the pre-
sent century, the ten pound Trout in that loch have passed
into the realms of romance.

Acclimatization here steps in ; either the freshwater Smelt
of America or our own Osmerus eperlanus, which I have
successfully hatched and am now rearing in fresh water,
if introduced into a Highland loch, for instance, Loch Tay,
would enable it to carry a very heavy crop of some of the
larger inland species, for instance, the landlocked Salmon
of Loch Werner in Sweden, or the S. Sebago of America ;

VOL. vi. — C. E

5°

but we must not conclude that the acclimatisation of every
species is in all cases desirable, for if the Black Bass were
introduced into the Tay, and the Pike Perch allowed to
sport wherever he listed, even were the sport with the new
comers at all commensurate with the highly-coloured
descriptions which we have read, it will hardly compensate
for a trout! ess river, and a salmonless estuary. There may
be parts of the country where the Pike Perch would form.
a desirable addition to the local fauna, but I cannot conceive
the Black Bass, who is only at his best in waters essentially
fitted for Salmonidae, to be other than a most dangerous
intruder. The Colorado beetle boasts, I believe, of a special
Act of Parliament, and I do think the introduction ol
strange and dangerous species of fish should only be
attempted under State control.

The S. Sebago, should he retain in this country his non-
migratory instincts, would probably be a splendid fish for
the Thames, and if used in the upper parts of the Severn
would introduce a new and important element in the
question of the respective rights of upper and lower pro-
prietors. It is not for the public good that this should be
done, for this fish would probably be able to hold the
spawning grounds from all comers, and a rapid decrease of
the migratory species would be the result, and if it be urged
that a lake species would not localize itself to the upper
portions of our larger rivers, still if crossed with a British
variety, such as S. Levenensis, it in all probability would
do so. The acclimatization of the Corregoni, of which there
are many species, all of which can be easily transported as
alevins is, in my opinion, only to be considered as a factor
in the production of food for more valuable Salmonidae. If
we had the great American lakes, no doubt the large white
fish of Canada would, if introduced, form a valuable article

of popular food, but our space in this island is too con-
fined to enable us to deal with other than the best we can
have, and I doubt, except in a few solitary cases, if any of
the Corregoni fall under this head.

The introduction of Golden Tench and the varieties of
Carp are not considered in this paper, as the acclimatization
of fishes has been treated merely in relation to Sal-
monidae.

DISCUSSION.

Mr. WlLMOT (Commissioner for Canada) said he rose
with great pleasure to move a vote of thanks to Sir James
Maitland for the very lucid and instructive Paper he had
read, for he felt satisfied that much benefit would be
derived from it. He was a deep lover of the science of
fish culture, believing it to be one of the means by which
the population of the earth hereafter would derive much
benefit in the way of food and wealth. It was well known
that the waters of almost every country which had been
largely inhabited had become very scarce of fish, but this
result was brought about by the greed and avarice of
mankind almost entirely, not in consequence of the pre-
datory habits of other fish which frequented the same
waters. In any new country an abundance of fish was to
be found in the rivers and waters, showing that the balance
of nature was evidently correct ; that though fish fed on
fish, they did not exterminate one another ; but the moment
man stepped in with his engines of destruction, the fish
were reduced to such an extent that this great Inter-
national Exhibition had been established for the purpose
of devising means whereby this description of food could
be increased. He regretted to find that, to some extent,

E 2

52

there was a difference of opinion with regard to the means
to be adopted to this end, but, for his part, he advocated
the protection of fish in every possible way, as well as of
assistance to those engaged in artificial production. In
Canada this subject was of very great importance. It was
now some years ago since artificial culture was introduced
by himself, with the recognition of the Government, and
now they stood second to no other country with regard to it.
The number of Salmon they turned out annually was not
exceeded by any other country in the world. During the
last two years from thirty-five to forty millions of Salmonidae
had been turned into the waters of Canada through the
artificial process, and, though there were no doubt sceptics
and others who were inimical to the science of fish culture,
he thought that could only arise from ignorance of the
benefits to be derived from it. At first sight it seemed
extraordinary that fish could be produced by artificial
means ; but it was a most simple process when understood.
Fish were so prolific, that man with a little ingenuity could
produce from them far more than nature could herself,
because it was a well-known fact that large quantities of
the eggs of the fish family were destroyed by other species.
This was the ordained law ; it was intended that fish
should live on fish, because if all the eggs of fish were
permitted to hatch out, there would be no room in the
waters for them. Consequently, nature had provided wisely
that fish should live on one another, and this being the
case, large numbers of ova must be consumed. Under
artificial culture, however, where the egg was protected
from its enemies, a larger percentage could be brought to
maturity than by the natural process. Hence, if it could
be shown that 75 per cent, of the eggs could produce living
fish, the system ought to be encouraged by all intelligent

53

people. Sir James Maitland had gone into the matter in
a most lucid and instructive manner, and there was no
doubt that when the Paper was disseminated it would do
a vast amount of good. The only difficulty that he saw
was, that it did not appear to go hand in hand with the
ideas of some scientific gentlemen, who maintained that
protection was not necessary to some of our fish. He
contended, however, that if an intelligent country con-
sidered fish culture of service at all, it should also adopt
every possible mode of protecting the fish. It would be
no use for a pisciculturist to trouble himself to reproduce
fish in great numbers if the intelligence and legislation of
the country did not protect that which had been produced,
and. if every one were allowed to fish without any control.
It seemed to him, therefore, that it behoved all who were
interested in this matter to join in every possible measure
to enhance the production of fish, either by natural or
artificial means, and also to protect the fish afterwards.
Nearly every civilized country possessed laws for the
purpose of protecting fish ; and when some gentlemen
came forward and said that fish could not be exterminated,
the consequence must be that all these protective laws
were a mistake, and that every one should be allowed to
kill and eat as he pleased. He maintained, on the other
hand, that it was the duty of the legislature of every
intelligent country to suppress intemperance of all kinds,
not only in the matter of liquids, but in killing fish ; and
to pass judicious laws for the benefit of mankind. If any
law were more judicious than another, it was that the
waters should be protected from the inordinate destruction
of man, in order that fish might be produced in larger
numbers, both as a luxury for the rich and for the benefit
of the poor. He felt that he was treading on somewhat

54

delicate ground in giving expression to these sentiments ;
but as this was the first opportunity he had had, he felt it
his duty to express publicly the strong conviction which he
entertained on this subject.

Professor HUXLEY begged leave to second the vote of
thanks which had been so well moved by his friend
Mr. Wilmot. Unfortunately, he had not had an oppor-
tunity of seeing Sir James Maitland's establishment at
Howietown, but he had frequently been favoured by
reading and hearing what he had done, and thus had the
means of knowing not only the nature of his operations,
But what was to his mind the singularly precise and
accurate scientific spirit which he had brought to his work,
and it was the secret of the very remarkable success he. has
obtained. In this matter, as in all biological questions, the
secret of success lay in attention to. minute details, and
that was really the moral of the Paper. You must, in the
first place, be able to comprehend precisely — which very
few people did — the exceeding complexity of natural
conditions, and then you must know how to carry into
practice all the precautions necessary to meet the variation
in those conditions. He could not recommend anyone who
was endeavouring to acquaint himself with natural history
to take up a more useful and valuable study than that of
the manner in which Sir James Maitland had carried out
his operations with regard to fish culture. He dwelt upon
this point the more because, since the time — some forty
years ago — when M. Coste first popularised the notion of
fish culture, the idea became prevalent that you only had
to carry out artificial impregnation, or the collection of
spat in the case of Oysters, and the thing was done. He
need not say what disappointment those who first experi-
mented in the matter of Oyster culture were destined to

55

undergo ; that was a matter recorded not only in the minds
but the pockets of a large number of persons. The same
considerations applied to all forms of fish culture, and
unless those who undertook it were prepared to work at it
with that happy combination of science and practice which
was exemplified in the case of Sir James Maitland, dis-
appointment would await their efforts, as it had those of
many persons who had attempted the same process. For
himself, he did not take very rosy views of the value of
protection pure and simple for sea fisheries, but perhaps
he was all the more inclined to attach especial value to
thoroughly well considered and scientific fish culture. He
was inclined to think that it was in this direction we must
look, and not to measures of inefficient protection, for the
ultimate preservation of our fisheries. This was not the
time to discuss the point, but he gathered from Mr.
Wilmot's remarks that there was some extremely wicked
person who had been saying that protection was of no use
in Salmon fisheries ; that people should be allowed to
destroy anything and everything they liked ; but anybody
who heard the remarks he had ventured to offer at the first
Conference would be aware that he, at any rate, was not
one of those wicked persons. No one had insisted more
strenuously than he had done on the absolute necessity for
the most careful protection for those sea fisheries in which
protection could be shown to be efficient, and if any one
were prepared to show that measures of protection as
efficient as those which were adopted in the Salmon
fisheries, and which must be enforced unless the Salmon
fisheries were to be destroyed, would be equally efficient in
the case of any of the sea fisheries, by all means let them
be adopted, and no one would be a stronger advocate for
protection than he should be ; but, until it was made clear

56

that the regulations were efficient, that you were really
doing something for the fishery, and not burdening the
fishermen with useless and vexatious regulations, it would
be better to leave the question of protecting sea fisheries
alone.

Mr. BRADY (Inspector of Irish Fisheries) said he might
say a word on the question of the protection of Salmon
fisheries, as compared with the protection of sea fisheries.
He belonged to the sister country, and they had had a
great deal of experience with regard to the protection of
both sea fisheries and Salmon fisheries. There were very
valuable fisheries in Ireland, and a series of Acts of Parlia-
ment had been passed for their protection, though pre-
viously to 1 848 there was no machinery for putting them
in force. The Act of 1848, however, gave the machinery,
and imposed licence duties on all engines used for the
capture of Salmon ; the amount of revenue thus derived
being over £ 10,000 per annum, and the effect had been
that within his own official experience the Salmon fisheries
had increased from about £2,000 a year to nearly £6,000.
With regard to sea fisheries, although he was as great an
advocate as Mr. Wilmot could be for the protection of any
industry where it was required, he quite agreed with Pro-
fessor Huxley that if there was any doubt whatever about
the effectiveness of legislation, he should not hamper
fishermen by restrictions which might be perfectly useless.
The Act of 1842 gave power to the Commissioners in
Ireland to impose restrictions on sea fisheries as well as
Salmon fisheries, and certain restrictions were placed in
certain bays on certain modes of fishing, particularly
trawling. In one bay the restrictions were introduced in
1843, and were continued till 1862. At that time a change
in the Government took place, new ideas came in, and an

57

inquiry was held as to the advantages derived from these
restrictive bye-laws in this particular bay, the result of
which was that the late Sir Richard Griffith, as Chairman
of the Commission, resolved to put an end to these restric-
tions, and this was done much against the wish of those
who opposed trawling. The effect had been that all
classes of fishing in that bay had greatly improved. There
was another bay where the same restrictions against
trawling were imposed in the same year, and had remained
to this day, and at the present time the fisheries there were
more deteriorated than they were fifty years ago, when
trawling was first interfered with. It would no doubt be
asked, Why did he not repeal that bye-law? Well, he
certainly was inclined to repeal it, and invited the trawlers
to give evidence on the point ; but they did not come
forward, and therefore there was no power for the Com-
missioners to act.

Dr. DAY said he did not think the remarks of Mr. Brady
had much to do with the subject in hand, for he could
not help thinking he had given opinions in the place of
reasons, and statements in the place of facts. Certainly
trawling might be going on and fisheries might improve,
but who that knew anything about fishing would admit
that because you secured a number of fish you must be
improving fisheries ? Acting on that principle, if you
killed all the fish you would be improving the fisheries.
He could not see that trawling could by any possibility
improve fisheries in a bay, unless it killed certain carni-
vorous fish ; however, this question would come forward
at another time, when it could be more fully discussed
With regard to the Paper of Sir James Maitland, he would
remark that that gentleman had taken up a position which
was assumed by the Government in most foreign countries ;

58

he had, at his own expense, kept hatcheries and fisheries,
which in almost every civilized country were carried on
by Government officials. If they were told that a person
who drew a fish out of the water was entitled to the thanks
of the community for adding to the food of the people, how
much more was he entitled to gratitude who spent his
time and money in increasing the number of young fish,
and so augmenting the food supply of the population at
large? Another question of some importance was this,
Whom had they to thank for the present condition of
fisheries ? Why those who made such large profits destroy-
ing the Salmon by polluting the rivers. If the legislature
permitted these things, surely it was bound to give some
assistance to fisheries by adding to the supply of young
fish, to make up for those that were destroyed. Sir James
Maitland was carrying out investigations which no doubt
would be of great benefit to fisheries ; he was trying
experiments on hybridisation of fish. With regard to
land-locked Salmon, it might or might not remain in the
upper waters of the river if there was no large lake to
which it could have access. Also the question arose, if you
crossed the Trout and the Salmon, whether the young
would be sterile, and if they could not breed, would they
develop the propensity of going down to the sea. If the fish
remained in the upper waters of upper riparian proprietors,
would they have the means of getting a breed of fish which
they could keep to some extent to themselves ? At present
the lower riparian proprietors on some rivers were catching
the largest proportion of the Salmon, whilst the upper
riparian proprietors were like clucking hens who were
hatching eggs and letting the fish down to destruction.
With reference to the acclimatization of fish, Sir James
Maitland had given a warning which ought to be taken

59

to heart. There were many who would introduce new
kinds of fish to our waters, for three reasons ; one, that they
were good for sport to our anglers ; secondly, that like the
Gold Tench, they were pretty ; and thirdly, that they were
useful. Now he must confess he thought the Black Bass
was too rapacious a fish to be introduced. They heard the
other day of a wonderful collection of fish in the sea, and if
science would only point out any enormous piece of water
in which this Black Bass could prey on shoals of fish as
large in quantity as the Cod off Lofoten Islands where
they were told some 1 20 million existed in one mile, then
the Black Bass might be introduced, but until these
localities were found it would be as well to be cautious.

Mr. WILLIS BUND said he knew a gentleman on the
Severn who had for some years, at great expense, hatched
a large number of fish and turned them into the water.
This year, owing to some local jealousies, as soon as ever
the fish were turned out, a considerable quantity of lime
was put into the water, and the fish were killed. Of course
that was an offence which could be dealt with and punished,
but there was another kind of offence, glanced at in the
Paper, which they were wholly powerless to prevent, and of
which they had an instance only lately. A gentleman had
spent a large sum in artificially breeding and in bringing a
Trout stream to a very high state of efficiency, when a
neighbour of his placed in the stream a bucketful of young
Pike. Of course he could not more effectually have
destroyed the work of years, but he was guilty of no legal
offence whatever. He therefore considered the hint given
in the Paper was very valuable, that some provision should
be made to prevent rapacious fish being introduced into
water not suited for them. Every water should be made
to produce the best fish it could, and if Salmonidae were

6o

the best fish those waters could produce, they ought to be
confined to them ; at any rate, if large sums of money
were spent, either by private individuals or the public, in
introducing new fish and in improving the fisheries of the
water, there ought to be some means by which ill-natured
persons could be prevented turning in rapacious fish, and
thus in a short time undoing the work of years. Either
the Local Fisheries Board or the Home Office should have
some authority or power to say what fish should be turned
into the waters, and he hoped that some regulation of this
sort would be one of the useful results which would follow
from the Conference.

Professor G. BROWN GoODE (U.S. Commissioner) said
said he should be pleased to give a few figures illustrating
what fish culture could do. Professor Baird (U.S. Com-
missioner) informed him that the Sacramento River, Cali-
fornia, was, owing to the large number of canneries there,
to a large extent depleted of its Salmon ; but by the
establishment of a hatchery there he had turned out some-
thing like sixty-seven millions of eggs or young fry of the
Californian Salmon in the past eight or nine years, one-
fourth of which were put into the Sacramento River, and
it was now much more productive than ever before, On
the Clacamass, in Oregon, a similar experiment was tried
some years ago with a like result. These experiments had
clearly shown that the Salmon industry of the Pacific
Coast, which was now producing fish to the value of some-
thing like three million dollars a day, was thoroughly under
the control of fish culture. He might also take the case of
the Connecticut, in the last century, which was one of the
most productive rivers ; but by the construction of a great
dam, 60 miles above its mouth, the Salmon were cut off
from the spawning ground, and for very nearly ninety

6i

years not a Salmon was seen. In 1866, or thereabouts, the
Commissioners of Connecticut began to plant Salmon in
this river, and four years afterwards they began to appear.
In the first year 500 fine Salmon, of 15 Ibs. to 20 Ibs. each,
were taken ; in the following year almost an equal number.
Since that the Commissioners of the States have discon-
tinued Salmon culture in that river, the supply has again
fallen off, and the river might now be considered practically
deprived of its Salmon again. He simply wished to add a
word in confirmation of what Sir James Maitland and Dr.
Day had said concerning American Bass. Although he
did not like to say anything against a fish which was a
countryman of his own, he thought it was a fish which
interested only the private individuals who were able and
willing to feed him, and were willing to pay any sum for
the gratification they found in angling. So far as fish
with which public fish culturists should deal, the Black Bass
had no claims whatever, unless they put him into the same
stream with Pike, and let them fight it out together.

Mr. W. OLDHAM CHAMBERS, seeing Professor Brown
Goode on the platTorm, thought perhaps he would have
given the Conference the benefit of his experience with the
Salmo sebago. A few months ago Professor Baird sent him
over fifteen thousand eggs of the land-locked Salmon, in
the hope that they would form an important feature in
fish breeding in this country, but he said nothing or little
about the Salmo sebago. He thought there were many
rivers in England which were completely cut off from the
sea, and if the land-locked Salmon could be introduced
into them, or into the Broads of Norfolk, it would be very
advantageous.

Professor G. BROWN GOODE remarked that his colleague
Mr. Earle might be able to give more definite information

62

concerning the land-locked Salmon than he could, but at
the same time he should like to make up for his detractions
of the Black Bass by saying a word or two in favour of the
former fish. It was held in high esteem by his countrymen,
as might be judged by the fact that the United States
Commissioners had for some years carried on a hatching
establishment on Grand Lake Stream and the subordinate
streams on other lakes in Maine for the propagation of the
eggs of this fish. The young fry had been introduced into
many smaller streams and lakes in the Northern States.
The experiment had not been worked out to the utmost ex-
tent yet, but there was every reason to believe that the land-
locked Salmon was going to be extremely valuable in the
northern lakes, and he saw no reason why it should not be
equally valuable in the lakes of Scotland. Mr. Wilmot was
equally familiar with this fish, for it might be said to be
more abundant in British North America than in the States.
It was undoubtedly the same race as the Salmo salar.
In some instances it had become land-locked by the erec-
tion of dams within the memory of man, in other instances
it had become land-locked by natural causes before or
soon after the settlement of the country, whilst in other
instances, again, it was not land-locked by any artificial
obstructions, but remained without any obstacle to its
visiting the sea save the great distance it would have to
traverse. It lived in the head-waters of some of the large
rivers. The same might be said, to some extent, of the
red-spotted Trout, or Char (Salmo fontinalis), which in the
northern parts of Canada and Nova Scotia descended to
the sea, where it lived during a large part of the year, and
was known as the Sea Trout, and was a great favourite of
anglers. It inhabited the lower stretches of rivers and
streams, and frequently descended into the sea; those

63

which did get into the sea were considered to be very fine.
After passing the limit of Long Island, which was the
limit of the distribution of Salmon, the same barrier of
warm temperature which seemed to keep the Salmon from
going up the large rivers, prevented the red-spotted Trout
from descending from the mountains to the sea ; and it
had really become land-locked by reason of temperature
barriers in the southern part of its range, though it extended
into the southern spur of the Alleghanies six or eight
degrees of latitude farther south than the point at which
it was able to descend to the sea. The land-locked Salmon
is a most delicious fish, though not quite so large as the
Salmo salar ; it was rarely more than eight or ten pounds
in weight, and, on account of its long detention in fresh
water and diminution in size, its eggs were considerably
smaller than those of sea-running Salmon.

Mr. WlLMOT said there was a celebrated American
showman who once came to England and took away an
animal called Jumbo. The same gentleman in former
years exhibited a certain animal at his museum in New
York which he advertised as the " What is it ? " It seemed
to him the same term might be applied to the land-locked
Salmon. His impression was that there was no such thing
in existence as land-locked Salmon, scientifically or natu-
rally. It was the true Salmo salar, which had a different
coat and a different shape from the water it lived in, in the
same way that the showman he referred to put a coat on
the animal he exhibited.

Land-locked Salmon, which he called Salmo salar, was a
fish which coiild be obtained by any pisciculturist at his
pleasure ; all he had to do was to hatch from the egg of
the Salmo salar a number of little fish, put them into a
large body of water from whence they could not reach the

64

sea, and if they found food congenial to their wants, they
would grow and develope into a large fish, slightly changed in
colour and scarcely perceptibly in form. Such had been his
experience in America and Canada. Lake Ontario was once
filled with this fish. When he was a youth he had known
thousands killed in one night, and the farmers caught them
in such numbers as they entered the streams to deposit
their ova, that some of them got enough to buy their farms
with. In the stream which ran within a few yards from
where he was born and brought up he had killed hundreds
and thousands of them on their migration up from their sea,
Lake Ontario, into the smaller streams and rivers to de-
posit their ova, in the same same way as the Salmo salar
left the ocean and ascended rivers. For want of proper
precautions, proper protection and good legislation, this
Salmon had almost disappeared from Lake Ontario. At
first there were no laws in the country, and consequently
every man killed as he pleased, and as the poor creatures
came up, they were destroyed right and left. The Indians
killed them, and the white Indians killed them still more.
To prove that the Salmo sebago was the true Salmo salar,
he might say that he had taken eggs of Salmo salar, im-
pregnated them, hatched them, and taken them up into
the rivers running into Lake Huron ; and to-day some
of the true Salmo salar were found in Lake Huron,
though smaller than were found along the coast. That
was evidence to show that you might make land-locked
Salmon in any water you chose where the fish could find
congenial food, and where they could not get to the sea.
It might be said, How could the Salmon in Lake Ontario
be said to be land-locked when the St. Lawrence emptied
that lake into the sea ? Salmon were feeders in the sea
and breeders in fresh water ; they migrated annually to the

65

rivers to reproduce, When they were abundant in the
waters of the gulf, they passed up the St. Lawrence,
entering every stream on either side up into Lake Ontario ;
and were it not for the great barrier of Niagara Falls the
Salmon would be found in the upper springs of Lake
Superior. It was their instinct to go onward and onward
until they found a suitable spot for spawning, and they
would have passed into Lake Erie and Lake Superior, the
same as Lake Ontario, were it not for the Falls ; the con-
sequence was they entered into the smaller streams which
fed the lake and went back into Lake Ontario instead of
into the sea, where they had remained up to the present
time, as the true sea Salmon only acclimatized to fresh
water. Any gentleman in England who was desirous of
having land-locked Salmon, if he had a lake with a great
depth in the middle and small streams running into it,
into which the fish could go to breed, might produce land-
locked Salmon from the eggs of the Salmon of the sea.

Mr. BIRKBECK, M.P., on behalf of the Executive Com-
mittee, desired to thank Sir James Maitland for his excel-
lent Paper, and also to thank Mr. Wilmot for his remarks
on the question of State aid to Fisheries. He thought the
advice he had given was most excellent, and only re-
gretted that the House of Commons was not more largely
represented. He could only hope that through the press
the members of the Legislature would be able to read,
mark, learn, and inwardly digest what had passed, and
would persuade the Government of the day to recognise
the importance of giving assistance to our fisheries. He
could not specify any one particular direction in which that
aid should be given, but he went on the principle that
inasmuch as State aid was given in foreign countries and
in our own colonies, the same assistance ought to be given

in England.

VOL. VI. — C. F

66

The resolution was then put and carried unanimously.

Sir JAMES G. MAITLAND, in reply, said that he was very
glad that his Paper had elicited remarks from the repre-
sentatives of America and Canada, both of which countries
were pre-eminently known for fish culture. He could not
say that he agreed with all the remarks that had been made.
Fishing was a very old art ; fish had been caught ever
since man went out in a coracle, but fish culture was still
very young, and it would be expecting a great deal to
expect Parliament to change legislation in a moment before
this art had had time to approve itself to the nation. He
quite agreed with the opinion expressed by Mr. Brady that
so long as there was any doubt, they should not legislate.
With regard to his hybrid experiments, they were yet too
young to say exactly what might come of them, but they
showed peculiar forms in scaling, and perhaps might help
towards connecting different species of Salmonidse and re-
ducing them down to one or two species, the others being
merely varieties. He was much obliged to Mr. Wilmot
for his remarks on land-locked Salmon ; but having had
some experience on lakes in Scotland where Salmon had
been bred and had not gone into the sea, he had found
invariably that where there were no Char in the lake the
Salmon had become very large in the head, and seldom
exceeded four or five pounds in weight. On the other
hand, some nine years ago he got a few eggs of the Leuvi
Trout from the late Mr. Buckland, and turned about one
hundred and fifty into a small piece of water a little over
one hundred acres, which contained nothing but small
Perch. Last Friday a gentleman brought him one of these
fish, which he had found washed ashore, which must have
been just nine years old ; it measured 33 J inches, but was
in very bad condition. The Trout when put under con-

6;

ditions of having shallow swimming fish beside it had
obtained this enormous size, and he had no doubt it was
absolutely necessary to land-locked Salmon to have shallow-
swimming fish to feed upon. If they were not present in
the water, they should be introduced first, and the Salmo
sebago afterwards ; this would make the experiment more
successful. He concluded by proposing a vote of thanks
to the Chairman, who had taken a great interest in the
operations of the Fish Culture Association, of which he was
President.

The Marquis of HAMILTON had much pleasure in
seconding the vote of thanks to the Chairman. He could
not but think that the speeches which had been delivered
that morning would have the most practical effect on all
those interested in fisheries. He hoped the observations
made by Mr. Wilmot with reference to State aid being
given to the fisheries of this country, would be earnestly
taken up by the public at large, and that before many
months had elapsed they would take a practical form, and
be brought forcibly under the notice of Government.
The vote of thanks having been passed unanimously,
The CHAIRMAN assured the Congress it had given him
the greatest pleasure to be of any use by occupying the
chair. He had seldom presided at so interesting a
meeting, or gained so much knowledge in so short a time.
He must say he did not believe in land-locked Salmon as a
distinct species. He believed you could produce a land-
locked Salmon from the ordinary fish. He recollected
when his uncle, the late Lord Spencer, had the shooting of
Glenlochy, near Kilin, he recollected a quantity of parr and
put them into a small tarn high up on the hills, where they
remained for several years. When they went to fish this
lake they saw a number of silvery-looking fish of about 2 to 3

F 2

68

Ibs. in weight, jumping just like Trout would do. He
believed those fish were the parr which were put in seven
years before, which had turned silver, like Salmon. It was
hoped they would continue to increase, but they became
thinner, and gradually dwindled away. Before sitting down
he must say a word in defence of the poor Black Bass,
which had been so hardly used. He fully agreed with the
remark that they should not be put into Trout streams,
where they would be as destructive as Pike, but in many
parts of England, particularly in his own country, there
were neither Salmon nor Trout in the streams, only Pike,
Perch, and the most abominable of all fish, coarse Bream.
In those waters the Black Bass would be a useful addition,
he would rise to a fly ; he would take any bait ; he would
live with the Pike, and he was exceedingly good eating.
They contained very few bones, and he thought the flesh
was decidedly more like fresh Whiting than any other fish.
The Conference then adjourned until 2 o'clock.

THE HERRING FISHERIES
OF SCOTLAND.

BY

R. W. DUFF, M.P.,

A LORD COMMISSIONER OF HER MAJESTY'S TREASURY.

VOL. VI,

CONTENTS.

PACK

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . , .71

STATISTICS 72

LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS 76

DECLINE OF THE FISHERIES IN CERTAIN DISTRICTS . . 79

INCREASE OF SHETLAND FISHERIES 81

STEAM POWER 82

GOVERNMENT BOARD . . 84

HARBOUR ACCOMMODATION 85

RAILWAY RATES . , . 87

DISCUSSION • • • 89

CONFERENCE ON THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1883.

SIR LYON PLAYFAIR in the Chair.

THE HERRING FISHERIES OF
SCOTLAND.

IN the paper I am about to read on the Herring Fisheries,
I do not propose to discuss the natural history of the
herring, as that is a subject which at these Conferences,
and elsewhere, has been amply dealt with by far more
competent authorities.

I propose to treat the Herring Fisheries from a practical
point of view, showing the progress of the industry, its
national importance, and the requirements for the mainten-
ance and further development of the most productive
Fishery of the United Kingdom.

A knowledge of the natural history and habits of the
herring is doubtless necessary for the proper treatment of
the subject, even from the point of view I am attempting
to deal with it, but scientific authorities differ in so
many important matters concerning the natural history
and migration of the herring, and so little is positively
known on the subject, that I think it prudent to avoid
controversial points of natural history, and to confine
myself to such practical matters as have come under my
notice in legislation connected with the Herring Fisheries,

72

and to such improvements for their development as a
nautical experience of twelve years in the Navy suggests.

Now the treatment of the subject from the point of
view I have indicated, necessitates a reference to statistics.
I regret to say that the only reliable figures I can find are
those relating to the Scotch Herring Fisheries, compiled by
the Fishery Board for Scotland, and I may here remark
that I think it is a matter of very great regret that no
attention has hitherto been paid to the recommendation of
the Sea Fisheries Commission of 1 866, who say, " We think
it a matter of great importance that Fishery statistics
should be systematically collected. It is only by such
means that the constant recurrence of the panics to which
the Sea Fishery interests have hitherto been subjected can
be prevented, and that any trustworthy conclusion can be
arrived at regarding the effects of the modes of fishing
which are in use. It is probable that the existing Coast
Guard or Customs organisation may be utilised to collect
statistics, as is now to some extent the case in Ireland."

The necessity for fuller information than we possess
concerning our Sea Fisheries must, I feel sure, be im-
pressed on us by the able and interesting paper read on
Tuesday by Professor Brown Goode, as the result of the
application of improved modes of capture and transit of
fish in the United States could not have been established
without the elaborate statistics he was able to put before
us.

My general observations may be taken as applying to
the Herring Fisheries of the United Kingdom, but for the
reason I have mentioned they are made with particular
reference to what is undoubtedly our most important Herring
Fisheries, viz., those of Scotland.

Dealing, in the first instance, with the progress of the

73

Scotch Herring Fisheries I shall only take you back to the
year 1810, when I find by the statistics of the Scotch
Fishery Board the number of herrings cured were as
follows ;

Barrels cured. Barrels exported.

1810 90,185 35,848

1830 326,557 181,654

1850 770,698 340,256

l88o 1,473,600 I,009,8ll

I may here mention that a barrel contains 32 gallons
English Wine measure, and it is calculated that each barrel
contains from 800 to 900 herrings. A barrel of salted
herrings, taking the average of the different qualities,
represents herrings to the value of 2$s. According to this
estimate the value of the herrings cured in Scotland in
1880 represents ;£ 1,842,000. It is calculated that 20 per
cent, of the herrings are sold fresh, assuming the fresh
herring to be only worth as much as the cured, although it
is probably more valuable, the total quantity taken off the
Coast of Scotland in 1880 would represent a money value
of ^2,210,460.* In the valuable paper prepared for this
Conference by the Duke of Edinburgh, His Royal Highness
estimates the money value of the fish taken off the Coast
of these Islands at ,£7,380,000. It will thus be seen that
the produce of the Scotch Herring Fisheries bears a large
proportion to the total value of the fish brought to our
shores.

The Herring Fishery of 1880 was the most productive
ever experienced in Scotland, and it was one which enabled

* Professor Brown Goode estimates the American Oyster Fisheries
as producing ^2,799,790 a year, ^589,330 more than the Scotch
Herring Fisheries, the latter being twice as valuable as any other
single American Fishery.

74

the Scotch curer to export a greater quantity of cured
herringsr to the Continent than either the Norwegians or
the Dutch, who have long been the established and worthy
rivals of the Scotch in the Continental markets. I find,
from the statistics laid before the Herring Brand Committee
of 1 88 1, the relative quantity of herrings imported at Stettin
was :

Scotland. Norway. Holland.

1869 to 1874, average of 6 years 569,741 936,105 161,961
1875 „ 1880 „ 6 „ 629,101 694,502 148,663

The Norwegian barrel is ^th less than the Scotch ; the
Dutch barrel is the same size.

These figures do not, of course, represent the total
export of each country. A quantity of Dutch herrings
are sent up the Rhine, and Holland, like Norway
and Scotland, has a considerable export trade in cured
herrings with most European countries. The Baltic ports,
however, take the large proportion of the Scotch and, I
believe, also of the Norwegian herrings ; a comparison,
therefore, of the imports at these ports may be taken as
indicating the relative prosperity of the herring trade of
the two countries. The demand for cured herrings in the
interior of Europe may be shown by a statement of Mr.
Reid, the British Vice- Consul at Stettin. Speaking of
Scotch herrings imported at Stettin, he said, before the
Committee of 1881 : "We send them all round, beginning
with Poland and Warsaw and the territory between Stettin
and Warsaw, the south of Russia, Gallicia, round by Vienna,
along to Bavaria, and then as far round until we get to
Magdeburg, when the imports of Hamburgh come in and
compete with our offers."

The progress of the Dutch Herring Fisheries is indicated
by the statistics in the Exhibition, showing that since 1857

75

they have increased in value from £47,908 to £147,788 per
annum.

Returning to the Scotch Herring Fisheries, I should
mention that the herrings cured in 1881 (the last year for
which I have reliable statistics) showed a decrease as com-
pared with 1880, of 362,445 barrels, but an increase as com-
pared with the average of the last ten years of 2 1 per cent.

Besides producing the large revenue I have referred to
the Scotch Herring Fisheries give employment to 48,000
fishermen, 2,400 coopers, 18,854 salters and packers. There
are 14,800 boats employed, while the value of the boats,
nets, and lines is estimated at £1,500,000.

An industry conducted on so large a scale must be of
great value to any country. It is difficult to exaggerate
its importance to the North of Scotland, where the indus-
tries are few, and where the soil is frequently sterile and
unproductive.

Professor Huxley in his opening address referred to the
large proportion of food frequently taken from the sea as
compared with the land. This is well illustrated by the
relative products of our Northern Counties.

I once made a calculation, taking my figures from the
Domesday Book, that the annual rental of the nine
Northern Counties in Scotland, amounted to £1,299,704,
being half a million less than the value of the cured herrings
in Scotland, already referred to, in 1880, and the value of
herrings cured at three stations, in the same year, on the
Aberdeenshire Coast, viz. : Aberdeen, Peterhead, and
Frazerburgh, exceeded the rental of the County of Aber-
deen (the City of Aberdeen alone excepted) by £69,000.

The statistics I have given I think prove the national
importance of the Herring Fisheries, they also show that
the progress of the Scotch Fisheries, although subject to

76

some slight fluctuations, has been rapid and continuous. I
will now consider the conditions under which they have
prospered and under which the trade in cured herrings has
so greatly increased.

The Herring Fisheries Commission of 1878 reports that
up to 1829 it had been the policy of the legislation to
encourage the Herring Fisheries by bounties, but the
bounties were discontinued, Mr. McCulloch expressing an
opinion that the fishermen often went to sea to catch the
bounties and not the fish.

From 1829 to 1851 the Fisheries were free from Govern-
ment sources of encouragement and were subject to no
restrictive regulations of importance. From '51 to '67 a
series of restrictive measures were passed to regulate the
Fishery and to prevent the capture of herrings at cer-
tain seasons and in certain ways. Since 1867, again, when
the first of the liberating Acts were passed (due in a great
degree to the report of the Commission in '62, presided
over by my right hon. friend in the chair), the Fisheries
on the coast of Scotland have practically been free and
subject to no restrictive legislation whatever.

I find that from —

Average number of barrels
cured annually.

1829-51, period of unrestricted fishing . . . 521,880
1851-68 „ restrictive legislation . . 657,160
1868-1881 „ unrestricted fishing . . . 827,580

These figures show that the average increase per annum
in 13 years of unrestricted legislation exceeded that of 17
years of restrictive legislation by 170,420 barrels.

The two systems were tried for sufficient periods to
justify the conclusion of the Commissioners of '78, viz. —
" That legislation in past periods has had no appreciable
effect, and that nothing that man has yet done, and nothing

77

man is likely to do, has diminished or is likely to diminish
the general stock of herrings in the sea."

If further evidence be needed in support of a policy of
unrestricted fishing, it appears to me to be supplied by a
consideration of the insignificant proportion of herrings
captured by man as compared with that effected by
agencies over which man has no control. I need say little
on this point, as it was amply dealt with by Professor
Huxley in his opening address, but in support of his view
I may quote a short extract from the Report of Messrs.
Buckland, Walpole and Young in '78. They say : " The
Scotch gannets must consume 37 per cent, more herrings
than all the Scotch fishermen catch in their nets."

The Commissioners add : " Whales, porpoises, seals,
coal fish, predaceous fish of every description are constantly
feeding on them (the herrings) from the moment of their
birth. The shoals of herrings in the ocean are always
accompanied by flocks of gulls and other sea birds, which
are continuously preying upon them, and it seems there-
fore no exaggeration to conclude that man does not
destroy one herring for every fifty destroyed by other
enemies." In quoting these opinions I am aware that I
am only repeating what has frequently been urged before
by those who have advocated unrestricted freedom of
fishing. My apology for repetition is that I am often being
told that " the sea is over-fished," and am frequently ap-
pealed to to use my influence in Parliament in support of
various restrictive measures for regulating our Sea Fisheries,
and the most effective reply to these statements and de-
mands appears to me to be the conclusions arrived at by
competent Commissioners, who have made exhaustive
inquiries into the subject. Only the other day I read a
most interesting book which I purchased in the Exhibition,

78

entitled " The Herring, and the Herring Fisheries," by Mr.
de Caux. Mr. de Caux is quite at one with me as to the
impracticability of establishing a close time, but he proposes
to re-enact the provision contained in the 48th of Geo. III.,
Chap. 1 10, regulating the size of the mesh of the herring
net. Now this question is very exhaustively dealt with by
the Commissioners of 1878. They point out that a law
regulating the mesh could not be enforced, except by an
International Convention, beyond three miles from the
shore. A new Convention has just been concluded with
Foreign Powers, and a Bill is now before Parliament to
give effect to it, but the Convention declined to entertain
the question of the mesh.

Another objection to reducing the size of the mesh is
that such a regulation would interfere with the sprat and
garvie fishing. I may here assume, without raising any
controversial point, that sprats and garvies are not young
herrings. Sprats and garvies supply a considerable amount
of wholesome food, and it would be unfair to prohibit these
fishings on the mere chance of increasing the number of
herrings.

A further objection is that the cotton nets, now in
universal use, are subject to shrinking at every fresh bark-
ing, and fishermen might thus unwittingly be led into an
infraction of the law. These difficulties to regulating the
size of the mesh, combined with the experience we have
had of legislative enactments in Scotland, cause me to
differ on this point with Mr. de Caux.

The Act which he desires to pass for the English
fisheries is still nominally in force in Scotland, but for the
reasons I have stated it has been found to be inoperative,
and the newly organized Scotch Fishery Board in their
first report, issued last month, recommend the repeal of the

79

section that Mr. de Caux wishes to enforce. They say:
" In many cases a net below the standard size is in use ;
but the fishermen are finding that the small mesh is not
profitable, as only the nose of the larger fish gets into it,
and unless they get past the gills they are not effectually
caught. The matter does not seem to be one suitable for
public regulation, and had much better be left to the
fishermen themselves. We therefore recommend the repeal
of Sec. 12 of 48 Geo. Ill, Chap, no."

Legislators received some very wholesome advice from
Professor Huxley at the close of his opening address,
when he said : " I think that the man who has made the
unnecessary law deserves a heavier punishment than the
man who breaks it." Now, although some of the laws we
have passed to regulate our Herring Fisheries have been
harmless, except for bringing the law into contempt, yet
this cannot be said of all our restrictive legislation, as the
Sea Fisheries Commission of '66 describes the effect of the
close time established by Parliament on the West Coast of
Scotland, as "reducing the population of some of the
Western Islands to misery and starvation, while abundant
food was lying in front of their doors, by preventing them
taking herrings." Surely Parliament can be better em-
ployed than by mischievous legislation, producing such
vexatious results.

The statistics I have quoted indicate the general pros-
perity of the Scotch Herring Fisheries, but this general
conclusion must be accepted with some qualification. The
Commissioners of 1 878 remark that the so-called prosperity
is almost entirely due to the extraordinary development of
the fisheries off the Aberdeenshire coast ; and if the takes
between Fraserburgh and Montrose be deducted, the con-
dition of the other fisheries will be found to be much less

83

satisfactory. Commenting on this, the Commissioners
observe that the development of the fisheries on the Aber-
deenshire coast has led to the neglect of fisheries at other
places, the younger and more vigorous fishermen being
attracted to the most productive fishing ground. The de-
struction of the Wick Harbour has caused many of the
boats from that district to fish off the Aberdeenshire coast.
These causes have contributed to the falling off of the
fisheries elsewhere. But allowing for these considerations,
the Commissioners express an opinion that the vast amount
of netting now in use may have scared the fish from narrow
waters. They estimate the nets used by the Scotch herring
fishers to be sufficient to reach in a continuous line for
12,000 miles, to cover an area of 70 square miles, and to
be sufficient to go three times across the Atlantic from
Liverpool to New York. The substitution of cotton for
hemp nets may be said to have revolutionised the fishery.
A boat that used to carry 960 yards of netting, now carries
3,300 yards. The nets used to be 6 or 7 yards, they are
now 10 yards deep. They used to present a catching
surface of 3,000 square yards, they now present a catching
surface of 33,000 square yards; without increasing the
weight of the nets to be worked, each boat has increased
its catching power fivefold. This vast extent of netting
certainly warrants the possibility assumed 'by the Commis-
sioners, that the nets may have scared the herrings from
narrow waters, but looking to the general results, they
decline to recommend any restrictive measures, entertaining
an opinion that the vast amount of netting has no effect in
diminishing the stock of herrings in the sea ; a conclusion
amply justified by the enormous take of herrings in 1880,
two years after the Commissioners' Report. Since then
herrings have also returned in greater number to some of

8i

our inshore fisheries. Referring to the west coast, the
Fishery Board Report for 1881 mentions that "The best
fishing was got in Loch Hourn, where an immense body of
herrings remained all the season." It is reasonable to
assume that the herrings returned on their own account,
and that their movements were made in "blissful igno-
rance" that the British Parliament had abolished the
measures for their special protection.

Another feature of the Scotch Herring Fisheries is the
large and continually increasing takes of late years off the
Shetland Islands. In 1879 the Shetlanders only cured
8,000 barrels ; in 1880 the number had increased to 48,000 ;
in 1 88 1 to 59,586, and in 1882 to 134,000 barrels.

In his opening address Professor Huxley remarked that
considering the antiquity and importance of the fishing
industry " it is singular that it can hardly be said to have
kept pace with the rapid improvement of almost every other
branch of industrial occupation in modern times. If we
contrast the progress of fishery with that of agriculture,
for example, the comparison is not favourable to fishery,"
and he afterwards observed, " But we are still very far
behind scientific agriculture ; and as to the application of
machinery and of steam to fishery operations, it may be
said that in this country a commencement has been made,
but hardly more."

I am not going to question the general accuracy of Pro-
fessor Huxley's conclusions, yet I think that I have shown
that our Scotch Herring Fisheries have not been altogether
standing still. The increase in our take of herrings has
not been entirely due to the larger amount of capital in-
vested in the trade, nor to the enterprise of our fishermen
in going further to sea in pursuit of their calling ; though
no doubt these two causes have largely contributed in

VOL. VI. — c. G

82

raising our fishery to its present importance. But of late
years the boats have been very much improved, and the
cotton nets, as I have already said, worked almost a revo-
lution in the Herring Fisheries. The effect of these combined
causes, better boats and better nets, will at once be appre-
ciated by a reference to a table compiled by Dr. Francis
Day (from the Scotch Fishery Board statistics), and pub-
lished in his notes, giving an account of his cruise in the
Triton last year.

Dr. Day gives the proportion of barrels of cured herrings
to the fishermen employed since 1825 : —

Fishermen. Barrels.

5 years, 1825-30 I 8

5 » 1854-59 I 14

5 „ 1876-81 i 22

One fisherman now produces nearly three times what he
did fifty years ago, and the result of his labour will bear
favourable comparison with the increased production of the
agricultural labourers during that period. I am, however,
quite at one with Professor Huxley in believing that our
sea fisheries are capable of far greater development, par-
ticularly by the application of steam power. On this point,
I may be permitted to quote some opinions I expressed in
a lecture I gave about two years ago, when I advocated
the application of steam power as a means of developing
our Herring Fisheries.

What I claim for steam is : —

1. A saving of life by increasing the boat's chance of

making a port of safety in bad weather.

2. A certainty of reaching and returning from the

fishing ground in all ordinary weather, indepen-
dent of tides, calms, and head winds.

3. The comparative punctuality thus acquired by

83

steam would enable arrangements to be made
by railways to run fish trains, and so enhance
the value of the cargo by the difference between
the price of fresh and cured fish.

In the foregoing remarks I have assumed that each boat
should be propelled by steam power — an auxiliary screw
would be the most suitable. Steam might also be applied
to a winch, and would save a deal of manual labour in
hauling the nets. Steam tugs, to tow the boats, have been
tried with only a moderate degree of success. As a means of
saving life by getting the boats into harbour in a storm they
are not to be depended on, and at any time might miss the
boats during a fog or in a dark night. Steam carriers do
not appear to me to be adapted for the herring fisheries.
The transhipment of herrings from the present boats to
carriers, except in very smooth water, would be attended
with great difficulty. How steam can be best utilised in
developing our herring fisheries is a question I should be
very glad to hear discussed at this Conference. It is one
of great and growing importance.

Our first-class boats, annually in some parts of Scotland
going further to sea, are too heavy to be propelled by
oars ; consequently, in calms or when a tide has to be en-
countered, the cargo of herrings is frequently spoilt before
it reaches the shore. The regulations of the new Fishery
Board are framed to facilitate the curing of herrings at sea,
but our present boats are not large enough to carry barrels
and salt enough for this purpose. Off the coast of Montrose,
where I believe our boats often go seventy to eighty miles
to sea, I am told that it is now the practice to carry salt
enough to sprinkle over the herrings, and thus save them
for four or five days ; and I understand that herrings
treated in this method, termed " salting in bulk," are but

G 2

84

slightly depreciated in the market ; but herrings so cured
would not be entitled to receive the Government " brand "
or mark, the regulation for this purpose requiring that the
fish should be cured within twenty-four hours of being
caught.

The Government brand, indicating a degree of quality,
was first established in 1808, but nothing was charged for
it till 1859, when the Government imposed a fee of ^d. a
barrel to defray the cost of the branding establishment.
The amount collected from the fees exceeds the cost of
branding by about ^3,000 a year, and this surplus is now
paid to the Scotch Fishery Board for harbour improve-
ments and other objects to develop the fisheries.

The policy of a Government brand has been the subject
of frequent contention among th^ Scotch curers. The
matter was fully discussed so recently before a parliamen-
tary Committee, of which I had the honour to be chairman,
that I do not propose to detain you to-day by reopening
the question.

The Committee referred to reported in 1881 in favour of
the retention of the brand. It was contended by its oppo-
nents that the brand had lost its value, but the Committee
considered " the continental merchants would not continue
to demand branded herrings, and the home curer would
not voluntarily pay ^d. a barrel for a trade mark which
had ceased to be a guarantee of quality." I should mention
that the brand is not compulsory ; and if any of the Scotch
curers consider they can establish a superior trade mark —
and some of them are of opinion that they can — they are
at perfect liberty to do so.

The Dutch cure most of their herrings at sea, on board
much larger vessels than are generally used by our fisher-
men, but I should regret to see the adoption of a system

85

here by which the fish offal was all lost, as it forms an ex-
cellent manure, which, by a process shown in the Exhi-
bition, might, I believe, be made still more valuable. The
result of the experience obtained at the Menhaden Fishery,
detailed by Professor Brown Goode, is instructive, as
showing the extent to which fish offal may be advan-
tageously utilised.*

The use of larger boats necessitates increased harbour
accommodation, and this is at present the great want of
fishermen all along our coast. How it is to be supplied is
too large a question for me fully to /discuss in this Paper.
There can be no doubt, especially after the experience we
have had in this Exhibition, of the demand on the part of
the public for an abundant supply of cheap fresh fish ; I
am not, however, aware to what extent the community is
willing to be taxed for the construction of better harbours
to facilitate a supply of food so universally appreciated, but
without better harbours I believe it will be impossible for

* "In 1878 the Menhaden, Oil and Guano Industry employed capital
to the amount of 2,350,000 dollars, 3,337 men, 64 steamers, 279 sailing
vessels, and consumed 777,000,000 of fish. There were 56 factories,
which produced 1,392,644 gallons of oil, valued at 450,000 dollars, and
55,154 tons of crude guano, valued at 600,000 dollars ; this was a poor
year. In 1874, the number of gallons produced was 3,373,000; in
1875, 2,681,000 ; in 1876, 2,992,000 ; in 1877, 2,427,000. In 1878, the
total value of manufactured products was 1,050,000 dollars ; in 1874,
this was 1,809,000 dollars; in 1875, 1,582,000 dollars; in 1876,
1,671,000 dollars ; in 1877, 1,608,000 dollars ; it should be stated that
in these reports only four-fifths of the whole number of factories are
included. The refuse of the oil factory supplies a material of much
value for manures. As a base for nitrogen it enters largely into the
composition of most of the manufactured fertilisers. The amount of
nitrogen derived from this source in 1875 was estimated to be
equivalent to that contained in 60,000,000 Ibs. of Peruvian guano, the
gold value of which would not have been far from 1,920,000 dollars." —
Professor Brown Gcode's Paper at International Fisheries Exhibition.

86

the fishermen to meet the growing demands of an increasing
population. State aid towards harbour improvement has
hitherto been most successful, when given in the form of
grants to supplement local efforts, or by loan at a low rate
of interest. Under this system, which I should like to see
extended, such harbours, and they are miserably inade-
quate, as are available for our Herring Fisheries, have been
mainly constructed. In Scotland generally, the fishermen
have shown a commendable spirit of self-reliance by com-
bining together to raise funds for the improvement of their
harbours. I have often been astonished at the efforts they
have made to enable them to participate in the small grant
annually given to the Scotch Fishery Board.

I may mention one instance that lately came under my
notice. About two years ago I was visiting a small fishing
hamlet on the coast of Banffshire. I was told that the
fishermen were most anxious to raise a sum of ;£ 3,000, to
enable them, by the assistance of the Fishery Board, to
improve their harbour. I re narked to a friend who was
with me, that there seemed to be nobody but fishermen in
the place, and I expressed some doubt as to their ability
to raise the required sum. His reply entirely confirmed
my estimate of the inhabitants, for he said, " No one here
puts on a black coat on the Sabbath except the minister
and the general merchant." Yet the amount required, with
some assistance from the landlord, was duly raised, and by
the aid of the Fishery Board a harbour, which will be of
great advantage to the district, is now being constructed.
I mention this circumstance because I think the willingness
of the fishermen to pay, so far as in their power, for im-
proved harbours, is a consideration which should be taken
into account in any general scheme for harbour construc-
tion, and also because I think the spirit of self-reliance

87

evinced by the fishermen entitles them to the sympathy and
to the support of the public.

I .should like to say a word before concluding this Paper
on the distribution of the vast number of herrings taken off
the Scotch coast. The Duke of Edinburgh estimates the
value of the fish taken by the trawlers off the coast of the
United Kingdom at £2,581,000, or about £300,000 more
than the value of the herrings taken off the Scotch coast.
Cured herrings, representing £1,006,462, were exported in
1 88 1, the value of the other fish exported that year from
all parts of the kingdom was only £398,048. It will thus
be seen that the distribution of the herrings is very dif-
ferent . from that of other fish. I believe a far greater pro-
portion of the Scotch herrings, especially those caught on
the west coast, would be consumed as fresh fish at home, if
greater facilities were given by the railways for their con-
veyances.*

The evidence given before the Railway Committee last
year, fully exposes the high rates frequently imposed by

* u Still more important has been the general adoption of scientific
methods of preparation and transportation. Great freezing houses
have been built on the Great Lakes, on the Pacific coast, and in the
cities of the East, and refrigerator cars are running upon all the trunk
lines of railway. Columbia salmon, lake white-fish, cod, bass, Spanish
mackerel, and other choice fishes are frozen stiff and packed up in
heaps like cordwood, and can be had at any season of the year.
Refrigerator cars carry unfrozen fish from sea and lake inland. Smelts
and trout, packed in snow in the north, are received in New York by
the cartload daily throughout the winter. Halibut are brought from
the distant oceanic banks in refrigerators built in the holds of the
vessels, and 12,000,000 to 14,000,000 pounds are distributed, packed in
ice, to the cities of the interior. Baltimore, from September to April,
sends special trains laden with oysters, daily, into the west, and
Chesapeake oysters are food for all, not luxuries, even beyond the
Mississippi." — Professor Brown Goode.

88

the railway companies for the carriage of fresh fish. A
less grasping policy would, I believe, be more remunerative
to the railways and certainly more advantageous to the
public. But this is a subject which will be more fully
discussed in a subsequent Paper by his Excellency Mr.
Spencer Walpole.

The conclusion I arrive at is, that the requirements for
the further development of our herring fisheries are : —

1. Better harbour accommodation.

2. The application of steam power.

3. Increased railway facilities, and lower railway

rates for the distribution of fresh fish.

As my right hon. friend Mr. Shaw-Lefevre, M.P., is to
read a Paper on the " Principles of Legislation in connection
with Sea Fisheries," I have not alluded to the laws re-
lating to trawling, and other matters for regulating our
sea fisheries ; I have only touched on a subject, which I am
sure will be more ably dealt with by my right hon. friend,
to such an extent as I deemed necessary to make the con-
dition of our herring fisheries intelligible before an Inter-
national Conference.

Regarding the objects in the Exhibition calculated to
develope the herring fisheries, there are models of boats of
the most approved build propelled both by steam and sail,
nets of the most improved pattern, conspicuously among
them being the American purse-seine net, admirably
adapted, in the opinion of some competent practical men
with whom I inspected it, for the herring fisheries ; there
are refrigerating vans, and barrels made by steam ma-
chinery.

But more important to my mind than the modern ap-
pliances I have referred to for the capture and transit of
fish are the conclusions arrived at by the competent autho-

89

rities who have addressed us at the Conference, viz., that
the stock of herrings in the sea, so far as man is concerned,
is practically inexhaustible. The opinion expressed by the
Playfair Commission in '62, by the Sea Fisheries Commis-
sion in '66, by the Herring Fisheries Commission in '78, is
confirmed by the exhaustive enquiries of the Duke of
Edinburgh, and by the ripe experience of Professor Huxley.
Although we cannot account for the mysterious movements
of the herring, causing the fluctuation" which characterise
our fishery, it is at least some consolation to know on the
high authorities I have mentioned, that although advancing
civilisation may pollute our rivers and destroy our salmon,
we are still likely to enjoy our herring, as the inventive
genius of the age has failed to discover any means of de-
priving us of an ample supply of the most abundant and
nutritious food which the bounty of the ocean yields to the
labour of man.

DISCUSSION.

The CHAIRMAN said his honourable friend had treated
the subject as he had expected he would from the in-
telligent action which he had taken in Parliament in
promoting regulating but not restrictive laws, with regard
to sea fisheries. The only reason he presumed why he
found himself in the Chair on this occasion was, that in
1862 he was Chairman of the Royal Commission for
examining into the herring-fisheries of the British coast.
Why he, a Chemical Professor, should be found in that
position, he could never fully understand, especially as
there was on the Commission a man of European eminence,
and of the greatest authority on fisheries : though they both

90

were in the same galley, and he sat at the helm, it was the
vigorous power of his friend,- Professor Huxley, who not
only impelled the bark, but also directed it. That Com-
mission established one or two facts which certainly had
been of the greatest importance to our great fisheries, viz*,
that restrictive laws framed by man in ignorance of the laws
of Nature, were excessively destructive to the interests of
fishermen instead of being favourable to them. When
they first began to examine this subject, they found
different laws prevailing on the east coast of Scotland to
those which prevailed on the west. On the east coast
there were no restrictive laws, and fishermen were en-
couraged to catch fish, even full fish containing ova, in
order to be cured. Each of these fish had on an aver-
age 50,000 eggs, and the enormous number that were
taken in this state would seem to indicate a process of
extermination ; but the fisheries of the east coast, without
restrictive laws, increased, and did not diminish. When
they went to the west coast of Scotland, however, in the
inner waters of the Firth of Clyde, they found restrictive
laws prevailing. For several months no herrings were
allowed to be taken, there being a close time for herrings
for the purpose of protecting them. As they went further
into the open waters at the Firth of Forth and Clyde along
the islands up to near the Highlands, those restrictive laws
still prevailed ; but there was a relaxation as to the period
when the close time should end. A very curious result
was made apparent, and a most unexpected one. At the
periods of close time, the herrings came to the banks to
spawn, and were followed by their natural enemies in great
number, among which he might chiefly allude to the cod
and the ling, which consumed them in great numbers.
There were innumerable fish which lived upon the young

fry and the full-grown herring ; the cod, ling, dog-fish, ana
conger, fed on the full-grown herring ; while the flat-fish and
crabs eat the spawn, and there were innumerable other
fish which eat herring-fry. At the time when they found
them on their spawning banks, these fish had an appetite
for nothing else but herring, and this result followed, that
the fishermen of cod and ling could catch nothing, because
they would only take herring bait at the time, and the close
time prevented the fishermen getting any herring-bait for
catching this white fish. The consequence was, that the
laws invented for the protection of the herring became laws
for their destruction, because their natural enemies, which
could not be caught because of the want of bait, multiplied
exceedingly, and devoured the very herrings which the laws
intended to protect. This was so to an enormous extent, as
a little calculation would show. The Commission frequently
opened cod and ling and examined the contents of their
stomachs, in which they frequently found seven to ten
herrings, which they had not begun to digest ; but allowing
a diet of two herrings a day to a cod, and allowing him to
live seven months in one year, fifty cod would catch as
many herrings as one fisherman could catch in a year.
Now there was no census of how many cod and ling
existed, but there was a census of how many cod and
ling were caught ; there were caught and salted last year
on the coast of Scotland, 115,513 cwt. of cod and ling.
Now about thirty fish went to a hundredweight, and from a
little calculation it would follow, that if the cod and ling
which were salted had lived in the sea, and had not been
taken, they would have caught as many herrings as
69,000 fishermen. Now that was more than 20,000 beyond
all the fishermen who existed on those coasts, and,
therefore, those laws which protected the enemies of

92

herrings, kept them in the sea, and produced this enor-
mous loss. That was one of the results of the Commis-
sion ; for the laws intended for the protection of herring
really multiplied the natural enemies of the herrings
enormously, and thus destroyed them infinitely more than
they were protected. The action of that was this, that
under the protection of these laws, the fish which preyed
on the herring increased and multiplied exceedingly, so that
they had a very good time ; but the poor fishermen of those
coasts had a very bad time, because they could not
catch the fish upon which their subsistence depended.
The consequence was, that they found these fishermen dis-
obeying the law, when it could not be enforced, or when
the law was obeyed, it led to starvation, and they were
obliged to emigrate. That was the result of interfering with
the laws of nature by an indiscreet law passed by Parlia-
ment. The lesson which might be drawn from the interest-
ing paper just read, was that though Parliament might
make laws for keeping order and safety amongst fisher-
men ; that the balance of nature which prevailed in the
sea should be left alone, because the balance of animal
life depended upon unknown factors. The herrings had
for their food small crustaceae, sometimes microscopic, but
at other times little shrimps and sand-eels. They en-
joyed that food, and when it existed on the coast, mul-
tiplied largely ; but whilst they lived on these things, there
were other fish which were living on them, and which
had the greatest love for the herrings. They were the
conger, the dog-fish, the cod, and the ling, which slew their
millions, and there were birds, such as gulls and gannets,
which also destroyed multitudes, and then there were the
porpoises and grampuses, which ate up whole shoals of
herrings. This was the balance of life, one balancing the

93

other, and the more it was interfered with, the more mis-
chief resulted. Sometimes there was a cry for protective
laws, because the herring fishery varied as any other industry
varied according to circumstances. They did not always
know why it varied. For instance, Mr. Duff spoke about
the varying character of the herring, and a very capricious
fish was the usual term fishermen applied to it. But the
term caprice was merely the mode of concealing our
ignorance of its habits. If we knew its habits, and those
of its enemies, it would probably be found there was no
caprice in the matter. Sometimes herrings came in shoals
to particular parts of the coast, and other times they aban-
doned them for many years. The reason of that was not
known. It might be, for instance, that something had
happened to the small crustaceae and the sand-eels on the
particular part of the coast, and the herrings did not find
their natural food ; it might be that the enemies of the her-
rings had multiplied very much, and devoured in too large
quantities their own subsistences. Then the herrings de-
creased, but ultimately they increased again, because their
enemies having fed too largely upon them, they decreased
in number, and then the herrings had their turn again,
and so there was a continual scarcity and plenty in the
markets, sometimes prosperity and sometimes a panic, and
the herring in its action assisted in producing these cases of
prosperity and panic, just as if they were Lancashire manu-
facturers. It was needless, therefore, to make laws to try
and prevent man, who was such a very small factor in the
result, catching herrings when there were, all round the
herrings, enemies creating havoc infinitely greater. If any
lesson could be learnt from the interesting paper they had
listened to, it was that it would be much better to leave
these things to the laws of nature, which were far more

94

wise in this respect than any laws which were likely to be
passed by Parliament.

Dr. FRANCIS DAY did not know whether it was worth
while making many remarks on the question if they were
told that all legislation was useless, and that whoever said
anything on the other side appeared to be one who did not
understand the subject upon which he was speaking ; but he
thought they were met for the purpose of discussion, to
hear both sides of the question, and not to jump to con-
clusions at the commencement before they had heard what
the other side had to say. Personally as yet he gave no
opinion on one side or the other, but he did think those
who had opinions to offer should be allowed to give them
without being told that those who made laws ought to
suffer from them themselves instead of the unfortunate fisher-
men to whom those laws would apply. He could not help
thinking that gentlemen who held those views, though they
might be very fit for Legislatures, were quite unfit to legis-
late on fishing matters. It was only necessary to look at
the fresh-water fisheries to see how they had been destroyed
for want of legislation, and what had been done by making
use of legislation. He would, however, pass on to the sub-
ject more immediately before them ; he had no intention of
making any remarks when he entered the hall, but he had
been at two or three conferences when no one had risen to
say anything, except the proposers and seconders of
resolutions, and he thought it was time that a few
observations should be made on the different sides of these
important questions. They must all feel exceedingly
obliged to Mr. Duff for the figures he had given, but when
he left out the natural history of the subject it appeared to
him that he left out the most important portion of the
question with regard to herring and other fisheries. There

95

were three different classes of fish from the sea which were
mostly made use of by man. There were the herrings, the
gregarious form, which were mostly found near the surface,
and with them might be classed the mackerel and the
pilchard, and then there were the deep sea form of the cod
and ling which had been mentioned, the devourers of the
herring, and also the ground fishes, such as the turbot, sole,
&c. Some people talked about the balance of nature, and
said no law should be passed with reference to these
fisheries, but the question was whether by passing no laws
they were not destroying the balance of nature. They per-
mitted the cod and these voracious fishes to be captured in
large quantities, and these were the very fish which, as the
Chairman informed them, ate the herring. Might it not be
that if, as many fishermen told them (though it was denied
on some hands, as far as he had seen, it appeared to be
correct), the inshore fisheries were decreasing, the quantity
of cod was decreased, and so the fish were destroyed which
were catching the herring, and thus the herring might be
increasing in consequence of the destruction of the cod
fisheries. Then they were told that in consequence of the
legislation the poor fishermen suffered on one portion of
the coast of Scotland and not on the other, but if they
turned to the blue book issued by Messrs. Buckland and
Walpole it would be found that although these regulations
were in existence they were never carried out ; that no
regulations ever passed by man had ever had any effect
on the herring fisheries. Then they were told that the
herrings were inexhaustible. They found the herrings
migrating from place to place, and in so doing they dis-
appeared entirely from one countiy and appeared in
another. If the cod fisheries were destroyed and the
herrings migrated, where would the fisheries be ? He had

seen the oil sardine on the western coast of India for years,
and all of a sudden it would entirely disappear and not
appear again for several seasons. With regard to the size
of the mesh he would not attempt to offer any opinion,
seeing there were so many gentlemen present more
competent to speak upon it. It appeared to him that if
the herrings were driven out from the inshore fisheries into
the open sea there was a necessity for larger boats, and if
this resulted, and there was not an increase of harbour
accommodation, what were the fishermen to do on the
eastern coast of Scotland ? They must be driven down to
the ports or beach their boats, which often caused loss of
life. He thought, instead of taking all the facts given in
these Royal Commissions for granted, they ought to have
them supplemented by further investigation. If investiga-
tions were carried on in the way in which they were in the
United States, so as to ascertain whether any class of
fish were increasing or decreasing, what they fed upon,
and what it was which caused their food to increase or
decrease, or to migrate, they would then be in a better
position to judge as to the necessity for legislation on this
subject.

Mr. BRADY (Inspector of Irish Fisheries) said he had
listened with great pleasure to the excellent address which
had been given, and it was certainly a question of very deep
interest whether, as we went on increasing our means of
capture, and increasing the amount of food brought up from
the ocean, we might not be considered to be killing the
goose which laid the golden eggs. He had had the honour
on two occasions of mentioning certain facts connected with
two bays in Ireland, from which he drew certain con-
clusions, which, of course, might be incorrect, but those
conclusions were that all restrictions on deep-sea fishing

97

were mischievous, and tended to no good. If he understood
aright the observations of the last speaker, he said the
regulations in Scotland had no effect on the herring fishery.
There had been restrictions, and the Chairman had made
some very important observations with regard to them.
Dr. Day said they were not enforced, and, therefore, they
had no effect. Well, if they found the herring fisheries of
Scotland increased in the vast proportions that they had
done for so many years, it was the strongest argument that
the restrictions placed upon them by the Legislature were
of no avail, and did no good. How far, if they had been
enforced, they might have done any good, of course no one
could say. It was most important that science should be
brought to bear on this question, and should be aided by
practical experience. When they had arrived at the time
when scientific men could say that certain restrictions should
be placed on deep-sea fishing, then it would be time for the
Legislature to step in, but until that day came it would
be only mischievous to cripple the industry of a country by
imposing such restrictions in the absence of that knowledge
which they all admitted they were deficient in. The great
deficiency of statistics had been referred to especially with
regard to Ireland, and he regretted very much to say that
the statistics of fisheries in Ireland were miserably defective.
It was very important that those statistics should be col-
lected, so that they might ascertain whether the improved
modes of capture and the greater distance to which the
boats went were injurious to the fisheries. Nothing was
more interesting to him than something which he had seen
in the Exhibition, which might develop the fisheries to an
enormous extent. He alluded to a mode adopted on the
great lakes in Canada, by which a steamer, while moving
on, kept paying out one net, and at the same time hauled
VOL. VI. — C. H

in another. If that could be brought into operation in our
sea fisheries it would lead to very important changes.

Mr. McLELAN (Canada), said that some of the fishing
grounds on the great lakes in Canada, where the mode of
fishing just referred to was adopted, were 400 or 500 miles
long; and the reports coming from fishermen were, that
unrestricted fishing diminished the number of fish even in
these large lakes. Application had been made to him
repeatedly to permit a smaller sized mesh of net to be used ;
but in consequence of the testimony which had come to
him from all fishermen, he had refused to allow it. He
considered it was a very important question whether sea
fisheries were exhaustible or not ; probably the most im-
portant question which could be discussed. Previous to
coming to England, all the testimony he had received from
the fishermen of Canada, both shore fishermen and sea
fishermen, was, that on the great lakes, fisheries that had
hitherto been very profitable, were being exhausted from
over-fishing, and from all he could hear from fishermen
all round the coast, he had come to the conclusion that
it was possible to exhaust the fisheries of the Dominion
of Canada. Mr. Duff had told them that with regard
to herrings they first had an open season, in which
an average of 500,000 barrels of fish were taken every
year ; then for some seventeen years they had a close
season, in which there was an average of 600,000
barrels, and then it was made open again, and the
average rose to 800,000 barrels. The inference from
all this was, that it was better to have free fishing;
but at the same time the honourable gentleman stated
that the appliances for catching the herrings had been
multiplied fivefold, and it occurred to him that if that
were so, they ought to have had three million barrels

99

of fish instead of 800,000, seeing the appliances had so
largely increased. Then the question arose, with these
multiplied appliances and the improved boats which had
been referred to, was it not the fact that they went further
to sea, and were sweeping over a larger area and not
getting a proportionate return of fish ? This was a point
on which the testimony of practical men was needed.
Science told them that fish produced so many eggs, and
multiplied very fast; that one fish fed on another; and
that the balance of nature ought to be preserved ; that
the little fish had larger fish to eat them ; the larger fish
had bigger ones to bite them, and so on ad infinitum ;
but they left out of sight a certain kind of fish which
preyed on the others, but were not fit for food and there-
fore were not caught. To keep up the balance of nature
they ought to fit out expeditions to destroy those fish
which preyed on the edible fish ; but if they left them to
multiply and prey on the others, and at the same time
man went in with his fivefold machines to catch the
herrings, the result would be, according to the testimony
of Canada, that the fishing grounds would be gradually
destroyed. It would simplify things on the other side of
the Atlantic very much if it could be settled, by the testi-
mony of fishermen and the investigations of science, that
the sea fisheries were inexhaustible ; then all they would
have to do would be to improve their appliances for catch-
ing. Mr. Duff had referred to the want of harbours round
the coast, and if he might be permitted to give the ex-
perience of a young country, he might say that they had
felt the same want in Canada ; but there the Government
took hold of the matter, considering it of great public
importance that the fisheries of the country should be
protected, and that suitable harbours should be provided.

Year by year large grants were made for the erection of

H 2

IOO

suitable breakwaters and harbours of refuge, with the
most beneficial results. He did not pretend to argue the
advisability of this system in a country where it was the
State policy for every industry to be left to its own re-
sources ; but in Canada, which might be considered more
protective of native industries, that course had been
pursued, and fishermen had been protected not only by
the providing of harbours, but by the distribution yearly
of a quarter of a million of dollars in the encouragement
of fisheries.

Mr. RONALD MACDONALD (Aberdeen), said the views
of gentlemen from England, Ireland, and Canada had
been heard, and as he came from Scotland, where the
herring fisheries were more important than in either
England or Ireland, he hoped he might be allowed to
make a few remarks. He knew a number of Mr. Duffs
constituents, who appreciated very much the great intelli-
gence and practical interest he had taken in the develop-
ment of fishing in Scotland, and he had listened with
great pleasure to the comprehensive paper which he had
read ; but it could not be expected that everything which
might be supposed to be even of essential importance to
the subject, could be compressed into so short a paper.
On one point there seemed to be a little want of unanimity,
namely, the uselessness or otherwise of legislation with
regard to fisheries. The views on this subject came from
two different quarters, and they differed according to the
quarter from which they came. Some years ago he had
the opportunity of being present when evidence was laid
before the Commission which had been referred to, when
Mr. Buckland, Mr. Walpole, and Mr. Young went round on
the east and west coasts of Scotland, and he found that all
those who were interested in the inshore fishing demanded
that there should be restrictions, while those who depended

101

on the system of fishing which was now so successful,
namely, employing bigger boats, bigger nets, more of them,
and going out sixty, seventy, or a hundred miles to sea,
and catching the herrings before they came into the small
bays, these came to the conclusion that it was practically
useless, if not mischievous, to make such laws as those
who had little boats and depended on fishing in the
small inland lakes demanded. He was not prepared to
say that the gentlemen from Canada were wrong in saying
that it would be perhaps dangerous to do away with
restrictions there ; but it must be borne in mind, that large
as the Canadian lakes were, they were different from the
Atlantic ocean, and whilst restrictions in Canada might be
useful, it did not follow that such restrictions would be of
any use when dealing with such a large space of water as
the Atlantic. There was just one omission in Mr. Duffs com-
prehensive paper which he should like to bring under the
notice of the many eminent men whom he was glad to see
were taking a practical interest in this matter. Hardly any
reference was made to the fishing on the west coast of
Scotland, a comparatively new enterprise, which was carried
on in the open sea. There had been for many years from
1,000 to 2,000 boats engaged in that way, not in the Loch
Earne, not in the Firth of Clyde, but out from the outer
Hebrides into the Atlantic. They began to get fish there
on the 24th of May, and continued up to the present time,
and a very large quantity was caught there. The facilities
for sending it to market, however, were very bad indeed.
One fact would show the extent of that fishing industry.
In a Parliamentary paper submitted to the House of
Commons not long ago, it appeared that from the rail-
way station at Oban, three times as much fish was des-
patched as from any other station. Upwards of 12,000

102

tons of herrings were sent from that station, whilst the
total quantity sent on the whole Caledonian railway system,
including all the towns from Aberdeen to Montrose, was
only about 25,000 tons. He hoped, therefore, that some
account would be taken of this newly developed fishery
out in the Atlantic, by boats coming from Montrose, Fraser-
burgh, and all the north-eastern points to Stornoway.
There was no telegraphic communication of any kind, and
the people were put to a very great inconvenience in con-
sequence of having no facilities for sending their fish to
market, or getting salt or anything else when they had a
large supply of fish.

Mr. JOHNSON (Montrose) said he was one of the jury to
examine the salmon nets and fixed nets, and whilst ex-
amining these nets he had been very much interested in
the exhibits from foreign countries. For many years they
had been fishing with the same nets with very little im-
provement except, as Mr. Duff had said, that they had sub-
stituted cotton for hemp, and had made, what they called
in Scotland " clipper nets." The first thing which the jury
discussed was the steamer on the Canadian lakes, which
had been already referred to. It was the first thing which
took his attention and had riveted it ever since, and he had
wondered whether it could be adapted for herring fishing.
It could be seen in the Canadian department, and was
shooting a net over the stern and was hauling one in at
the bow at the same time. He did not expect that that
would ever be carried out in the herring fishery, but he
thought it came nearest to anything he had ever seen for
doing what appeared very desirable, viz., having some me-
chanical means of reeling up the nets. The only difficulty
which he saw in the way was in reeling up the herring
nets to get clear of the buoys that buoyed it up. So
impressed was he with the adaptability of that steamer

103

that he was quite prepared, with the sanction of the Execu-
tive Committee, on behalf of his firm in Montrose, to offer
a prize to any one who should adopt that system and 'make
it workable for the east coast herring fishery. The next
thing he noticed was the purse seine. He understood that
was largely used in America, and he thought if it were
brought into use in the herring fishery it would revolutionise
the trade to a large extent. If they could get these nets
to work on these large steamers they could soon bring
them into port. For some years past when the boats had
been going longer distances, instead of coming in in twenty-
four hours they were sometimes three days ; and he recol-
lected on one Sunday morning about £500 worth of herrings
had to be carted direct to the manure heap because they
had been three days in the boat instead of one. He should
also be glad to give a premium in connection with the
purse seine if it could be made available for herring fishing.
The only other matter he would speak about was a cod
net which was entirely new to him but which was exhibited
in the Norwegian, Swedish, and Canadian sections. The
nets of Norway and Sweden were what would be called
gill nets, or hung nets, sinking to the bottom. He had
never heard of a cod in Scotland or England being caught
in any net except the trawl. He should like, if possible,
to bring these three nets and the steamer before the fisher*
men of the United Kingdom, and would suggest that it would
be very valuable if some of the illustrated newspapers
would give drawings of the net and as much explanation
about them as their friends from those countries would be
willing to impart.

Mr. WlLMOT (Canadian Commissioner), having heard the
Canadian name mentioned conspicuously in regard to a
particular description of net, wished to say a word upon
it. He was not going to discuss the question of herring

104

fisheries to any great extent, but merely to state, as he did
on a former occasion, that if herrings were caught in such
vast numbers as it was proposed to do by these machines
it must more or less affect all other fish inshore. The
herring was the principal food of a large class of fish, and
if they were destroyed to such an extent by these im-
proved machines and all the ingenuity which man could bring
to bear, not only would the herring be exterminated, but
it would very seriously affect the other fish which fed upon
them. He regretted very much to find that the system
pursued in Canada was now being taken hold of so readily
by gentlemen from Scotland for the destruction of these
poor innocent fish. These things were sent over merely to
illustrate the mode by which fish were sometimes caught
in Canada, and it was being taken hold of to exterminate,
to a greater extent than was now done, the class of fish
which in Canada they were desirous of protecting. The
herring of Canada was a different fish from the herring of
the sea ; it was a salmonoid very much superior to the herring
of the sea, and at one time existed in vast abundance in the
inland lakes of Canada. In some of those lakes there were
now no herrings left at all, and the consequence was there
were no salmon, no salmon trout, and none of the many
species of fish which feed on those herrings. If this could
be done in a short period of time in the great inland seas
of Canada, the same results would follow here if these de-
structive engines were adopted, and no protection given to
the fish. The food of the larger fish must not be destroyed
if they were to be retained. The Almighty had made all
things wisely ; He caused the herring to multiply beyond
almost any other fish, because it was fed upon more largely
than any other description, consequently the herring must
produce a greater number to keep up their kind, and if they
went on inventing engines, and using every effort to destroy

the smaller fish simply because he was small, the result would
be to exterminate the larger ones. However he would not
speak at any length on this subject, because he anticipated
it would come up for discussion later. He rose to thank
his friends who had thought proper to draw attention to
the superior modes of fishing to a certain extent pursued
in Canada, and to warn them not to use it very largely, for
fear that if they did, they would destroy the vast supplies of
herrings in the sea, and as a consequence the larger
and better description of fish also.

Earl DuciE then proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Duff
for the paper he had read, which was very valuable, not
only in itself, but for having produced what one of the
speakers had called a want of unanimity, which he con-
sidered to be one of the most valuable features of the
discussion. Mr. Duff had treated of the history of the
herring during the present century, but he remembered in
the course of the discussion that he had read in Gibbon,
who, when treating of one of the early eruptions of the
barbarians in the early Christian ages, and describing the
effects that it had on Europe, told them that it had even
interfered with the herring trade on the coast of the North
Sea, and he would commend that remark to the investiga-
tion of anybody who proposed to write the history of the
herring.

Sir GEORGE CAMPBELL seconded the motion. He said
in these days of division of labour, however talented a
man might be, he never was so effective as he might be,
unless he devoted himself specially to one subject. That
was what his friend Mr. Duff had done, and he had done
so with good effect. He showed, in his own person, that a
good sailor and a good fisherman was likely to make a
good member of Her Majesty's Government, and so he was
heartily welcomed in the function which he fulfilled in the

io6

House of Commons. He had not only given a deal of
useful information, but had given rise to a very interesting
discussion. These were days in which Radicals were found
attacking our oldest institutions ; next to the Bible, he
thought nothing was so firmly fixed on the Englishman as
the old proverb that there were as good fish in the sea as
ever came out of it, but even that had been questioned
to-day, and had led to a very lively discussion. He did
not pretend to say which side was right ; he would only
observe, as another speaker had done, that there might be
two sides to this question, as regarded the deep sea and
the inland waters. His attention was especially called to
that from the observation of Mr. Wilmot, from which it
appeared that the American herring was totally different
from our herrings ; but the discussion had been with regard
to the European herring, and he thought there was a great
deal of weight in the arguments and the facts stated by
Mr. Duff.

The motion having been passed unanimously,
Mr. DUFF, M.P., in reply, said he had been very glad to
have aroused such an interesting discussion. He would
not enter into the question at any length, but he might be
permitted to recall to the recollection of the audience a
distinction drawn by Professor Huxley in his opening
address. He said there were two kinds of fishing, fresh-
water fishing and salt-water fishing, and while it could be
shown that you could over-fish and destroy fish in fresh
water, there was nothing to prove that salt-water fish were
exhaustible. This had a bearing on the remarks made by
Mr. MacLelan and Mr. Wilmot, because both those gentle-
men's observations had reference to the fresh-water fishing
and the lake fishing. Dr. Day, who spoke of sea fisheries,
did not quite go the length of saying what they were to
do. He rather criticised his observations, without putting

107

forward any alternative scheme. He did not think it was
possible for man to destroy the fish in the sea. That point
was very shortly and ably put in a lecture which Professor
Huxley gave at Norwich. He said there were a number
of enemies of the herring : the cod fish, birds, and everything
else we have heard of, and if man took so many herrings
out of the sea, it was a sort of co-operative society, those
others herring fisheries getting so much less; but as for
any idea of destroying deep sea fisheries, from the know-
ledge we possessed he was diametrically opposed to the
opinion expressed by Dr. Day and some other gentlemen,
and he believed that more investigation would only show
that it was absolutely impossible. Still, he admitted it was
a subject which ought to be discussed, and he was glad to
hear their opinion upon it. He did not think it was pos-
sible to supply the markets now by simple inshore fishingj
and while he admitted that to some extent those fisheries
might be injured, much more harm was done to fisheries
in general by trying to protect them, than any good which
might be supposed to be effected by increasing the inshore
fisheries. It was true that restrictive legislation had not
been put in force in all cases, but both the chairman and
himself had alluded to the very great mischief which was
done on the west coast of Scotland, for the population of
the western islands were reduced almost to starvation by
laws which did absolutely no good to the fisheries. The
Executive Committee would pay every attention to the
suggestion made by Mr. Johnson with reference to bringing
the matters he mentioned more fully before the public.
In conclusion, he begged to propose a vote of thanks to
the Chairman, who, he was glad to think, as a scientific
authority, as well as a man of practical knowledge, entirely
agreed with him on the controverted question which had
been raised.

io8

Mr. BRUCE, M.P., seconded the motion. Having the
honour to represent in the House of Commons a number of
fishermen located on the shores of the Firth of Forth, he
had naturally listened with great interest to the discussion,
and he might say that was one of those places where the
herring fishing used to be prosecuted with greater success,
but which appeared to some extent to have been deserted
of late years by the herrings. The reasons for this were
not very well known, but he was glad to say that the
fishermen in that quarter had not given up fishing, but
had improved their boats and gone farther out to sea to
carry on their industry. Whatever else they might differ
about, all would agree that it was of the greatest import-
ance that a gentleman of such ability as Sir Lyon Playfair
should give his mind to the study of these subjects, and
that nothing but good could result from his investigations.

Mr. WlLMOT asked leave to add, in explanation, that
the salt-water herring fisheries were more extensive than
the whole of those on the shores of Great Britain, and that
whilst he spoke of the fresh-water lakes Mr. MacLelan had
spoken of the herrings of the sea.

The vote of thanks having been carried unanimously,

The CHAIRMAN, in responding, assured Dr. Day that
the last thing he desired was to stop discussion by speaking
ex cathedrd, but, as late Chairman of the House of Com-
mons, he knew that having spoken then he could not speak
again, and so was obliged to say all he had to say ; but it
was with the desire of eliciting discussion, and not putting
an end to it He had been delighted to hear the different
opinions given by different speakers, and he was quite sure
the public would profit very much by the different views
put forward.

MACKEREL AND PILCHARD FISHERIES.

BY

THOMAS CORNISH.

VOL. VT.— C.

CONTENTS.

THE SCOMBRID^E .
CRUELTY TO FISH
THE MACKEREL .
MACKEREL FISHERY
THE PILCHARD
PILCHARD FISHERY
DISCUSSION .

114
115

118
J3i
135
138

CONFERENCE ON ISTH JULY, 1883

Sir JOHN ST. AUBYN, Bart, M.P., in the Chair.

THE CHAIRMAN, in introducing Mr. Cornish, said he had
come at the request of the Executive Committee to tell
them something about a subject on which most people
knew comparatively little. Whilst almost everybody in
the room was more or less intimately acquainted with the
mackerel, there were very few, except those who lived in
Cornwall, on the west coast of Ireland, and on the coast
of Brittany, who knew anything about the pilchard ; but
they might take it on his authority that the pilchard was a
most excellent fish when eaten fresh, and when preserved,
either after the manner of sardines in oil, or salted for
exportation, it formed a most nutritious and excellent
article of diet. The Cornish fishermen were employed to
a very large extent both in the mackerel and pilchard
fisheries, and went out a considerable distance from the
shore in quest of these fish. They met with the mackerel
at spring-time at a distance varying from close in-shore, to
sixty, seventy, or one hundred miles out, and twenty-four
hours after they were caught, people in London were in a
position to judge of the result by seeing the mackerel on
the slabs of fishmongers. A pilchard was a different sort

112

of fish altogether. It did not readily bear carriage, but
had to be eaten as soon as possible after it was out of the
water, and consequently the great trade in pilchards was
when they were salted or preserved in oil. He could not
give the statistics of the men, boats, and capital employed,
but, to give some idea of the magnitude of the fisheries, he
might mention that, in his own immediate neighbourhood,
the water on which he could look down from his own
windows contained within two and a half miles a fleet of
something like four hundred boats, with all kinds of nets
and gear and other appliances, representing a capital of
something like £ 140,000. If a proportional amount of
capital and men were employed in other parts of the
country, it could readily be seen how important those
fisheries were. They were not only important as a means
of providing food, but formed an excellent nursery and
school for a race of seamen than whom there were none,
either in this kingdom or anywhere else in Europe, more
industrious, steady, independent or courageous.

MACKEREL AND PILCHARD FISHERIES.

The honour has been done me of requesting me to read
a Paper before you on the " Mackerel and the Pilchard,"
and I presume that this has been done, because I come
from West Cornwall, the principal English home of the
fisheries for these two fish, and am well acquainted with
them ; but my ignorance makes it advisable that I should
confine my remarks to the familiar facts which I know of
these fish in my own county, rather than attempt to deal
with the subject scientifically.

"3

The mackerel is the head, or typical fish, but one of the
smallest in size, of a large family, which has representatives
in every sea in the world, except in the regions of extreme
cold, and every member of which is excellent as food.

The first distinguishing mark of the family to an outside
observer is a tail having a peculiar fork. You can see it in
a moment in the fish market here. The next is the
cleanness of the lines on which the fish is built. The long
conical forepart of the body and snout, the smooth round
body, and the clean run of the afterpart, all fit the fish for
rapid propulsion through the water, whilst the powerful
forked tail, working with much less opposition to the water
than would a rounded tail, and precisely with the action
with which the sailor sculls his boat by one oar over the
stern, enables the fish to make the greatest possible use of
the advantages of its shape. The last distinguishing exterior
feature which I shall notice is the existence between the
base of the tail fin, and the hindmost upper and under fins,
and both above and below the body, of a series of little
soft rudimentary fins, called finlets, and the use of which is
obscure. This family includes the bonitos, the tunnies, the
albacores, and other Mediterranean fish, all occasional
visitants of our Western seas, and just excludes (if, indeed,
it does exclude, for I, who have seen the fish, am not clear
about it,) the Northern " opah," a noble great fellow, some
four to five feet long, which would more than cover an
ordinary card -table, and is a very Assyrian for " gleaming
in purple and gold," being in fact almost the only northern
fish which excels in splendour of colour the fish of the seas
of the temperate zones and the tropics. I do not at this
moment recollect whether there is a specimen of this fish
in the building. If there is, you will find it in the court of
Norway or possibly of Denmark.

VOL. VI.— C. I

114

But, of all the family, the mackerel is the most fitted for
rapid propulsion and has the most powerful tail ; and this,
you know, means the greatest power of propulsion, for the
sole natural propulsive power of every fish lies in its tail.
I once proved this beyond question, thus : — We stay in
summer in a house so close to the sea that we are in our
boat within a minute of our leaving our front door, and we
have there a pill, or salt water pool, in the rocks, about
thirty feet long by ten wide by three deep, which is left by
the tide for about six hours in every tide, and into this pool
we put the fish which we bring in alive from our trammels
every morning, and watch them until we want them.

I have watched an octopus in that pool many times. But
once I cut off the tail of a fish, a pollock I think, and I
put it in this pool. At first the fish did not realise its loss,
and we saw the stump of its tail working, but the other fins
were, as usual, only balancing the fish. There was no
progression. After a while the fish stopped working the
stump of the tail, and lay simply balanced. About an hour
afterwards I came back to it, and it was slowly progressing by
using its pectoral fins (those next behind the gills) as oars.
I had seen all I wanted to know, and had ascertained that
the tail fin was the fin of propulsion, that the fish had sense
enough to find out when it had lost it, and reason enough
to adapt its pectoral fins to a use for which they were never
intended. I then killed the fish, but my conscience did not,
nor does it, accuse me of any cruelty towards it. It showed
no symptoms of pain. Indeed, of all the very many
thousands of fish that I have seen die, I never saw one show
symptoms of pain. The nearest approach to it has occurred
in the crimping of skate immediately on its being taken out
of the water. The crimping is done by drawing a sharp
knife in three cuts to the bone, on each side of and parallel

to the back-bone. The fish writhes under the knife, but
from muscular action, I think, more than from pain, and
before the last cut is given it is dead. And this, in my
opinion, is a much more merciful way of dealing with the
skate, than allowing it to lie suffocating in the bottom of
your boat for the hour which it occupies in dying that way.
I know many good people say that we should kill our fish
as we catch them. If we could, we would, for they would
be so much the better for the table, but in most kinds of
sea fishing this is utterly impossible. Take a mackerel
seine for instance. A tolerably successful haul ought to
produce at least 2,000 fish. After the haul commences,
everything depends on the speed with which it is completed.
Every hand on board the boat is at it, and in a few minutes
the 2,000 fish are spluttering about in the bottom of the
boat. I once took upwards of 6 cwt. of fish, principally
skate, on a long line of 500 hooks (i.e. 500 fathoms) stretched
along the bottom of the sea in shallow water, in one haul.
The whole hauling had to be done with the least possible
stoppage, and at times the fish came so fast, that the
boatmen attending on me had not time to unhook them,
and had to cut away the snoodings. The fish had to lie in
the bottom of the boat and die, we could not stop to kill
them. And in the end I found that the line had cut my
two forefingers almost to the bone. The fish were crueller
to me that day than I was to the fish.

Whether viewed for its colour or its form, the mackerel
is one of the most beautiful of English fish. I need not
describe it to you. Doubtless its form is familiar to you
all. And if it is not you have only to go into the fish-
market here and see it in as much perfection as it can
retain after a long journey. Beautiful as the mackerel on a

London fishmonger's stall is, much more beautiful is it as it

I 2

comes out of the water alive. There is, in the best
mackerel, an iridescent, rosy tint under the gills and forepart
of the body, which I have seen in fish here, but which is
much more conspicuous when they are taken. And it is
this colour by which our fishermen judge their fish. They
say, " Red mackerel is good mackerel ; white mackerel is
mackerel ; green mackerel is poison."

And in this last remark they are quite correct. When-
ever a green hue supersedes the rosy, the flesh of the fish
when eaten will, with very many people, produce most
unpleasant symptoms of blood poisoning ; and as these
green mackerel are taken amongst the others at all times of
the year, they give the fish a bad name, and cause people
to abuse the whole family, when the truth is that they
ought to have made a better selection.

An average mackerel weighs i^ Ibs., which gives about
1, 500 fish to the ton. Large fish go to 2 Ibs. or even 2j Ibs.
but they are rare, and as they do not sell for more than the
others, are reserved by the fishermen for presents to their
friends, which starts another of our West Cornwall notions
that " you should never eat a mackerel unless it is given to
you." This saying is quite understood in West Cornwall
now, but in process of time it will very probably get to be
understood there, as meaning that it is unlucky to buy
mackerel, and if that belief once gets about, well, we are a
superstitious people, and you ladies and gentlemen in
London will have a large addition to your supply of
that fish from Cornwall.

These large mackerel are usually females, with roes ready
to be shed, and are known as Queen mackerel and King
mackerel, but I do not recollect ever seeing a large male
mackerel of this sort.

Sometimes one is startled by an announcement in the

papers that a mackerel of six or even eight pounds weight
has been caught, but in every instance in which I have
been able to make inquiries the fish has turned out to
belong to an allied species — the short finned tunny — which
sometimes herds with the mackerel.

There is one fact about the personal history of this fish,
which I will mention although I know I do it at the risk of
having my veracity suspected ; but I narrate only what I
have seen over and over again, have repeatedly shown to
my friends, and am prepared to show in the cases of two
fish out of three, to any one o£ you who will call on me at
Penzance and go out and catch mackerel with me. The
mackerel, like the turbot, requires, and has, enormous
-muscular power at the tail to give the tail-fin its full
advantages. In the turbot the fishermen recognise this
fact and say that the turbot has a " second heart," and, as
soon as they can, after they have caught one, they, at least
in our parts, " bleed it," that is, make an incision on the
line of the lateral line on the white near the tail, which cuts
into this " second heart," and from which the fish bleeds
freely. They have an impression that it whitens the white.
Now, for my mackerel. The strongest and most muscular
fish are those which wander about by themselves, and take
surface bait, and it is on these only that my experiment
has been tried. Take one of these immediately it comes
into your boat, and, at once, without injuring it more than
is necessary, prepare it for the gridiron just as your cook
would, and lay it on the deck of the boat. In a short time
a muscular action will develop itself in the tail, and
the disembowelled fish will turn a clear summersault, some-
times two, and occasionally three, and will then become
quiet after a convulsion in which every fin vibrates. Like
many other discoveries this one was made by accident ; but I

call your attention to the fact that very much the same sort of
thing happens in the case of a common snake killed, and
dead beyond all question, but in which a muscular action
goes on for hours, and gives rise to the common idea that
a snake never dies until sunset. And I think our medical
men can tell us that a very strong muscular action oc-
casionally takes place in the human body after death from
some particular convulsive diseases.

Taking the season through, a mackerel is worth two pence
at the boat's side, and, with that fact before you, I leave
you to judge how much the railway carrier and the fish-
monger between them get out of the consumer.

Of course the price varies from day to day. Within the
last month I have known mackerel selling at the boat's side
for two and six pence per one hundred and twenty, or just
one farthing per fish ; and a boat with a catch of eight
hundred threw them all overboard rather than come into
harbour and pay her quay dues. On the other hand I have
seen them selling at the boat's side at one shilling per fish.

The mackerel fishery of Cornwall is a very old one. The
fish itself was known in our seas very long ago, for it has a
name in the old Cornish language (" brithel "), but it was
but a small affair until railways opened up our markets in
1859. I find that in 1808 we were sending mackerel from
Penzance to Portsmouth in sailing cutters, but the record
does not say in what condition they arrived there. It was
probably fortunate for their owners that there were no
Sanitary Inspectors about the markets in those days.

At this time, the fleet employed on the fishery in Cornwall
consists of about 400 sails of luggers of about 15 to 1 8 tons
burden, excellent sea-boats (of which many models are to
be seen on the Cornwall stall in the British Fisheries Gallery),
costing, when the nets are on board, six hundred pounds

each. They are capable of going closer to the wind than
any ordinary yacht. The spread of canvas they make is,
as you can see for yourselves, enormous, and they will live
in exceedingly heavy weather ; but they give in sometimes.
Three years ago the boat Jane succumbed to a fearful
cross sea, and sank within two hundred yards (one hundred
fathoms) of Penzance pierhead, and drowned her crew of six
men and a boy, not only within sight of their own homes,
but within sight of their wives and children, who knew what
boat she was. But even in that case, the men who knew
said she was lost because she had not sufficient canvas on
her to force her through the sea.

If one of these boats is overpowered by the sea, she
takes down her spars and makes them and her nets and
such of her sails as she can afford to risk into a kind of
raft, under the slight shelter of which she rides out the
gale ; but you will find on the " Cornwall Stall " a sugges-
tion for a very great improvement in this method. The
exhibitor is a Cornishman, and he calls it a " floating
anchor." It consists of a beam of timber to which is
attached a large square piece of canvas, to which is attached
another beam of timber from which there trails away a
perforated zinc can which finds its place, when at work, in
the cavity of a cone made of canvas, fastened to a wooden
hoop. When the boat is storm-pressed she lowers her
masts, heads up to wind, and hoists the whole machine
out ahead of her and makes fast to the first beam ; and
then, being deeper in the water than the machine, she
drifts astern and down the wind towing the anchor, the
outer beam of the anchor stretches the canvas sheet, and is
assisted in doing this by the cone which it is dragging mouth
foremost. The cone meanwhile is receiving from the zinc
can, oil which exudes from it, and which the cone itself sends

120

out in a fan shape. Thus, an advancing wave first meets
the oil, of the effect of which we have heard so much
lately. It then meets, and perhaps breaks against the
forward beam, and then has to pass under or fall on the
sheet and in any case will reach the boat in a very
enfeebled* condition. I find practical men are speaking
very well of this invention.

Each of our boats carries a crew of seven men and a
boy (the latter usually a relative of one of the crew), and is
owned by a practical fisherman — very frequently by the
master or his father — and is worked on the share system,
under which each man brings a certain number of nets on
board, and the proceeds of each season are shared in a
peculiar and complicated way between the boats, the. crew,
and the nets. We have no large boat-owners and no
boat-owning companies. This state of affairs produces
results which, like many other things in Cornwall, are
peculiar to the county. When the Commissioners came
down last year on the inquiry as to —

Cruelty to fisherboys.

The prevention of desertion, and

The method of paying wages.

we satisfied them that under our system there was, in our
fisheries : —

No cruelty to fisherboys.

No desertion — self-interest preventing it.

No disputes as to wages.

This last thing puzzled the Commissioners most of
all. After the meeting two fishermen and myself were
standing in the lobby when the Chairman came to us and
said : —

" I am satisfied you have no disputes about wages, but I
cannot make out how it is done." And I turned to one of

121

the fishermen and said, "Tell the gentleman how it is
done," and he said, " We leave all that to the women."

It will be seen from the numbers which I have given,
that our mackerel fishery gives employment to about 3,000
men and boys, who, between the month of February when
the season begins and June when it ends, usually catch
about 4,000 tons of fish, which will give six millions of
individuals. As soon as our mackerel season is over the
pilchard season begins, and when it ends, our fleet sails
for the Irish fishery, the Plymouth fishery, or the East coast
of England fisheries ; for they can go anywhere. One
once reached Australia safely, but now, in these days
when 14 foot punts cross the Atlantic, that is no great
feat.

Still, in 1854, when the Mystery, of 36 foot keel and
about 1 5 tons burden made her voyage, no boat of her size
had ever attempted to deal with the Atlantic Ocean since
the Caravel, which was the smallest of the little fleet of
Columbus, had done so 350 years before, and she was
in company with large vessels, and therefore the voyage
of the Mystery remains noteworthy. This solitary boat
sailed from Mount's Bay on the i8th November, 1854, and
reached Melbourne on the I4th March, 1855, after a
voyage of 117 days. She had a crew of seven men and
carried her nets. I have recovered the log which was kept
on board of her,* and, judging from it, a more dreary
voyage than hers was never made. Beyond sighting a few
ships and a few albatrosses, and being feted at Table Bay,
nothing seems to have occurred of more importance than
" the broaching of the second barrel of pork," until they were
nearing Australia, and then, for a short time, things got
exciting, and they met with weather which made them ride
* Kindly lent to me by Mrs. Boase,the widow of the seaman who kept it.

122

to a raff in the way which I have described, and which they
describe.

Thus, on 1 8th February, 1855, the Log says : —

Sunday, February i$tk, 1855.

Lat. by acct. 40° 5' S. ; Long. 81° 25' E.
A.M. Strong gales with heavy sea running.
4 A.M. Gale still increasing, handed the foresail and set a
reef second mizzen forward.

6 „ Terrific gale with a tremendous heavy sea running,

and carried away the second mizzen yard. Brought
the ship head to wind and hove a raft out

6-30 A.M. Split the third mizzen, unbent it, and bent the
new one.

8 „ Gale still increasing, with more sea and heavy
rain.

NOON. Ditto, weather.

3 P.M. Less wind and sea, made sail, set reef second mizzen

forward.
MIDNIGHT. Strong squally weather.

Friday, February 2$rd, 1855.

2 P.M. Gale fast increasing.

4 „ A complete hurricane, with mountains of sea and

very heavy rain. Brought the ship head to wind.

Ship riding very easy to a raft prepared for the
purpose.

7 „ Rather less wind. Veering to the westward, hauled

the raft on board, made sail, set reef second mizzen
forward.

Saturday, February 2$th, 1855.

A.M. Strong winds with a heavy sea on.

4 „ Moderating, set storm foresail and jib ; squared

123

8 P.M. Light airs and cloudy, all possible sail set

10 „ Heavy rain. Wind inclined northerly.

NOON. Jibed ship. Lat. by acct. 40° S. ; Long, by acct.

101° E.
P.M. Wind veering all round the compass, with heavy

showers of snow and sleet.

3 P.M. Set the jib.

4 „ More wind, took in the large sails and set storm

foresail and third mizzen.

5 „ Heavy gusts of wind and rain, ship running under

bare poles.

6 „ Set reef second mizzen forward.

7 „ Very heavy squalls. Hauled down second mizzen.

8 „ Set second mizzen.

10 „ Down sail.

11 „ Set it again.

MIDNIGHT. Very strong squally weather.

Monday, March $th, 1855.
AM. Strong gale, with mountains of sea. Ship running

under reef second mizzen forward. Shipping a great

quantity of water on deck.

4 P.M. Gale increasing with a great deal more sea.
6 P.M. Complete hurricane. Brought the ship head to

wind, riding very easy, raft prepared for the

purpose.
MIDNIGHT. Very heavy weather, with a high sea running.

Tuesday, 6th March, 1855.

A.M. A terrific gale of wind, it being the heaviest that
we have experienced since leaving England. Our
gallant little boat rides the* mountains of sea remark-
ably well, not shipping any water whatever, having
dry decks fore and aft. I am confident that she is

124

making better weather at present than a great many
ships would if here.
4 A.M. Heavy gust of wind.

8 „ More moderate.

9 „ Hauled the raft on board, made sail, set reef second

mizzen forward.

NOON. Very strong weather. Lat. by observation, 40° S.
Long, by chronometer, 131° E.

Saturday, loth March, 1855.
A.M. Very heavy gale with a high sea running, ship riding

very easy to a raft.

8 A.M. Ditto Weather ; repairing the second mizzen.
NOON. Rather less wind and sea. Lat. by observation,

38° 39' S. ; Long, by chronometer, 140° 45' E.
6 P.M. Hauled the raft on board ; made ^sail, set storm

sails.

10 „ Moderating fast.

II,, Made the Australian land between Cape Northum-
berland and Cape Bridgwater. Tacked ship. Wind
off the shore.

MIDNIGHT. Very fine weather.

The log does not state her rate of sailing, but I learn
from Mr. J. C. James, who is related to one of the crew,
that during one period of twenty-four consecutive hours
she made eight knots, which is the equivalent of something
like nine and a half miles per hour.

Our men, when on the home mackerel fishery, sell their
fish to buyers — who are sent down by the large London
and other houses for the purpose — in a very primitive but
very effective fashion. The auctioneer takes his station on
the beach in the early morning with the buyers around him.

A boat appears in the offing, and signals her number and the
number of fish she has. The auctioneer announces both,
and, if the bidding is slack, chucks a stone into the air.
The buyers have to bid before that stone falls. If a bid
comes, another stone is chucked up, and so on. And as the
boats do not all arrive at the same time, this method
conduces to much speculation.

Sometimes the fleet puts into Scilly, and sends the catch
to the mainland by steamer. Then the market is steadier,
because the total of the catch is known by telegraph ; but
scenes of wild excitement take place. The early boats
unload and pack their fish and stow the baskets on board
the steamer, but the late boats crowd round the steamer,
which is a mail boat and bound to time, and simply unload
their fish on to her decks. These fish are packed on the
way over by men working against time. I came over in the
steamer once when she had more than 60,000 fish on board,
and I watched the packing of more than 15,000 of them,
which had been thrown loose upon her deck, after which I
considered I could say that I knew mackerel when I saw it.
It was on a hot summer's day, and as the steamer rolled to
the Land's End seas, the packers were constantly ankle-
deep in blood and slush.

One result of this investigation was the certain conclusion
that the " scribbled mackerel " and " dotted mackerel " of
Couch (British Fishes) were only accidental varieties of the
common mackerel.

Strictly speaking the mackerel is not a migratory fish.
It is in our seas all the year round, but in the season which
I have mentioned — February to June — it, for some unknown
purpose, crowds from the deep sea inshore. By day, during
this season, it swims in scools or shoals, and by night it
makes a formation in loose order, probably for the purpose

126

of feeding ; but it never pursues, as true migrants do, any
settled route. The fishermen have to search for their fish
day by day. In the day-time the fish are taken by the
scool or shoal in shallow water by the seine net, a net shot
ahead of and around them. In the night-time they are
taken by the drift-net, a net shot over the boat's side,
and fastened at one end to the drifting boat, which goes
with the wind or tide or both as may happen. The fleet
represents a capital of about £24.0,000, the property of
bond fide fishermen, and certainly deserves the protection
which it requires. The drifters are much put upon by
trawlers. These latter drive in hours which belong to the
former. Trawling is a day fishery ; driving is a night
fishery, and every now and then the slow moving, helpless,
illegally fishing trawler comes across the nets of the equally
helpless but legally fishing driver and carries them away.
This happens in the night time ; the driver never has a punt
with her and cannot ascertain the trawler's number. In
fact she does not know that the mischief is done until she
hauls her nets, and she has no remedy. I have known
£400 of damage done to the drivers in this way in a single
week. The thing could be easily prevented ; a gunboat
or even a Government cutter cruising on the fishing-ground
during the two months in Spring in which the mischief
happens, would stop the whole thing. Some years since we
had reasons for expecting to see that gunboat come round
the Lizard every day for three seasons in succession, but she
never came, and we gave up expecting her.

There is another matter in connection with our Mount's
Bay fleet, and I believe it affects also some of the other
fleets, which I think may interest you. Just before the
Jane, of which I spoke just now, was lost, a Mutual
Fishing Boat Insurance Club was started for the Mount's

127

Bay fleet. But we had then lost no boats lately, and our
men were indifferent about it, and the thing fell flat. Only
seven boats were entered in it. It happened that the
Jane, and two other boats, partially wrecked in the same
storm, were in it, and the club was ruined. The public
generously gave us over £2,000 to provide for the widows
and orphans of the crew of the Jane, and to repair
damages generally. Out of this fund we provided liberally
for the widows and orphans, and we then paid to the club
enough to enable it to meet the demands on it, and we then
distributed the remainder of the fund amongst the other
owners whose boats had sustained damage, with the distinct
assurance that if they did not put their boats in the club no
one would ever again stir a finger to help them in case of
accident. The Cornish fisherman is not behindhand in
taking a hint, and I believe every boat in the bay is now in
the club, even before she is launched. I certainly do not wish
to see any club make its prosperity by such a fearful
experience as that which set up ours, but I shall be most
happy to send the rules of the club to any one interested
in the matter. The general outline is just this : nets are not
insurable (for want of that gunboat.) The surveyor of the
club examines each boat entered and reports on her value,
and she is then insured in two-thirds of her survey value.
Losses are made good by the levy of a rate on all owners
of boats in the club at the time of the loss, and no loss is
made good which is occasioned by any neglect to observe
the Board of Trade Rules.

I wish to call your attention to a great advantage which
this Exhibition will certainly confer on Cornwall. Mackerel
shoal in deep water as well as in shallow. Our desideratum
for a long time past has been a seine which can capture the
deep water shoals. A gentleman named Cox, a Cornishman,

128

has invented a seine of which a model is in the middle of
our Cornwall stall (it is the one which has the weight
attached to it), which he says can be worked at deep sea
shoals of fish ; and curiously enough, a model of a second
seine on the same principle, but differing a little in detail, is
exhibited on the same stall by Mr. Moses Dunn, of Fowey,
and a third by Mr. Barron of Mevagissey. Practical men
saw these models, both before they came here and since,
and pronounced them very pretty little toys, which might
succeed in a fish pond, but utterly unfit for use at sea.
Now a full seine costs a large sum of money, and no
hard-headed capitalist is likely to lay it out on a specu-
lation which the practical men tell him must fail. Well, the
nets come here, and to them came an American gentleman
and he said, " You have the precise principle on which we
are working deep-sea seines in America, and they succeed
admirably."

There is another point which I must not overlook. There
is an idea of great antiquity, and very generally entertained,
that mackerel must always be fresh to be good. It is
perfectly true that mackerel is in its perfection when cooked
as soon as captured, but if that cannot be done it is like most
other fish, none the worse for a little keeping. And it is for
this reason, and because ice takes the flavour out of the fish,
that I consider dry packing (ie., packing fish-upon-fish
without ice) preferable to packing in ice; it injures the
flavour less. But there is another view to be taken. This
fish is eminently amenable to the action of antiseptics.
The smallness and fineness of its scale causes an antiseptic
bath to act upon its skin and gilled surfaces with marked
effect. I once received two of the large mackerel of which
I have spoken, which had been caught off the Scilly Isles
on a Monday night in the month of June (I believe, at all

I29

events in the height of summer) ; I received them in their
natural state on Tuesday evening, and put them into a bath
formed by the solution of some antiseptic in powder, which
the late Mr. Frank Buckland had procured for me. The
bath totally destroyed the beauty of colours of the fish,
and turned them into a dirty brown, but I ate one of those
fish on the Saturday after in perfectly good condition and
flavour, and I could have eaten the other in the same state,
so far as the flesh went, on the Saturday after that again,
but the flies had got at the gills, and the idea was distasteful.
I wrote for some more of the disinfectant, and the reply that
I got was that the company was in liquidation, and that I
could have the patent for ;£i,ooo ; so I thought no more of
the matter and have forgotten the name of the disinfectant.
I only mention the matter to show of what service antiseptics
may be.

The drift fishery of which I have been speaking is the
principal mackerel fishery now, and supplies us with
practically the whole of this fish. The few thousand
mackerel taken at present each year in seines are wholly
absorbed in strictly local markets. The mackerel takes
bait, but, generally speaking, shyly. Every five or six
years they turn up in large shoals, which are intensely
localised, in the autumn and for about two hours a day, in
the evening, for a week or ten days, take surface bait
greedily. I, myself, once cruising backwards and forwards
over a little patch of ground (where a shoal of this sort had
located itself), for about two hours between five and eight
on each evening, for four days in August month, took, on a
whining or light hand-line and on a hook baited with a
strip cut from an okl white kid glove, over three hundred
fish. I have known the mackerel to be in shoals in
December, but this is rare. When they do occur in

VOL. VI.— C. K

130

that month they are small but in excellent condition as
food.

Before I pass away from the mackerel, on which I have
detained you a great deal too long, I wish to tell you of
another discovery of mine, which no doubt equally affects
all fish ; but as my observation of it was made on mackerel,
I confine my narrative to that fish. Its habit of shoaling
in the daytime taught me the curious fact that the shoal
leaves behind it a distinct scent in the water, and that there
are other inhabitants of the sea who quite understand
what that scent means, and utilize it.

A shoal of fish in the water looks, at a distance, like the
shadow of a cloud moving steadily on. As the shade
nears you, you can see the fish "playing," jumping out of
the water just as small trout do, only in a large shoal you
will see thousands of fish out of the water at the same
time. Each sort of fish gives a colour to the water which
is peculiar to it, so that an experienced fisherman knows
at sight whether the shadow of the cloud, which he knows
to be a shoal of fish, covers mackerel, or pilchard, or
herring, or sprat. I was once standing on the beach with
an old fisherman when we saw a straggling shoal of fish
about half-a-mile long, swimming very slowly, which we
could not make out. Their colour was new to him. So
we took a boat and went out to them, and found they were
a shoal of huge jelly fish, great transparent things shaped
like an open umbrella and about its size, having around
the edge of the umbrella a beautiful purple fringe which
causes you to recollect it if you incautiously touch it.
On the occasion to which I refer I was standing on a
headland in a place called Prussia Cove, in Mount's Bay,
when I saw a shoal, which I knew at once to be of
mackerel, come out of a sandy bay there and go due west.

Shortly after I saw a shoal of porpoises (a cetacean which
loves the mackerel in an epicurean sense) come lumbering
up from the south into the sand. When they came across
the trail of the mackerel these latter were a good mile
off on their way. The porpoises had no sooner got into
their back water than they wheeled into their course and
set off in full chase. In about three minutes they were
in the midst of the mackerel, playing havoc, whilst the
unfortunate mackerel were driving forward in one solid
line of terror, making the water foam before them as they
fled.

Of the Pilchard I have a different tale to tell. It is a
little fish of the " herring " family, generally about ten
inches long, and rarely so much as half a pound in weight.
It is very local in its habits, rarely occurring in numbers of
any importance east of the Start Point, in Devonshire, on
the South coast, and Trevose Head, in Cornwall, on the
north. It is taken yearly as far east as the estuary of
the Exe, and has been taken, and occasionally in large
numbers, off Seaton, in Devonshire, at the mouth of the
river Axe. Some years since a small shoal was taken off
Folkestone.*

It occurs in very large numbers off the south-west coast
of Ireland, but there is no native fishery for it there, and as
its season on that coast coincides with its season on ours,
our people are too busy at home to look after it. It occurs,
of course, off the French coasts as the sardine. And the
Spaniards have a mode of curing it which altogether beats
our English method, as may be seen by a comparison of our

* There is also some record of the capture of a shoal at Harwich,
and a fish supposed to be the pilchard occurs in Scotland under the
name of the garvie herring, but practically its home in England is in
Cornwall and mainly in West Cornwall.

K 2

132

cured pilchards in this exhibition with those in the Spanish
division.*

Unlike the mackerel, the pilchard is not sought for in its
fresh state out of Cornwall and West Devon. Our
fishermen* have tried many markets with it, but without
success. And this is the more remarkable seeing that the
fish is cheap, nutritious, and of exceedingly good flavour.
When tourists first found out West Cornwall, they very
soon found out pilchards, and more, they turned a little bit
of "chaff" against us west countrymen into a reality, at
their own expense. It used to be said of us that we ate
" cream with our pilchards," which of course we never did.
But when the tourist came down, he took it for granted
that he could eat clotted cream with everything, and he
insisted on having " cream with his pilchard," and he is said
to have got it, and to have found it so good a mixture that
now no large hotel gives broiled pilchard for breakfast
without itf

But we have other ways of cooking them besides broiling.
We fry them and eat them with a sauce made of finely
chopped onions, salt, cold water, and nothing else ; it is
a very nasty sauce. And we eat them without any knives
or forks, with our fingers. I do not say that all of us do
this, but I have seen it done, and less than one hundred
years ago the practice was universal amongst the bulk of
our people.

I hope to cure this want of a fresh pilchard market soon

* There are two open barrels of the fish exhibited one at each end
of the westernmost case in the Spanish Court. One is labelled
"pressed sardines," and the other "salted sardines," but they are
both of them pilchards, more cleanly cured than is our wont.

f I can speak to the excellency of clotted cream as a [sauce with
broiled pilchard from personal experience.

133

in this building. I hope to induce some of our fisher people
to send a supply to the fish-market here so soon as the
season opens, which it will in a few weeks, and I think that
with the great advantages offered here, we may succeed
where others, under less favourable circumstances, have
failed. Spain is running us so close in the business of
supplying salted pilchards for the markets of the Roman
Catholic countries, that we could easily find thirty to forty
millions offish for the supply of a fresh fish market without
feeling the loss of them. This apparently enormous
number would be a mere flea-bite out of our catch for a
season. It would be a day's, or at most two day's successful
fishing for the seines of St. Ives alone. And this brings me
to the support of Professor Huxley in his remark, that in
the waters frequented by the pilchard the sea, taken acre
for acre, is of greater pecuniary value than the land. A
seine when " shot " around a shoal of pilchards may enclose
an acre of superficial water, certainly not more than two.
It is on record that the seines in St. Ives Bay did on one
occasion, in one day, capture 10,000 hogsheads, or over 30
millions of pilchards, worth, over the boat's side, £2 per
hogshead. I do not know the number of seines employed,
but they could not possibly have exceeded 20; but,
supposing they were 20, then 20 acres, or at the highest
figure 40 acres of sea yielded ^"20,000 as its produce for
one day, and each season consists of many days, and the
fisherman pays no rent.*

* The greatest recorded catch by one seine at one shot was made
at St. Ives in 1868. There 5,600 hogsheads, or over 16 millions of
pilchards, were saved out of one seine. This catch was worth between
,£11,000 and ,£12,000. Remarks of precisely the same character, but
differing in detail, apply to our trawling grounds, but as pilchards are
never taken by the trawler, I only allude to this fact.

134

Since I wrote the above about opening up a cheap
market for small dainty fish like the pikhard, the question,
as one intended to benefit the poorer classes, has been
placed before me in what is to me an entirely new light.
And it is this : Supposing you can supply pilchards in the
height of their season at one penny each over the fish-stall
(and the remark applies to all other fish which could be sold
cheap), what is the poor man to do with it ? In summer he
must go to the expense of a fire to cook it. At any time
he must provide fat in which to fry it, most of which will be
wasted, and after all, the chances are that his wife does not
know how to cook it, and will spoil the dish in the doing of
it. And for this, my practical informant says, there is but
one remedy. If you want to introduce cheap fish for the
use of the artisan you must in some way or other start
shops or whatever places you like where he can get it
cooked. Most of these difficulties apply also to the
dressing of fish by boiling, but my informant adds to these
another, that the prejudice against boiled fish is at present
so deep-seated as to be practically ineradicable.

You will find in this building, pilchards cured by all the
methods in use, salted in barrels for the foreign market,
dressed in oil, as sardines, or in salt sauce, as anchovies, or
marinated, which is, I believe, an invention of our own ; and
in every form you will find them good.

The method in which the pilchards are cured for the
Italian market expresses from them when " in bulk " (i.e.,
under the pressure in large masses necessary for salting
them) large quantities of blood, which run from the curing-
house down the streets in gutters to the sea. We are a toast-
drinking people, and this peculiarity in the curing process
gave rise to a toast which used to be given as equiva-
lent to prosperity to the pilchard fishery. It was : —

135

" Long life to the Pope, and may our streets run with
blood."

The fish itself resembles a small silvery herring having
large scales. The people who catch it are much the same
as those who fish for mackerel, but the fishery has a
separate capital invested in it, the boats and nets used
being peculiar to it.

It is captured in much the same way as the mackerel is.
In the night in drift nets ; in the day time in seines.
Originally pilchard seining and mackerel seining were
conducted in much the same way, but the decline of
mackerel seining has now-a-days caused them to differ.

The lookout of a mackerel seine is mostly kept on board
the boat itself, and the seine net is hauled bodily on board
with the fish in it, but in pilchard seining the lookout is kept
from some hill where the huer — or man stationed to watch
for the shoals of fish — can be seen from the boat, standing
clear out against the sky. He thus gets a much wider out-
look than can be had from the boat. He holds in each
hand a bush, and when he sights a shoal of fish he informs
the boat of its whereabouts by preconcerted signals made
with these bushes. The seine boat moves in the direction
indicated, and if it reaches the shoal in time it shoots its
net. You must consider of this net when shot, as a round
room in the water without a floor or ceiling, and if the shot
is successful it contains the pilchards. At the next low
water time a net, called a tuck net, and which I will liken to
a perforated pocket handkerchief, is let down from large
boats stationed at one side of the room of water, the tuck-
net being inside the seine, and it is drawn up by means of
ropes hauled in on board large boats stationed for the
purpose at the other side so as to scoop up the fish in
the seine. As the ropes come home the boats close in

136

upon the net, and then a very exciting, and on moonlight
nights a very beautiful scene sets in. Millions of silvery
little fish are sputtering and clattering on the surface of the
water in the tuck-net. Half a dozen men are in the midst
of them up to their knees in fish, handing them into the
boats in baskets, and working for dear life. Everybody
is giving orders at the top of his voice about everything,
and nobody is obeying anybody, and so the work goes
on until the coming tide stops them, and causes them to
run the risk of the escape of the fish before the next low
water. Most of the fish thus caught are salted for
export, but many find their way through the locality of
their capture in the cowels or baskets exhibited on our
Cornwall stall, and which are worn in the picturesque
way shown in the lithograph also exhibited there. A
strong woman can carry i cwt. of fish in the way shown,
and for miles.

But the waving of a huer's bushes has a very curious
effect on any fishing village which happens to get sight, or
news of it. To the stranger it would appear that the whole
population of the place had suddenly gone lunatic. Every
available man, woman and child turns out and rushes
violently down the steep cliff to the sea shouting " heva !
heva ! " Whence the word is derived, we do not know ; but
it is the signal that shoaling fish are in sight, and that the
population must turn out to be ready to receive them, for
all this fish-work requires to be done with the utmost
dispatch.

A very curious thing, and entirely inexplicable, about
these shoaling pilchards, is that at uncertain periods they
shift their course for years together. For instance, fifty
years ago, St. Ives on our North coast had almost a
monopoly of the shoaling pilchard ; now she divides with

137

Newquay. Thirty-five years ago the principal South coast
seining fishery was in Mount's Bay, now it is at Mevagissey,
and it is no question of new seine fisheries having been
established. It is due solely and entirely to a change of
habitat on the part of the fish. We have many things yet
to learn about the pilchard.

One thing I have learned since I began to write this
paper, is that during the mackerel season (February to
June) and before our pilchard season commences, numerous
shoals of very large pilchards are met with by our mackerel
drivers in the deep sea, eight leagues and over, south and
west of the Scilly Islands. These large pilchards are mostly
females full of roe, ready to be shed, and unlike most fish in
that condition are so dry and tasteless as to be utterly
useless as food. A test of their size is that they are taken
in the meshes of the mackerel nets.

Like the mackerel the pilchard is not a true migrant, but
comes in from the deep sea, shoaling by day and scattering
by night, and remains on for its season. Unlike the
mackerel it never takes a bait,* and is but very rarely seen

* Whilst [this Paper was in the press, and as a result from the
reading of it, I received information to the following effect.

The fact above noted of the occurrence of the pilchard in large
shoals south and west of the Scilly Islands in the early spring accounts
for the appearance of the fish in the English Channel in July and
August in each year. The course of their journey from the deep seas
into the Bristol Channel, and thence westward round the Land's End
in November, remained for explanation. Mr. William Eddy, a skilled
fisherman in the matter of pilchards, tells me that for several years
during which he was manager of some copper mines near Baltimore,
in Ireland, he noticed lying around the islands in Baltimore Bay large
shoals of pilchards for some days in every month of September or
October, which would be about six weeks before the date of their
usual occurrence in the Bristol Channel. The shoals hung about for
a day or two, and then went off into the deep sea.

Corresponding to this statement is another which has come to me

135

in our seas except in its season ; but again, like the mackerel,
it is too thorough a nomad to stand the confinement of an
aquarium. And those of you who wish to see either of
them alive must seek for them in their native haunts.

DISCUSSION.

Professor BROWN GOODE said he had heard some
complaint that there were too many scientific men on the
platform in these conferences, and too few practical men,
but every one would agree that Mr. Cornish had shown
that he had a thorough practical acquaintance with the
subject, whilst he had used a thoroughly scientific method
in his deductions. He had listened with great pleasure
to the Paper, having been for some years paying special
attention to the mackerel fishery in the United States.
That fishery was one of the most important in the
American waters. The produce in the year 1880 was
about 132,000,000 pounds. It employed about 470 of

from Mr. R. Pollard, of Wadebridge, a gentleman largely interested in
the pilchard fishery. He has advised me that the earliest shoals of
pilchards which arrive annually in the Bristol Channel come in enor-
mous quantities from the north-west (or direction of the coast of
Ireland), and after hanging about in the deep water for a day or two
in u Mother Ivery's Bay " (east of Trevose Head, see page 131) break
up and go to the westward in small shoals, and pass St. Ives and
round the Land's End into the English Channel.

Thus our two seasons for pilchards are apparently accounted for.
Mr. Pollard notes the very curious fact that, after a large shoal of
pilchards has broken up each small shoal formed from it keeps so
much together, and to itself, that if portions of two shoals are captured
in one haul they do not mingle, even though they may remain in the
seine for some days. This fact, however, depends on a solitary
observation. It but rarely happens that portions of two shoals are
enclosed in one shot.

139

their finest sea-going schooners, of from 60 to 100 tons
burden each, and with an aggregate capacity of about
23,000 tons, with crews of 14 to 20 men, and nets worth
450,000 dollars or more. Within the last few years, since
the introduction of the purse-net to which Mr. Cornish
had referred, it was not uncommon for one of those vessels
to catch fish to the value of ^"5000 or even ^"7500 a year.
The history of the mackerel fishery was very interesting.
As long ago as the year 1600, within forty years of the settle-
ment in New England, there were records of the colonists
seining the mackerel off Cape Cod by moonlight ; and it was
somewhat remarkable, that on this fishery was founded the
system of public schools in the United States, for within
ten or twenty years of that time the first public school was
founded on a tax upon the fishery. At that time, when
perhaps not one hundred barrels a year were taken, they
found the inhabitants petitioning to prevent the destruction
of the mackerel by this method of fishing, and that
appeal had been repeated at various times in the history
of the fisheries, even down to the present time. In the
American Court of the Exhibition could be seen a
diagram showing the progress of the mackerel fishery,
and the very great fluctuations which took place not
only with reference to the quantity of fish caught, but
the number of vessels employed. It would be noticed
that in 1882 the catch was very much greater than in
any previous year, so that the fears as to the destruc-
tion of the fish did not seem to be well founded. Two
methods of fishing were afterwards introduced ; first, the
gill-net or drag-net, like that used in Cornwall, and which
is still used to a limited extent at the present time.
Another method introduced about the same time, and
kept up for a considerable period, was what they called
trailing, or dragging a bait after a vessel under sail. That

140

was carried on until the beginning of this century, and
it was not uncommon to see a vessel with four or five
poles sticking out from it, to which the bait was attached.
That was given up, however, fifty years ago. At the
beginning of this century another form of apparatus came
into use, which was exceedingly effective for a time, and
it was during the prevalence of this method that the
great fisheries in the United States and the Canadian
waters sprung up which had led to so many treaties
from 1865 to 1870. There were from 500 to 700, or even
in some years 1000 American vessels in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence fishing for mackerel, and this was called the
mackerel hook fishery. It was conducted in this way : the
fishermen took on board a hundred or more barrels of
a very oily, fat fish called the menhaden, something like
the pilchard. They ground it up fine and threw it out
in great quantities. The mackerel would follow this for
a long distance, and come up round the vessel like a
flock of chickens coming to be fed. Then the fishermen
had short lines with hooks on the ends, with which they
caught the mackerel and threw them over on to the deck,
and with a crew of 10 to 14 men the catch would some-
times amount to 20,000 in a day. That mode of fishing
was carried on for a long time, but the purse seine gra-
dually came into use and displaced it. It was first used
in 1814, but did not come into general use until 1860,
and there were now probably 500 of them at work. The
mackerel fishery had now been transferred from the Gulf
of St. Lawrence to off the shore waters along the coast,
and at the present time they followed them down to
Cape Hatteras. The mackerel on the other side of the
Atlantic had definite migrations, coming north in the
spring of the year, when the fishermen followed them
until August, when they were in the Gulf of Maine, then

they followed them back in the fall. The mackerel
increased in size as they got on better feeding-ground.
They disappeared for a month or so in June, when
they went to the bottom and spawned. He could assure
Mr. Cornish that there was not the slightest practical
difficulty in working the purse seine. They were from
70 to 150 feet in depth, and 1000 to 1300 in length,
and were worked by a special boat something like a
whale boat, and it was quite easy for a vessel to catch
as many fish as could be cured in three or four days.
At first they used to give the surplus away or let them
go, but now they had invented a kind of storage net,
which they hung out over the side of the vessel, and
kept the fish alive in it, taking out at intervals as many
as they could cure before they spoiled.

Mr. KENNETH CORNISH asked if Mr. Cornish was in
favour . of legislation for the preservation of mackerel ?
Referring to what had been said in regard to the pursuit
of herrings and mackerel by porpoises, he might say that
he witnessed a very remarkable sight at Teignmouth ;n the
year 1 860. In walking along the sea wall they saw a great
commotion in the sea, a mile out, and watching it, they
soon found a shoal of salmon running in, pursued by a
shoal of large grampuses, who drove the unfortunate
salmon right against the wall. They seized the salmon in
their jaws, threw them up, and caught them like a terrier
would a rat, and when the salmon turned and went out to
sea again, they pursued them. He should like to know if
Mr. Cornish thought it possible to catch these cetacea, seals
and other animals that preyed on salmon, herrings, and
mackerel, by the use of spinning bait on a large scale ? It
seemed to him we were thinning down the fish, but not
thinning down their natural enemies. It would not be at
all difficult to make baits which would exactly represent a

142

salmon, mackerel, or herring, with hooks concealed inter-
nally ; and they might even be impregnated with the
natural flavour of the fish.

Mr. CORNISH, in reply, said, as far as his experience
went, he did not think legislation was required with respect
to a close time for mackerel or pilchards ; they took a close
time for themselves and got away where they could not be
caught. Further legislation was very desirable for the
purpose of regulating the fishing of our own boats in British
waters ; and even if what legislation there was were better
enforced, it would be of great importance. With regard to
catching porpoises, he should not like to tackle one weighing
more than 2 cwt. in a small boat.

Mr. SHAW, M.P., in moving a vote of thanks to Mr.
Cornish, said he was much interested in the mackerel
fishing of the south coast of Ireland ; but he had learnt a
great deal he did not know before. Up to the present he
always thought that if a mackerel could speak it would
talk Irish, but he was now pretty well convinced that it
would also speak in Cornish ; and perhaps if it could
speak in either language it could give a different account
of its sufferings to that which had been given in the Paper.
One thing, however, might mitigate one's sympathies in
this respect, for mackerel had not the slightest regard for
other fish which suited its taste. In the neighbourhood
of Cork there was a fleet of five hundred boats engaged in
the mackerel fishery. He was sorry to say there were not
as many native Irish engaged in it as he could desire,
because round that part of the coast the inhabitants were
a poor class of men, with very little enterprise, and very
few of them were men of business or capital. In another
district, too, mackerel fishing had been established, and
seemed likely to succeed ; and he should be very much
wanting in his duty if he did not refer to the great help

143

given there by Lady Burdett Coutts, but for whose assist-
ance the thing could not have existed. It was very satis-
factory to know that the people of the coast — a simple
primitive people — had availed themselves of the assistance
offered them, and there were some of the best boats engaged
in the fishery now going from the Harbour of Baltimore on
the south coast of Ireland. The great object of catching
fish was to bring it as quickly and cheaply as possible to
the table, and he did not think there was a better fishing
ground in the world than that round the south coast of
Cork ; but hitherto facilities of transport had been rather
deficient. Now, however, they were in a much better
position in this respect, as there were rails now touching the
fishing grounds at Kinsale, Skibbereen, Baltimore, and
Bantry, and in the Bay of Bantry a steamer had been put
on, so that every evening the fish caught in any of those
places could be shipped, and next day it would be delivered
in the cities and towns of England. The great thing to be
desired was to have as few people as possible between the
consumer and the fishermen, otherwise the profit was scat-
tered about by the number of hands through which the fish
passed. If there were any gentlemen present engaged in
the fish business, he would recommend them to send their
agents over there, who would day by day collect the fish
and send it forward. He knew, from practical experience,
that fishermen got very little as the result of their industry ;
this did not apply so much to the mackerel fishery, because
it was mostly conducted by men of skill and experience
who could take care of themselves.

Mr. C. E. FRYER had great pleasure in seconding the
vote of thanks. The Chairman had referred to the beautiful
scene presented at night when the boats were leaving the
harbour, but it appeared to him the enjoyment was much
enhanced when you happened to be on board one of the

144

vessels going to the fishing grounds. Having had. the
pleasure himself, he could recommend any one who visited
Cornwall to endeavour to get a night's fishing on board
one of those boats ; for no more beautiful scene could be
imagined than was presented on a fine evening on board a
boat off the Land's End. The energy of the Cornish fisher-
men had been referred to, but, like many others engaged
in the same vocation, they were remarkably conservative in
their habits, and it was very difficult to induce them to
adopt improved methods of fishing. He had had the great
satisfaction of introducing into this country the system of
preserving pilchards in oil, in the manner in which sardines
were preserved in France. There could be no question that
the sardine was exactly the same fish as the pilchard, and
those who had not tasted them he would recommend to buy
in future not the French sardines but the Cornish. He had
no interest personally in giving this advice, beyond the
desire of seeing an industry which he had established pros-
pering to the extent which it deserved. As an instance of
the difficulty of inducing the fishermen to take a " new de-
parture " in fishery matters, he related that on one occasion,
when off Penzance, he endeavoured to get the fishermen to
put aside the smaller fish, for the purpose of preserving them
as sardines, as it was found that the smaller ones were pre-
ferred for the purpose, but he had the greatest difficulty in
the world to induce the fishermen to adopt that simple pre-
caution. Every fish had to be taken out of the net, and
it would have been perfectly easy for the men to put the
small ones on one side and the large ones on the other, but
their conservative tendencies prevailed and they would not
take the trouble to do so. There was a saying that the
Cornish people could make anything into a pie ; and it was
said that if a certain gentleman, who should be nameless,
were to go there, he would be put into a pie ; and just as

145

they were determined to put everything into a pie, so were
they loth to adopt new methods of preserving fish for the
market. If proper means were adopted there was no reason
why enormous quantities of pilchards, preserved in salt as
well as in tins, should not be sent to London and other
English markets, though of course there were difficulties of
transport to be overcome. Mr. Cornish had referred to the
remarkable occasional disappearance of the pilchard from the
coast of Cornwall, and it occurred to him that possibly the
china clay works in Cornwall might have some influence on
the movements of those fish. Enormous quantities of milk-
white water were poured into the sea down many small
streams in the county, and that might have some effect,
though he did not suppose it was the chief cause of the
disappearance, because the same sudden disappearance had
been noticed in France. He recently came across a letter
received in 1879 from a friend in France, who spoke
of the sudden appearance there of the sardines in great
abundance, though for more than twenty years there had
been a great scarcity. The abundance which had generally
prevailed since had shown large occasional fluctuations.
He trusted that many other gentlemen in Cornwall would
follow Mr. Cornish's example, and make a study of the
movements of this and other fish with a view to the
practical encouragement of those very important industries.
The resolution having been carried unanimously,
Mr. CORNISH said he did not think the china clay had
much to do with the disappearance of fish, because it had
been noticed that they still remained in localities where that
water and also mineral water ran into the sea. They would
require to watch them still more closely for some time to
find out the reason for those movements.
The MARQUIS OF EXETER then proposed a vote of thanks
VOL. vi. — c. L

146

to the Chairman for presiding. Mr. Cornish had alluded
to three kinds of mackerel, one of which, the green, was
unwholesome ; and he was glad to hear the explanation,
because not long ago his crew, who were Irish, came one
morning and said they were all very bad from eating
mackerel that had been in the moonlight. He concluded
that it was this green mackerel. He had oftentimes en-
joyed the pleasure of fishing off the Cornish coast, and had
always met with the greatest kindness from fishermen and
others; and he could recommend any one who wanted a
good fishing ground where they could catch all manner of
fish, to go, when the wind was not to the south or west, and
lie off Penzance. They might catch there every kind of
fish, from the mackerel down to the beautiful jelly-fish
which Mr. Cornish had alluded to, which he had often
watched on a calm day struggling to make head against
the tide, but eventually drifting with it ; and perhaps the
Chairman would recollect that they had it on the authority
of a noble duke, that certain friends of his, who were as
brilliant in talents as these jelly-fish were in colour, were
also in the habit of drifting with the tide.

Mr. HORNBLOWER seconded the motion, which was
carried unanimously.

The CHAIRMAN, in response, said it had given him much
pleasure to be present at a discussion of so practical a
character. There were many points on which he should
have liked to touch had the time not been so far advanced,
but he would only say, in correction of what Mr. Fryer had
said, that the Cornish proverb was that the devil would not
come into Cornwall because he was afraid of being put into
a pie.

SALMON AND SALMON FISHERIES.

BY

DAVID MILNE HOME, F.R.S.E.,

OF M1LNE-GRADEN (BERWICKSHIRE).

VOL. VI.— C.

CONTENTS.

PAGR

SALMON 149

SALMON FISHERIES 158

DISCUSSION 173

APPENDIX A. 183

B. . ... 184

«. C-. ••••••••• loo

CONFERENCE ON TUESDAY, JULY 17, 1883.

The LORD LOVAT in the Chair.

The CHAIRMAN, in introducing Mr. Milne Home, said
the work of the Exhibition would not have been complete
if a paper on that most noble of our fish, the salmon, had
been omitted. The importance of the salmon was very
great, supporting as it does a considerable industry, sup-
plying a vast amount of food, and affording the finest sport
which in this sporting country a sportsman could enjoy.

SALMON AND SALMON FISHERIES.

IF the announcement in the Programme of this day's Con-
ference means that there is to be an account given of the
Salmon and Salmon Fisheries of the United Kingdom, I
fear that any information I can furnish will not do justice
to the subject ; for my knowledge of Salmon and Salmon
Fisheries is derived only from my experience as a pro-
prietor of salmon fisheries in one river in the south of
Scotland, viz., the Tweed ; and from having had some
share in managing the fisheries of the river, and of the
sea-coast on each side of its mouth.

But as, according to the latest known returns, the Scotch
Salmon fisheries are, in value and produce, fully one-third of
those of the United Kingdom, and there are peculiarities

in the Scotch fisheries which seem deserving of atten-
tion, I venture to offer a few remarks for the consideration
of the Conference.

I. FISH.

There are several kinds of salmon in the Tweed. The
most common are the Salmo salar, or true salmon, and
the Salmo eriox, which last kind is known also by the
names of bull-trout, sea-trout, or whitling. But there are
hybrids which sometimes render identification difficult.

The young of the true salmon, when first hatched, we
call a "parr" having dusky cross bars on its sides.
Hatched in December or January, these "parr " go slowly
down the river towards their ultimate destination, the sea.
But they do not venture into the sea till another skin of
glistening scales has been formed over their first skin.
They then receive the name of " smolts" If put into salt
water, before getting this silver dress, they die. It is only
a portion of the "parr " which go to sea during the first
year. The rest, being probably more weakly in constitu-
tion, remain in fresh water till the following spring, when,
if not devoured by natural enemies, they also put on a
silvery dress, and betake themselves to the ocean.

The " smolts" after remaining in the sea for some
months, return to their native river, having grown to about
twelve inches in length, and weighing about half a pound
or more. They then go by the name of " black- tails"
having the tail and the dorsal back fin of a black colour.
They hover about the lower parts of the river, not going
far beyond the influence of the tide. Before winter they
return to the sea ; and in the following year they come
back to the river as grilse in June and July. For what
-purpose they come then is not yet known. When they
come in September and October, it is in most cases to

deposit ova and milt in the spawning beds. After they
have spawned they return to the sea, and if they come
back next year, my opinion is that it is in the form of a
salmon — a change corresponding to that of the heifer into a
cow after her first calf. This, however, is one of the points
on which naturalists differ.

The young of the bull-trout are like the young of the
true salmon — first parr and then smolts. When they
return from the sea, they go to the higher parts of the
river, and are known as " orange-fins" being distinguishable
by a yellow colour on the belly.*

It would appear that many of the grilse and salmon,
though sufficiently advanced in life, remain sterile. In the
months of December and January, which is the usual time
for spawning, quantities of adult salmon are seen by cod,
haddock, and herring fishermen, twelve and fifteen miles
from the coast, near the surface of the water, playing
about, as the fishermen term it, probably being then in
pursuit of food. Even in the river, during the above

* There is, however, a little uncertainty regarding the relative
positions of " Orange-fin " and " Black-tail? Some young fish,
believed to be Orange-fins, having been put into a pond at Carham,
and kept there for two or three years, were examined by Mr. Stirling,
of Edinburgh University, and he reported on them as follows.

A fish, weighing about 2 Ibs., having been examined, Mr. Stirling
suggested the following account of its life history : —

" It was put into the pond in May, 1874, as an Orange-fin.

" It became a Black-tail in May 1875.

" It became a Bull-trout in November, 1876.

" It spawned about this time.

" Its progeny were hatched in February 1877.

" Its progeny became Parr in May 1877.

" Its progeny became Orange-fins in April 1878."
Mr. Stirling was therefore of opinion that the fish known as an
" Orange-fin " in the Tweed, is the " Black-tail " of that river in a
younger stage.

152

months, adult salmon have been seen, not seeking the
spawning beds, but lying in deep pools.

In the Tweed, there have been numerous well-authenti-
cated cases of salmon having been caught exceeding 70 Ibs.
in weight (see 'Tweed Salmon Reports/ published by
Blackwood, Edinburgh, in 1867, p. 121).

With regard to the food of the salmon, I have never
heard of anything having been found in their stomachs,
except what they must have got when in the sea. Small
haddocks, cod, and herrings have been found, as well as
lugworms, sand-eels and remains of jelly-fish. The sea-
fishermen believe that when in salt water they feed largely
on " Mather," or " Herring Sile," minute crustaceans, which
are often in such quantities as to colour the water, and
which generally betoken to the fishermen the proximity
of herrings. Even when salmon are taken in parts of the
river, at a distance of above twenty miles from the sea, as
at my own residence on Tweedside, they have been found
with small herrings in their stomach, as the only appear-
ance of food. When they come into the river to spawn,
my belief is that they get no food, except what they bring
with them, and that they are then supported entirely by
the oil which is in their flesh. This inference is corroborated
by the experiments of the late Sir Robert Christison, who
analysed the flesh of a clean salmon caught when entering
the River Tay from the sea, and also another salmon when
descending the Tay to the sea, after having been in the
river for about six months. The amount of fatty matter
was in the latter only about one-sixteenth of what existed
in the former.*

* See Appendix A (page 183) for the details of Sir Robert Christison's
analysis ; and also for some corroborative remarks by the late Frank
Buckland.

153

The young of the salmon, on their way down to the
sea, are preyed on by many enemies. Sea-gulls and
herons devour them in large quantities. When they reach
the mouth of the river, there are millions of "podlies"
(Merlangus carbonarius) watching for them. The Tweed
Commissioners, to lessen the slaughter, employ boats and
nets to catch these " podlies." The last return of which I
have a note represents 6040 caught in May and June.
Many of these creatures, when examined, were found with
the remains of eight or ten smolts in their stomachs.

The migration of Tweed salmon has been to some
extent investigated by the Commissioners. With the view
of ascertaining the changes of size and shape in future
stages of life, we for many years were in the practice of
catching fish of all kinds, and putting a silver wire into the
dorsal fin, with a special number stamped on it. When any
of these wired fish were caught, the wire was sent to our
Superintendent, with a description of the fish, by length and
weight, and of the place where caught. In this way we
had reported to us cases of Tweed salmon caught in the
Firth of Forth, on the coast of Aberdeen, and in the rivers
Don and Dee of that county. Along the coast of England
to the south of the Tweed, we had cases reported to us
from Holy Island, from the Tyne, from Shields, and even
from Yarmouth. This last case, on account of the distance
travelled, is especially interesting, the wire having been
fastened to a bull-trout caught in the Whitadder, a tribu-
tary of the Tweed, on the 2Qth of March, 1852, and the fish
having been caught in a net at Winterton, near Yarmouth,
on the 2nd of April ; it had travelled, therefore, nearly 300
miles in four days. Another fish, marked in the Whitadder
on loth March, 1880, was caught at Yarmouth on 5th May,
1880 (see Appendix B, page 184).

154

When salmon are swimming in the river Tweed up
stream, it has been estimated by experienced anglers that
they travel at the rate of about two miles per hour.

Salmon, in descending the river after spawning, are
generally emaciated and exhausted. Many, apparently
hardly able to swim, float down the stream to the sea.
Every spring, large numbers are found dead at the sides
of the river, or in pools.

What causes the migration of salmon is matter of con-
jecture. I have observed, when walking along the Ber-
wickshire coast, salmon leaping frequently at or near the
mouths of small rivers or streams ; and it has occurred to
me that, as they must get into rivers for spawning, instinct
induces them to seek those rivers the waters of which they
find most suitable for the purpose.

Certain it is that salmon, after having frequented
particular rivers from time immemorial, have abandoned
them, and the inference is that they betake themselves to
other rivers which they deem preferable.

As an example of this, I may refer to the river Whit-
adder, which has a course of about forty miles from the
Lammermuir Hills. This river joins the Tweed, at a dis-
tance from its mouth of about three miles ; so that all
the salmon caught in the higher parts of the Tweed must
have passed the mouth of the Whitadder. The tide flows
into it, as well as into the Tweed, flowing up the latter,
for six or seven miles. Formerly the true Sahno salar
frequented the Whitadder ; but during the last thirty
years no salmon of that variety has been seen in it. It
is frequented only by bull-trout.

Reference may also be made to the Thames and to the
Coquet (Northumberland), both of which rivers used to be
frequented by the true salmon. I might also quote the

155

Esk in Mid-Lothian, where, about fifty years ago, I have
seen hundreds of true salmon wriggling up over the mill-
weirs ; but there have been no such fish in that river for the
last twenty years.

Where have all the salmon and their progeny gone to,
which frequented these rivers? The natural conclusion
is, that rivers elsewhere have been resorted to.

In some of the cases I have mentioned, and in multi-
tudes of others, the probable cause of desertion, was the
pollution of the streams by the establishment of paper-mills,
dye-works, mining operations, and other manufactures, the
refuse of which rendered the waters in these rivers unsuit-
able for salmon life.

Thus, about thirty years ago, shortly after the establish-
ment of paper and woollen works in the upper parts of the
river Whitadder, I used to see its lower parts covered
with an oily scum and foam most destructive to fish.

These remarks lead me to refer to other circumstances
inimical to salmon when in our rivers.

One is the formation of mill-dams or weirs, of such
heights that, except in " spates " or heavy floods, the fish
cannot reach any spawning grounds. In the cases of the
Thames and of the Coquet, the English Fishery Inspectors,
after careful investigation, gave it as their opinion that
what originally caused desertion of salmon from both
rivers, was the erection of impassable mill-dams and locks,
which cut off access to spawning grounds. On the other
hand, there are rivers where salmon have become more
plentiful, as in the Tyne ; and the Chairman of the Fishery
Conservators of that river informed me, that he attri-
bute this increase chiefly to the removal of mill-dams and
the formation of fish-passes. It seems a well-established
fact that unless the fish find suitable ground for spawning

156

they retain the ova and milt, causing great risk of fate*
inflammation ; and accordingly every winter, multitudes
of fish, both male and female, are found dead and un-
spawned — in many cases with milt-sacs and ovaries
diseased.*

I believe that the state into which our rivers get by
excessive drought, is another cause of much unhealthiness
to salmon. The rain falling on our agricultural districts
rushes off at once through land drains ; so that our rivers,
instead of continuing in flood for a week or ten days, fall
to their ordinary level in three or four days ; and in dry
weather, the fish congregate in pools, where the quantity of
water is so small, that the supply of oxygen for respiration

is insufficient.

A curious fact may be referred to, which perplexed
the late Frank Buckland, viz., the entry of grilse into our
rivers, at a season when it is probable they do not come
for spawning. In the north of Scotland, they enter the
rivers on the east coast, in January and February, but on

* Return by Mr. List, Superintendent of Tweed Water Bailiffs, of
salmon, grilse, and bull-trout, found dead or dying in the riven
which were taken out of the river and buried, distinguishing the
spawned and the unspawned.

Season
1880.

Season
1881.

Season
1882.

Season
1883.

Spawned ....

4694

2542

II438

3996

Unspawned . .

528

365

3189

864

The late Frank Buckland, in his igth Report, p. 34, says: — "A
question of considerable importance, bearing on the salmon disease,
has arisen, viz., whether a female salmon has the power to withhold
her eggs ? Now, I know most positively that she has the power."

'57

the west coast, though on the same latitude, not till May
or June. The explanation suggested by Mr. Archibald
Young, Fishery Inspector for Scotland, seems to me
correct, founded on the relative temperatures of the sea
and of those rivers. The sea on the west coast is from two
to three degrees warmer than on the east coast. On
the other hand, the rivers flowing eastward into the
German Ocean, lose their winter temperature, before
reaching the sea, more rapidly than the rivers flowing
by a shorter course towards the west ; because the snow-
clad mountains, from which both sets of rivers flow, are
nearer the west coast than the east coast, and therefore
the west-flowing rivers are, at their mouths, colder than
the east-flowing rivers at their mouths. The fish may
therefore seek to get out of the cold sea-water on the
east coast, by at once entering the rivers flowing there
into that sea ; whereas on the west coast, the fish may
incline to remain in the warmer sea-water there, until the
temperature of the rivers has risen, after the snow .has
melted.

This solution of the problem, being one of a meteoro-
logical character, is now being tested by thermometers,
which His Grace the Duke of Sutherland has kindly
caused to be placed and observed in the Sutherlandshire
rivers.

A question occurs on Tweedside, regarding the spawned
and spent fish, called " kelts" which are often so emaciated'
that the clause in our Act of Parliament forbidding the
capture of "foul, unclean, and unseasonable " fish, has
been held to apply to them. Sometimes, however, these
kelts become, before reaching the sea, so improved in
condition, that they are considered wholesome as food,
and, being improved in appearance, are, when taken in

158

the nets, not restored to the riven The expediency of
destroying the kelts has also been maintained, on the
ground that they devour "parr " in large quantities. I
incline to think this a mistake. The kelts generally .go
down to the sea in February and March, at which
time the "parr," like the common " minnows" hide them-
selves in the muddy bottom or sides of the river, or
under stones. A neighbour of mine, who kept a supply of
minnows in a pond in his garden for many years, told
me that they always, during the winter months, buried
themselves in the mud. My gamekeeper, when in winter
he wants " minnows " for trout fishing, tells me that he has
to seek for them among tree roots and other rubbish along
the banks, by means of a small net. This is also probably
the case with "parr"

II. FISHERIES.

Having offered these remarks in regard to Fish, I pro-
ceed to the second part of the programme, viz. Fisheries,
which I presume refers to the persons who fish for salmon,
and to the rules for controlling their modes of fishing.

In Scotland, as I believe is the case also in England
and Ireland, the original right of fishing for salmon is in
the Crown, the privilege being capable of being exercised
only by those who can show a Crown charter.

Until about thirty years ago, the Crown rights in this
matter seem, in Scotland at least, to have been little
attended to.

About that time, steps were taken by the Department
of Woods and Forests, to ascertain what proprietors who
were fishing for salmon, could show Crown charters.

The investigation began in the south-east of Scotland,

159

and I was called on among others. I was able to show a
good prescriptive title for both river and sea fishings, but
many of my neighbours were not so successful, and then,
of course, the Crown officers, their right to the fishings
having first been established or acknowledged, advertised
the salmon fishings to be let to those who offered the
highest rent — a preference, however, being given to riparian
proprietors.

This investigation has been carried on along the
east coast of Scotland, and I believe also the west
coast.

At my suggestion a return was obtained from the Woods
and Forests two years ago, of the amount of these Crown
salmon fishings for the years ending respectively Martin-
mas, 1871, and Martinmas, 1881, from which it appears that
the sum drawn for Crown leases of salmon fishings in
Scotland in the former year was £3198 is. 2d., and in the
last-mentioned year £$ 1 10 14^.; this progressive increase
arising from the additional fisheries taken possession of
by the Crown officers.

The total amount of the rental received by all kinds of
leases of salmon fisheries in Scotland, is believed to be
about £2 50,000.

There are, however, no statistical returns which can be
relied on for accuracy on this point. The old Scotch
Fishery Board (which was abolished last year by the Scotch
Fishery Act) concerned itself only with sea fish. Since the
new board was organised, there has been, as authorised by
that Act, an inspector of Scotch salmon fisheries appointed
by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who
is entitled to seek information regarding the numbers and
value of salmon caught, but who has only recently entered
on his duties.

i6o

The regulations in Scotland for salmon fishings are, many
of them, the same as in England.

(1) Thus there is an annual winter close time ; which
in Ireland continues for 168 days, in England for 154 days,
in Scotland for 170 days. In the open season of summer,
there is a weekly close time ; lasting in Ireland 48 hours,
in England 42 hours, in Scotland 36 hours.

(2) No fixed nets are allowed in our rivers or in our
estuaries near the river mouths ; and no nets with meshes
smaller than one and three-quarter inches, so as to avoid
catching parr, smolts, or small river trouts.

(3) Pollution of rivers, to such an extent as to kill
salmon in them, is nominally prohibited ; but the clauses
in all the Scotch Acts are so weakly worded, that I don't
know of any case in Scotland, except one, where fishery
proprietors or Fishery Boards have been able to enforce
these prohibitions for the protection of fish.

No power was by these Acts even attempted to be given
to prevent pollution. It is only after a fish has been killed
by it, that action is allowed ; and even then it is exceedingly
difficult, indeed, almost impossible, to show, that when a
fish is found dead, it died from the effects of poison which
came from any particular mill.

The Tweed Fishery Act has existed for 26 years, but
it was only last year that a case occurred, where the Com-
missioners ventured to exercise their powers in this respect.
Noxious matters were discharged from a mill, which
killed every kind of fish in the river for two or three miles
below the mill. There was a general outcry at such an
outrage. A leading Edinburgh angling club endeavoured to
prosecute, but was baffled by a technical defect in the word-
ing of the Scotch Freshwater Fisheries Act. The Tweed
Salmon Commissioners, however, called on the county Pro-

curator Fiscal (who is the local Public Prosecutor in Scot-
land) to institute proceedings in respect of the destruction
of thousands of Salmonidae, which gave to the Tweed Com-
missioners a right of action. The County Sheriff awarded a
sum of £2, being the full allowable penalty. The party
convicted appealed to the Supreme Court in Edinburgh.
There, the Sheriffs judgment was affirmed, with an award
of £12 of expenses ; but it cost the Tweed Commissioners
£157 to obtain the conviction! — a proof of the utter in-
sufficiency of the existing law to meet even a case so mani-
festly flagrant as that just referred to.

This subject of river pollution suggests a remark of
wider application. Important as it is to afford to Fishery
Boards more legal power for the protection of fish, the
gross pollution of our rivers, streams, and lakes by sewage
and manufacturing refuse, ought to be prevented for the
sake also of higher interests. The health and domestic
comforts of thousands of our population demand, that there
be a stringent law declaring such pollution to be a crime,
irrespective of any proof of injury to fish or to individual
riparian proprietors. A public officer ought to be appointed,
not only to prosecute such offences when they occur, but to
prevent the discharge of noxious matters (whether from
towns or private houses), and even the erection on the
banks of rivers of any manufacturing works, which would
cause gross pollution of the water.

(4) Another point of importance, as regards Scotch
salmon fisheries, is the mode of enforcing the prescribed
rules of fishing.

On the Tweed we have no difficulty with the lessees of
the fishings, or the men employed in working the nets,
who are about 476 in number. But we have great difficulty
in repressing the poaching which goes on during the

VOL. vi. — C. M

162

long nights of the annual close time (extending for nets
from September I4th to February I5th), especially in the
upper reaches of the river, where spawning beds are
situated. In these districts, there is a dense manufacturing
population, in and near the towns of Hawick, Jedburgh,
Galashiels, Selkirk, Innerleithen, and Peebles ; and the
mill-workers greatly enjoy the recreation of going out in
parties at night, with torches, to capture, by means of rake
hooks and hand nets, salmon in the shallow streams.

On an average of the last two years, the number of
poachers detected and convicted at the instance of the
Tweed Commissioners was 221 in the year; the cost of
prosecuting them was £266, and the amount of fines and
expenses awarded to the Commissioners was about £ 149.

The number of our Water Bailiffs or River Watchers has
been, on an average of the last two years, 49 during the
six months of close time, and 13 during the rest of the
year.

In order to pay the wages of bailiffs, the cost of prosecu-
tions, and the salaries of managing officials, the Tweed
Commissioners are entitled, under their Act of 1857, to
assess themselves, and the other proprietors of fishings, to
the extent of 20 per cent, on the rentals or values of the
fishings. These amount at present to about £13,000
yearly, so that by assessment we have about £2,500 at
our command for protection and management.

If, however, the terrible fish epidemic, which for the last
two or three years has affected the Tweed, continues, we
must expect our income from fishing rents to fall, not only
because of the decrease in the number of fish, but because
of the disinclination of sportsmen to frequent our river for
angling, the enjoyment of which is undoubtedly lessened
by the ghastly sight of diseased -fish.

163

As the salmon disease has already been a subject for
separate discussion at these Conference meetings, I abstain
from any remarks on it, beyond mentioning that during
the last three years, our bailiffs have drawn out of the
Tweed and its tributaries, altogether 27,100 salmon, grilse,
and bull-trout, either dead or dying, in order to bury them.
The value of these, at an average weight of 7 Ibs. each,
and an average price of is. per pound, amounts to about
£20,000 sterling.

(5) The Commissioners who manage the Tweed fisheries,
are all persons whose income from fishings exceeds £30
yearly, or who possess a river frontage of half a mile.
They form a numerous body, and hold a meeting once a
year, when they appoint a Committee of Management,
consisting of twelve of their own number, resident on or
near the river, and known to take an interest in fishery
matters. His Grace the Duke of Roxburghe is Chairman
of the Committee.

In other parts of Scotland, the management of the salmon
fisheries is, or rather ought to be, in District Fishery
Boards, which were appointed to be constituted by two
Acts passed in the years 1862 and 1868. But the
proprietors of salmon fishings so much disliked the
constitution of these Boards, that when the sheriffs of
counties summoned them to meet, to elect Boards for the
different districts, very few proprietors responded to the call.
Scotland had been, by three Government Commissioners,
previously divided into 105 districts, each comprising one
or more salmon rivers ; but the result was that no more
than 30 Boards were formed, and during the succeeding
ten years, eight of these Boards ceased to meet, so that
there are now altogether not more than 22 Boards in existence.

To show the present state of things, I may quote the

M 2

1 64

following from a report of the Scotch Fisheries Improve-
ment Association, read and adopted at the public annual
Meeting held at Edinburgh in May 1881 : —

"There are seven counties in Scotland, with 32 rivers,
which have ceased to be frequented by salmon ; owing, first,
to dams built across the rivers, which prevent the fish
getting up to spawn ; and, second, to manifold pollutions
from town sewage, bleach-fields, chemical works, and other
manufactories.

" In eight counties with salmon rivers in them, there
are no District Fishery Boards.

" In one of these counties, viz., Ross and Cromarty, there
are no less than 32 salmon rivers, all without official pro-
tection.

" In Argyleshire, where there are about 30 salmon rivers,
there is but one District Fishery Board, and its place of
meeting (when it does meet) is in the Island of Mull."

There has thus been almost an entire collapse of the
arrangements which were devised by Government, and
sanctioned by the Legislature in 1868, for the protection
and management of the Scotch salmon fisheries.

In the year 1870, this fact became known to Government,
through the reports officially made by the different county
sheriffs, who had been appointed by the Act of Parliament
to take steps for forming the District Boards. I must
do the Government of that day the justice to say, that
viewing the matter in a serious light, they lost no time in
endeavouring to obtain the best information with a view
to a remedy. The Honourable Mr. Bruce (now Lord Aber-
dare) then Secretary of State for the Home Department,
appointed two competent Commissioners, the late Frank
Buckland and Mr. Archibald Young of Edinburgh, to
visit the different counties in Scotland, and report, "how
far District Fishery Boards are in operation in Scotland,

165

and whether any alteration in their constitution is de-
sirable." The Commissioners at once proceeded with
the inquiry, and made a report stating that, to procure
the necessary information, they had visited the principal
salmon rivers in Scotland (forty-six in number), and had
personal meetings with twenty-two District Boards, and
also with many landed proprietors interested in the
fisheries. They further reported, that whilst the total
number of fishery districts which had been designated by
the Act of Parliament to be managed, each by a separate
board, was 105, yet "at this moment (viz., in 1871) there
are not above 30 District Boards constituted and working?

The Commissioners also reported that the constitution
of the boards was unsatisfactory, and they suggested some
modifications, though apparently without much confidence
in their likelihood of success.

Shortly afterwards, there was a change of Government,
which may, perhaps, have been one reason why no steps
were then taken to remedy a state of things so injurious
to a great national industry which supplies a large amount
of much prized food, and gives employment to about from
14,000 to 15,000 of the population in Scotland.

What has been the consequence of matters having been
allowed to remain in the nearly total absence of any proper
authorities for enforcing the law ? Over two-thirds of the
country, both in our rivers and along our sea-coasts, poach-
ing in annual and weekly close times, — capturing of salmo^
fry, — river pollution, — obstructions in rivers, and illegal
netting, have been prevailing, without check or hindrance.

If asked for evidence of this, I refer to the testimony of
Mr. Young, who knows more about our salmon fishings
than any one else, and who in the year 1877 published
a pamphlet, in which he states as follows : " Poaching

i66

is universal along tJte coast of Argyle, and among the
islands ; the central point being the town of Oban, where
thousands of sea trout are annually caught by persons who
have not a shadow of right to fish for them, and which are
openly sold without any interference." *

Then, turning to the east coast of Scotland, I refer
to the testimony of Mr. A. B. Hogarth, Aberdeen, who at
a public meeting of fishery proprietors, held last April in
Edinburgh, voluntarily came forward to support a reso-
lution affirming that salmon in Scotland were decreasing
in number, and stated, "that the amount of over-netting
which had taken place on the sea-coasts during the last
ten years, was something past all comprehension. He
added, that he had been a fisherman for thirty-five or
thirty-six years ; but it was only within the past ten
years, that things had gone on to such an extent." This
testimony is all the more reliable, being given by a
tenant of extensive coast fisheries, who had been carrying
on, without objection or interruption, a practice admitted
to be alike injurious and illegal.

These local testimonies from Scotland are confirmed
by the returns from Billingsgate market, where an accu-
rate record has long been kept and published of the
numbers of salmon received there from England, Ire-
land, Scotland, and other countries. Taking the returns
of the last ten years, and comparing the average num-
ber of salmon brought there, during the last five
years, with the average number brought during the first
five years, I find there has been during the last five
years an increase from England of 20 per cent, and from
Ireland an increase of 2j per cent, but from Scotland a
decrease of 20 per cent

* ' British Industries,' p. 287 (Stanford, Charing Cross, 1877).

There being a general conviction in Scotland of the
decline of our salmon fisheries, and no appearance of any
intention on the part of the Executive Government to
adopt remedial measures, a number of fishery proprietors
and representatives of angling clubs, conceived the idea
of forming an Association for endeavouring to make the
Scotch public aware of the virtual non-existence of any
proper system of protection and management of the
fisheries, and also to urge upon Government the necessity
of better legislative arrangements.

At a public meeting in Edinburgh, held in January 1881,
the Scotch Fisheries Improvement Association was estab-
lished with that view. His Grace the Duke of Sutherland
consented to be President ; and the Earl of Breadalbane,
the Earl of Dalhousie, Lord Polwarth, the late Sir Robert
Christison, Sir James M. Gibson, and myself were ap-
pointed Vice-Presidents ; with a Council of fifteen mem-
bers, practically acquainted with the subject of salmon
fisheries.

This Association has accordingly, by means of public
meetings for discussion, by circulation of Reports, and by
sending memorials and deputations to Government, en-
deavoured to make known and urge the necessity of
remedial measures.

I also individually endeavoured to contribute some
amount of help towards the same object, by the publica-
tion of a small tract, to explain the reason why the
District Fishery Boards authorised by the Acts of 1862
and 1868 were so much disapproved of in Scotland.*

I there ventured to suggest that the lines of the

* In Appendix C., p. 1 88, extracts from this tract are given by the
courteous permission of the Executive Committee of this Exhibition

i68

English system of River Conservators (as they are
termed) might be followed in Scotland. The English
Boards consist of two classes of members, proprietors
and lessees of fisheries. The proprietors are selected by
Quarter Sessions, the number on the board for each district
being previously fixed by the Secretary of State for the
Home Department ; and to these selected members, there
are added a certain number of ex officio proprietors, having
a rental from fisheries exceeding ^"30. The other class
of persons on the English Boards, are lessees of fishings,
and consist of persons holding licences to fish ; for in
England (and in Ireland also) it is the law, that persons
wishing the privilege of fishing, whether by net, rod, or
boat, must take out licences, and pay for them certain
dues to be approved of by the Home Secretary. These
licence dues form a fund, which is at the disposal of the
River Conservators.

It will be observed from this explanation, that only a
small number of the members on the English Boards are
members ex officio. The majority are selected, on ac-
count of their qualifications for the duty, by others who
are supposed capable of judging of these qualifications.

Now what is the constitution of the Scotch Boards, as
explained in the Salmon Act of 1862 ?

All the Boards consist of the same number of mem-
bers, whatever be the size of the district ; viz., three
fishery proprietors from the lower parts of a river, and
three from the upper parts. If there be in either of
these districts, only two fishery proprietors, then, what-
ever be the number of proprietors in the other district,
the total number on the Board must be four. And if
in one of the parts of the river there is only one fishery
proprietor, then the total number can only be two members

169

besides the Chairman. With regard to a Chairman, he is
not elected by the members of the Board, as is usually
the case. The Act appoints the proprietor of largest
fishery rental in the district to be Chairman, without
reference to his having any other qualification ; and he has
both a deliberative and a casting vote.

The result of such an arrangement was to throw the
whole power of the Board into the hands of the lower
proprietors, inasmuch as the Chairman, on account of his
high rental qualification, is almost always connected with
the lower part of the river.

The consequence is, that the upper proprietors, seeing
that they have no influence in directing the action of the
Board, decline in most districts to become members, or at
all events to attend the Board meetings.

Another objection to the Boards is the expense to
which members would be subjected, by having to assess
themselves and other fishery proprietors, to defray the
costs of prosecutions, to pay the wages of water-bailiffs,
and to pay the salaries of officials, — the Act declaring
that all these expenses fall on the Boards ; and in many
districts, the fishery rents are not sufficient to meet these
expenses.

It was likewise felt to be an invidious and odious duty
to throw on proprietors the institution of prosecutions for
the imposition of fines and imprisonment.

Another serious difficulty which militates against the
practicability of these Boards, is the scanty number of
resident proprietors in many of the northern and midland
counties of Scotland, and the great distance of their
dwellings from one another, rendering attendance at
meetings almost impossible.

These being some of the objections to the proposed

Boards, and which, as already mentioned, prevented the
formation of no more than about 20, out of the 105 re-
quired, the practical question now is, what can be thought
of, as likely to succeed in place of these Boards ?

The chief suggestion made in the Report of the Com-
missioners appointed by Lord Aberdare was, that where
in any district a Board has not been constituted, a Fishery
Inspector, nominated by the Secretary of State for the
Home Department, should exercise all the powers of
a Board.

I failed to see how this plan would work. The arrange-
ment which I suggested, and which I may now brkfly
sketch, was as follows : —

1st. To allow no persons to fish for salmon in Scotland,
without taking out a Licence — the amount of the dues
to be fixed by the Secretary of State for the Home
Department.

2nd. To have in districts embracing one or more
salmon rivers, a Board, consisting, as in England, partly
of proprietors and partly of lessees of salmon fishings ;
the proprietors who are to be members of the Board,
to be selected by a committee, consisting in each county,
of the Lord Lieutenant, the Convenor of the County,
and the Sheriff; — the lessees of fishings who are to be
members of the Board, to be selected at a meeting of
persons holding Licences, called publicly by the Sheriff;
and the Chairman to be elected by the Board — either from
among their own number or otherwise — the election being
yearly. ,

3rd. With regard to expenses, these are of three classes :
1st, salaries of officials to assist in the management ; 2nd,
wages of water bailiffs ; and 3rd, cost of prosecutions.

The first two classes of expenses would be defrayed

out of the funds to be raised by licence dues ; — a plan
which I have reason to believe would meet with the sup-
port of the Tweed Commissioners.

The last class of expenses should, I think, fall on the
officials who in Scotland are now and have always been
entrusted with the administration of the criminal law.
Looking to the severity of the punishment for offences
authorised by the Salmon Acts, consisting of fines reaching
up to £20, and of various terms of imprisonment up to six
months, it seems to me unconstitutional, inexpedient, and
anomalous, to give to Boards the power, and still more to
impose on them the duty, of acting as prosecutors. In
cases of an analogous nature, such as night poaching,
killing game in close time, fishing for oysters, lobsters, and
mussels in close time, the prosecutions are, and can only
be, at the instance of the Procurator Fiscal, — an official
who is subject to control, and even to dismissal, for any
impropriety or mismanagement. The expenses of such
prosecutions are audited by the county magistrates, and,
if found correct, paid out of the county funds. Why
should the same rule not be followed in regard to
offences under the Salmon Acts ?

What is the practice in England in regard to the prose-
cution of offenders under the Fishery Acts, I do not know.

In Ireland, offences against the fishery laws are taken
notice of by the county constabulary, and prosecutions are
conducted by them, as well as by Fishery Conservators.

I have now related, I fear at too great a length, what
we have been doing or trying to do in Scotland to
bring about some amendment in our salmon fishery laws.
During last year, a Fishery Act was passed for Scotland,
abolishing the old, and creating a new fishery board,
which has been so far a step in the right direction, that

172

it includes among the powers of the Board a right to
take cognizance of salmon, for the purpose of collecting
information of a statistical nature.

The Act, however, gives no power to the new Board to
make any change in the law bearing on the constitution
of the Fishery Boards. But in the reports which the Board
is to make annually to the Home Secretary, suggestions
may be offered for the regulation and improvement of the
fisheries — i.e., sea as well as salmon fisheries ; and it is
to be earnestly hoped, that this power will be promptly
exercised.

What Scotland wishes and requires for salmon protec-
tion, is to be put on the same footing as England, where,
— as Mr. Spencer Walpole says in his Report of 1879
on the English salmon fisheries, " Every river in England
capable of producing salmon, is now under the protection of
a Board of Conservators"

Many of my countrymen think, and I confess I share
the opinion, that we in Scotland are too far off to be
heard by the Executive Government Therefore I am glad
of the opportunity of opening my lips on this subject at
the present influential Conference, trusting that what has
now been spoken by me, however feebly, may reach the
ears of those who have power to provide a remedy.

In conclusion, may I express a hope that this Ex-
hibition will strengthen the appeal which we Scotchmen
have been making, for the better protection of our fresh-
water fish, by the evidence it affords of what other nations
are doing in that respect, especially Canada and the United
States. Let us not be ashamed to confess past indifference
on the subject, but take a lesson from others, to enable us
to fulfil a duty laid on us alike by the gifts of Providence,
and by a regard to the interests of the country.

173

DISCUSSION.

Professor BROWN GOODE (United States Commis-
sioner) said he had listened with very great interest to the
Paper which Mr. Milne Home had presented, and he rose
to say a few words, which were perhaps invited by the
closing sentences of the address, concerning what America
had been doing in the way of salmon culture. He was
led to do that by the fact that certain documents had been
distributed from Canada, which had rather a tendency to
depreciate what had been done in fish culture, not only in
Europe, but in the United States. It had been said that
fish culture was only an experiment, and had not been
attended with commercial success : he, however, wished to
say that it was in no sense an experiment, but that in the
United States and in Canada it had been a decided success,
and was so recognised by every one. It was not likely
that the American Congress, or the Canadian Government,
would for a period of ten or twelve years keep on making
annual appropriations for fish culture if they were not
satisfied that it was not only a success from a scientific
stand-point, but a success from a commercial point of
view. In the United States the general Government had
appropriated considerably more than a million dollars, and
the individual States a sum almost as great. Up to 1798
large numbers of salmon were caught in the Connecticut
river, but until 1870 the fish disappeared entirely from
the river, and until about 1875 no salmon whatever were
seen in the river. In 1875, however, the salmon began
to appear, and this was the direct result of the planting of
a large number of eggs in that river three or four years
previously. Then again in the case of Sacramento River

174

of California, where about two million young fish were
planted yearly, the catch had increased in five years from
five million pounds to fifteen million pounds, and in 1881
there were more fish than could be utilised by all the
canning establishments on the river. He would not
proceed with the multiplication of examples, but would
refer to the fact that the fish in the Detroit River, where
the United States and Canada had established hatcheries,
had been increased, and the supply immensely improved.
The shad was taken in twenty or thirty great rivers on the
Atlantic coast, and was for several months of the year
a most important food supply. About twenty years ago
it was found that the supply of shad was beginning to
decrease, and Fish Commissioners were organised with
the special object of increasing the supply. He had
seen shad which four or five years before were selling at
4$-. or 55-. a pair, and were therefore beyond the reach of
poor people, become so cheap and common that they
could be bought for a shilling a pair, which was entirely
the result of fish culture. Professor Baird had been the
leading spirit of fish culture in America. He was asked
recently if Professor Baird was not an enthusiast, and he
replied that he was not, but a man possessing the widest
general and philosophical knowledge of natural laws,
whose sound judgment and experience had enabled him
to take up the work of fish culture and carry it on on
an immense scale in the United States. People were
sometimes dissatisfied because fish were sometimes planted
in streams and nothing was heard of them afterwards ;
but it was the theory of their Commission and of their
Government that it was a proper thing to make experi-
ments, and if they happened to be unsuccessful there
was so much ground eliminated over which it was un-

17*

necessary to go again. He thought the experiments
which had been successful ought to be allowed to balance
those which had not. Experiments in fish culture in
Europe, especially in Holland and Germany, had yielded
exceedingly promising results. Mr. Whitcher had singled
out two rivers in Canada, out of many, for the purpose of
supporting his view that fish culture had not been a
success, and had stated that although a large quantity of
salmon was taken out of certain waters in 1871 there was
none in 1881. Mr. Whitcher, as Commissioner of Canada,
was charged with the preparation of a report to the
Canadian Government upon the state of the fisheries.
The report for 1882, which surely ought to have been
within Mr. Whitcher's access when he published the
circular, stated that the salmon fisheries nearly all over
Canada, had been much better in 1882 than within
the preceding ten years ; and other testimony showed that
there had been a magnificent improvement. He knew
that Mr. Wilmot, who had been criticised somewhat in
the circular, would feel some diffidence in speaking on the
point, but he thought he owed it to him to point out that
the official documents proved that fish culture had not been
in any sense a failure, but a decided success.

Mr. WlLMOT (Canadian Commissioner) said it was with
considerable diffidence that he rose to make any remarks
upon that important question. He had been much
delighted by the very instructive paper on salmon fisheries,
a subject which of course required a great deal of time to
enter into fully. Mr. Milne Home, on the opening of the
Exhibition, visited the Canadian Court, and he felt sure,
from the way in which he expressed his views, that he was
extremely delighted with the modus operandi of fish cul-
ture in Canada. A few days ago Mr. Home called upon

him, and stated that he was somewhat astonished to see
from a circular he had received from one of the officials
in Canada that fish culture had been seriously found fault
with, at the same time stating that as he was about to
read a paper on salmon fisheries, it would be his duty to
refer to the subject, as it was of great importance, and
affected very seriously the interest of the salmon fisheries
throughout the world. He was pleased that Mr. Home
had not done so, as it gave him the opportunity of going
into the matter very fully ; but as it appeared that many
other persons had received circulars of the same kind,
he felt, on behalf of that great and important portion
of the British Empire, Canada, whose government had
thought proper to expend large sums of money in ad-
vancing the interests of salmon culture, he ought to say
a few words on the point. Salmon culture was initiated in
Canada by himself as a private individual, and he was
pleased to say that from the day it was initiated it had
gone on progressing and prospering. The Government of
Canada at first thought very little of it, but looked upon
it as one of those things which required further develop-
ment before they could grant aid. In 1868 there was a
small grant of £40, but the annual grants now amounted
to some $30,000 a year, which showed what importance
the Government now attached to salmon culture. The
salmon fisheries of the world required the utmost pro-
tection, and care must be taken to prevent fish being
destroyed during the breeding seasons. Salmon culture
ought to be carried out in every country where those fish
were indigenous to the waters. In Canada fish culture
had been carried on for a length of time, and its fruits were
beyond cavil. There were, however, some people who
found fault with everything, no matter what it might be,

177

and he regretted very much that Mr. Whitcher, a colleague
of his in the Canadian Fisheries, should have thought
proper to issue circulars amongst the Commissioners, stating
that fish culture had not been satisfactory. Mr. Whitcher's
own documents, evidently not written nor read by himself,
however, proved the very reverse of that statement, and
the blue-books of Canada contained returns which showed
most conclusively the beneficial results arising from the
protection of rivers and the raising of salmon by artificial
means. After quoting a number of returns from Inspectors
of Fisheries and other officers from the annual reports of
1882, proving that there had been a very remarkable
improvement in the salmon fisheries of Canada, he said
it would be quite unnecessary to read the individual reports
of fishery officers in all parts of Canada, which, with only
a few exceptions, indicated that the salmon were increasing
wonderfully during 1882. He might also mention that he
had received letters stating that the catch of salmon by
netters and anglers in 1883 had been in excess of any
previous period, especially in those rivers where salmon
hatcheries were in operation. It was the duty of all
civilised governments and intelligent people to adopt such
means as would bring about a better supply of food, and
he had no hesitation whatever in saying that the means
adopted in Canada had in most instances been very bene-
ficial. Perhaps on some future occasion the matter might
come on again ; if so he could give volumes of even
stronger evidence in proof of the success attending fish
culture.

It was painful indeed to be obliged at this Conference
to refer to the circular issued by this well-known official
crank in Canada, who, to gratify personal spleen, had
wantonly attacked an industry of world-wide beneficial

VOL. vi.— c. N

I78

reputation ; more especially as the Canadian Minister at
the head of the Fisheries Department, and himself, were
here on behalf of that country advocating the importance
of fish-cultural operations in the Dominion, the practical
display of which, at this great International Fisheries
Exhibition, had gained for itself great popular favour, and
also materially aided in the general exhibit, and placed
Canada amongst the foremost of the nations for efficiency
and completeness in the science of artificially propagating
fish. From the gratifying way in which Professor Goode's
remarks and his own had been received on this subject,
it was clearly unnecessary to refer further to this "under
the belt " stab in the circular, feeling assured that similar
conduct is always frowned down by the manly English
public.

Mr. C. E. FRYER (Home Office) said if the Exhibition
fulfilled no other object than that of making people think,
it would have achieved a great work. They had just
received a great deal of information about the manner in
which fish culture was carried on in the United States and
in Canada, and as to the beneficial results derived from
the artificial culture of salmon, and he would just say a few
words to show the benefits which had resulted from the
protection of salmon in this country even without artificial
hatching. In 1863 the value of the salmon rivers in
England and Wales was about £18,000; at the present
time the value of the same rivers was somewhere about
£150,000. That increase, large as it was, by no means
represented the possibilities of English rivers, if they were
purified and greater facilities given for the access of salmon
into the upper waters to spawn. This had already been
done to a certain extent ; and, in addition, restrictions had
been placed on the power of man to catch the salmon in

179

the mouths of the rivers, and to destroy them when they
were on the spawning beds : and to those two things alone
was due the large increase which had taken place. He
did not for a moment wish to depreciate the value of the
efforts made by fish culturists in Canada and the United
States, but he thought before they went very largely
into salmon hatching in England they must do a great deal
more to make the rivers fitter to receive the fish to be
put into them, by removing pollutions. Means should also
be adopted to enable the salmon to pass at their own free
will up and beyond the dams which cut them off from the
spawning beds. Mr. Milne Home had referred to the ques-
tion of pollutions, and he would take that opportunity of
congratulating him upon the result of an action which had
been tried at the Court of Session, the result of which
would be that one of the tributaries of the Tweed would
be freed from its pollutions. The artificial culture of fish
had been of enormous advantage in stocking waters with
fish, which those waters had never contained before ; but
he thought that by purifying the rivers, by placing ladders
which would enable the fish to surmount the weirs, by
protecting the fry of the fish in the upper waters, and in
the lower waters by preventing the fishermen entirely
blocking the mouths of the rivers by enormous nets,
they would be able to greatly improve the salmon
fisheries ; and then artificial culture might come in. If
they took the pollutions out of the Thames, and put
ladders up the weirs, they might bring back the day when
twenty or thirty salmon used to be caught at a haul, and
when salmon used to sport themselves opposite the home
of the Legislature at St. Stephen's. He hoped the Legis-
lature would take heart of grace, and insist upon the
pollutions being removed from the Thames and other

N 2

i8o

rivers, and then they might see, not only salmon, but fish
of other kinds greatly increased.

Mr. JAS. H. GROSSMAN, in proposing a vote of thanks
to Mr. Milne Home for his very valuable Paper, said that
one of the beneficial results of the Conferences was that
gentlemen of experience from all parts of the world were
brought together to discuss these interesting questions.
He had always been of opinion that if the regulations
governing the Tweed fisheries could be applied to the other
rivers of Scotland they would not have to complain of the
falling off in the Scotch salmon fisheries. As a member
of the Executive, he might plead as some excuse to Mr.
Milne Home for the audience not being larger, that there
had just been another important lecture on "Fish as Food,"
by Sir Henry Thompson ; but the able paper which had
been brought before them would be printed and distributed,
and would therefore not be lost sight of, but be thoroughly
well considered.

Mr. BLOOMFIELD seconded the vote of thanks, and said
that he, as an Irishman, had felt some pleasure in finding
that Scotchmen were not always able to do things as
well as an Irishman. As an old magistrate of thirty
years' standing he knew something of the matter, and he
could say that they were in a much better position in
Ireland than they appeared to be in Scotland, from what
Mr. Milne Home had stated. The representatives of
Canada and the United States had, he thought, given
them some hints which were worthy of consideration. They
had shown what the younger Governments were doing to
further the interests of the people by increasing the supply
of fish ; and he was afraid the old country was very much
behind them. Fish was an important article of food for the

people, and as such should be protected and looked to by
the Government. He would ask the Home Office to recon-
sider the matter, and not only because they had not taken
the pollutions out of different rivers, but because they have
failed in their duty by neglecting to propagate the fish in
the rivers that were to receive them. He hoped that
what had been said would not pass out of their minds,
but would remain there until they had induced the
Government to do their duty in the matter.

Mr. MILNE HOME, in reply, said that if there had been
nothing more than the opportunity which had been given
to his friends from the United States and from Canada to
give the explanations to which the meeting had been
listening, the Conference had done good. He had been
somewhat astonished when he read the circular .referred
to, because it was in contradiction to what he had read
of the complete success of artificial fish culture, and he
could not believe it possible that such statements were
correct, but he felt it was not for him to bring the matter
forward in a paper relating only to the fisheries of this
country. They had had the pleasure of hearing from Mr.
Wilmot and Professor Brown Goode that the statements
were not to be credited, and he cordially agreed with
the views which had been expressed as to the value of
artificial hatching. They had in their own country a
hatchery belonging to his friend Mr. James Maitland,
which he had visited twice, and knew to be a success.
There was one in Dumfriesshire, and there were two or
three others, on a smaller scale. . He hoped they would
soon have more of those private establishments, but he
also could not help thinking and saying that there ought
to be some encouragement given to them by Government.
If they were to appoint an inspector to visit those esta-

C$2

blishments and report upon them, with a view to make
known what they were doing, it would be a good thing.
He had for some years past endeavoured to possess
himself of the Reports of the Canadian and United States
Commissioners, and had obtained from them very valuable
information ; and he thought we in this country ought to
learn a lesson from Canada and the United States.

Mr. MILNE HOME then proposed a vote of thanks to the
Chairman, which was carried unanimously.

The CHAIRMAN, in response, thought the pith of what
had been said was, that they should all use their best
endeavours to induce Government to assist in the pro-
pagation of fish and in the increase of the number of
salmon in this country. Out of evil often came some little
good, a.nd he thought the circulation of the documents
which had been referred to, instead of doing harm, had
brought out more clearly the great success which had
attended the artificial propagation of fish.

i83

APPENDIX A (seepage 152).

SIR ROBERT CHRISTISON'S conclusions were founded on the
examination of a salmon entering the River Tay from the sea
weighing 20 Ibs., and of a kelt weighing 27 Ibs., taken in a
tributary of that river from a pool, where spawned fish were
known to congregate, on their way back to the sea.

Sir Robert says that " the clean salmon presented abundance
of fat under the skin, and in masses between the muscles." The
kelt, "a male fish, was lank in the belly, and soft in the flesh."
" I subjected it to analysis in the same way as the clean fish.
I cut one piece of muscle from the dorsal region a little in
front of the dorsal fin, and another from the ventral region
directly opposite ; so that the one should represent the thick and
the other the thin of a slice of salmon."

" Four hundred grains of each were cut into fine chips," and
then subjected to a chemical treatment, which he describes.
The following elements were obtained : —

Dorsal.

Abdominal.

Mean.

IOil

16-66

20*40

I8-C7

Salmon

Fibrine, albumen, &c. . . .
Saline matters and water . .

20-57
62-77

I8-82
60-78

19-70
61-77

lOO'OO

lOO'OO

100 00

mil

I* 20

I"*O

I"2«»

Kelt .

< Fibrine, albumen, &c. . . .
(Saline matters and water .

16-02

8x -88

17-22
81-48

I7-07

81-68

lOO'OO

lOO'OO

100-00

On these results Sir Robert remarks, that "the nitrogenous
solids of the clean salmon, and its fat or oil, constituted together
in round numbers 38 per cent, of its flesh; — that there is
decidedly more fat in the thin or dorsal region ; — that there is
very little difference in constitution between the dorsal and

i84

abdominal regions of a kelt ; — that the kelt is a rauch more watery
fish than a clean salmon; and that this is slightly owing to
a deficiency in nitrogenous ingredients, but much more to an
enormous deficiency of oil or fat, which is reduced to almost
a sixteenth of the amount in a clean run fish." (Proceedings of
Royal Society of Edinburgh for Session 1871-72, page 695.)

I find that the opinion expressed by me regarding the food of
salmon when in rivers, was entertained by the late Frank
Buckland. In his igth Report, p. 18, he says that in the
salmon, " there are no less than fifty pyloric appendages. Upon
these I found firmly adherent a dense mass of white fat. In my
report for 1868, 1 promulgated the idea that one of the principal
uses of the pyloric appendages was not only to secrete a fluid
which assists in digestion, but also to act as a depository of fat.
This fat is derived from the food which the salmon eats when in
salt water. It is stored up in a layer underneath the skin, as
well as upon the pyloric appendages. During the stay of the fish
in fresh water, this fat is gradually absorbed, and its principal use
is to go towards the formation of the milt and ova. In a fish
running up from the sea, therefore, we find that the milt and ova
are very small, while the fat on the pylorus is often so abundant
as to almost obscure them from view." Again, at page 20 of the
same report, Buckland says, " I do not think salmon eat much in
fresh water. They subsist principally, as I have shown at page
1 8, on a store-house of fat which is laid up in their pyloric
appendages. Nevertheless they take worms. In the Trent and
in the Rhine the worm is a favourite bait, especially at flood-time.
The food of the salmon, therefore, consists of herrings, sprats,
smelts, sand-eels, fry of fish, and lugworms."

APPENDIX B (seepage 153).

WITH reference to the cases of Tweed salmon caught in 1852
near Yarmouth, it may be noticed that the late Frank Buckland,
in his Fishery Report for 1876, mentions the surprise with which
he had learnt, " that every year large numbers of bull trout are

i85

caught in the neighbourhood of Yarmouth," there being no rivers
in that part of England frequented by Salmonidce. He says, " the
fishermen begin to take these trout in the middle of April, and
go on catching them to the latter part of July. The fishermen
catch them near the shore from 30 to 130 yards from the beach.
These trout exist in more or less abundance along the whole
coast of Norfolk. They are migrating southwards. Their object,
without doubt, is food, especially sand-eels and the fry of sea-fish,
which are in abundance on the sands of the coast of Norfolk.
These bull-trout must come from rivers flowing into the German
Ocean to the north of Yarmouth." He then enumerates these
rivers, including the Tweed, and adds that he had " come to the
conclusion that the bull-trout caught on the Norfolk coast, are
bred in one or other of these rivers." (Report, p. 16.)

That salmon migrate enormous distances is established by
a fact communicated to the Tweed Commissioners by Dr. Giinther
of the British Museum, that he knew " of an instance of a French
sea-trout (now in the British Museum) being caught in the Bristol
Channel." (' Salmonoids of the Tweed,' Blackwood, Edinburgh,
1867, p. 100.)

In reference to two questions in my lecture, viz., the migration
of salmon, and the deterioration of salmon in condition, whilst
remaining long in fresh water, I here add some tables and notes
taken from the Tweed Salmon Reports published by Blackwood,
and also from some more recent reports by the River Super-
intendent, not published, but communicated to the Tweed Com-
missioners from time to time.

These extracts also give definite information regarding the
position in the scale of fish-life, of the " orange-fins? "_parr" and
" black-tails."

Extracts from Reports made to the River Tweed Commissioners
by their Experimental Committee.

i. Young fish, considered to be orange-fins, about 100 in
number, were put into a pond at Carham, belonging to the late
Richard Hodgson Huntley, Esq., in May, 1874, and were
detained in it for five years, fed with bullock's liver.

These fish were from time to time examined by the Committee,

1 86

and in their presence were weighed and measured by Mr. List,
Superintendent of Water Bailiffs.

In February, 1877, a number of small fry made their appear-
ance in the pond, which were assumed to have been hatched
there, from the ova of the detained fish.

Mr. J. B. Stirling, of the Edinburgh University, the assistant of
Mr. Turner, Professor of Anatomy, and who had studied fresh-
water fish scientifically, having, on the invitation of the Com-
mittee, visited Carham and examined the fish, drew out the
following Report : —

" Assuming that the fish, or some of them, put into the pond in
May, 1874, were orange-fins, they became black-tails in May,
1875; they became bull-trout in November, 1876, and some of
them would spawn about this time.

" The progeny would be hatched about February, 1877, and
would become parr in May, 1877, and orange-fins in April, 1878."

2. The result of the measurements of 80 fish in Carham
Pond, between 4th July and i3th December, 1876, showed an
average increase in length of three-quarters of an inch. The
measurements of 78 fish between i$th December, 1876, and
1 7th May, 1877, showed an average increase in length of only
one-tenth of an inch.

3. Into a deserted stone quarry, near Coldstream, filled with
rain-water, two smolts, about 3 inches long, were put by boys, out
of mere amusement. One of these grew into a salmon, which,
when five years old, weighing i£ Ibs., was caught and sent to
Mr. Stoddart, of Kelso, who had it boiled for dinner. He
reported that it was not unpalatable. The other smolt grew
into a bull-trout, and lived for seven years. It died during a
very severe winter, when, on account of the water being frozen,
it could not be fed.

4. The Duke of Buccleuch's gamekeeper at Bowhill was for
some years in the practice of putting a few smolts into a fresh-
water pond, and feeding them regularly with bullock's liver. He
reported that the smolts which grew into salmon throve for about
three years, and then died, but that bull-trout smolts kept in
good condition for a longer period.

5. Fish marked by wires in the River Tweed, and elsewhere.

1 87

Kind of Fish.

Marked.

Weight.

Length.

Recaptured.

Kind of Fish.

Weight.

Length.

inches.

Ibs. oz.

inches

Two Salmon

April or

..

17 Aug. 1852

Grilses

3* o

smolts

May 1851

> j

4 o

Orange-fin or

April or

..

..

ii May 1854

Clean

..

Trout-smolt

May 1851

Bull-trout

5 G

Smolt . .

Spring, 1854

I OZ.

,,

July i855Grilse

3^ °

ft

Bull - trout

15 May 1857

..

..

25 May 1858 Bull-trout

3 o

..

smolt

Salmon smolt

15 May 1857

M

ft

9 Aug. 1857

Grilse .

3* o

M

Grilse, near

31 Mar. 1858

2 Ibs.

..

2 Aug. 1858

Salmon .

8 o

M

river mouth

at Carham

Black-tail .

Oct. 1859

8 to

..

15 Mar. 1861

Whitling .

i* to

.,

12 OZ.

2 Ibs.

Whitling .
Salmon .

29 Sept. 1870
29 Sept. 1870

i fibs.

2ll „

17

37

26 July 1872
12 Nov. 1871

Whitling.
Salmon .

2* 0

25 o

'?

Bull-trout .

29 Sept. 1870

18

15 Aug. 1871

Bull-trout

5* o

?

Black-tail .

12 Oct 1870

12 OZS.

12

I June 1871

Whitling.

o 17

13

Grilse . .

10 Nov. 1870

ATylljS.

23

22 Feb. 1871

Grilse .

4 o

Black-tail .

12 Oct. 1871

21 OZS.

19 Aug. 1872

Whitling.

2\ 0

18

Orange-fin .

17 Apr. 1873

If „

6§

I June 1874

})

i 8

17*

Black-tail .

25 Sept. 1873

9 »

12*

12 June 1874

„

i 3

15*

Grilse . .
„ kelt .

25 Oct. 1873
ii Mar. 1875

5 »

24

i Apr. 1874
16 Mar. 1875

Grilserkelt

39*

4* o

24

Black-tail .

10 Nov. 1875

12 „

13

17 Aug. 1876

„

o 16

16*

» »

10 Nov. 1875

12

31 Mar. 1876

Black-tail

8£ o

13

>» »

10 Nov. 1875

II OZS.

13

2 Aug. 1877

Bull-trout

3 12

21*

M » •

1 1 Oct. 1877

io£ „

II

26 Mar. 1878

» »»

o 5

10}

" >J *

7 Nov. „

III*

13

20 Apr. 1878

Black-tail

O IO

13*

'3 >»

13

12 May 1879

Bull-trout

4* o

22

»> >» *

» ,,

II ,,

12

iSAug. „

,, ,,

2f 0

I9l

»

14* »

14

27 Aug. „

„ „

o 28

i6|

Kind of
Fish.

Marked.

jj

t4

'$

4

!

Recaptured.

Where.

Kind of
Fish.

Weight.

M

!

Ibs. oz.

in.-

!bs. oz.

in.

Bull-trout

29 Mar. 1852

3 o

..

2 April 1852

Yarmouth .

Bull-trout

3* o

kelt

» »>

29 Mar. 1852

3 o

..

2 April 1852

Shields . .

» »

4* o

tt

» »

29 Mar. 1852

10 0

..

Aug. 1852

Eyemouth .

Label and part of

salmon found in

stomach of cod.

Three

Autumn 1858

..

.,

July 1861

Aberdeen ;one

Three

2 Ibs. to

Black-

in Don, and

Whitlings

3 Ibs.

tails.

two in sea.

Black-tail

Oct. 1859

8oz.to

..

Aug. 1861

North Esk .

Whitling .

i£lb.

,.

12 OZ.

to 2 Ibs.

Black-tail

20 Sep. 1870

I 0

13

25 Sep. 1871

North Esk .

Bull-trout

2 I

18

»» j>

13 Oct. 1870

0 12

12

5 June ,,

Lamberton .

Bull-trout

2 10

20

Bull-trout

13 Oct. 1870

3£ o

20

30 Nov. ,,

4 I"?

24

Black-tail
»> »

12 Oct. 1871
19 Sep. 1872

I 0

o 18

12
15

13 Aug. 1872
iSJuly, 1873

Stirling .
River Dee .

" )>
»» »»

T^ O

i 7
o 36

T"

15
18

» »>

10 Oct. 1872

0 12

12

i Nov. 1872

Whitadder .

Black-tail

0 12

12

S. smolt .
Black-tail
»> »

17 Apr. 1873
10 Nov. 1875
18 Oct. 1876

0 I|

o 13

o 13*

S*

13
13

14 May 1873
4 July, 1876
2 Aug. 1877

River Mouth.
Stirling . .
Firth of Forth

Smolt .
Bull-trout
Bull-trout

o i|
o 28

I 12.}

5*
i7
16

» » »
• • "

ii Oct. 1877)0 8
7 Nov. I877JO 9

ii i 3 July, 1878
iii;23July, „

» >»

» »>

Sea-trout

»» • •

I O

2 4

16

i88

APPENDIX C (see page 167).

IN the November number of the Fortnightly Review (for 1881)
there is an instructive article on the Salmon Fisheries of Great
Britain by Mr. Fred. Eden. The views he expresses will have a
useful effect in awakening public interest to a subject of much
national importance. Mr. Eden, having acted for several years
in all parts of the United Kingdom as Government Inspector and
Commissioner, in regard to Salmon Fisheries, has had great
opportunity of knowing the condition of those fisheries, and ot
judging what is necessary for their prosperity. *

Mr. Eden is evidently apprehensive that, unless some strong
measures are taken, the stock of salmon will soon disappear from
our rivers. To prevent this, he says it is absolutely necessary to
lessen the catch of salmon. With that view he recommends the
entire stoppage of net fishing in rivers, except where the tide
reaches; and even in tidal waters, he is for prohibiting night
fishing. Another suggestion he makes, is the formation of a
central office, so that, instead of "separate establishments and
different officials for each of the three kingdoms," there should
be more uniformity of management, by what he calls a " consoli-
dation of the Fishery Offices," viz. by the creation, as I suppose,
of an office in London.

Mr. Eden regrets that he is unable to supply statistics, or any
official evidence, to justify his convictions as to the unprosperous
condition of our fisheries; no small proof, by the way, of the
lamentable absence of information regarding an important national
industry, which every well-constituted Government ought to
possess.

Some amount of statistical information, however, may be ob-
tained from the official record kept at Billingsgate Market, of the
number of boxes of salmon which arrive there from different parts
of the United Kingdom. True, London is not the only large town
to which British salmon are sent for sale; but it receives an

i89

immensely larger supply than any other town ; so that if its
market records distinguish the different divisions of the United
Kingdom from which the supplies come, any considerable increase
or decrease of these, through a series of years, will indicate a
change in the productiveness of our rivers.

The number of boxes from Scotland for the years 1877, 1878,
1879, and 1880, were respectively 28,189, 26,465, 13,929, and
17,408. The average of these four years is 21,497. But in looking
back to the previous six years' returns, it is found that the average
of these six years was 26,038 boxes. In one of these six years,
the number of boxes exceeded 31,000.

This diminution in these ten years is the more remarkable,
because during that time the numbers of nets and of improvements
in the modes of fishing have been constantly increasing.

It is a further indication of the unprosperous condition of the
Scotch Salmon Fisheries, that, about a year ago, an association
for the improvement of these fisheries was formed, with the Duke
of Sutherland at its head, and with a council of influential pro-
prietors, all more or less interested in the preservation of the
Scotch Salmon Fisheries. This association, with a membership
already of 159 persons, and supported by 69 local angling clubs,
could scarcely have obtained such immediate and influential
support, had there not been a strong and general conviction on the
part of the Scotch public, that our salmon fisheries are in a very
unprosperous state.

One of the first acts of this association was to send out a cir-
cular to the chief constables of counties, asking, " Whether there
are any rivers in your county, which were formerly frequented by
salmon, but in which they are not now to be found ; and if there be
such, what are the causes which, in your opinion, now prevent
salmon entering them ?"

The answers to this circular showed, "that in seven counties
salmon appear to have forsaken rivers formerly frequented by them"
The names of these seven counties are enumerated in the lately
printed and published report of the association.

These answers further state, as probable causes of this desertion
of rivers by salmon, pollutions, obstructions, and poaching.

190

Another query put to the chief constables was to ascertain if
"proper arrangements exist for the proper observance of the pro-
visions of the Salmon Fishery Acts of 1862 and i&6S,f0r the pro-
tection of salmon in the salmon rivers of your county ?"

From the answers to this query, it appeared that in eight counties
(the names of which are given), each containing several fishery
districts, no Fishery Boards exist. In one of these counties, there
are no less than thirty-two salmon rivers ; and in another county
(but not one of these eight), viz. Argyll, where there are also
thirty-two salmon rivers, there is only one Fishery Board, viz. in
the Island of Mull. It appears that, in terms of the Salmon Act
of 1862, the whole of Scotland was perambulated by Government
Commissioners, with the view of officially determining the districts
in which Fishery Boards were to be formed. The districts fixed
on by these Commissioners numbered 105, each of course con-
taining one or more salmon rivers. The Sheriffs of Counties, by
appointment of Government, summoned the fishery proprietors in
these districts to meet, with the view of forming Boards ; but in
most districts the call was not responded to ; and at present
there are no more than about twenty Fishery Boards altogether,
independently of the Tweed Commissioners.

It is true that the absence of Fishery Boards in some districts is
there partially compensated for by such protection as can be
afforded by individual proprietors, through whose property, or
part of it, salmon rivers run. This is the case in Sutherland shire,
and in some parts of Inverness-shire, Ross-shire, Perthshire, Elgin,
Argyllshire, and Caithness. Their protection of salmon is of
course less efficacious than that of Statutory Boards. But sup-
posing their protection were as good, the fact remains, that there
are at least two-thirds of the Scotch salmon rivers without any
protection against pollutions, obstructions, and poaching.

Therefore, the first point of inquiry surely should be, why has
the scheme of protection introduced by the Government Salmon
Acts of 1862 and 1868 so completely failed ; and why should no
less than twelve years have been allowed to elapse, without any
remedy being applied, or even proposed ?

It appears that, in or shortly before the year 1870, this fact of

failure had become known to Government ; for special Commis-
sioners were in that year appointed to inquire into the matter, and
report on " the effect of recent legislation on the Salmon Fisheries
in Scotland." Lord Aberdare, who was then Home Secretary,
directed the attention of the Commissioners to various points, and
among them the following : —

"As to local fishery management ; how far are District Boards
in operation, and whether any alteration in their constitution
is desirable!"

The two Commissioners appointed to make this inquiry were
the late Dr. Frank Buckland, and Mr. Archibald Young, the present
Fishery Inspector for Scotland.

They state in their official Report, that, to enable them to obtain
the requisite information, they sent to District Boards and to pro-
prietors, as well as to tacksmen of salmon fisheries, circulars con-
taining thirty-six queries, to most of which answers were received.

The Commissioners say that they afterwards personally inspected
the principal salmon rivers in Scotland, forty-six in number, and
had personal meetings with twenty-two District Boards, and with
a number of landed proprietors interested in the fisheries,

On the point above referred to, the Report bears, that whilst
the number of Fishery Districts designated by the Commissioners
under the Acts of 1862 and 1868 was 105, "at this moment there
are not above 30 District Boards constituted and working ! "

The Commissioners in their Report suggest, as a cause for this
failure of the scheme of Fishery Boards, " the smallness of many
of the districts, and the poverty of the fishings ;" explaining this by
adding, that " such comparatively trifling streams as the Alness,
Armadale, Aylort (and ten others named), and many others, have
each been formed into a separate district"

The Commissioners do not point out how " the smallness " of a
district, and the " poverty of the fishings " in that district, prevented
the formation of a Board. But it is presumed, what they mean
is, that when the rent or value of the fishings in any particular
river is so small, that no reasonable rate of assessment would be
sufficient to pay the expense of a Board (with a clerk to record
proceedings and levy assessments, as also to pay watchers and

192

conduct prosecutions), the formation of a Board was felt to be
impracticable.

With the view of meeting this difficulty, the Commissioners
suggested, that " if the system of District Boards is to be carried
out and extended, we are of opinion that many of the smaller
adjacent districts might be advantageously combined."

It will be observed that the Commissioners, in offering this
suggestion as a remedy, speak of it in no terms of confidence.
Undoubtedly some expense would be saved by having one clerk
for a district embracing three or four Boards. But, on the other
hand, the greater distances which members of such a Board
would have to travel, might prevent attendance at meetings ; and
the rivers in the enlarged or combined district might still yield so
small a rental, that any reasonable assessment on that rental
would not provide watchers for all the rivers.

The Commissioners, apparently from want of faith in the
efficacy of Fishery Boards, even when combined, referred to
another plan, by stating that " it has likewise been proposed, that
inspectors should be appointed, as in England, who should exercise
the powers of District Boards in those districts where Boards do
not exist, and who should have a seat at meetings of District
Boards, but no vote."

And this suggestion the Commissioners, at the conclusion of
their Report, actually adopt as a recommendation to Government,
in the following terms, viz. "that Government Inspectors should
be appointed, to enforce the provisions of the Salmon Fishery Acts
in districts where Boards have not been constituted"

But this recommendation seems one of doubtful practicability.
In the first place, though it is said that in England, Fishery
Inspectors exercise the powers of District Boards, the evidence of
this statement is not referred to. In the second place, when it is
said that the Government Inspectors are to " exercise the powers
of Boards," and " enforce the provisions of the Salmon Acts,"
how can these, powers be exercised by an official residing in
Edinburgh ? Is he, in the absence of any Fishery Board in a
district, to appoint watchers for the rivers there? — or order
prosecutions ? — or levy assessments ?

193

The Commissioners having consulted such District Boards as
were in existence when they drew up their Report, it may be
useful to see what answers these Boards gave, bearing on local
management.

In reference to the query, "Is the constitution of District
Boards satisfactory, as regulated by 25 and 26 Viet., cap. 37
(1862), and 31 and 32 Viet., cap. 128 (1868) ? If not, state
what improvements you would suggest, and why ? "

From the Forth District an answer came containing the
following statement : — " It should be made obligatory on pro-
prietors of salmon fishings to appoint and maintain efficient
District Boards, unless it be intended to depute their powers to
Government Inspectors. At present there are no District Boards
in the great majority of the salmon fishery districts. But even if
there were, for all the rivers, I think it absolutely necessary that
there should be qualified inspectors, with power to examine and
inquire into all fisheries, and cause the enactments relating to
them to be carried out." " The absence of authoritative inspec-
tion is a direct encouragement to neglect of the regulations."

From the Toy District an answer came containing the following
statements : — " I am opposed to the manner in which District
Boards are constituted. No Board with four to three can be a
fair tribunal. Boards should be constituted of an equal number
of upper and lower heritors, their chairman having a deliberative
but not a casting vote. Instead of Boards, I would rather give
the management of the fisheries to two paid Commissioners,
provided they had ample powers."

" District Boards should not have direct authority, but should
report to a Central Board in Edinburgh. Some means should be
devised for preventing individual interests being prejudicial to the
general good of the fisheries in the district."

"Six members are sometimes more than can be found in the
district of a small river. Again, 'six members are fewer than
will admit of all the interests of a larger district being fully
represented."

From the South Esk District an answer came containing the
following statements : — " I consider District Boards of little use,

VOL. VI. — C. O

194

except to give information to a Government Commissioner who
knows his work, and has power to enforce the law."

Another proprietor wrote : " I do not approve of Boards.
There ought to be Government Inspectors, independent of the
proprietors. The inspectors should make an examination of the
river at least twice a year — the proprietors and tenants, using the
weirs and exercising the right of fishing, being subject to his
orders, with a right of appeal to the Sheriff."

Another proprietor wrote as follows : — " The Board, of which I
am a member, is utterly useless ; the proof of which is, that there
is here a good salmon river without .salmon, at least above
Brechin. The members cannot be got together. We don't
understand all matters connected with salmon fishing, and we
don't like to interfere with our neighbours. None of the upper
proprietors think of attending the Board meetings, because there
is no salmon fishing above Brechin ; so the lower proprietors are
allowed to do as they like."

From the Ness District the following remarks came : — ' ' The
constitution of the Boards is not satisfactory. The districts also
are badly arranged. The Boards are formed on the principle of
having all matters relating to the fisheries conducted by fishery
proprietors, and giving a completely preponderating interest to
the upper as against the lower proprietors, or the reverse, without
any representation of the public interest. The Boards should be
composed in whole, or at least to the extent of two or three
members, for each district, of Government Commissioners ; and
the existing arrangements for giving a dominating influence to
one class should be abolished. The district should also be
enlarged. I think the Ness, Beauly, Conon, and Nairn, and
their tributaries, should form one district, and a specified number
of members should be entitled to call meetings, or require the
clerk to do so."

Another proprietor in the Ness District wrote as follows : —
" All fishery proprietors should have a voice at the Board, or else
be exempted from taxation.

" I suggest also that a district embracing several rivers, such as
the Ness, might advantageously be placed under the management

195

of some intelligent person, who should have power to make
alterations in the bed of the river, so as to increase its productive
power as a spawning bed, or to improve its capabilities for angling
by stoning it, &c. At present, proprietors are chary of doing
anything at their own expense, because other people may benefit
by it as much as they, without incurring expense."

Another proprietor in the Ness District wrote : — " The Board
does not work satisfactorily, the whole power being vested in the
upper proprietors, since they succeeded in depriving me of the
chairmanship, by reducing my rent from the highest in the district
to its present low rate. Under present circumstances, upper and
lower proprietors can scarcely agree."

From Nairn Fishery District the following remarks came : —
" A Board has been constituted, but is not in a working state."
" The Nairn will never be a fishing river. It is valuable only for
breeding."

From Lochy Fishery District the following remarks came : —
" Undue weight and importance is given to the proprietor who
has the largest rental, as regards his right to sit as chairman, with
a deliberative as well as a casting vote. The consequence is,
that he assumes and acts as an autocrat."

From Creran District the following came : — " There is no
Board here. The formation of a Board should be compulsory ;
or proprietors who assess themselves for the protection of the
fishings should be entitled to exercise all powers for the protec-
tion of the fish, without the interference of those proprietors who
consider their fishings valueless. At present, those who wish to
protect the salmon are prevented by others, who have little
interest hi the fish."

From Awe District the following answer came : — " This Board
may illustrate the working of Boards as constituted under the
Acts. There are two upper and two lower proprietors on the
Board, the chairman being a lower proprietor, and having a
casting vote. One of the upper proprietors has not been repre-
sented at the Board, but should be. The lower proprietors could
have carried any measure against the upper, who have therefore
practically no power to compel the Board to carry the Act into

O 2

196

execution. Hitherto the upper proprietors protected the fishings,
while the lower proprietors have got the fish. It is in the
interest of the upper proprietors that additional measures are
required."

From Shiel District the following answer came : — " There
is no Board; — but some authority should exist. Probably,
if districts were larger, the formation of a Board would be
easier; but I believe inspectors would be better than a Board,
every member of which is more or less influenced by his own
interests, while inspectors would be influenced only by the public
good."

From Findhorn District the following answer came : — " Our
Board seldom meets, and the control is much in the hands of
the chairman, who occupies that position as having the largest
(netting) interest. Of course the tendency is to work against the
interests of upper proprietors, if they are conflicting with those
of the lower proprietors. The Board must be one-sided, the
chairman having the casting vote. But they are too much one-
sided, and unnecessarily so."

From Clyde and Leven District the following answer came : —
" A Board was constituted, but it was never set working. Pro-
ceedings were taken in Court by Sir James Colquhoun, and he
got the Board quashed."

From JDoon District the statement came that the Board, " being
found to be unworkable, was allowed to lapse."

From Conon District the answer was, that " a Board was con-
stituted, but it became extinct."

The following suggestion came from the Lochy District Board,
viz. — " There should be a staff of marine watchers, provided with
a steam launch, to put down the depredations upon salmon com-
mitted by trawlers within the southern limits of the district of the
River Add, and the point of Ardnamurchan.

" This provision is necessary, owing to the prevalence of the
capture of salmon in the Sounds of Jura and Scarba, Loch
Linnhe, the Sound of Mull, and the numerous arms of the sea
opening therefrom. These watchers should be under the control
of a general Board."

197

On a review of the information and suggestions contained in
the foregoing memoranda, it will be seen —

i st. That the plan of entrusting to Fishery Boards the carrying
out of the provisions of the Scotch Salmon Acts of 1862 and 1868
has almost entirely failed.-

Some of the principal rivers in Scotland, viz. the Tweed,
Forth, Tay, North Esk, South Esk, Dee, Don, Deveron, Ythan,
Findhorn, Spey, Ness, and Lochy, are under the management of
Fishery Boards or individual proprietors ; but apparently all the
rest of the Scotch salmon rivers are under no protection whatever.

2nd. That in the Fishery Boards which exist, there is evidence
of want of harmonious action, on account of the diversity of
interests of the members ; one half of the members consisting of
upper proprietors, who seldom see salmon, except in close-time,
when they cannot legally be caught; and the other half con-
sisting of lower proprietors, who possess all the fishings of any
value.

3rd. That almost all the Fishery Boards, apparently conscious
of their inability duly to carry out the provisions of the Salmon
Acts, suggest the appointment of Government Inspectors, not
only to visit the districts and assist Boards with their advice, but
even to exercise powers for enforcing observance of the law.

Some of the answers sent by the Boards to the Commissioners'
circular, bear on the constitution of the Boards, and are deserving
consideration, in reference to the question whether any attempt
should be made to continue the existing system of Boards. By
the provisions of the Salmon Acts, the Boards must consist of two
sets of proprietors — called in these Acts the upper and the lower
proprietors. The greatest number of each set is required to be
three ; and if there be less than three in either the upper or the
lower part of the river, the number of members on the Board
must then be four, viz. two of each set. Curiously enough, the
Boards are not allowed to elect a chairman ; nor is a chairman
selected for them by any one who might judge of his qualifica-
tions. The Act appoints as chairman the proprietor who has the
largest fishery rental or value in the district, ignoring altogether
any other test of suitability.

198

Now, it is important to observe that the interests and duties of
these two sets of proprietors are not only different, but adverse
to each other. Each set, of course, wishes to capture as many
salmon as they can. For this purpose the lower proprietors wish
to detain the fish in the lower parts of the river by allowing or
tolerating obstructions, natural or artificial, which prevent the fish
ascending to the higher reaches. On the other hand, the upper
proprietors desire the removal of such obstructions j and especially
as the expense of removing them would fall chiefly on the lower
proprietors, on account of their larger rentals. Many examples
of contention on this account, between the two sets of proprietors,
are afforded by the answers from several of the Districts.

In these conflicts the lower proprietors generally can outnumber
the upper proprietors ; as even though one of the former should
be absent from a meeting, the chairman naturally sides with them,
and he has a casting as well as a deliberating vote.

In the answers from the Boards, it is frankly admitted that,
each set of proprietors generally fight on behalf of their own
individual interests, and that the interests of the public are over-
looked. Whilst it is the object of each set of proprietors to
catch as many fish as they can, it is the interest of the public,
that the numbers caught should not be so great as to exter-
minate the stock, on the well-recognised principle, that profits
ought to come out of yearly dividends, and not out of capital.

It is, however, only fair to the Boards to add, that many of
them, as if sensible of the almost unavoidable tendency of
members to attend chiefly to the interests of their own parts
of the river, suggested that, instead of Boards, there should be
inspectors, appointed by Government, with ample powers to
devise and carry out measures of management which the Boards,
constituted as they were, found themselves unable to adopt.

Perhaps it may be asked, why should there have been so
complete a failure of protection by means of local Boards in
Scotland, when a similar system of Boards prevails successfully
in England and Ireland ?

On the other hand, it is not incorrect to affirm, that even in
England and Ireland the action of the River Conservators has

199

not always been smooth. The jealousies and sparring of upper
and lower proprietors on these Boards, are occasionally referred
to by the late Dr. Buckland in his Annual Reports. But in
England and Ireland the local Boards have several advantages
over those in Scotland, to secure harmonious action.

In the first place, there are Government Inspectors in England
and Ireland, men of great intelligence, experience, and social
weight, whose duty it is, and whose practice it has been, to assist
Boards by their advice, and also to visit districts, when personal
inspection is necessary.

In the second place, the funds at the command of the Boards
in England and Ireland are not raised by assessment on the
members of the Boards, as under the Scotch Acts. The funds are,
in both of these countries, raised by means of licences, which
have to be taken out for the use of nets, boats, and rods, and the
dues for which are mostly paid by persons not members of the
Boards. The amount of licence dues paid in the year 1880 for
England was ^"9331, and for Ireland ^"9700. It is a proof
alike of the efficiency and popularity of licences in England,
that two years ago that system was extended to include angling
for trout, which (at only is. per rod) in England already yields a
yearly income of above ^1500.

Then, besides the funds raised by licences, there is in Ireland
important assistance given by the Coast-Guard for repressing
poaching along the sea coast, and by the Constabulary for
punishing persons guilty of polluting rivers.

In the third place, the Government Inspectors in England and
Ireland draw up annual reports, to be laid before Government and
Parliament, in which not only is there information respecting the
state of the fisheries generally, but particular information of the
operations of the local Boards in charge of the different rivers.

In the fourth place, it should be recollected that Scotland,
especially in the Highland districts, is less densely peopled by
resident proprietors than England and Ireland. The distances
which members have to travel, to attend Board meetings is,
therefore, much greater in many parts of Scotland, than in the
other divisions of the kingdom.

200

Notwithstanding this last drawback, it is very probable that,
were arrangements introduced similar to those in England and
Ireland, the system of Fishery Boards in Scotland might be con-
tinued, and steps taken to extend them. Especially is it desirable
to adopt some other plan of raising funds than by obliging the
members of Fishery Boards to assess themselves and their neigh-
bours. It is scarcely reasonable to expect, that proprietors of
fishings, especially when their fishery rental is small, will volun-
tarily constitute a Board, whose proceedings would involve the
members, not only in the expense of employkig watchers, but in
legal proceedings for removing obstructions, stopping pollu-
tions, &c.

The aversion to such self-imposed assessments is all the more
natural, when it is remembered how heavily taxed all subjects
entered in the valuation rolls of Scotch counties are, for police,
prisons, lunatic asylums, poor rates, schools, &c. &c.

Another valuable suggestion may be obtained, from the mode
of constituting the Boards of Conservators in England. There
the Boards include three classes of persons : first, owners or
tenants of fisheries in the district, not below a certain yearly
value or river frontage ; second, persons selected by the Justices
in Quarter Sessions, the number being previously determined by
the Home Secretary; and, third, persons selected by those holding
licences for fishing in the district, the number depending on the
money value of the licences. In Scotland, under the Salmon
Acts, the Fishery Boards consist entirely of proprietors, in
respect merely of being connected with those parts of the river
which put them into antagonism with one another. In England,
whilst some of the members are on the Board in respect of
being owners or occupiers of fishings above a certain standard,
the majority of the members are elected and selected with no
other qualification except fitness for the duty, in the opinion of
those appointed by law as thought competent to judge.

The constitution of the English Fishery Boards is therefore, in
principle, greatly superior to that of the Scotch Boards ; and in
any future legislation for Scotland, this point should be kept in view.

Above all, there should be for Scotland an appointment of

201

official inspectors, with the powers and duties of the inspectors in
England and Ireland. For England, there are two most able and
intelligent inspectors (Mr. Spencer Walpole and Professor Huxley),
each with a salary of .£700 yearly, a Government office in London,
and a secretary, who has a salary of j£i6o yearly. For Ireland,
there are three inspectors, equally able and intelligent, Major
Hayes, Mr. Brady, and Mr. Johnston, each with a salary of ^700,
a Government office in Dublin, and a secretary, who has a
salary. These inspectors are in frequent communication with the
District Fishery Boards, not only by correspondence, but by
personal visits to the rivers, and thereby afford to the Boards
much valuable advice and assistance.

Why should there be no similar arrangement for Scotland?
The following estimates have been given of the yearly value of the
Salmon Fisheries in the three divisions of the kingdom : —

By Mr. Caird
in 1868.

By Mr. Young*
in 1877.

£,

•2Q OOO

£.

IOO OOO

320,000

4.OO OOO

200,000

2CO.OOO

These figures are surely sufficient to establish the importance of
the fisheries in each division of the kingdom.

If the preservation of salmon in our country be allowed to be
an object of national importance, why should the same means for
attaining that object, adopted in England and Ireland,] not be
applied to Scotland ?

The obligation of Government to look after those fisheries,
which afford alike a large supply of wholesome food to our popu-
lation, and means of extensive employment to the industrial

* The figures in this table are taken from Mr. Young's Treatise on Salmon
Fisheries in Stamford's series of ' British Industries.' It is understood that
Mr. Young's information was derived from official returns, so far as regards
England and Ireland ; and, as regards Scotland, from his own personal know-
ledge of the Scotch rivers, and returns furnished by clerks of District Boards.

302

classes, has been so far acknowledged, and so far fulfilled for
Scotland, that a Board many years ago was established in Edin-
burgh for the " encouragement and better regulation " of Herring
Fisheries, by enforcing the provisions of various Acts, which fix
an annual and weekly close-time, specify the size of the meshes of
nets, and require registration of boats. The Act of Parliament
also places at the service of that Board a gunboat, with a crew
and an officer of the Navy, to assist the Board in the execution of
its duties. In connection with this object, offices are provided in
a Government building in Edinburgh, with a secretary, two clerks,
two general superintendents, and upwards of thirty local inspectors.
By establishing such a department, Government and Parliament
have acknowledged the obligation to look after and regulate our
Scotch Herring Fisheries. Are Salmon Fisheries not equally
entitled to State protection ? Of late years, Government and
Parliament have been extending protection to other wild animals
of very inferior importance, such as crabs, mussels, oysters, sea-
fowl, and land birds, fixing a close-time for each, imposing a
penalty on offenders, and authorising the Procurator-fiscal to
prosecute, at the public expense. Looking to these facts, why
in the case of salmon should the State throw on individuals
the duty and expense of prosecuting persons who violate the pro-
visions which the State chooses to enact ? Salmon, whether in the
sea or in rivers, are no more private property than herrings.
They are the property of the Crown, and no riparian proprietor,
either on our rivers or on the sea-coast, can fish for salmon except
he can show a grant or a lease from the Crown. But the Crown
does not thereby divest itself of the obligation to preserve from
extermination, what it has leased or what it keeps in its own
hands in trust for the nation.

On these grounds, it is hoped that Government and Parliament
will feel it to be a duty to devise better means of protecting salmon
in Scotland than at present exist ; and for this an opportunity is
afforded by the fact of there being already in Edinburgh a Board
of Fishery Commissioners, occupying apartments in a Government
building, where there is sufficient space for an additional office
applicable to Salmon Fisheries.

203

As in this Paper on behalf of Scotch Salmon Fisheries, the
appointment of inspectors has been urged, with powers similar to
those of the inspectors in England and Ireland, it would be wrong
to conclude without adverting to Mr. Eden's disapproval of having
separate inspectors for each division of the United Kingdom. He
says, at present " there are separate establishments and different
officials for each of the three kingdoms. But one policy, and one
set of men to carry it out, would tend largely to efficiency and
economy." He adds, that " by consolidation or amalgamation of
the Fishery offices, uniformity of management would be obtained."
(Page 639.)

If Mr. Eden means that there should be only one set of in-
spectors for the whole kingdom, with offices in London, it seems
very doubtful whether either efficiency or economy would be thereby
secured. Surely inspection would be both more efficient and more
economical, were the officials for Ireland to reside there, with an
office in Dublin, and those for Scotland to reside there, with an
office in Edinburgh, where they would be nearer to their work.
" Uniformity of management," which Mr. Eden deems of im-
portance, could quite well be secured, by the same instructions
being issued by Government to each set of inspectors.

One of the greatest disadvantages to which the Scotch fish-
eries and Fishery Boards are exposed, is the non-existence of any
inspector to visit the Fishery districts, and collect materials for
framing an annual report. A still greater service would be rendered
were Inspectors appointed with power to visit the districts and
attend Meetings of the Board, as ex-qffido members.

Now that the utter failure of the Fishery Board system, and the
non-existence and need of an efficient inspector in Scotland has
been made publicly known, a heavy responsibility will lie on
Government if steps are not immediately taken to provide a remedy.

There ought to be the less hesitation on the part of Government
to devise some measure for affording protection to the Scotch
Salmon Fisheries, that, during the last twenty years, owing to the
assiduity of the officers connected with the Woods and Forests,
the revenue now drawn for the Crown from these fisheries is very
considerable, and is every year increasing in amount. The

2O4

Commissioner entrusted with this duty made most searching
inquiries along the sea coasts, and also along river banks, to
ascertain whether the proprietors who claim salmon fisheries
there could show a legal title to them. Much irritation was
caused by these proceedings; and it seems not unreasonable
that, in respect of the revenue obtained by the Crown from
Scotch Salmon Fisheries, the Executive Government should
not grudge the expense of affording the means of additional
protection.*

This is a practical question which may well be pressed on the
attention of Her Majesty's Government. The Association recently
formed for the improvement of Scotch Salmon Fisheries would
render signal service to the country, by appointing a deputation
to wait upon the Home Secretary, to urge that steps should be
taken for remedying evils, officially made known to Government
twelve years ago, and now attempted to be more fully explained
in the foregoing pages.

* It is said, that the amount of Salmon Fishery Rents now drawn by the
Crown in Scotland amounts to about ^7000; and that they are annually
increasing.

COARSE FISH CULTURE.

BY

R. B. MARSTON,

EDITOR OF THE ' FISHING GAZETTE,' MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF
THE NATIONAL FISH CULTURE ASSOCIATION.

VOL. VI. — C.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

I. INTRODUCTION 207

II. REASONS FOR COARSE FISH CULTURE . . . .209

III. PROPAGATION 2IO

IV. SPAWNING TIMES . ~To

• • . 2Io

V. THE BLACK BASS 220

VI. DISCUSSION . . . 224

CONFERENCE ON FRIDAY, 29x11 JUNE, 1883.

MR. THOMAS SPRECKLEY (Chairman of the Thames
Angling Preservation Society) presided. In introducing
Mr. Marston, he said he was a gentleman who had de-
scended from the higher realms of piscatorialism on this
occasion ; for, though he was a trout and salmon fisherman,
he had now come to tell them what he knew of the coarser
kinds of fish, which give great pleasure to tens of thousands
of their poorer brethren as anglers who could not afford
to fish for trout or salmon. He himself knew very little
of what was called the science of fish breeding, but he
believed that no one could feel more than he did the neces-
sity of protection for the fish. He had seen rivers where
you could scarcely get a fish worth taking, and yet when
he had four or five miles under his care, at the end of four
years, without the aid of anything foreign, simply by pro-
tection, by having a book of rules and laws, it had been so
improved that the last time he fished there he took a jack
of eleven pounds, and three over seven pounds, besides
smaller ones which he put back. At the same time he
never refused permission to fish but once.

208

COARSE FISH CULTURE.

Before proceeding to give you some description of the
various methods in which what are generally, but I think
incorrectly, termed coarse fish may be propagated, it may
be well to point out as briefly as possible the reasons why
they should be propagated.

This is the more necessary because the majority of those
who are interested only in the Salmonidae, as a rule con-
sider all other fresh water fish as useless, or worse than
useless. As a trout angler myself, and much preferring that
branch of sport to any other, I am perfectly ready to admit
that coarse fish of almost any kind, in a trout or grayling
stream, are indeed worse than useless. That there are cir-
cumstances, however, in which coarse fish are not only
useful, but extremely valuable, I hope to be able in the
course of my remarks to demonstrate to you.

There is a maxim, attributed I think to Jeremy Ben-
tham, for which I have always had great respect, " The
greatest good of the greatest number." I take this to mean
that though a thing may not be good for all, yet if it be for
the benefit of the majority its raison d'etre is established.
There are many thousands of anglers in this country, how
many thousands it is difficult to say, but the fact that the
vast majority of them are coarse fish anglers is beyond
question. In London and Sheffield alone there are some
twenty thousand coarse fish anglers enrolled as members
of angling clubs, and in addition to these there are many
thousands who fish only for coarse fish who do not belong
to any club. I will not enlarge on this matter of the vast
number of coarse fish anglers, because my friend Mr.
Wheeldon is preparing an exhibition handbook on the

209

angling clubs of London and the provinces, and I am sure
that the statistics he will give you respecting their number,
nature, and organisation will astonish and interest you, and
fully bear out the statement that of the two classes of
anglers, those who fish for salmon and trout and those who
fish for other fresh-water fish, the latter are by far the most
numerous.

The first reason, then, why we should cultivate coarse
fish is because they afford sport and healthful recreation to
many thousands of our fellow men — the majority of them
being working men who have neither means nor opportunity
for trout or salmon fishing.

The second reason is one which I think will be new to
many of you, and it has the advantage of recommending
itself strongly, I think, to all who are interested in the cul-
ture of Salmonidae. This highest branch of pisciculture has
been brought to such perfection that, as we were informed
in the admirable paper on the subject read by Sir James
Maitland last week, fully ninety-five per cent, of eggs can
be successfully hatched and reared by artificial means.
But to rear Salmonidae successfully in captivity * you must
feed them, and the question of food is an all important one,
inasmuch as on it depends in great measure the quality of
the fish and the price at which they can be profitably sold.
The trout, I need scarcely tell you, is a fish of prey, provided
by nature with a capacious mouth armed with rows of sharp
teeth, and it is a fact well known to trout anglers that large
trout feed almost exclusively on smaller trout and other fish.

I am indebted to Dr. Zenk, president of the Unter-
frankischen Kreisfischerei-vereins, for the suggestion that

* By "in captivity " I mean those cases where a large number of
trout are kept in a small body of water, in which they would starve
unless food is provided for them.

VOL. VI.— C. P

210

coarse fish can be most advantageously cultivated with a
view to obtaining food for Salmonidae. Dr. Zenk, who had
hoped to have been present with us to-day, is the proprietor
of one of the largest fish-breeding establishments on the
continent, viz., that of Zeewiese, near Gemiinden in Bavaria.
The fishery comprises about thirty miles of water, including
a portion of the river Saale well stocked with coarse fish,
almost the whole of the Schondra, with many smaller brooks
stocked with trout and grayling. I may mention that Dr.
Zenk entertains no doubt whatever as to the possibility of
breeding almost infinite numbers of any kind of coarse fish,
and some of his ponds are devoted entirely to the cultiva-
tion of coarse fish for the purpose of obtaining food for his
vast stock of Salmonidae.

I will now pass on to the practical part of my subject,
and endeavour to describe to you the various ways in which
coarse fish, or, as they are called in Germany, summer
spawning fish, may be propagated.

It must be borne in mind that it has not been found pos-
sible to cultivate these fish in the way that the Salmonidae
are cultivated. It is not only difficult to manipulate the
eggs in troughs and trays, but the difficulty of rearing the
young fry is even much greater. They are hatched out as
perfect fish, at once requiring extraneous food, and they are
so extremely small that all attempts to feed them artificially
have failed. They appear to require that as soon as they
leave the egg they should be able to seek their own susten-
ance on the almost invisible animalculae present in their
native waters. But to cultivate these fish artificially is not
only difficult, but unnecessary. All that is necessary is to
aid nature to a certain extent by placing parent fish in
suitable places for spawning, and then protecting the eggs
until the fry hatch out.

211

We have here some diagrams, which were kindly pre-
pared for me by my friend Mr. Hobden, to illustrate a
Paper on this subject which I read last year to a meeting
of London anglers at the Society of Arts Room, on which
occasion Mr. Birkbeck very kindly took the chair. The
outcome of that meeting was the establishment of the
United London Anglers' Fisheries Association, to which I
shall refer presently, and whose objects are to obtain suit-
able fishing waters for the London anglers, and to stock
them with fish.

This diagram represents what is known in Sweden as

LUND'S HATCHING Box.

Lund's hatching-box. It was invented more than a
hundred years ago by a Mr. Lund, of Linkoping. The
Swedish inspector kindly furnished me, in February last
year, with information about this box, which is in general'
use in Sweden. He says : — " Replying to your letter
of the 25th of February, in which you request me

P 2

212

to give you some particulars respecting Lund's hatch-
ing-box for the propagation of summer-spawning fish,
I herewith hasten to give you all the information I can.
Lund's apparatus is remarkable on account of its being, for
aught I know, the first attempt in Europe to promote the
propagation of the above-mentioned fish with human as-
sistance. As you rightly suppose, the box is to be placed
in shallow water near the bank, so that the water does not
flow over it. Lund has not given any dimensions for his
box, which may be of any size. The sides are hinged, so
that they can be let down, and they are perforated with
numerous small holes, so that the water can circulate
through. The inside should be charred by fire to preserve
it. The bottom of the box and the sides are lined with fir
branches. As you will see from the sketch I send you,
the box should rest on blocks, so as to be raised a little
from the bed of the water. With some modifications — for
instance it is not necessary to have the sides hinged —
Lund's box has been adopted here in Sweden with success,
and, in my opinion, for the hatching of perch, it is the most
practical that has yet been invented. In a box of this
kind, 6 feet square, and with sides 2 feet high, we place
fifty female and from twenty to thirty male fish. These
fish must be placed in the hatching-box as near their
spawning time as possible, and are taken out again as soon
as the spawning is finished. The fish deposit the spawn on
the branches. It is of great importance that the sides
are well perforated, to ensure free circulation of the water.
We use these boxes chiefly for perch, but they can also be
used, with some modifications, for other fish."

You will see, gentlemen, that it is an easy matter to
transport spawn which has been obtained in this way to
almost any distance, as it adheres to the boughs ; so that

, 213

you can either let the fry develop in the box, and then go
free in the water you desire to stock, or you can carry the
fertilised spawn to some place, perhaps a hundred miles
away, and then place it in a similar box in the water you
desire to stock. In a week or ten days' time the fry will
hatch out in countless numbers, and must then be liberated
and allowed to begin their fight for life alone. In the
Swedish exhibit in the present Exhibition, you will see
some models of Lund's box. Here is one which the Swedish
Commissioner has very kindly lent me to show you to-day.
These models were exhibited in the Berlin International
Fisheries Exhibition, and are thus referred to, in the
German Official Report on that Exhibition, by Dr. Haack,
director of the great fish breeding establishment at
Huningen. In dealing with the Swedish exhibit he
says : — *' In the Swedish exhibit there were two insigni-
ficant-looking models, which were quite overlooked by the
majority of visitors, but which were of the very greatest
interest to every thinking pisciculturist. These models, in
spite of their simplicity and insignificance, show us the way
we, in future, most simply, easily, and inexpensively may
carry on the propagation of our summer-spawning fish to
any extent." He then describes the manner in which the
box is used, and refers to its advantages as follows : — " As
will be evident to every one, the eggs which have been
deposited and impregnated in the box develop in a perfectly
natural manner . . . air, light, and sun are able to exert their
influences on the eggs in exactly the same way as if they
had been deposited on water-plants in the open water in
the ordinary way. Wind and waves can in like manner exert
their beneficial influence on the eggs, which at the same
time are protected from the violence of the storm, from
which cause alone millions of eggs are frequently destroyed
in the open water. The sides of the box and the branches

214

effectually prevent this destruction." Further, the number-
less enemies of the egg are shut out, for by placing a piece
of wire netting over the top, the ravages of swans, ducks,
and wild fowl — those great destroyers of spawn — are pro-
vided against. When I described Lund's box to the
meeting at the Society of Arts Room last year, to which
I just now referred, its manifest advantages for coarse fish
culture were fully appreciated, and a society was formed,
of which I am glad to see we have here present to-day the
President, Mr. Philip Geen, and the Hon. Secretary, Mr.
T. Hoole. This society was formed with the object of
renting waters and stocking them with fish, and it decided
this spring to experiment with Lund's box. Six boxes
were made and used, and I think I may say that in spite
of some errors inseparable from a first experiment of this
kind, they proved fairly successful. Spawn in large
quantities was deposited in some of the boxes, and large
quantities of fry were afterwards observed in and around
them. The only difficulty experienced was in obtaining
the parent fish, but as I trust the gentlemen who had
charge of these boxes will give us some account of their
experiences, I will not refer to them further than to
mention that in a box the Society kindly lent me, and
which I hope to make better use of next year, I placed one
female perch, of about three quarters of a pound, and two
very small perch. After about ten days I found a band of
perch spawn containing many thousand eggs in the box,
but as they remained unfertilised for want of male fish, of
course they perished. I tried everywhere to obtain perch
just before they spawned, but was unsuccessful. But from
what I have seen of its practical working, I am perfectly
assured that, provided you can get an adequate stock of
parent fish, the Lund box is a most admirable contrivance
for obtaining any quantity of fry.

215

Another, and in some respects even more simple con-
trivance for breeding these fish, is the breeding-hurdle.
It consists of an ordinary hurdle, on which branches have
been intertwined ; it is sunk in a pond, lake, or stream, in
any shallow undisturbed spot, and the fish find it a con-
venient place on which to cast their spawn, which can then
be taken out and transferred to other waters, or left to
hatch out. It is chiefly advantageous where natural
spawning places are deficient, and is used to a consider-
able extent in France and Sweden.

Where some primary expense is not a matter of con-
sideration, the next method I shall describe to you is
perhaps the best and most satisfactory of all. I refer to
the pond system of cultivation, which is carried on to such
an enormous extent in Germany. The diagram (p. 216),
most kindly made for me by Mr. G. A. Audsley, represents
a small coarse fish farm, such as I venture to suggest might
be most advantageously instituted by the National Fish
Culture Association, for the purpose of hatching and rearing
fry of all kinds of coarse fish, for distribution to angling
clubs and private individuals requiring these fish. I am so
often asked by secretaries of angling clubs and others
where they can obtain coarse fish for stocking their waters,
that I feel certain if the association was in a position to
supply the fry of coarse fish in large quantities, the demand
would be very large indeed. What holds good in the case
of Salmonidae will equally hold good in the case of coarse
fish, for to one angler for the former fish there are a
hundred anglers for the latter. It will be seen from the
diagram that in the arrangement I propose each pond,
although supplied from the same stream, is entirely separate
from the others. The water flows from the river into the
pond, and from the pond into the waste water stream. It
would be almost impossible if the water flowed from one

216

UJ

01

CO

>-

_J

0.

NOTE. — The ponds can of course be of any dimensions, according to requirements — 50 yards
long by 25 broad would be a convenient size. The faint lines at the lower end of the
ponds represent a drain as deep as the deepest part of the pond, so that all the water can
be drawn off when necessary.

217

pond into the next, as is the case in trout-breeding ponds,
to keep the various kinds of fish distinct. The fry are so
small that they will find their way through the finest
grating, and it would manifestly never do to send a cus-
tomer who had ordered roach, bream, or carp fry, a number
of young pike or perch as well! The ponds, and the
amount of water passing through them, should of course
be adapted to the nature of the fish to be reared in them,
and only one kind of fish, or fish similar in their habits,
should be bred in a pond. As an instance of what may
be accomplished with coarse fish in this way, I may men-
tion that last spring Herr Max von dem Borne, the well-
known German pisciculturist, placed about five hundred
carp (spawners and milters) in one of his ponds, and in the
autumn, when he drew the water off before a large company
he had invited to witness the result, more than eighty
thousand fine young carp were found.

I have referred to the difficulty experienced in obtaining
parent fish for breeding purposes ; there are hundreds of
streams and other waters in this country which contain
coarse fish, which are considered by the proprietors of these
waters as, I was going to say, vermin ; at any rate, they
do all they can to get rid of them, to make room for their
trout and grayling. Now I venture to suggest that the
United London Anglers' Fisheries Society, and the National
Fish Culture Association, would find this a most profitable
field to work; I am perfectly certain that the proprietors
of trout and grayling fisheries would be only too glad to
give these societies all the coarse fish they could catch in
their waters, and the very finest pike, perch, chub, roach,
&ci, are those which are bred in a trout stream. The
expense of netting and fish-carriers would not be great.
I am led to make this suggestion because, when on a trout-

218

fishing excursion, I have often thought how welcome these
shoals of despised coarse fish would be if transported to
some of the depleted waters fished by London and other
coarse fish anglers. Our worthy and much-respected
chairman, Mr. Spreckley, President of the Thames Angling
Preservation Society, and the other officers of that society,
have done a grand work of this kind by netting the reser-
voirs of the water companies along the Thames and other
waters, and turning their stores of fish into the Thames.

Having described the methods in which coarse fish
culture may be carried on, I will now, with your permission,
give a brief general account of the natural conditions under
which some of these fish breed — to give a complete list
would occupy too much time. In coarse fish culture the
more closely we follow the conditions laid down by nature,
the more likely are we to meet with success. Being fully
aware of the scantiness of our knowledge respecting the
breeding of many of our coarse fish, I wish to disclaim any
pretension to complete accuracy in what I state respecting
this matter. I have got my information, such as it is, partly
from personal observation, and partly from foreign works
which refer to the subject.

SPAWNING TIMES OF COARSE FISH.

Nature of places they choose •, and time it requires the young to
hatch out.

The Pike spawns in February and March ; the eggs,
which are small, hatch in from fourteen to twenty-one days,
and are deposited on mud, rushes, sedges, and other water
plants in shallow quiet bays and ditches. The parent fish
usually go in pairs.

219

The Perch spawns from March to May ; the eggs,
which hang together in bands like rows of beads on a coral
necklace, are very small at first, but gradually swell, and the
young fish escapes in from ten to twenty days according to
the temperature of the water. The eggs are deposited on
water plants and submerged boughs, and are then fer-
tilised by the milt of the male fish.

The Loach spawns in December and January ; the eggs,
which are deposited on gravel in running water, hatch out
in from thirty to forty days.

The Carp spawns in May and June ; the eggs are
deposited on water plants, and hatch out in from fourteen
to twenty days. There are three kinds of carp ; the
common carp, which is covered with large scales ; the
mirror carp, which has one row of very large scales along
the back, and another along the side, the rest of its
body being covered with a leather-like skin free from
scales ; and the leather carp in which scales are entirely
absent. Specimens of the two last-named fish, which are
not common in England, can be seen in the aquarium of
the Exhibition.

The Tench is another powerful and handsome pond fish
which would well repay cultivation. It prefers stagnant
and weedy waters. Like the carp and eel it buries itself
in the mud in the cold months. Its food consists of larvae,
water plants, and worms. Like carp and all other muddy-
flavoured fish, it eats well, and loses the muddy flavour if
kept for a time in clear running water. It spawns from
May to July on water plants, and the young fish hatch out
in a week or ten days.

The Gudgeon, Minnow, Loach, and Bullhead spawn
from May to July, selecting very shallow streams, and
depositing their eggs on the gravel and stones. These fish

220

all form admirable food for Salmonidae, and can be easily
cultivated in any small clear stream.

The food of the carp consists chiefly of the larvae of water
insects, worms, sprouts of water plants, and decaying vege-
table matter. Kitchen refuse forms very fattening food for
carp. To rear carp with the greatest success the parent
fish should be placed in a suitable pond in which there are
no other fish ; they spawn in May and June ; the parent
fish should then be netted out, and in the autumn, under
suitable conditions, there will be an immense crop of young
carp from two to three inches in length. The carp is a
powerful fish affording great sport to the angler, and its
cultivation might be most profitably carried on in England.
In fact before the advent of Protestantism in England fish
stews for the natural propagation of carp and other fish
were very common.

The Roach, Rudd, and Bream spawn in May or early. in
June on water weeds ; the eggs hatch out in a week or ten
days.

The Chub spawns at the end of April or beginning of
May, on shallow sandy or gravelly places, and the eggs
hatch out in a very short time.

The Barbel spawns on stones and gravel, in a sharp
stream from one to three or more feet deep ; how long
the eggs take to hatch out I have not been able to ascer-
tain, but probably in a week or ten days.

The Dace spawns in March or the beginning of April,
also in sharp shallow streams. There are some valuable
foreign coarse fish which I think might be advantageously
introduced into this country ; but as my friend Mr. Oldham
Chambers is to give us a Paper on the acclimatisation of
foreign fishes, I will only refer to one of these, viz. the
American black bass, because this fish — thanks chiefly to

221

the great interest taken in it by the Marquis of Exeter —
may be said to be acclimatised here already. There are
probably many thousands of them now in the fine sheet of
water called White-water, near Burleigh House, Stamford,
the country residence of his lordship. In 1878 and 1879, Mr.
Silk, the able pisciculturist to the Marquis, brought over
from the United States nearly one thousand young bass ;
and he informs me that the fish have spawned the last two
or three seasons. Last year Mr. Silk was sent to the States
to obtain a further supply of these fish, and they were dis-
tributed among some half-dozen gentlemen who had sub-
scribed towards the expenses of getting them over. I re-
ceived thirty of this lot, ranging in size from one and a
half pounds to a few ounces, and they appear to be doing
very well in a small sheet of water in which I have placed
them. Having for some years past strongly advocated the
introduction of this fine game and food fish into suitable
English waters, I was, in common with others interested
in this fish, extremely sorry to see, from the reports in the
papers, that Mr. Goode, the United States Commissioner,
had "warned English anglers against the black bass." I
felt convinced that Mr. Goode did not intend to warn us
against the introduction of this fish into any of our waters,
but only such as were suitable for Salmonidae. Knowing
that an expression of opinion on this matter from so high
an authority would have very great weight in this country,
I wrote to Mr. Goode to ask him if he intended his remarks
to apply to the introduction of the fish generally. His
reply was exactly what I expected it would be ; and I have
very great pleasure in reading it to you, because it will do
far more to remove any prejudice against the introduction
of the black bass into suitable English waters than any-
thing I can say : —

222

Mr. Goode says : —

" DEAR MR. MARSTON, — I am much annoyed — with myself
chiefly, for I ought to have expressed myself more explicitly —
that my remarks upon the black bass were so misinterpreted. I
was speaking solely in reference to planting black bass in salmon
streams, and in comment upon Sir James Gibson Maitland's
paper upon the culture of Salmonida. The entire drift of my
remarks was to the effect that the black bass is a fish with which
public fish-culture had nothing to do, being purely an angler's
fish, and not one which professional fishermen can take in large
quantities for the supply of the public markets. As an angler's
fish I believe the black bass to be superior in every respect to any
fish you have in Great Britain outside of the salmon family, and
I believe that its introduction into streams where pike, perch,
roach, and bream are now the principal occupants, can do no
possible harm, and would probably be a benefit to all anglers. It
is also well suited for large ponds and small lakes, where there is
an abundant supply of ' coarse fish/ which a school of them will
soon convert into fish by no means * coarse.' If you will kindly
refer to my ' Game Fishes of the United States,' p. 12, you will find
that my views as to the value of the black bass in my own country
are already on record, and I can see no reason why this fish should
not be equally valuable in Great Britain. I quote from my own
essay as follows : —

" ' Fish culturists have made many efforts to hatch the eggs of
the black bass, but have never succeeded. . . . This failure is
the less to be regretted since young bass may easily be transported
from place to place in barrels of cool water, and when once
introduced they soon multiply, if protected, to any desired number.
The first experiment in their transportation seems to have been
that of Mr. S. T. Tisdale, of East Wareham, Massachusetts, who,
in 1850, carried 27 Large-mouths from Saratoga Lake, N.Y.,
to Agawam, Mass. The custom of stocking streams soon became
popular, and, through private enterprise and the labour of State
commissioners, nearly every available body of water in New
England and the United States has been filled with these fish,
and in 1877 they were successfully carried to the Pacific coast.

223

This movement has not met with universal approval, for by the
ill-advised enthusiasm of some of its advocates a number of trout
and bream have been destroyed, and complaints are heard that
the fisheries of certain rivers have been injured. The general
results, however, have been very beneficial. The black bass will
never become the food of the millions, as may be judged from the
fact that New York market receives probably less than 60,000 Ibs.
annually ; yet hundreds of bodies are now stocked with them
in sufficient numbers to afford pleasant sport and considerable
quantities of excellent food. ' Valued as the brook-trout is for
its game qualities/ writes Mr. Halloch ; ' widely distributed as it
is, and much extolled in song as it has been, the black bass has a
wider range, and being common to both cold and warm waters,
and to northern and southern climes, seems destined to become
the leading game fish of America, and to take the place of the
wild brook-trout, which vanishes like the aborigines before civiliza-
tion and settlements.' "

" I shall try to be present at the reading of your paper on
Friday, but fear that I may be detained by another engagement
I shall be very glad, then, if you will quote this letter as fully as
your space will allow, in justice to the black bass and its advo-
cates, as well as to myself. — I am, sir, yours truly,

" G. BROWN GOODE,
" Commissioner."

I am sure, gentlemen, nothing could be more satisfactory
than this letter. As an enthusiastic angler for all kinds of
fish, I should be the last to advocate the introduction of a fish
which would spoil our sport. Nor would I have anything
to say for it if it were a fish like the trout, affording sport
chiefly to the rich ; but the black bass is essentially a poor
man's fish ; it will take any kind of bait freely, affords
superb sport, and thrives best in just those waters which
are not suited to trout and salmon, viz., ponds, lakes, and
slow, deep streams.

In conclusion, gentlemen, I thank you sincerely for the

224

patient and kind manner in which you have listened to my
Paper, and I trust that some of the facts I have given you
in connection with a subject which is really of vast import-
ance to many thousands of anglers, viz., the increase of our
sport-affording coarse fish, will counterbalance to some
extent the deficiency of my Paper in other respects.

DISCUSSION.

Mr. J. C. BLOOMFIELD said, coming from Ireland, he
should like to say a word or two upon this matter. Like
the Chairman he had been for many years endeavouring all
he possibly could to protect fish ; and possibly there might
be some present who had come across, at Lough Erne, in
the north of Ireland, the results of his labours. He had
been a salmon and trout fisher himself, and no one would
wish to associate them with such fish as they were dealing
with to-day. But he agreed with Mr. Marston that you
could not touch anything that was of more importance to
the country than this coarse fish question. In this country
there were a vast number of poor people who visited the
different ponds and small rivers for the purpose of angling,
and no one would grudge them the pleasure and the ex-
hilaration they would feel on those occasions, and which they
appreciated all the more from the confined nature of their
occupation during so many months of the year. The
salmon fisherman who knew what it was to have a twenty-
pound fish at the end of his line must be a churl if he
would not like to see a ten-pound pike at the end of the
line of his poorer brother. He had in his mind's eye a
spot in the north of Ireland where, from one hill, you had
a view of twenty-seven mountain lakes all containing pike,

225

perch, roach, or trout. He was not sure that it was worth
preserving the trout, because, although there was sufficient
running water for them to live in, they were not in good
condition for the table. But of those twenty-seven lakes
not five pounds'-worth of food was taken out of them from
year's end to year's end. If some of their German and
French friends had those lakes, what would they make out
of them ? The fact was there were millions of acres of
water in Ireland lying neglected. A man in Manchester
who took all his rabbits for two years, came over, and saw
him one day drawing for bream. In one day he brought
out about twelve tons. He was very much astonished, and
said there were a great many Irishmen in Manchester and
Liverpool and there was not one of them who, at certain
times of the week and many times of the year, did not
want fish, and if these fish could be sent to Manchester, he
should be very glad to pay well for them. That showed the
desirability of the cultivation of these coarse fish. It would
be an immense benefit to numbers of poor people whose
conscience did not allow them to eat meat at certain times
and who could get nothing else. London was the great
centre, as he hoped it always would remain, of Imperial
interest, and they had all been delighted to see the interest
which had been taken in this matter by their Royal High-
nesses the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Connaught ;
but he hoped that the interests of Ireland would not be
left out in the cold.

Mr. MANN, as a fish culturist from the age of fifteen,
could not allow Mr. Marston's Paper to pass without
offering him a tribute of thanks for the information he
had conveyed. Ten years ago he should have objected
that the cultivation of coarse fish was not necessary, but
when he came to think of the enormous increase of rod-

VOL. VI. — C. Q

226

fishers, the steam-launches on the Thames, and the enor-
mous interest some people seemed to take in the intro-
duction of swans, Brent geese, ducks, and other individuals
which shovelled up ova when deposited in the spawning-
beds, he was free to confess that two years ago he withdrew
unreservedly his opposition, and as far as it lay in his
power he should be happy to give any association with
which Mr. Marston was connected his utmost support.
Mr. Chambers' fish box was like Lund's, only that the
sides were covered with galvanised wire, the insides being
lined with the points of the pine. He remembered one
day in his sixteenth year, having got tired of fishing he
turned up his sleeves and went along the bank trying
to catch a few cray-fish. He came to the roots of an
old willow-tree, and there discovered large rods of spawn
attached to and intermingled amongst the roots of the
willow. He got the man who was with him to cut off the
roots, put them in his bait tin, and took them home and
put them into a pond through which flowed a slight stream
of water. Every morning he examined these under the
microscope, and was delighted to see the gradual develop-
ment of the perch. The recollection of the fact suggested
to him, when he saw Mr. Chambers' box, that it might be
improved by interlacing the roots of the willow into the
uprights of these boxes in place of the points of the pine-
tree, which he thought were hardly to be found at the
bottom of a river. They were very slippery, and where
the point was broken off there was always a resinous flow
into the water, which would at once be fatal to the germ.
He had put this forward as a suggestion which he hoped
would be tried. As an illustration of what swans, geese,
and ducks would do he might say that there was a
certain nobleman in the south of England who was kind

227

enough to grant him permission to fish his streams. Some
years ago he came to a fine shallow and there found four
swans with their heads down going along on the scour.
The man who was with him said, " I am afraid you will
not get any fish off there to-day ; " and his reply was " No ;
and who is going to get any three years hence ? " He
drove the swans away, went in and sifted the gravel, and
there was not one-tenth part of the ova left ; they had
gobbled it up by pints, and what was the result ? Later
on the same nobleman granted him a day's fishing,
and, instead of catching fifteen or sixteen pounds of trout,
he killed only five takeable fish, and in two years the stream
would not be worth throwing a fly upon. They had heard
from Professor Huxley that the destruction of man did
not matter, and that nature would balance itself. He was
willing to grant that with regard to the herring and the cod
it might be so, but with regard to the Crustacea inshore and
trawl fish, which they were not now discussing, he entirely
denied it from his own practical observation. He knew
of one ledge of rocks on which a family could once gain
a livelihood of £6 a week, and it was now not worth
fishing.

Mr. WHEELDON, while thoroughly indorsing what had
been said with regard to the Paper, confessed to some dis-
appointment that Mr. Marston had not suggested some
practical scheme which might be placed in due time before
the National Association of Fish Culture, of which he had
the honour to be on the Council. He should like to have
heard of some thoroughly well-developed scheme for which
they might have asked the co-operation and assistance of the
Legislature. He had very little belief personally in the idea
that the angling clubs of London would be the greater sup-
porters to this scheme, because, unfortunately, however hearty

Q 2

228

their sportsman-like spirit might be, they did not develop
the great spirit of co-operation. If they did, they might
be the most powerful body of men in the kingdom. There
was very little doubt that the anglers would be found in
overwhelming numbers compared to fox-hunters, pigeon-
shooters, coursers, or any other description of sportsmen,
and it was inevitable that it should be so, because in a great
manufacturing country like England, it was certain that the
men who had to spend their lives in hard work, would
devote their leisure more frequently to the sport of angling,
which had a peaceful tendency. With regard to the intro-
duction of the black bass, he did not gather from what
Mr. Goode said, that he desired it to be introduced into any
body of water containing salmonidae, because such a course
would be simply suicidal. They might as well let out all
the pike and perch of the Avon into some of the Hamp-
shire trout streams, or other waters tenanted by trout, and
hope to have the race of trout prosper. He recognised most
fully the fact that the black bass was a grand sporting fish,
and a good food fish, and a fish which might be of essential
use if introduced into such waters as the Serpentine, or some
of the ornamental park waters, such as the Welsh Harp and
other places of like character. Why the powers that be
should debar London anglers from fishing in the Serpen-
tine and other waters of a like character, he did not know,
and if they had the black bass thoroughly established, in
due time they might have as many black bass clubs as
there were in America. With regard to the question of
swans on the Thames, he would say a word or two. The
previous day he went out fishing on -the Thames, and saw
to his great regret, that in spite of the immense amount
of damage done by swans, not only were the swans on
the Thames increasing, but there were absolutely bills

229

posted prohibiting any one taking the eggs or destroying the
young birds. Perhaps that might be necessary, but he did
really think the Legislature should be asked to cause
the number of swans on the Thames to be reduced to
some extent, because they did an immense amount of evil.
With regard to the traffic on the Thames, he hoped a bill
would soon be passed in Parliament for its better regu-
lation ; but he did not think it applied exclusively to
launches. No doubt they did a large amount of harm,
but it was certain that every boating season, although the
anglers of London have very few rights, they were cer-
tainly despoiled of them by boating crews continually prac-
tising on the Thames. On the previous day he was fish-
ing, when an eight-oared boat of some kind came down,
manned by a crew of College boys ; Eton boys were
grand young fellows, but they were a very great nuisance
on the Thames, and to anglers generally all oarsmen were
of the same character. These young fellows came down
the stream, and though they were not in the way, de-
liberately rowed smack into the punt, nearly cut their
own boat in two, broke two outriggers, and then assailed
them with a volley of Eton abuse. It was quite certain
the question of anglers' rights and privileges and coarse
fish culture was one which ought to receive more attention.
The CHAIRMAN informed the Conference that a bill
for regulating steam-launches passed both Houses of Par-
liament, as he had just been informed by a letter from the
Solicitor to the bill. He must say he should like to see
the discussion get more practical. If they could persuade
the owners of waters to do all they could to produce fish
for the pleasure and food of man, it would be a great
thing, and his opinion was, that you could fish as much
as you liked, provided you fished fairly. With respect

230

to Mr. Wheeldon's remarks about the swans, there were
only three and a-half swans per mile between Richmond
and Staines bridge, and he did not think that was a very
great excess. They might do some harm of course, as
they always would. He looked forward to the time when
there would be a society formed, when their own keepers
would have authority from the Conservancy to watch and
see the boats and launches maintained a fair speed only. He
remembered a good many years ago fishing in some splen-
did waters about five miles from Nuneaton, some hundreds
of acres altogether, and saw there lots of small fish which
had been taken out with the net lying on the bank dead.
It was simply murder, because if that water had been pre-
served, it would have been a source of pleasure to thou-
sands. He only wished he had that water under his control.
If this Paper could be made more public, and the lessons
it contained impressed on the minds of those who owned
the waters, what a grand thing it would be. He had no
hesitation in saying that he could make it pay splendidly,
simply by charging a small sum for the privilege of fishing,
dealing fairly with people, and laying down proper
regulations.

Mr. GEEN had also listened with great pleasure to the
Paper ; but could not help expressing regret that it did not
lead up to some practical issue. No doubt it was Mr.
Marston's intention and desire that the discussion should
lead to some resolution which would bear fruit, otherwise
it would be like many other meetings of anglers, which left
the question precisely where they found it. The first
thing was, whether it was desirable to cultivate coarse
fish. If it was, the next question arose, was it possible ;
and thirdly, if it was desirable and possible, what were
the most practicable means of carrying it out. He did

231

not think there could be any question in any one's mind
who had heard the eloquent speech of the gentleman from
Ireland, who referred not only to the importance of these
fish as a means of sport, but as food. As to the first point,
they were told that the man who made two blades of grass
grow where only one grew before, was a benefactor, and
the same principle applied to those who not only provided
food, but also provided another great need of the
labouring classes, and that was some health-giving sport
or recreation giving them absolute relaxation from the
turmoil of their every day life. He did not think there
was any sport within the reach of the working-classes
so innocent and health-giving as that of angling, and if it
were possible to stock the numerous depleted waters in and
around all our large manufacturing centres, it was certainly
desirable to do so. As to the question if it were possible
— he could not help fancying that people who wrote and
talked so much about the Salmonidae, thought it was equally
practicable to reproduce artificial coarse or summer spawn-
ing fish ; but it was not so. Some four years ago, it was
brought forward at a meeting of the Thames Angling
Preservation Society by Mr. Benningfield, who asked him
(Mr. Geen), to consider it, and it was to be brought forward
at the next meeting, but to his surprise the subject dropped ;
but from a conversation he had had with him, the result
was, that it was perfectly practicable to artificially spawn
perch ; but no other summer spawning fish. The reason
was this, the Salmonidae gave a solid egg, which you could
handle, and send to the uttermost parts of the world if
necessary ; but the spawn of the coarse fish was something
you could not handle without destruction. The roach, for
instance, deposited their spawn with the greatest care in
suitable spots ; they would go up day after day with the

232

intention of shooting the spawn ; but if the weather turned
dark and cold they would go back again into deep water.
Mr. Marston had said that the eggs took seven or eight
days to come out ; but that was riot so. They came out
in twenty-four hours in favourable weather,* and that was
an instance which showed how impossible it was to deal
artificially with these fish except perch. Still, Nature
might be assisted, and if they could possibly get a series of
ponds partaking somewhat of the nature of a fish farm
(because small meddling never came to any good), some-
thing might be done. It was all very well to talk of
fishery associations, and Mr. Marston had given the
tremendous success which attended his box, but it was
only a success so far, that the female was there without the
male. They must have them both there, or it would not
be any good, and that was very much the result with all
other boxes. They must put them in the boxes, and a
certain proportion would vivify ; but they would come out
of the holes where the water went in. The only effectual
means would be a system of ponds, and it must be taken
up by somebody besides the anglers of London. They
might give it their support, and no doubt they would ; but
he should like to see the National Fish Culture Associa-
tion take up the question. If they would not, what on
earth were they constituted for? He hoped that Mr.
Marston and others, himself included, would be able to
induce the Council to take the matter up, and then the

* I doubt this assertion. I have made inquiries in various direc-
tions since I read this Paper, and the result has been to confirm my
own statement. The fish do not all spawn at once, and the eggs first
deposited of course hatch out soonest. I fancy this fact has misled
Mr. Geen, who may have seen the eggs of a first deposit hatching
soon after a second or third deposit had taken place. — R. B. M.

233

anglers of London must put their hands in their pockets
and give them proper support.

Mr. SENIOR remarked that some gentlemen seemed to
forget that the National Fish Culture Association was at
the present moment only in its infancy, and although it^was
really established to do what they had heard should be
done and must be done, up to the present it had had no
possible time for formulating a scheme. He must differ
from his friend who had preceded him as to Mr. Marston's
paper. There was nothing easier than to criticise a paper
written and read by another man, but he considered they
were all much indebted to Mr. Marston for what he had
done, and it was not for him to put his head into a hornet's
nest by formulating a scheme for other people to pick to
pieces. If there was anything which he hated more than
another it was a long speech or a long sermon, and it was
a very admirable rule that papers read there should not
exceed half an hour. Now in his half hour paper Mr.
Marston had given the result of a good deal of study ; he
had told them what had been done on the continent, and
what had been done in this country. There were other
papers which would deal with the scientific possibilities of
the question of fish culture, and he thought it very wise in
Mr. Marston not to attempt a scheme, but to allow scientific
men of greater age and experience to put their heads
together and furnish the scheme. He had been asked by
Mr. Oldham Chambers, secretary to the Fish Culture
Association, to apologise for his inability to be present, he
having had to go down to Norfolk in order to arrange for a
little excursion for the Foreign Commissioners and others
to the broads of East Anglia, which teemed with coarse
fish, and which he hoped some day would be stocked with
black bass. The Angling Preservation Societies, the parent

234

of which the Chairman represented, had done a great deal
towards the culture of coarse fish. Preservation meant culture
to a great extent, and the splendid takes of trout registered
in the Thames during the present season, of a grand total
quite unprecedented, might be considered to be due entirely
to preservation. There were some grounds therefore to go
upon. The Marquis of Exeter had done something towards
the acclimatisation of the bass, and others had acclimatised
other kinds of fish. Notwithstanding what Mr. Geen had said
he still believed it was as possible to cultivate the carp and
tench in ponds, lakes, or rivers, as the perch. The first
thing wanted was that the public mind should be educated
on this question, and such papers as that now read and as
had been read at angling clubs during the past winter, would
prepare the ground for the seed which would be sown.
The next thing wanted would be the sinews of war, and
with regard to that he would only say that Mr. Oldham
Chambers would be very happy to receive cheques or con-
tributions, and it would then be for those who had sub-
scribed to the society and supported it to complain if it did
not make some progress towards realising what had been
promised.

Mr. CRUMPLEN wished to add a word or two with regard
to the breeding boxes which had been described by Mr.
Marston, and had been used by several anglers. The
Fisheries Society resolved to take up the question, and a
certain number of the Lund breeding boxes were dis-
tributed. One which was tried at Ponders End had proved
a perfect success, but he differed from Mr. Geen when he
said it was artificial, there was nothing artificial about it
beyond this, that it rendered assistance to nature ; and if
you gave other fish the same assistance — it might not be in
a box — but if you provided proper receptacles, and placed

235

food for the spawn, and took care to give them what nature
would give them, he had not the slightest doubt but that
similar results would be obtained. To the limited extent
to which the culture of coarse fish had been attempted it
had been successful, and they should be encouraged to
persevere. It was not altogether a question of cost ; Lon-
don anglers had not much to spend, and they might be
careful what they spent, but if their money was well spent
in an experiment which might not he successful this year,
but was likely to be successful in another, he was sure they
were sufficiently intelligent to be satisfied with the result.
With regard to the black bass, he was not at all opposed to
its introduction under certain circumstances, but until their
knowledge of it was more complete he thought it desirable
to proceed with extreme caution before introducing it to
any large extent. His impression was that in this matter
they should be very conservative, and not run a risk which
at present they were not prepared for. He would warmly
advocate the introduction of any fish likely to be useful,
but never until it was perfectly certain that it was not going
to injure the existing stock.

Dr. SEYMOUR HADEN said a very good illustration of
the extreme facility with which coarse fish were bred was
shown by the way in which the town of Lyons was furnished
with coarse fish before the time of railways. As a boy he
was well acquainted with the neighbourhood of Lyons, and
in the immediate vicinity there were six lakes one above
another. They were never known to have been stocked
with fish by anyone, but they were treated in this way.
After a certain number of years the lower lake was dragged,
and the fish sent to market. The next year the lake above
it was drawn, the next year the one above that, and so on
until the whole six had been drawn in turn. In every case

236

the lakes stocked themselves with fresh ova, and kept the
whole of these six lakes perpetually stocked with vast
quantities of coarse fish, carp, bream, tench, and jack, which
were taken to Lyons market, and in fact the people of
Lyons had no other fish supply whatever. There must be
some mistake on the part of those who said that there was
great difficulty in propagating coarse fish.

Mr. BRADY, Inspector of Irish Fisheries, then pro-
posed a vote of thanks to Mr. Marston for his very
able paper, the importance of which was shown by the
lengthy discussion which had arisen. His countryman,
Mr. Bloomfield, had shown how important fish culture
might be made in certain parts of Ireland as food for the
million, and also for the recreation of the large classes of
people which could not afford the sport of salmon fishing.
Whatever difference of opinion there might be with regard
to the difficulties of culture, there could not be any as to
the importance of it as a question of food. Mr. Bloomfield
had spoken of the spot from whence he could see 27 lakes ;
he could go to hills from which you could look on 1027
lakes, the whole of which did not provide £ 5 worth of food,
which might be made very valuable if only there were
greater facilities for transit, for after all this was the great
difficulty.

Mr. WlLMOT, Commissioner of Canadian Fisheries,
said it afforded him great pleasure to endorse the sen-
timents contained in the Paper. If anything, it was
more desirable to cultivate coarse fish than the higher
orders, for, speaking from an experience of 16 or 18
years, the higher orders of fish could not exist without
the lower orders. The Almighty, in His providence, had
thought proper to put into the same waters fish of
high order and of a low order, and it was invariably

237

found that the high order lived on the low order. If the
latter were exterminated, the former would disappear. All
the finest salmon rivers had in them certain species of fish
of a very low order ; they entered the river at a different
period to the salmon, to reproduce their species, and the
young went down the rivers to the sea, and there in turn
were fed upon by the salmon which frequented the same
river. It was said by some gentlemen that you could not
produce the lower orders of fish, but he maintained that
you could produce a thousand to one of the lower orders,
because they deposited their ova in the spring months,
when the weather was warm, whilst the higher orders de-
posited theirs in the autumn months, when the weather
was cold, and took from three to six or seven months to
reproduce, whilst the lower orders were hatched in from
three days to three weeks. Consequently nature had given
the lower orders the greater preponderance. Throughout
nature, as a rule, the lower orders supported the higher,
and therefore it became the duty of man to carry out that
which Providence had ordained. Carp was a poor man's
fish altogether ; it could be produced in ponds and small
preserves, and ought to be protected and cultivated almost
above every other, whilst the salmon and trout were the
rich man's fish, because those who sought them had to
spend a large amount of money on the sport. With regard
to bass, it was a very bad voracious fish to introduce
amongst others of a better quality, and he said this coming
from a country where it was more famous than in any other
part of the world. Where they found the black bass they
never found the salmon or trout. There were lakes innu-
merable in Canada, where the bass, the pike, and other fish
of the same character abounded, but they never found in
those lakes any of the higher orders of fish. There were

238

also magnificent rivers, teeming originally with salmon and
trout, and they never found black bass in them until lately,
when, in consequence of man having killed all the salmon
and trout, black bass had been introduced, and in conse-
quence there was nothing but black bass there now. Black
bass was a good game fish and a food fish, but they should
be put into waters by themselves, or where there was
plenty of inferior fish for them to feed upon, but not where
they could interfere with better kinds. There was a lake
in Canada which teemed with black bass, pike, perch, sun-
fish, and other of the lower orders, and being a small lake,
the temperature in summer was 80° to 90°, and there the
black bass abounded ; but the inhabitants fished it to such
an extent that they exterminated the bass. A petition
was sent in to the Legislature about it, and an order was
passed that there should be no netting for three years.
When that period expired there was an abundance. No
one was permitted to spear in it or to net ; none but anglers
fished it, and there was abundance for all. You never
could destroy fish by angling, but in one year they could
be destroyed by netting. Still it was no use for an intel-
ligent man to read such an instructive Paper as they had
heard to-day, or for other people to discuss it, if men of
science, holding the highest positions in the country, told
them that it was useless to protect the fish, and that they
could take care of themselves. He could only say, if such
views were to prevail, the time would ccjrne when there
would be no fish in Great Britain or any other part of the
world.

The resolution having been carried unanimously,
Mr. MARSTON, in reply, said there was no intention
whatever to introduce the black bass into trout or salmon
streams, any more than they thought of putting the pike

239

into a trout stream ; but there were thousands of acres of
water where there were no fish at present, where bass could
be put, and would afford magnificent sport. The Sheffield
anglers had to go about 30 miles to get their fishing, and
every year paid about £15,000 for it, when they might
have abundant fishing in their own neighbourhood, if only
the streams were populated With regard to the point
mentioned by Mr. Mann, he believed that pine branches
were used because they were found to answer admirably,
and did not rot ; but his suggestion was a very good one,
and he hoped next year to try it. Mr. Wheeldon and Mr.
Geen had been somewhat disappointed that he had not set
forth a more complete scheme, but the scope of this Paper
only allowed him to give an outline of the subject. He
took it that they considered the matter even more urgent
than he did, and no doubt they would help to formulate a
scheme and support it. Mr. Geen was right, to a certain
extent, in saying that coarse fish could not be cultivated
artificially ; but in his Paper he had insisted on this fact,
and had referred particularly to pond culture, by which
means any of these fish could be cultivated. Carp was
cultivated to a great extent in Germany, and fetched
more money even than sea fish, but he believed other
kinds had not been cultivated there, because they were
not wanted. There were not many anglers in Germany,
and it was for anglers principally that he suggested these
fish should be cultivated

Mr. GROSSMAN moved a vote of thanks to the Chairman,
who had been the principal agent in persuading the Con-
servators of the Thames to prevent the capture of small
immature fish. Mr. Wilmot had referred to the opinion
expressed on the platform by a gentleman high in the
scientific world, but he would say that the great object of

240

these conferences was to bring together men who were not
only scientific but practical, to hear their opinions expressed
in the boldest manner possible, so that they might be able
to arrive at the truth with regard to any subject connected
with fisheries. The salient points in connection with all
the fisheries would be thoroughly considered by the most
competent men, and he trusted the results would be of the
most practical kind. Whoever stood on that platform,
whether he were a scientific man, a practical, or a theo-
retical man, would not, he hoped, be afraid of expressing his
opinion on any subject, however antagonistic it might be
to the one which seemed to prevail at the moment, because
in the end the truth must prevail. The subject brought
forward by Mr. Marston was one in which he had taken a
great interest, and he might say that the only prize offered
at the Exhibition for the cultivation of fish in fresh-water
ponds was offered by himself. He saw in Germany and
Austria the importance of that cultivation, and in all these
matters history seemed to repeat itself. They knew that
the ancient Romans were famous for fish culture in ponds.
Their tables were provided with carp and every kind of
fresh-water fish, and so valuable were they that it was said
that one of the fish-ponds of the poet Lucullus actually
realised £20,000 after his death. Dr. Seymour Haden had
shown what was actually carried on in Lyons, and the
same system could be adopted in this country. Wherever
there were low-lying meadows, with streams or rivulets
running through them, these ponds could be easily con-
structed. The monks in the olden days, who knew how
to place their abbeys in the most lovely spots in creation,
also knew which were the most valuable fish, and they
always had carp ponds, because they knew it was about
the best fresh-water fish, the one most tenacious of life, not
carnivorous, but living on weeds and insects. There were

241

in this country canals of several miles in length, and
numerous lakes, utterly devoid of fish, and there were
ponds in nearly every field which could, under a wise
system, be stocked with fresh-water fish. He was sure
this Paper would draw the attention of those who took an
interest in these matters to the necessity of cultivating
these kinds of fish, and there was no country in the world
where it could be cultivated to a more profitable extent
than in England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Mr. C. E. FRYER seconded the motion. He did not wish
to import a note of discord at the last moment, but he
could not miss the opportunity of saying that Mr. Wilmot
seemed to have slightly misunderstood the position which
Professor Huxley had taken with regard to the question of
fisheries. He did not come there as the apologist or
defender of Professor Huxley, who was perfectly capable
of taking care of himself, but it was most undesirable that
any misconception should exist. Professor Huxley held
the opinion that, as regards the power of man to interfere
with fisheries, they were divisible into three distinct classes ;
those which might be destroyed, those which could be
partially destroyed, and those which we have no proof
that it was possible for man to destroy. With regard to
the special subject under discussion to-day, Professor
Huxley joined the National Fish Culture Association on
the ground that it would afford the opportunity of taking
up fish culture, more especially with regard to fresh-water
fish, that branch being more susceptible of assistance than
deep sea fisheries ; the fresh-water fish would come under
the general category of fisheries that were capable of being
destroyed ; the littoral fisheries would come under the
second category, which it was possible for man to interfere
with and seriously injure, if not altogether to destroy, such,
for instance, as Lobster, Crab, and Oyster fisheries, and

VOL. VI.— C. R

242

with regard to Lobster fisheries, Professor Huxley had
himself within the last year recommended that very
stringent regulations should be enforced on the coast of
Norfolk, in the hope that, all the circumstances being very
favourable, some general idea might be arrived at as to the
effect of restrictive legislation, whether it was really beneficial
or not Coming back to the subject of the Paper — or.
rather to the discussion upon it, for he regretted he had not
been able to attend early enough to listen to the Paper — it
appeared to him they should walk before they ran, for
before taking up difficult and intricate systems of ponds
and boxes, and apparatus of various kinds, a great deal
might be done by inducing the owners of fish-ponds to
treat those fish-ponds exactly as they found them ; * not

* I regret that Mr. Fryer was not present in time to hear my paper
because he would then have seen that my object in advocating coarse-
fish culture is, that we can only by this means re-stock the rivers,
canals, lakes, ponds, &c., which have been depleted by unfair fishing,
over-fishing, and poaching. It will not much assist the thousands of
working-men anglers if those gentlemen who have ponds cultivate
them again in the way their ancestors did, as referred to in my Paper ;
how will that help the many thousands of club anglers ? They find it
usually most difficult to get permission to fish in a private pond, which
is often not worth fishing ; it would be more hopeless still if the owner
of the water had spent money on it in cultivating it. Nor will I
admit that the Lund-box, the hurdle, and the system of ponds I
described can in any way be fairly designated " intricate." Their
simplicity is obvious, for they merely aid nature. Finally, it will be
seen Mr. Fryer recommends the German pond system, which in my
Paper I had referred to as being by far the best way in which to
cultivate coarse fish of all kinds, where some primary expense was not
an object (see p. 21 $et seq!). Of course I do not suppose Mr. Fryer
intended to knock my skittles down merely to set them up again
himself in this way ; but I think it was a pity he deprecated my
suggestions without having heard what I had said about them, and
then proposed as a substitute the very thing I had advocated most
strongly — except that my pond farm would be less " intricate " than
those he proposed. I proposed one pond for one kind of fish ; his
suggestion would require three ponds for each kind of fish. — R. B. M.

243

to leave them fallow, and utterly ignore them, but to
cultivate them as they would a field. A man who owned
a field did not leave his sheep and cattle to run wild and
starve, but fed them, and killed them when necessary ; so
with fish, a man who owned a fish-pond had a source of
food supply which was inexhaustible if properly managed.
Fresh-water fish were not like salmon ; salmon lived in
the sea, and in the head waters of rivers, but coarse fish
were always on the spot. You had a pond with fish in it, and
they did not want to run away ; they were not eels who
climbed out and ran over the grass. They would remain
there and breed and fatten if properly treated. Without
going minutely into the question, he might throw out the
suggestion that gentlemen having ponds should, without
going to any great expense — for the idea of expense and
scientific apparatus frightened many people — endeavour
to cultivate the fish as they found them, dividing the pond
into one or two portions, keeping the breeding fish in one
portion, the yearling fish in another, and fattening and
feeding them in another. They might be netted if thought
desirable, only taking care that a proper proportion were
left for breeding. In saying this he did not wish to
throw cold water on any scientific attempt to increase
fresh-water fish in any way whatever, because the further
they went in making scientific and practical investigations
in this matter, the better it would be in the end ; but
without going to the trouble of making special ponds and
apparatus, many gentlemen had the opportunity of doing
a great deal towards increasing the food supply, simply
by utilising the stock of fish they had in their own private
grounds.

The resolution having been carried unanimously,
The CHAIRMAN in responding said it was a fair answer

R 2

244

to a great deal that had been said, that a few years ago
between London and Staines scarcely a fish was to be
caught in the Thames. This year there had been the
finest takes of trout ever known. Within the last fortnight
more fish than ever had been taken in the Thames. This
was accomplished simply by preservation, care, and
attention. He hoped the time would soon come when
children would be taught not to kill young fish, just as
they were taught not to kill a calf or a lamb directly it
was born.

THE DESTRUCTION OF FISH

AND OTHER

AQUATIC ANIMALS

BY

INTERNAL PARASITES.

BY

T. SPENCER COBBOLD, M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S.,

CORRESPONDENT OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA.

VOL. VI.-

CONTENTS.

PAGE

PAPER 247

DISCUSSION 263

CONFERENCE ON THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1883.

Professor HUXLEY, P.R.S., in the Chair.

THE DESTRUCTION OF FISH AND
OTHER AQUATIC ANIMALS BY IN-
TERNAL PARASITES.

THIS communication is not intended to be an exhaustive
memoir. The subject is a wide one, yet it may with truth
be said that few persons are aware of its importance.
As regards man and the higher animals, physicians and
other professional persons have a direct interest in con-
ducting researches amongst the parasites ; nevertheless, it
is surprising to what an extent mere prejudice has
operated to prevent labourers from entering into this
instructive field of comparative pathology.

Taking a comprehensive grasp of the study of parasites
it will be readily admitted that the extent of the subject
is in itself rather appalling. If you consider that for every
known species of bird, beast, reptile, and fish, acting as
"hosts," there are probably, on the average, not less than
four times as many different species of " guests " liable to
occupy their bodies, you will then gain some adequate
notion of the zoological difficulties of the study. If, further,
you will consider that by far the larger proportion of all
these parasites undergo transformations, often of a complex

248

character, and accompanied by a change of hosts, you
will realise the practically illimitable extent of the territory
that remains to be explored. And if, added to all this,
you contemplate the kind of occupation and sacrifices
demanded by researches of this order, you will, perhaps,
not be altogether surprised that so few scientists have
troubled themselves about the entozoa of the lower animals.

Notwithstanding that so little has been done, sufficient
evidence can be brought forward to show ' that grave
injuries, and even death itself, result to "hosts" of every
degree ; but it does not follow that proofs, which to the
eye of the practised helminthologist are clear and con-
vincing, will have due weight with those who are new to
the subject. No person unfamiliar with the working of
parasites, and with the appearances presented on dissection,
is in any position to form a correct conclusion. The
scepticism which prevails respecting the role of parasites
in professional quarters is painful to the last degree.

When recently at the Royal Society, Professor Huxley
communicated his instructive paper on Saprolegnia Jerax, I
felt tempted to rise and speak as to the parallelism which
subsists between the injurious action of external and
internal parasites relatively, whether animal or vegetable.
As I refrained on that occasion, I was the more gratified
by the opportunity recently afforded of incidentally calling
the attention of the Congress to this subject* Whilst
the fullest attention has been paid to the parasitic fungi,
little or no regard has been paid to the entozoa or internal
animal parasites. As a matter of fact all the Salmonidae
— not to speak of other families — are liable to be largely
invaded by entozoa, but it is hard to say to what extent

* See Reports of the Conference on Fish Diseases given in Land
and Water for July 7, 1883, p. n.

249

• »

any one of the sixteen species known to infest the salmon is
capable of inflicting injuries upon this valuable fish. Mere
size of any given entozoon affords no criterion of its power
for mischief. Amongst quadrupeds even the largest hosts
succumb to comparatively small helminths. We see this
in the case of flukes causing rot not only in sheep, cattle,
and deer, but also amongst elephants. In all such cases
death is primarily due to over-crowding. As in our big
cities overcrowding causes the territory to suffer, so
likewise the passages, ducts, and channels of any vital
organ of the animal " host " suffer from the multiplication
of parasitic residents. Amongst fish, flukes work little
harm, since they rarely occupy any vital organ, nevertheless
with cetaceans the case is far otherwise. Mammals adapted
to enjoy an aquatic existence, and having an organisation
otherwise conforming to that of quadrupeds, do not escape
injury from flukes. To what extent they suffer is another
question. I have dissected a porpoise whose liver ducts
were extensively diseased, precisely as in cases of rot
occurring in their mammalian brethren of terrestrial habits.
The new species of fluke which I thus discovered in a
Firth of Forth cetacean has since been found by Dr.
Anderson in the Dolphin of the Ganges.* This small
parasite occurs in prodigious numbers.

Save in exceptional instances, overcrowding, as before
remarked, lies at the root of all injury to the host, be it
bird, beast, or fish. With fish the tapeworms are most
destructive. Much depends upon the situation of the
parasite. When one finds the pancreatic cceca stuffed
with tapeworms, choking not only these appendages, but

* Details are given in my paper on * Trematode parasites of the
Dolphins of the Ganges.' Journal of the Linnean Society for 1876.
Zool. Div., vol. xiii., p. 35 (with illustrations).

250

at the same time extending into, and well nigh obliterating
the lumen of the intestine, it seems absurd to suppose
that such a victim can be in the enjoyment of good
health. Physiology teaches us that sooner or later the
host must succumb to this permanent interference with
the functions of digestion and assimilation. .If the fish
does not die in a direct manner from inflammatory action,
it becomes so weakened that it readily falls a prey to
other enemies. To be permanently successful in the
struggle for existence, all the vital powers of the individual
must be maintained in good working order.

As a straw shows the way the wind blows, so do facts
that are in themselves sufficiently trifling tend to produce
instructive conclusions. One of my early experiences in
this matter made a lasting impression upon my mind.
Some thirty years ago — at the time that I held office in
the Edinburgh University Anatomical Museum — I noticed
in a rivulet near Musselburgh, a minnow moving slowly
in the water. It seemed burdened, as I supposed, from
a superabundance of roe. Having captured it with the
hand, I opened the abdomen, when, to my astonishment,
there was no roe at all, its body being abnormally distended
by a large tapeworm. Here, therefore, was an instance
where, to say the least, much inconvenience had resulted
to the host, not, be it observed by overcrowding from
many parasites, but from excessive distension by a single
entozoon. I have since witnessed similar effects in other
animal hosts widely differing in the zoological scale. Thus
you may sometimes capture earwigs with enormously
swollen bodies, due to the presence of a nematode that is
eight or ten times as long as the host itself, and it is not
uncommon to find other insects similarly affected. I will
mention another curious example occurring higher in the

251

scale of vertebrates. On one occasion when walking in
the Zoological Gardens, near the elephant house, an unduly
distended mouse was labouring to cross the path in front
of me. Having easily killed it, I thought to obtain some
embryo mice ; albeit in this I was disappointed, or, rather,
perhaps, gratified, inasmuch as the dissection soon revealed
the fact that the distension was entirely owing to the
presence of several large filariae within the stomach.
(Spiroptera obtusa, Rud.) Clearly these parasites had
seriously incommoded the little rodent's progress, and, as
in the case of the minnow, had led to its capture and
death.

But I now proceed to direct your attention to far more
cogent evidence, the value of which will be better under-
stood if I first explain the special character of the
tapeworms that are so injurious to fresh-water fish. The
tapeworm of the minnow just alluded to was an immature
ligule. All the ordinary ligules of our fresh-water fish
are temporary residents awaiting their passive transference
to the body of some higher, definite, or ultimate host.
This final host is usually a water bird, which, preying
upon the fish, swallows the parasite, and after a very short
space of time the parasite itself arrives at sexual maturity.
As long as the ligules remain in the fish their development
is not complete, but when once subjected to new and
suitable conditions their arrival at maturity is only a
question of time. If the new residence is unsuitable to
the species of parasite, no further development will take
place ; in other words, all parasites requiring a change of
hosts must have an environment specially adapted to their
individual wants.

With the structural changes thus brought about we are
not now concerned, but it is worth while remarking that

252

the question of injury to any fish or other aquatic host is
in no way bound up with the mature condition of the
parasites themselves. I mean to say that a parasite may,
under certain circumstances, prove dangerous at any stage
of its life. Now, in the case of fish, it happens that imper-
fectly-grown tapeworms are more mischievous than the
adult parasites. The ligules infesting our fresh-water fish
have received different specific names, but most of them
are referable to one and the same cestode. The Ligula
simplicissima of the minnow is the same as the Lig. tincce
of the tench, and as the Lig. abdominalis of the roach and
other species belonging to the genus Leuciscus. It is also
a mere synonym of a dozen other differently-named ligules
found in the carp, pike, perch, bream, goby, char, and so
forth. Of especial interest is the fact that this entozoon is
sometimes described as Ligula eduiis, referring to the cir-
cumstance that it is an edible parasite. More than half a
century back Rudolphi remarked that ligules were eaten in
Italy, and his words lead one to suppose that they were
regarded not only as great delicacies, but were freely eaten
under the name of macaroni piatti. In my recent account
of a ligule infesting the human body (L. Mansoni}, read
to the Linnean Society, I have referred to Rudolphi's
original words, which have also been freely quoted by
Diesmg, Duchamp, and other helminthologists. Thinking
that possibly there might be some mistake in our interpre-
tation of the passage in question, I have, within the last few
days, sought to ascertain on what authority Rudolphi based
his remarks. Thus in Ferrusac's 'Bulletin des Sciences
Naturelles ' for 1828 I found an abstract of a Paper by
Briganti in which it is stated that the entozoa received the
name of Ligula eduiis "because certain persons eat it
fried with the fish, regarding it as a kind of fat of the

253

latter." This puts a very different complexion on the matter,
seeing that the true nature of the alleged delicacy must
have been overlooked by those at least who first partook
of it. Stimulated to further enquiries I sought and found
Signor Brigand's original memoir in the Transactions of
the Royal Academy of Naples, bearing the date of 1819,
but probably issued somewhat later, since the work by
Rudolphi, from which I have quoted, bears the same date.
Be that as it may, Briganti remarks that he does not think
it need occasion any surprise that the Ligula edulis "eaten
with relish by not a few with the fish which contains it,"
causes no injury whatever to their health. He further
remarks upon the not unpleasant flavour possessed by the
ligules, of which he had been assured, and says that he
willingly accepts that view, because the parasite is destitute
of any alimentary canal and does not contain any excre-
mentary matters. He refers to the nourishment derived by
the parasite from the juices of the contiguous viscera of the
host and to other circumstances ensuring its cleanliness.
Briganti's memoir, though often quoted second-hand, seems
to have been rarely consulted. He gives excellent illus-
trations. In his first plate he figures three fish of nearly
the natural size ; one showing the characteristically swollen
abdomen, especially in the region of the vent, and another
with the viscera exposed to show the position of the ligules.
In the second plate excellent figures are given of the worms
in various positions, from different media, the first six
examples being all removed from one of the fish (Cyprinus
lacustris). This small Cyprin inhabits Lake Palo, near
Contursi, and it was at the time regarded by Briganti as
new to science. I have thought it might be useful thus to
particularise Briganti's labours, although it is to Dr.
Duchamp's recent work that we are principally indebted

254

for the most solid contribution to our knowledge of the
Ligules.*

Writing in 1876, M. Duchamp observes: "During the
last seven or eight years a veritable plague has over-
whelmed the fish in the ponds of La Bresse, afflicting ex-
clusively the Cyprins and especially the tench, whose
deaths may be reckoned by hundreds of thousands. From
such a total it will be readily understood, without com-
mentary, what serious losses the country has sustained.
It was soon discovered," he says, " that the author of the
disaster was a tapeworm lodged in the peritoneal cavity of
the fish outside the intestine. Since then, the white worm
of the tench, for so they call it, has been well known to
salesmen in our markets, but no one thought of troubling
himself about its zoological history."

From what follows in the text of M. Duchamp's work
we gather that until the time in question no notice had
been taken, or at least not recorded, of the existence of
these parasites. " If they had been encountered, the num-
bers were so restricted that the fact was passed unnoticed."
All at once these parasites appeared in such abundance
that they caused terrible ravages amongst the occupants of
the ponds, and severe losses to commerce. "Two years
ago," adds M. Duchamp (i.e., in 1874), "the malady seemed
to be on the decrease ; to-day, however (1876), the ligules
are so common that we have had no difficulty in procuring
them ; and, unfortunately, in our country they have not yet
arrived at the degree of rarity attributed to them by hel-
minthologists. Whatever may have been their frequency
they have remained quartered in the ponds that are encoun-

* ' Recherches sur les Ligules,' par G. Duchamp, M.D., &c. Paris,
1876.

255

tered at every step on the marshy plateau of La Bresse, and
they have principally infected those to which by preference
aquatic birds repair, especially ducks, which one meets
with by thousands. So far as we know, the parasites have
never been found in either of the rivers of this region."

After remarking upon the variable number of parasites
found in each fish — commonly four or five, but sometimes
as many as fifteen — M. Duchamp continues : " As will be
easily understood, the presence of such guests in the midst
of delicate organs could not fail to produce a series of
morbid phenomena and to give birth to grave anatomical
complications. Also, with a little practice, it is easy to
diagnose the existence of the ligules, unfailingly. The
abdomen of a tench bearing these parasites presents an
unusual development, a true tumefaction (ballonnemenf), On
applying the index-finger to the lower surface of the body
between the pectoral and abdominal fins, an evident fluc-
tuation is felt. At the opening of the abdominal cavity
there escapes a noticeable quantity of liquid which is some-
times strongly sanguineous, sometimes thick and purulent,
but in both cases always carrying with it large white
flakes."

After remarking upon the coagulable character of
this fluid and upon the leucocytes, blood corpuscles, and
other elements shown by the microscope, Dr. Duchamp
observes that "the intestinal circumvolutions, the ovaria
and milt glands form a single mass, in the centre or near
the surface of which the ligules are found often shut in by
peritoneal bands." It is added that the peritoneum is
thickened and covered by a layer of false membranes, but
there is no trace of inflammation of the liver. In short, the
affection produced by the parasite is, according to Duchamp,
a veritable chronic peritonitis.

256

The progressive stages of the disease were watched in
aquaria. Pathologically they are of great interest. In
the anal region a rounded projection makes its appearance,
augmenting rapidly in volume until it attains the size of a
small nut. It then presents all the external characters of
a cyst limited by a more or less transparent membrane
deprived of scales, and on whose surface blood-vessels
ramify. At the end of some days the cyst ruptures, and
the ligules escape by the opening. As to the fish, it does
not survive the accident. Such, according to what we have
ourselves seen and from the accounts of the fishermen, is
the ordinary mode of termination of the malady in our
country. Often enough, however, the tench die without
any rupture. In this case it is probable that the ligules
become free only when a portion of the flesh has become
destroyed by decomposition. They may, indeed, live a
long time amidst such surroundings. We preserved some
for several weeks in rotten fish, and they were still quite -
alive when we were obliged on account of the stench to
stop the experiment. It is a curious circumstance that, on
the other hand, those which we saw escape by the opening
of the cyst succumbed in a few hours on finding themselves
in the water taken from the Rhone, and frequently
renewed. One of them, of which a portion remained held
within the abdomen of the fish, presented the singular
phenomenon of one part of the body being dead whilst
the other was living. According to certain observers other
parts of the body, besides the abdominal and anal regions,
may equally afford means of exit for the ligules. Thus,
Block sometimes saw them escape by the belly, sometimes
at one of the sides, at the back or at the head, and some-
times even in the region of the tail. The wound left by
the worm is oblong like that of an open or bleeding vein.

257

The same facts were observed by Goeze, who figures one
of these instances ; but according to him, the wound heals
and the fish does not suffer — statements which were con-
firmed by Rudolphi." This happy result of course shows
that in some cases Nature is capable of effecting a complete
cure. In reference to what M. Duchamp has observed
respecting the vitality of tapeworms in decomposing flesh
I have seen much to confirm his record ; and, as I have
already stated in the pages of Land and Water, the
specimens of Tricznophorus (shown by me in this Exhi-
bition) were removed alive by Surgeon-General Day from
the stomach of a pike which had already been dead three
days, and which, moreover, had been soaking in spirit for
twenty-three hours! An old writer has, indeed, alleged
that tapeworms can resist the action of boiling water ; but
modern experiments have entirely disproved the truth of
a statement which can only have resulted from imperfect
observation. The supposition of Dr. Fock of Utrecht, that
persons obtain the broad tapeworm (Bothriocephalus} by
eating bleak (Leuciscus alburnus) is not confirmed. Never-
theless, the observations of the late Dr. Bertolus render it
more than probable that the Ligula nodosa infesting the
trout is the sexually immature condition of our human
Bothriocephalus latus. Professor Leuckart long ago pointed
to the Salmonidae as the probable source of the broad tape-
worm ; but the statement recently made to the effect that
pike or jack are a source of these parasites requires
confirmation.*

Sometimes ligules infest the muscles in great numbers.
The following is a remarkable instance, and refers to the

* See the new journal entitled 'Health,* for April 20, 1883, p. 17.
The statement is made on the authority of Dr. Braun.

VOL. VI.— C. S

258

specimens (marked No. 9) in my series of% parasites in this
Exhibition : —

On the 30th April, 1880, I received from Mr. Robert J.
Simpson some interesting parasites, together with portions
of the skin, gills, and muscles of a lake trout. The
specimens were accompanied by a letter, written from
Ambleside, only the day before, and in it Mr. Simpson
records the following particulars :

" On Tuesday last a dead Salmo ferox was found in the
river Brathay, a female fish, in good condition (for a
spawned fish), twenty-four inches in length, four pounds in
weight. The fish had evidently died from the salmon disease,
though this is the first victim yet seen in the rivers running
into Lake Windermere. On making a post mortem exami-
nation I found the fish, I may say, one mass of parasites,
all seemingly of one kind, and, from the egg, as minute as
can be seen, to worms two inches long. One of the gills
was diseased ; the part I have cut off and enclosed in
bottle. I also enclose a piece of skin, that had the salmon
disease ; also a lot of the parasite at its different stages of
growth. To my surprise, in cutting into the flesh under
the diseased skin, I found the parasite at fully one and a
half to two inches in length. I enclose one bit of skin and
flesh with a large parasite in it. I hope you will be able
to see it. When put into the spirit its white body was
clearly seen, stretched at full length, in the pink flesh.
On cutting into the flesh, and examining it more
thoroughly, I found the whole flesh, more or less
affected with the parasite, some at full length, others
in cells curled up. I have not hitherto met with this
parasite, nor have I had a specimen with the salmon
disease to examine. I have not heard whether this parasite
is common to fish killed by the disease. Do you know this

259

parasite ? Can it have anything to do with the disease ?
The cause of death did not appear clear, looking only at
the head, gills, throat, and heart, as, with the exception of
the bit of gill sent, these organs seemed right."

On May 1st, and again on the $rd, I submitted Mr.
Simpson's specimens to microscopic investigation ; and
although neither the long " white body " in the muscles,
nor a similar filamentous band two inches in length, and
loose in the bottle, turned out to be tapeworms, it was
soon perfectly clear that the mass of parasites from the
"flesh" were cestode worms. Some were in capsules,
whilst others had been liberated, but all, whether encysted
or free, were sexually immature.

The examination, in fine, led me to conclude that the
parasites were very young examples of Ligtda digramma,
and as such, immature specimens of the Ligula mono-
gramma of water-birds. It would seem from M. Duchamp's
experiments that after transfer to the ultimate host
their arrival at maturity is excessively rapid, an interval of
four hours being sufficient for the formation and perfection
of the eggs of the parasite. Here, however, I am chiefly
concerned to remark upon the circumstance that although
Mr. Simpson's lake trout was suffering from Saprolegnia,
that external parasite was not alone the cause of death. I
believe that the larval ligules were in this case the chief cause
of the fatal issue. The number of ligules was something
extraordinary, and the fish must have succumbed if there
had been no Saprolegnia. Judging from the sections sent,
every part of the great lateral muscle-mass seems to have
been stuffed with the larvae, precisely as one finds measly
beef and measly pork overloaded with cysticerci. Clearly
it follows that if a diseased fish of this kind were devoured
by one or more water-birds, the avian host or hosts would

S 2

260

in a very short space of time become overloaded with tape-
worms. If it be further asked how the fish in Mr. Simpson's
" find " became so charged with parasites in the larval state,
my answer is that the fish either actually swallowed part
of a dead or dying water-bird charged with mature ligules,
or, what would come to pretty much the same thing in the
end, it must have swallowed one or several mature tape-
worms which were either discharged by the bird, or were
seized whilst still remaining suspended from the avian
host when swimming on the water. In either case the
swallowing of the mature tapeworms would liberate the
ciliated ova or embryophores. From the stomach of the
fish the six-hooked embryos .would bore their way through
the walls of the viscera, and then, having gained access to
the great lateral muscles, they would rest there to undergo
those metamorphoses through which all the tapeworms
pass prior to their passive and final transfer to the body of
the ultimate host. The disease thus produced I have
called ligulosis, whilst the flesh of fish so affected may
in common language be said to be measled, in the same
sense as we employ the term to indicate diseased beef
and pork from analogous causes. The term " cestode tuber-
culosis " suggested by Leuckart, is not I think sufficiently
distinctive ; it is even perhaps misleading.

One of the reasons why many intelligent observers
practically deny the powers of entozoal parasites to
produce epizooty amongst fishes lies in the circumstance
that they do not often find heaps of dead fish lying on
the surface of open waters. They forget how soon, in the
struggle for existence, the weaker members of a shoal are
cut off by the numerous enemies that prey upon them,
whether these be sharks, or porpoises and dolphins, or
again, fish-eating birds. Another circumstance which I am

26l

free to confess is more liable to mislead is the evidence
often presented to us of fish swimming about in apparent
activity whose bodies, nevertheless, contain many scores, or
even in the case of minute entozoa, many hundreds of
thousands of parasites. To my mind, however, this only
proves the truth of a conclusion long ago forced upon me
by evidence. This may be cast in the form of a definite
proposition, as follows : — " Fish can sustain a relatively
greater amount of parasitism than any other animal belong-
ing to the class of vertebrates." That is a proposition
which will, I think, long hold its ground, but in the face of
the facts already adduced it is impossible to deny that,
even in fish, parasites may be sufficiently numerous to
bring about a veritable plague or piscine epizooty.

I quite agree with Professor Huxley that an undue
" fuss " has been made about the nematodes so common in
mackerel, cod, herrings, haddocks, whiting and so forth.
For many years past I have been favoured with letters
on this subject, and I believe that in Denmark such
affected fish are rejected at the markets. On the other
hand I was told the other evening, by Prince Louis
Lucien Bonaparte, that in the Basque provinces filaricz
are actually collected and eaten under the notion that
these parasites are young eels, which have found their way
into the bodies of fish that have thus become as it were
their foster-parents ! It is curious to notice the strange
delusions under which continental peasantry everywhere
labour. I have remarked the same error of interpretation
in England regarding the supposed eel-nature of the
lumbricoid parasites of man and quadrupeds ; but for
one of the most instructive delusions of this order we must
repair to the South of France, where to this day, I believe,
the large entozoa that occasionally sweep off the wolves of

262

the Pyrenees by epizootic disease, are regarded by the
peasantry as serpents. In helminthological circles it is
generally understood, in accordance with the views ori-
ginally promulgated of Kiichenmeister, that the fiery
serpents of Moses were nematode entozoa, or guinea- worms.
It was the lamented Russian traveller, Fedschenko, who
proved that fresh-water Crustacea were the intermediate
bearers of the Dracunculus. The boring or tunnelling
of the Dracunculus is, in itself, not more remarkable than
the boring of certain parasites of fish. I have dissected
several examples of the sun-fish, and I shall never forget
the first monster (Orthagoriscus mo la) which came under
my observation. The huge liver might almost be said
to have formed a mere bag of worms. Hour after
hour I tried to dissect out some of the Tetrarhynchi or
Gymnorhynchi (as Professor Goodsir termed them), but they
were inextricably twisted one within another. To get out
some twenty inches of unbroken strobile was all that could
be done. In another, and quite a young fish, the lateral
muscles were even more infested than the liver itself ; but
judging from what has been recorded by others, this mus-
cular parasitism in the sun-fish is exceptional. Be that
as it may, it is my firm belief that injuries to the vital
organs of fish, such as I have repeatedly witnessed, cannot
be produced without sooner or later involving the destruc-
tion of the host. I am satisfied that it was the enfeebled
condition of one monster sun-fish that led to its easy
capture by the fishermen of the Firth of Forth. Parasites
are constantly present in the sun-fish. I have just received
a letter from Dr. Van Dyck, of Beyrout, stating that he
also has encountered the Tetrarhynchus reptans in this
oceanic monster. I am aware that it was lately announced
in the pages of Land and Water that a recently captured

263

sun-fish, when dissected, displayed no signs of parasitism.
Over and over again it has been my lot to point to evidences
of extensive parasitism in animals where others had pre-
viously denied its existence, and even in cases where
skilful anatomists have been engaged in dissections, I have
witnessed such oversights. These so-called "negative
results," as they supposed them to be, arose partly from a
want of familiarity with the various helminthic types, but
more particularly from the circumstance that the various
organs of the body of the affected hosts were not exhaus-
tively dealt with. In this matter I attach no blame to
any one ; for, had I not by long study and by strange
experiences been brought face to face with the evidences
of diseased conditions resulting from the action of parasites
in all classes of vertebrated life, I should have remained
to this day as sceptical on this subject as others necessarily
are. Fifty years hence the truth of views that are now
commonly rejected will perhaps be accepted not only by
professional persons, but also by scientists and by cultured
persons generally.

DISCUSSION.

Dr. DAY said the meeting must not separate without a
vote of thanks to Dr. Cobbold for his exceedingly interest-
ing paper. They knew that amongst the helminthologists
of Europe, nobody held a higher position, and that for
many years he had been at work on these little animals.
It was exceedingly important to know that Dr. Cobbold
was as good a practitioner in destroying these parasites as
he was in finding them.

264

Professor BROWN GOODE seconded the motion, which
was carried unanimously.

A vote of thanks to the Chairman, moved by Lord
Arthur Russell, and seconded by Mr. John Tremaine,
concluded the proceedings.

THE

FOOD OF FISHES

BY

FRANCIS DAY, F.L.S., F.Z.S.,

DEPUTY SURGEON-GENERAL, AND COMMISSIONER FOR INDIA TO THE
INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION,

VOL. VI.

CONTENTS.

TAGB

PAPER 267

DISCUSSION ......*... 293

CONFERENCE ON THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1883.

Prof. HUXLEY, P.R.S., in the Chair.

THE FOOD OF FISHES.

IN compliance with a request from the Committee to com-
municate a Paper on the Food of Fishes to the Fisheries
Conference, I have thrown together a few notes upon this
vast and interesting but complicated subject. For when
one commences to investigate this question, it is found to
branch off into many directions, and the inquirer has to
consider the locality where the fish reside, whether marine,
estuary, or in the fresh waters, as well as the description of
the food on which it exists. And as researches are pushed
further, it is found necessary to institute an exhaustive
inquiry, not only into the nutriment made use of by each of
these various classes of fishes, but likewise into what is
necessary for the young in their different stages of growth,
and in the same fish as it attains maturity.

When the description of food most suitable to each kind
has been discovered, it becomes desirable to ascertain
what influences there are which tend towards the de-
velopment of this food or else injuriously affect either its
abundance, growth, or distribution. Some valuable forms
of fish depend for their subsistence on food which may be

268

found liable to injury or destruction, and it would mani-
festly be undesirable to cultivate such, if other species,
equally suitable, and which subsist upon food which is prac-
tically inexhaustible in amount are obtainable. And this
leads us to the conclusion that augmenting the number of
fish, unless their food is proportionally increased, or it was
originally in excess of demand, would be an error ; for
neither growth nor health could be present if the fish were
being practically starved. Unless we have ascertained what
nutriment is essential to the various forms of our sea-fishes,
it would seem that we are scarcely in a position to understand
their migrations or to legislate upon their requirements.

When we examine into who there have been in Great
Britain and Ireland that have investigated the question
of the food of fishes, we find but few original observers.
Among these I would especially mention Knox, Goodsir,
W. Thompson, Mclntosh, Dunn of Mevagissey, and Sim of
Aberdeen. But however interesting and instructive isolated
facts may be, and of. these we have many, our fisheries
require exhaustive investigations, such as have been carried
out in the United States and some of the kingdoms of
Europe. Among the last words penned by my old friend
and fellow-student Frank Buckland I find the following :
" We know, moreover, as yet but very little of the food of
these " (sea) " fishes, of what it consists, how, when and
where grown, obtained," &c.

For the purpose of efficiently carrying out this much-
needed inquiry the investigator ought, in the case of marine
fishes, to be, if possible, present when the fish is captured
noting the distance from the shore, the depth of the water,
the temperature, and the nature of the ground over which
he is sailing. And after the species has been secured, it
ought to be correctly determined, and the stomach with its

269

contents at once placed in spirit or other suitable preser-
vative for further microscopic investigation, as, in many
species, decomposition sets in with great rapidity, and all
trace of the more delicate food becomes rapidly destroyed.

Having ascertained what minute forms or other descrip-
tions of life are employed for the nourishment of the fish,
the inquiry branches off into what it is that governs and
controls migration of these forms, as currents, soils, tempe-
rature, atmospheric vicissitudes, or some more minute food
upon which they themselves subsist ; what are their enemies
and their friends, and the conditions which favour the pre-
sence or absence of either class ?

Fishes may for convenience' sake be divided into preda-
cious, omnivorous, and herbivorous species, which necessitate
an organisation suitable for each. Some are rapid swimmers
in order to overtake prey, or escape from their foes ; others,
which obtain their food by means of stratagem, are con-
structed for a slower mode of progression. But, for two
reasons, I must omit the consideration of form; first,
because such are familiar to my hearers, and have represen-
tatives among the collections shown in this Exhibition ;
and secondly, because such would unduly lengthen my
paper. The various descriptions of teeth in fishes are more
or less demonstrative of the great difference which must
exist as to the food they consume : some being prehensile, in
order to assist in capturing and retaining their prey ; others
are more rounded for the purpose of crushing the shells upon
which they mainly subsist In carp the teeth are restricted
to the throat, but the variations are too numerous to enter
upon in this place.

The commencement of the alimentary canal, or the mouth,
is the common receptacle of water passing to the gills for
respiration and food transmitted to the stomach for nutri-

270

tion, while, as might be anticipated, its capacity is large and
variously formed. But the several purposes to which the
mouth is employed, and the means by which such are
effected, it is not my purpose to enter upon at present,
except to remark on the absence of the salivary glands,
which, in some forms, seem to be represented by mucous
follicles that open into the mouth below the side of
the tongue. Also that among the carp-like fish the palate
is very sensitive, exceedingly vascular, while from numerous
small pores mucus of a solvent character exudes, appa-
rently to assist the digestion of food which the pharyngeal
teeth are masticating. The gastric portion consists of an
oesophagus and a stomach, between which a cardiac con-
striction is not so frequently observable as a change in the
structure of lining mucous membrane. In some fishes
there hardly exists any definite line of demarcation between
the lower end of the stomach and the commencement of
the small intestines, but in many a constriction occurs to
this situation, termed the pylorus, which subsequently I shall
have to refer to. Occasionally the stomach is situated
not in the direct course, but to one side, as it were, of
the intestinal canal. A second constriction, marked inter-
nally, by a more or less well-defined internal valve, shows
where the small intestines terminate and the large ones
begin.

If the intestinal canal is slit up and its inner surface
examined, the commencement of the stomach is generally
observed to be defined by increased vascularity and a more
delicate lining membrane than that existing in the oesopha-
gus. Its upper or cardiac orifice is usually larger than its
lower or pyloric one, while the form of the entire organ is
subject to considerable modification, being usually found in
one of the two following divisions : the siphonal, which

27 1

somewhat resembles a bent tube, as seen in the lump-
sucker, flounder, salmon, carp, sturgeon, and most of the
plagiostomes ; and the c&cal, in which it ends in a blind
sac, and the pyloric portion is continued from its right side,
as observed in the perch, gurnard, weevers, John Dory,
whiting, &c. An intermediate or transitional form sometimes
exists, as in the sea-scorpion or the turbot, irrespective of
which certain deviations occur which it is not my purpose
to enlarge upon. The Indian Scicena, erroneously termed
whiting -(Joknius), has the pyloric portion of its stomach
muscular, but this augmented thickness of the muscular
coats may be best perceived in the mullets (Mugit), in
which the cardiac portion is continued downwards into a
blind sac, while the pyloric portion is thickened like the
gizzard of a bird, appearing as a rounded or conical pro-
jection externally, and which when cut into is found to
consist of thick muscular walls, the small cavity remaining
internally being lined with a thick and horny epithelium.
This gizzard-like stomach is evidently employed for grind-
ing up hard food, and it is curious to observe how, when
some freshwater forms select hard substances for their diet,
the coats of their stomachs may likewise become thickened.
Thus in the gillaroo trout we find the ascending or pyloric
portion of the stomach thickened, due to their existing upon
shell molluscs in some of our fresh waters, but which thick-
ening is lost when they become transferred to other loca-
lities, as may be seen in a specimen on the table, which
died last month in our Aquarium, and which was reared by
Mr. Capel from eggs procured in Ireland from the true
gillaroo.

Through the pyloric orifice, partially-digested food reaches
the commencement of the small intestines, and as a rule we
observe that the distance from the pylorus to the vent is

272

shorter in fishes than in most of the higher vertebrata. But
the length of the intestinal tract differs in various classes,
while its lining membrane is by no means of the same de-
scription in all. In the salmon or herring we find the
length of the intestines shorter than that of the body,
but in the former the intestinal lining membrane is raised
into transverse folds, thus increasing the extent of their
secreting surface, which is also further augmented by the
presence of numerous csecal appendages, which I shall
have presently to allude to. In the herring, again, the
caecal appendages are numerous. In other forms we find
the intestines themselves convoluted, thus increasing their
length, and this is well seen among the carps, especi-
ally in such as are herbivorous. In the salmon the folds
of the internal lining of the intestines increase in size, de-
crease in number, and become less oblique as they approach
the rectum, and, as observed by Owen, the commencement
of the large intestine is marked by a large transverse fold
or circular valve, which is succeeded by several others less
produced, and resembling the Valvulce conniventes in the
human jejunum. This large intestine may be straight, att
seen in the sturgeon or chimaera, &c., where the transverse
folds (as observed existing in the salmon) become con-
tinuous, and there is formed an uninterrupted spiral valve,
also present in the sharks, the rays, and their allies, but
which may be modified into transverse coils.

It is thus that in fishes economy of space is effected by
an increase of the secreting and absorbing surface of the
vasculo-mucous membrane lining the intestinal tract,
whether such be merely raised into puckers, or these
puckers be continued into transverse folds, or even form-
ing a circular uninterrupted spiral valve or coil to the large
intestine.

273

An examination into the caecal appendages, also termed
pyloric caeca, and pyloric appendages — what forms possess,
and what are deficient in them — under what circumstances
they vary — and, lastly, what are their functions? have
always appeared to me to be questions respecting which
much still remains to be ascertained. One constantly sees
observations respecting these organs and their importance,
but one rarely finds remarks as to what role they subserve
in the economy of fishes. One author divides species by
the number of appendages they possess. Another tells us
that they may be considered as lateral prolongations of the
intestines, into which food does not enter, and the secretion
which comes from them is similar to that of the intestinal
mucous membrane. Some consider these appendages to
be a modified pancreas, while a very rudimentary form of
this organ has been detected as a minute glandular body,
terminating in a duct, which opens by from one to three
orifices into the intestines, close to the bile duct, but occa-
sionally so closely attached to the latter as to be easily
overlooked. It is seen both in fishes which possess pyloric
appendages, as perch, cod, salmon, sturgeon, and also in
such as are deficient in them, as brama, gar-pike, pike ;
while the sharks and rays are furnished with a reddish-
yellow and lobulated gland, which is more similar to what
is perceived in the higher forms of vertebrate animals. In
short, we may find both a true pancreatic gland and caecal
appendages existing in the same fish.

What are the common appearances of ccecal appendages ?
If we commence our investigations among the osseous
fishes, we see in some one or more small ducts, each ending
externally in a blind extremity ; these either surround the
commencement of the intestine just beyond the pyloric or
lower end of the stomach, or else spring from one of the sides

VOL. VI.— C. T

274

of the first part of the small intestine, along which they may
be continued for some little distance. We find in a single
fish from one to upwards of a hundred of these caecal
appendages, each of which may open by a separate orifice
into the intestinal canal, or two or more conjoining form a
common duct, and thus diminish the number of openings.
In the sword-fish (Xipkias), all the various appendages
conjoin with the common tubes which empty their contents
into the intestines. Passing from the osseous upwards to
the cartilaginous, or semi-cartilaginous fishes of the ganoid
sub-class, we still find this gland present. Thus in the
sturgeon (Acipenser), a mass of areolar tissue binds the
various caeca together, forming it into a parenchymatous
conglomerate gland.

Food, climate, and increased space of water, or all
combined, exercise a modifying influence upon the caecal
appendages of fish ; thus trout in Tasmania, reared from
eggs sent from Hampshire and Buckinghamshire, have
increased largely in size in their new home augmented the
number of their caecal appendages, and are now in most
respects identical in appearance with the Saimo ferox of
our larger lakes.

Respecting our freshwater fishes, their food has been
more closely investigated than has that of our marine
forms, and, for very obvious reasons, the owner of a fishery,
if he takes any interest in its development and success,
watches whether his fishes thrive or deteriorate, and also
endeavours to ascertain to what cause such may be due.
Possibly his fish-ponds may be too full of small and inferior
kinds, which, by devouring the food; leave but an insufficient
supply to the more valuable table sorts. Possibly the food
itself is deficient in quantity or nourishment. But all
these questions fall so naturally to the freshwater fisheries,

275

which have been so elaborately brought before this Con-
ference, while that of salmonidae will doubtless be fully
discussed by Her Majesty's assistant inspector of salmon
fisheries, whose Paper immediately succeeds the one I have
the honour to read before you, that I have purposely
omitted reference to freshwater and anadromous species,
confining my remarks as much as possible to marine forms,
and those most suitable as food for man.

If only by the knowledge of what is required, combined
with care and attention in carrying such out, can the
management of private ponds be made successful by the
fish culturist ; if leaving them to chance, and withdrawing
control, eventuates as completely in their ruin as it would
to leave arable lands to be self-sown, such only leads us
to consider whether, in time, the same want of judicious
management might not have equally disastrous results
upon the fisheries of lakes and rivers, although possibly at
a longer interval of time. Probably among the attractions
which entice inshore some of the more predaceous marine
forms, are fish which have descended rivers to the sea,
where they linger about the estuaries.

Respecting feeding, many forms nearly or entirely
omit doing so at breeding periods, as the salmon,
trout, and anadromous shad, while the herring, more
or less, ceases at these times. On the other hand, pike
and barbel will take food at those times. During the
cold season a cessation of feeding occurs among many
forms of fish. In the East it is curious to observe some
of the sheat-fish, or siluroid family, wherein the male
carries about the eggs in his mouth until they are hatched
(examples of which are in the Indian collection in the
Exhibition). If he fed at these times, the eggs would
certainly be swallowed, but he does not do so, as I have

T 2

276

convinced myself by opening many specimens, in all of
which the intestines were destitute of food.

When a fish is first hatched, we see a large sac depend-
ing from its lower surface, this being the yelk or umbilical
sac, in which nourishment is contained, and sustains the
young for a longer or shorter period. After this food has
been absorbed, the fish culturist frequently finds great
difficulty in procuring suitable nourishment for his young
charges.

Fishes are to a great degree highly voracious ; thus, Dr.
Houston showed in 1847 at the Zoological Society the
skeleton of an angler Lophius piscatorius two and a half
feet long. Inside its stomach was the skeleton of a two-
feet long cod fish, Gadus morkua, within whose stomach
again were contained the skeletons of two whiting, Gadus
merlangus, of the ordinary size, while inside the stomach of
each of these fish lay numerous half-digested bones of
little fishes, which, however, were too small and too com-
minuted for it to be possible to identify the species they
belonged to.

In warm-blooded animals a large amount of food is
necessary in order to produce the high temperature of the
blood, and make up for the wear of the body produced by
constant motion. But in cold-blooded forms a different
condition exists, in them nutriment being mostly employed
for increasing the size of the animal, a much less amount of
food being required to sustain the smaller wear and tear
resulting from the little motion which is often perceived,
especially in fresh-water forms.

In most of the shallow portions of the sea around our
coast are distributed various descriptions of sea weeds.
Should the bottom be rocky we find brown algae (Ftici),
while further out from the tide line are red algae (Floridt).

277

But with increasing depth we observe less vegetation,
or should algae drift to sea they subside to the bottom,
constituting that soft black mud seen in some of our
bays, in which worms, molluscs, crustaceans, and other
marine animals have their home, and find subsistence,
while they in their turn become food for fishes which
rout out and consume them. Professor Mobius, at ninety
to ninety-five fathoms in the Baltic, where the bottom
is formed of plastic clay, found very few worms. In
the Mediterranean, at the south-east of Sicily, where the
bottom consists of yellowish clay, the British exploring
expedition detected no trace of animal life. But in the
southern portions of the North Sea, at from twenty to
twenty-five fathoms, and with a muddy bottom, such is found
to be alive with worms, small Crustacea, snails, molluscs,
echinoderms, and fish, and, as a result, with fish which prey
upon them. Irrespective of the foregoing algae found in the
ocean, there may be microscopic forms so abundant as to
render the surface almost turbid. Diatoms live in every
sea, their remains forming the principal portion of the
finer particles at the bottom, they are swallowed by Pelagic
animals, as salpae, pteropods, &c., which after death subside
in the waters. Likewise all rivers carry organic matter into
the ocean, rendering the bottom rich in food, and a resort
for invertebrate animals, and consequently fish which prey
upon them. Currents which carry plants and small marine
creatures from place to place, must likewise influence,
through food, the migration of fish, for the temperature,
salinity, and currents of the sea exercise a great influence
upon animal and vegetable life.

Although the growth of fishes much depends upon the
suitability and abundance of the food which they are able
to obtain, other causes likewise play an important part. In
some forms, as the turbot, it would appear as if they aug-

278

ment more rapidly in an aquarium when supplied with
suitable nourishment than they do in the open sea. Thus
in the Southport aquarium some about three inches across,
increased in two and a half years to 10 Ib. in weight, and
after two years more they further augmented to 20 Ib., or a
yearly average in amount of 4J Ib. a fish.

In marine fisheries the question of the food upon which
the various forms of fish subsist is of vital importance, as
on it greatly depends whether legislation might be reason-
ably expected to prove useful, superfluous, or mischievous.
Many forms are omnivorous, others carnivorous, and a few
herbivorous. Some, like the sucking fish Remora, attach
themselves to the bodies of whales, sharks, and larger fishes
and so are carried about by their host, upon whom they
do not prey, but simply use him as a means of conveyance,
and these are termed commensals. Others, as the borer
or hag, Myxine glutinosa, is a true parasite, attaching itself
to another fish, into which it bores and devours, sub-
sequently passing on to fresh victims. Some fishes, as the
pilot fish, Naucrates ductor, or the black fish Centrolophus
pompilus, would seem to keep company with whales, sharks,
sun fishes, and other forms, mostly for the purpose of sub-
sisting upon the parasites which infest these larger species,
or to obtain their excrementitious dejections. The lamprey,
besides attacking living fish, likewise prey upon such
as are in an advanced s^age of putrefaction, and many
forms will not only devour the eggs and young of their
neighbours, but likewise those of their own species. In a
sturgeon's stomach Thompson observed several examples
of minute crustaceans (A mphipoda), the remains of shrimp-
like forms, fragments of Porphyra, which had probably been
growing on the sandy bottom of the sea, and a perfect, but
minute Tellina tenuis ; it likewise contained some fine sand,
with which the intestines were wholly filled. The Polyodon

279

folium of the Mississippi is supposed by fishermen to feed
upon the mud and slime at the bottom of the river, but is
found to consume an enormous amount of entomostraca,
while fully one-fourth of its food is composed of vegetable
algae, which are obtained by means of its long and double
row of fine gilt rakers, forming a strainer, which permits the
passage of the fine silt of the river, but arrests everything
else as large as a cyclops. In the New South Wales
section of this Exhibition may be seen the teeth in the jaws
of a shark, Heterodontus galeatus, stained of a pinkish
purple, due to its feeding largely on an Echinoderm common
in Port Jackson, the Centrostephanos rodgersii, which stains
them of that colour. This tempting morsel has spines
about three inches long, and must be a very prickly subject to
swallow. The spines of other Echinoderms, Amplypneustes
ovem and Strongylocentrotus erytherogrammus have also
been found in the intestinal tract of this fish. The torpedo,
or cramp fish, paralyses its victim.

The colours of fish may be dependent upon the food on
which they subsist ; thus Professor Mobius found in the
stomach of some cod large pieces of two marine plants,
ULva lactaca and Zostera marina, irrespective of shells,
snails, crabs, and fishes. These had affected the external
colour of the cod, and thus became indicative of the depths
at which they live ; these variations comprised white, yel-
lowish brown, speckled, green, and black. The same
change of colour, induced by alterations in food, has been
observed at Sir James Gibson Maitland's trout ponds at
Howietown, near Stirling.

Some fishes feed at night-time, others during the day ;
while what is eaten when in captivity is not invariably a
criterion of what they consume when in a state of nature.
Thus in Ireland cod fish and haddock kept in vivaria have

280

been said to prefer boiled potatoes to every other descrip-
tion of food.

For the purpose of illustrating upon what marine fishes
subsist, I have deemed it advisable to select classes which
are most useful to man. The sea fisheries for practical
investigations may have their finny inhabitants (as already
remarked) divided into: (i) such as generally reside in
or near the surface of the sea ; (2) such as swim in
moderate depths or at the bottom, and (3) lastly, those
which are ground feeders. It is evident that unless the
food which all subsist upon is identical, and that such is
found at all the various depths which these different fishes
inhabit, what causes would be injurious to the food
partaken by one class may be perfectly innocuous to
that which the other classes live upon. The whelk,
Buccinum, and the mussel, Mytilus, at the bottom may be
consumed by bottom feeders, but they would not afford
sustenance to herrings which mostly frequent the
upper strata of our seas, where they prey upon small
Crustacea and other forms of food. The ground feeder, as
the sole, turbot, or brill live on what is normally present at
places they frequent ; anything which tends to injure the
various kinds of animal life found at these places must
tend to destroy what would be food for fishes.

The heads for a brief investigation may be divided into
what is the food of the more gregarious kinds of fish, as of
the mackerel, herring, or pilchard, forms which when investi-
gating the subject of their food ought to be kept essentially
distinct from the more sedentary and local residents. And
in tracing this question of food it will be best to proceed
from the more predaceous to the more preyed upon fishes.
Sharks and their allies follow shoals of the herring family,
as I had the opportunity of investigating off the western

28l

coast of India, where on the disappearance for several succes-
sive seasons of the oil sardine, sharks, saw fishes and skates
were absent, while all these forms returned simultaneously.
We see also on our coasts the strong follows the weak, and
preys upon him if a sufficiently dainty morsel.

The mackerel, it has been observed, swim higher or lower
in the water in accordance with atmospheric vicissitudes,
most probably due to the influence of such upon the food
they subsist upon. Thanks to Mr. Dunn, of Mevagissey,
I have had the opportunity of investigating the food con-
sumed by the mackerel at various seasons of the year,
when I was not able to be on the coast : in the summer
and autumn they follow the herring and take heavy toll,
especially during the later months of the year, upon the
britt, which are the fry of those fishes and of the sprat.
About the middle of May along the south coast they are
especially partial to the mackerel midge, which is the young
of rockling (Motelld). They also prey upon small crustacean
forms. In March, 1882, the contents of the stomach of some
of these fishes, sent me from Mevagissey and which had
been captured eight miles from land in over forty fathoms of
water, consisted of small crustaceans Thysanopoda Couchii,
which form was originally procured by Couch in a similar
mamier. In May, 1880, I opened a number from the south-
west coast, all were gorged with ova. In May, 1883, Mr.
Dunn found Mevagissey Bay swarming with entomostraca,
and similar animals were present in the stomachs of the
mackerel and pilchards. These copepods consisted of
Centropages typicus, Kroyer ; Temora longicaudata, Lub-
bock ; Calanus Finmarchicus, Gunner (A. Norman).
Mackerel consume other fish, following the herring and
their young, the fry of the rockling, various forms of
Crustacea, also of ova, and In fact prey upon a large amount

282

of animal food, while it again is pursued by the tunny, the
sharks, dog-fishes, and other forms stronger than itself.

The herring, so valuable to the fishermen of these islands,
is another gregarious form, appearing and disappearing
from some places in a way often inexplicable to the fisher-
men. If, however, an investigation were made, it is pro-
bable that their seemingly eccentric movements may be
caused by the appearance or diminution of some peculiarly
acceptable description of food on which they subsist : this
is generally held to consist of minute shrimp-like crus-
tacea, often of forms belonging to the same division as the
common Cyclops of our fresh waters. But it is also evident
that it feeds upon very varied forms of animal life, and
probably is not particular what it is, providing it can obtain
sufficient. In February, 1882, I found that some sent me
by Mr. Dunn, from Mevagissey, had been feeding upon
annelids : from the same locality in the middle of May
their stomachs were crammed with sand-launces (Ammo-
dytes\ some of which were up to 2\ inches in length, and
as many as nineteen were inside one herring, while the
sand-launces in their turn were full of the remains of
Crustacea. A month later from the same place and cap-
tured about eight miles off shore, the food had again
changed and consisted almost entirely of the young of a
very rare gobioid fish (Crystallogobius Nilssonii), the largest
of which was i^ inches long, there were also a few young
herrings and sand-launces. At the end of May, 1883,
herrings were again found to be gorged with the young of
the C. Nilssonii) a remarkable fact, as only one adult speci-
men of this Scandinavian species has been recorded from
the shores of the British Isles, and that was obtained by
Mr. Edward, of Banff. From whence then do the herrings
follow these little gobies ?

Knox obtained from the stomachs of some herrings from

283

the deep-sea, sand-eels from one, what appeared to be
young herrings from another, and other small fish. Goodsir,
(Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, July 1843), gave
the result of his examination of the maidre or food of the
herring in the Firth of Forth, with which the stomachs
of the fish were found to be filled. Cirripods,' Crustaceans,
and Acalephae were detected, of which crustaceans were in
the largest number, and consisted of masses of Amphipoda
and Entomostraca. Among the Acalepha the different
species of BerocB were seen in the greatest numbers.
While he wrote from Austruther, in 1843, that the herrings
follow the shoals of Entomostraca to prey upon them, for
it is only when the latter make their appearance on this
coast that the former are seen, and when the food is most
plentiful the herrings are in the best condition.

Off Lofoten Sars found the sea swarming with micro-
scopic animals, especially small crustaceans termed "her-
ring food." They were mostly Calanidcs and chiefly
Calanus Finmarchicus and Temora longicornis. This
herring food depends for its existence on lower and smaller
organisms as diatoms, while the slime of Christiania Fiord
chiefly consists of such, and it also largely composes the
slime of the polar seas.

H. Widegren, of Scandinavia, observes that the food of
the young, as well as of the grown herring, consists chiefly
of small crustaceous animals, invisible to the naked eye,
which are found in enormous quantities in the sea, both in
shallow and deep water, and may be detected by straining
water through a cloth. " Their quantity varies at different
seasons, during a change of temperature and at different
depths, and this probably is the reason why these fishes
are taken at different depths, in accordance with temperature
or currents."

284

Mr. G. Sim, of Aberdeen (Edinburgh Prize Essays
Fish Exhibition, 1882), found in the stomachs of those he
examined, the young of their own kind, also of sprats. Of
stalk-eyed Crustacea, examples of Galatkea, Mysis, Thysa-
noessa, Thysanopoda and Acanthocaris, several larval forms
of Brachyurus, some of which were very abundant. Of
sessile-eyed Crustacea, Hyperia, Lestrigonus, and one species
of jEga. Of Entomostraca, Cythere, Temora, and Evadne.
Of the foregoing, Hyperia and a young univalve mollusca,
Sagitta bipunctata^ ? ), Mysis spiritus, and young herrings
and sprats formed the largest portion of their food, the last
two being most abundant from December until May.
From May until October, Temora longicornis is their most
common food, and from December till February, Hyperia
galba and Sagitta bipunctata. The other forms of animal
life, it appeared to him, might be classed as a sort of chance
food, while, although two species of sessile-eyed Crustacea,
Amathilla Sabini and Atylus Swammerdamii, swarmed
along the coast, he never found either in the stomach of
the herring. Mr. Sim points out how similar in external
appearance is the Hyperia galba on which it feeds, to A tylus
Swammerdamiiy which it rejects, and suggests whether
taste or smell may not exercise an influence.

The food of the herring varies in accordance with what
most desirable form exists at the locality which it frequents,
and it devotes its attention to the young of fishes, or of its
own kind, or of the sprat ; the young of the sand launce,
and likewise of a small gobioid along our southern coast.
Stalk-eyed, sessile-eyed Crustacea, and entomostraca,
afford it nourishment, and Acalepha have also been
detected in its stomach. As it appears to exercise selection
in the forms it devours as food, it is probable that it
would follow such to wherever they migrate, as along our

285

coast, or into our bays, unless their progress were checked
by any extraneous causes.

Passing on next to consideration of the fishes which we
possess, belonging to the cod family, what are the chief
characteristics of their food ? They may be found of
surface and littoral forms, and along our coasts at depths
rarely exceeding 1 20 or 150 fathoms, while the common
cod, Gadus morrhuay is noted for its omnivorous appetite.
The cod will consume small fish, or the young of its own
kind, or of any other that they can capture ; but seem to
be especially partial to sand-eels, herrings (which they will
tear out of the nets), and their spawn, and sprats : while
Leach found six dog-fishes inside one of these fish. Crusta-
ceous and testaceous animals also, as is well known to
fishermen, evidently prefer one kind of animal food to
another, being very partial to crabs and whelks, while their
digestion is so powerful that the greater portion of the
shells they swallow are dissolved. Various, indeed, have
been the contents of the stomach of these fishes ; an entire
partridge has been taken from one, a hare from another,
and a black guillemot from a third ; while from two others
have been removed a piece of tallow candle, and a white
turnip, irrespective of a bunch of keys ; stones are frequently
found inside these fish, having been probably swallowed in
order to obtain the corallines which were attached to them,
the stones being subsequently ejected. They will eat almost
any kind of crab, indeed, almost any kind of animal food.
Dr. M'Intosh obtained the following food from cod-fishes
captured at St. Andrews.

A zoophyte, Thelepus Lima Loscombii, G. B. Sowerby ;
Mediolaria nigra, Gray ; Crenella decussata, Mont. ; Nucula
nucleus, Linn. ; N. nitida, G. B. Sowerby ; Circe minima,
Mont. ; Scrobicularia prismatica, Mont. ; 5. alba, M tiller ;

286

Solen pellucidus, Pennant ; Chiton cinereus, Linn. ; Trochiis
tumidus, Mont. ; Turritella terebra, Linn., a favourite food
probably in many cases on account of its tenant, the hermit
crab ; Trichotropis borealis, Brod. and Sowerby (i ex.) ;
Trophon truncatus, Strom. ; Pleurotoma Trevelyana, Turton ;
Philine scabra, M tiller ; Tritonia Hombergi, Cuv. (occa-
sional); Loligo vulgar is, Lamarck ; Eledone cirrosa, Lamarck ;
Amphiura Chiajii, Forbes; Ophiopholis aculeata, O. F.
Mull. ; Echinoscyamus angulosus, Leach ; Cucumaria Hynd-
manni, Thomp. ; Thyone fusus, O. J. Mull. ; Thyonidium
Dubeni, Norman ; 71 commune, Forbes and Goodm. (i ex.) ;
Priapulus caudatus, Lam. ; Aphrodita aculeata, Linn. ;
Lepidonotus squamatus, Linn. ; Enipo Kinbergi, Mgrn.
(occasional) ; Sthenelais limicola, Ehlers ; Sigalion Ma-
thilda, M. Ed. ; Nephthys cceca, Fab. ; N. Hombergii, And.
and M. Ed. ; N. Johnstonii, M'Int. ; Phyllodoce grcenlandtca,
^Erst ; P. laminosa, Sav. ; Alitta virens, Sars. ; Lumbri-
conereis Lamentiana, Grube ; Goniada maculata, ^Erst. ;
Glycera capitata, ^Erst. ; G. Goesii, Mgrn. ; Ophelia limacina,
H. Bath ; Terebellides Strcemii, Sars ; Sabella pavonia, Sav.
Among Crustacea, Hyale Nilssoni, H. Rath; Anonyx Hol-
bb'llii, Kroy ; Ampelisca carinata, Bruz. ; A. Belliana, Bate ;
Dexamine spinosa, Mont. ; A tylus Swammerdamii^ M. Ed. ;
Gammarus marinus, Leach ; G. locusta, Linn. ; Caprella
tuberculata, Guerin ; Eurydice pulchra, Leach; Arcturtis
longicornis, Sow. ; Idotea tricuspidata, Desm. ; Diastylis
Rathkii, Kroy ; Palamon squilla, Linn. ; Pandalus annuli-
cornis, Leach ; Nephrops Norvegicus, Linn. ; Gebia deltura,
Leach ; GalatJiea strigosa, Linn. ; G. squamifera, Mont. ;
G. dispersa, Bate ; Ebralia tuberosa, Penn. ; Hyas araneus,
Linn. ; H. coarctatus, Linn. ; Portunus depurator, Linn. ;
P. holsatus, Fab. ; Atelecyclus septemdentatus, Mont.

Haddocks likewise feed near the ground, and, for their

size, are as voracious as the cod; their food varies in
accordance with the locality inhabited. They consume
herrings, sprats, and other small fish during the warmer
portion of the year, and in the winter are found to swallow
stone-coated worms, Serpulce, which the fishermen term
haddock meat ; while they will also consume shell-fish and
take bait similar to those used for the cod. Dr. Mclntosh
obtained the following from examples of this fish captured
at St. Andrews : — Pecten tigrinus, O. F. M tiller ; P. similis,
Laskey ; Creuella decussata, Mont. ; Nucula nucleus. Linn. ;
N. nitida, G. B. Sowerby ; Circe minima, Mont. ; Tellina
pusilla, Phillipi ; Scrobicularia prismatica, Mont. ; 6". alba,
Miiller ; Solen pellucidus, Pennant ; Chiton cinereus,
Pennant ; Trochus tumidus, Mont. ; Trophon truncatus,
Strom. ; Pleurotoma Trevelyana, Turton ; Philine scabra,
Miiller; Eledone cirrosa, Lamarck; A mphiura filiformis,
A. O. Miiller (rare) ; A. Chiajii, Forbes ; Ophiura albida,
Forbes ; Echinoscyamus angulosus, Leach ; Cucumaria
Hyndmanni, Thomp. ; Thyone fu sus, O. F. Mull.; Thyoni-
dium Dubeni, Norman ; Priapulus caudatus, Lam. ; Aphro-
dita aculeata, Linn. ; Lepidonotus squamatus, Linn. ; Enipo
Kinbergi, Mgrn. (occasional) ; Travisia Forbesii, Johnst ;
Scalibregma inflata, Ball ; Sthenelais limicola, Ehlers ;
Sigalion Mathilda, M. Ed. ; Nephthys caca, Fabr. ; N.
Hombergii, And. and M. Ed. ; N. Johnstoni, M'Intosh ;
Phyllodoce grosnlandica, ^Erst. ; P. laminosa, Sav. ; Lum-
briconereis fragilis, O. E. Mull. ; L. Lamentiana, Grube ;
Onuplus tubicola, O. F. Mull. ; Goniada maculata, ^Erst. ;
Glycera capitata, ^Erst. ; G. Goesii, Mgrn. ; Ammotrypane
aulogaster, H. Rathke (occasional) ; Ophelia limacina,
H. Rath. ; Eumenia crassa, ^Erst. ; Chceloptertis Norvegicus,
Sars ; Maldane biceps, Sars ; Terebellides Strosmii, Sars.
Among Crustacea, Lysianassa atlantica,M.. Edw. ; Anonyx

288

Holbollii) Kroy. ; Callisoma crenata, Bate ; A inpelisca cari-
nata, Bruz. ; A . Belliana, Bate ; A mathilla Sabini^ Leach ;
Gammarus locusta, Linn. ; Caprella tuberculata, Guerin ;
Cirolana spinipes, M. Ed. ; Eurydice pulchra. Leach ;
A returns longicornis, Sow. ; A . gracilis, H. Goods. ; Idotea
tricuspidata, Desm. ; Diastylis Rathkii, Kroyer ,* Pandalus
annulicornis, Leach ; Hippolyte varians, Leach ; H. spinus,
Sow. ; Gebia deltura, Leach ; Galathea strigosa^ Linn. ;
G. dispersa, Bate ; Pagurus Icevis, Thomp. ; Ebralia
Cranchii) Leach ; Hyas coarctatus^ Leach ; Portunus
holsatus. Fab. ; P. pusillus. Leach.

These are forms in which the destruction of shell fish
and Crustacea means the deprivation to the cod family of
a portion at least of their food ; and, unless that food had
previously been largely in excess, much destruction must
eventuate in either a decrease in the quantity of nourish-
ment for each individual fish, which would probably cause
them to become inferior in quality ; or else it would have
to be met by a decrease in the number of fish residing in a
given space of water.

The last class I shall refer to are ground fish, Pleuro-
nectidce, as halibut, turbot, brill, soles, plaice, and other
marine kinds, the food of which varies widely from that
which is consumed by the gregarious surface swimmers, or
the more omnivorous midwater forms. Destitute of an air-
bladder, and generally with mouths comparatively smaller
than exists in the more predaceous members of the cod
family, we find them essentially ground feeders. Their
diet consists of almost any invertebrate form, by them shell-
fish and Crustacea are largely consumed, as are also small
fish and fish-eggs. Dr. M'Intosh, at St. Andrews, obtained
the following varieties of food from flounders captured
there : — Pecten tigrinus, O. J. M tiller ; P. similis, Laskey ;

289

Circe minima, Mont. ; Tellina pusilla, Phillip! ; Chiton
cinereus. Pennant ; Trophon truncatus, Strom ; Philine
scabra, Miiller, and P. pruinosa, Clarke (rare) ; Sepiola
Rondeletii^ Leach (i ex.) ; Echinoscyamus angulosus, Leach ;
Sthenelais limicola, Ehlers \Lumbriconereisfragilis, O. Mull.; ,
Glycera Goesii, Mgrn. Among Crustacea, Hyale Nilssoni, H.
Rath.; Ampelisca Belliana, Bate ; Arcturus longicornis, Sow. ;
Idotea tricuspidata, Desm. ; Diastylis Rathkii, Kroyer ;
Hippolyte securifrons, Norm. ; Galathea dispersa, Bate ;
Hyas coarctatus, Leach ; Portunus pusillus, Leach.

Around our coast, whether correctly asserted or not so,
still fishermen appear to believe that our inshore fisheries
are being depleted, and only last week the following
remarks in the Field appeared from the pen of Mr. Barber,
of Mevagissey : — " Long-line fishing all along our coasts is
now in the ascendant, and the system of fishing with hand-
lines is gradually becoming obsolete ; but although a larger
amount of fish is being caught than under the old system,
it is evidently a most destructive method, as a great many
fish which get hooked, in the death-agony twist themselves
off the line with the hooks attached, and must evidently
waste and die to no purpose. We believe the time is fast
approaching when this system of fishing will exterminate
all the conger-eels, cod, ling, ray, and skate within twenty
miles of our coast, as now, to be successful, the boats have
to proceed at least double that distance from shore, which
seems a striking contrast when compared with the heavy
hauls which were made some ten years since by hand-lines
at a distance varying from five to ten miles off, where now
scarcely any fish of the description mentioned are to be
caught."

I must now bring to a conclusion this most imperfect
sketch of the food of our fishes, a subject which, were it

VOL. vi.— c. u

290

fully worked out, would furnish materials for volumes
instead of pages. I have been forced to restrict myself to
the consideration of a few carnivorous, omnivorous, and
vegetable feeders as typical of what takes place in the vast
community of the finny tribes. I have attempted to
demonstrate that inshore fisheries, as of the haddock and
its allies, may be depleted, owing to the destruction of the
food on which those fish subsist, and which may have little
or no connection with the food which is eaten by gregarious
kinds, as the mackerel and herring, which appear at
certain seasons off our shores in enormous numbers. It
cannot be too strongly impressed upon those who do not
personally search for their information in the homes of the
fish, that although in some points injuring one set of
fisheries may react upon another, still one class may be
depopulated while another is but slightly affected. To
argue that because large numbers of herring and mackerel
are brought to market therefore all our sea fisheries must
be in an eminently satisfactory state, is about as conclusive
as to suppose that because sea-birds are abundant no pro-
tection is necessary for those living on the land.

While I cannot resist holding the belief that not only is
the destruction of certain forms of fish food possible by
man, I think it is proved that such occurs, thus starving
fisheries. The following instance may be adduced to show
how their food producers have become impoverished. In
some localities the mussel beds have been thrown open
without restriction to every comer, and at most of such
places this fish food has almost disappeared, in the
remainder it is hastening to decay.

I am as averse to legislating upon fisheries without due
inquiry being instituted into all their conditions as any one
can be, but I cannot help thinking that one of the mem-

291

bers of this Conference offered us a sound and well-
needed warning, when he said he was equally averse to sea
fishery laws which had existed for centuries being summarily
abolished without, as it appeared to him, a due investigation
and exhaustive inquiry having been first made into the
true condition of the fisheries, fishermen, and all connected
therewith.

Whilst experience would seem to point out that we
must either give protection to our fishes, or replace in our
waters by artificial means a number sufficient to keep up
the supply. We may be doing an injury in our endeavour
to effect good, for suppose no soles below a certain size were
permitted to be captured, the useless little sole, Solea
minuta, which rarely exceeds 3j inches in length, would
escape destruction. By preserving it we may be protecting
a form which consumes the identical food as its relative
the more valuable common sole (S. vuigaris), and in this
manner permit it to devour what would otherwise form the
food of its more valuable relative. In fact, we see the
boar fish (Caprosaper) first recorded as British in 1825, and
considered useless as food, has now become so abundant in
places as to prove a perfect pest ; the trawlers along the
south-west coast having been obliged to change their
ground in order to get out of their way. Such immense
numbers sometimes obtain entrance into the trawl, that
holes have to be cut in order to allow them to escape,
as it has been found almost impossible to lift such a
bulk on deck without carrying away the gear.

One argument adduced against legislating in fisheries
hardly coincides with the lessons we learn when investi-
gating the food of the finny tribes. We are told that legis-
lation would be interfering with the " balance of nature,"
which if left alone would surely eventuate in the " survival of

U 2

292

the fittest." Such an argument cannot hold good respect-
ing fresh-water fisheries in populated districts, where man,
unchecked by wholesome restrictions, not only can, but
does, ruin fisheries. Can it be advanced that the balance
of nature is left unchanged when man commences to nsh
the sea with the sole desire to obtain all he is able ? This
cannot be, for in the open waters he kills his millions of
mackerel and herring which he requires as food, but he
takes little or no notice of the sharks and dog-fishes which
prey upon them, and are left to multiply, protection being
practically obtained by them due to the little use their
bodies are to man. Is not this mode of fishing destroying
the balance which I hold exists wherever nature and
nature's works are left entirely to nature's laws, unaltered
by the advent of predaceous man, but his rapacity at once
changes the normal conditions. Many of us must have
been struck by the instance adduced a short time since by
S:r Lyon Playfair, who, while arguing against regulating
fisheries, observed that we cannot alter the balance of
nature without causing mischief. He informed us that it
was within the sphere of his personal knowledge on the
west coast of Scotland, where fishermen for some cause
were not plying their occupation, that predaceous fishes
were depleting the breeding beds of the herring. Here
leaving the balance of nature to itself appears (according to
Sir L. Playfair's views) to have resulted in a loss to the
fisheries, but he argued that the fishermen should be per-
mitted to catch fishes all the year round. In fact, he
obtained, as a result of his observation, a regulation that
herrings ought not to be left alone at the breeding season,
and consequently they were fished subsequently at this time
of the year with the most favourable results. If facts and
results were as given, one would have imagined this advent

293

of man on the scene would have been an interference with
nature, but we are on the contrary assured that unaided
nature, unable to maintain the requisite balance, had to be
assisted by the fisherman, and then, and not until then, all
went well.

Gulls and sea-birds which prey upon herrings are pro-
tected by law ; the young herrings have now no protection,
but are being consumed wholesale in our land, and no young
are being raised by man's artificial means to replace the de-
struction caused by man. Our inshore fisheries are being
depleted, is the assertion around our coasts ; and whether
this is due to absence of food or immoderate destruction
of immature fish has still to be ascertained by a judicious
investigation carried out as in the United States. Without
giving any opinion on the cause of this depletion, I would
suggest that instead of raising a cry against the price of
fish, a more probable road for inquiry would be into the
state of our sea fisheries, and whether by any, and, if so by
what, restrictions, or by what means, they can be restored
to their original abundance, and afford a cheap and whole-
some food to the teeming millions of these isles.

DISCUSSION.

Professor BROWN GOODE moved a vote of thanks to Dr.
Day for the very interesting and satisfactory paper he had
read, which he had no hesitation in saying was the most
philosophic and comprehensive treatise on the subject which
had yet been prepared. He had referred to the studies which
had been made in the United States on the food of fishes, and
on the circumstances which surround fish in their natural
homes. He might say from the beginning of the organiza-
tion of the United States Commission, ten years ago, no

294

subject had commanded more attention than this, because
if there were no food there would be no fish, and if the fish
which preyed on the useful fishes increased in number
sufficiently it was quite evident that man had an evil to
contend with in the capture of those useful fishes whom he
could not hope to equal in any way. The food of fish was
of great importance both to the fishermen and to the fish
culturist. The fisherman by his careful observation of the
habits of fish was able to pursue them to much better
advantage. He had seen a great -deal of fishermen for the
last ten years, and many of them were natural observers of
great ability. They waited the appearance of the schools
of swarming crabs and shrimps, and other little fish on
which the large fish preyed, and by the study of these
animals shaped the course of their vessels and selected
their fishing grounds, and not only so, but selected their
bait also. A skilful fisherman always tried to give the fish
he was trying to catch a bait corresponding to that they
were feeding on naturally at the time. At the cod fishery
of Labrador the bait used was almost entirely caplin,
because at that time the cod would take hardly any other
bait. On the coast of Norway the same thing occurred ;
but when they went on the Grand Banks to fish they used
herring because herring was schooling there in great
abundance and the cod would not take anything else. In
the winter when fishing off the coast of New England they
knew the fish were feeding at the bottom and so they used
clams, which were consumed by hundreds of thousands of
barrels, the herrings being then almost of no use at all.
In this particular region where this fishery of clams was
carried on there were acres and acres almost square miles
at the bottom covered with beds of clam shells ; they were
packed like little nests of Japanese wooden trays, and

295

evidently the cod fish had swallowed the clams five and six
at the time, digested off the contents, and the shells had
been piled up in this way in their stomachs for compact-
ness of stowage and ejected. These clam-shells had been
picked up by 100 bushels at the time ; but the fishermen
also watched the food of the mackerel, and followed them
along the coast very largely in advance of their movements.
This was principally crustaceae. They followed the crus-
taceae along the coast, not so much by seeing it, because it
was too small to be readily seen, but by watching small
birds, sea geese as they called them, which fed on these
crustacese, whenever they noticed them they knew that if
they set their bait for mackerel they would be likely to be
successful. An interesting point which arose from the
observations of fishermen was the relation which different
kinds of fish had to each other, and the changes in the
distribution of different species depending on this question of
food. About twenty years ago mackerel was very abundant
in Massachusetts Bay, but suddenly there appeared great
shoals of blue fish, fish of, say, 16 to 20 Ibs., exceedingly
predaceous, which destroyed all other fish in great numbers.
That fish which had been absent from the coast for many
years made its appearance suddenly round Cape Cod, and
before this the mackerel vanished, and the mackerel fishery
decreased exceedingly ; but at the same time there was a
corresponding increase in the lobster fishery. No one
knew what to make of it until a very acute old fisherman,
Captain Attwood, went to work and studied the subject,
and he demonstrated pretty plainly that the absence of the
mackerel had had the effect of increasing the number of
lobsters, because the mackerel were in the habit of feeding
on lobster eggs. The blue fish destroyed the mackerel,
and that gave the lobsters a chance to breed. Now the

296

mackerel had come back in great numbers and the balance
was more nearly established. Another thing showing
the great importance to fishermen of the food of fish
was this, that the Menhaden herring, and certain other
fish fed on the larvae, and young shell-fish, crusta-
ceans, which had the peculiar property of heating, as the
fishermen said, in their stomachs after it had been caught, so
that it was exceedingly difficult to keep them long enough
to cure them. In Salem Harbour, where this heating food
was particularly abundant, it was the practice of fishermen
to pen up the fish for a short time in the nets in order
to allow the food to digest before they attempted to
cure them. He believed the same thing was practised by
Swedish fishermen in the case of the herring. He had
mentioned in the Paper he read a few days ago, the
circumstance of the change in the habits of the Menhaden
herring on the American coast. This was a fish of the
utmost importance, some three thousand or four thousand
fishing vessels being employed in this fishery, and perhaps
a capital of two and a half million dollars. In 1878,
for some inscrutable reason, the Menhaden herring disap-
peared ; he had no doubt it was due to a change of tem-
perature, though it was not quite clearly established, and
there was a corresponding decrease in the yield of the fishe-
ries. The fish on the coast of Maine were very fat, owing
to the fact that they had great sounds to feed in where
they could sink down to the bottom and fill their stomachs
with the rich bottom ooze; and the fish taken in that
region would yield six gallons of oil to one hundred fish.
When the temperature barrier excluded them from the
Gulf of Maine the fisheries were carried farther down the
coast, but it was found that the amount of oil decreased
considerably, and the value of the fisheries fell off proper-

297

tionately. Now within a few days he had received infor-
mation from two sources that this fish were coming back
to the Gulf of Maine in very large numbers ; and the fact
that they were coming back where they could get food
suitable to yield this large amount of oil would be of great
importance to the American fishermen, and would no doubt
increase the value of their take to something like a million
dollars annually.

Professor HuBRECHT, in seconding the vote of thanks,
said the question of the food of fishes was of the greatest
importance, and at the same time the investigations re-
quired were difficult and complicated. It would be
gathered from the Paper that it was not so much from
kindly attention towards the fish that their appetites were
so much considered, but more in order to increase if pos-
sible the number, or at least to keep up as far as possible
the stock of those useful to man ; so that, after all, this
inquiry into their food was of rather a selfish character.
This was not a very flattering reflection, but still, on the
other hand, they might be consoled by remembering that
they had also heard from Dr. Day that fishes not only
ate their fellows, but also their relatives and even offspring,
and therefore it might be considered that when a few fish
were caught for the use of man, it would save a great
number of others from destruction.

Dr. SPENCER COBBOLD thought it would be a pity that
the audience should disperse without some further remarks
on this extremely valuable Paper. It had so many bear-
ings, not only those which had been so well spoken of
by Professor Goode, but also others which would not be so
apparent to a general audience. It would not escape
notice that in this Paper it had been stated that small

298

crustacese — entomostraca and their allies — formed in many
cases the principal basis of the food of fish. Now it so
happened that it was these small creatures, when swal-
lowed, performed a function quite apart from that of the
nutrition of the fish which swallowed them. There was, he
took it, not a single marine or fresh-water crustacean of
small size which was not liable itself to entertain or har-
bour parasites, which must occur in innumerable quantities ;
but it so happened that all the known parasites, of which
there were many thousands, which were obtained from the
bodies of fish, gained their entrance to the said fish through
food, and that this food was, in nine cases out of ten, if
not in ninety-nine out of one hundred, small animals. So
curious was this subject, that one single statement of the
results of experiment would prove its interest much more
than any attempt to grasp a subject of such infinite
intricacy.

Professor LEICHEART was anxious to find the cause of
parasitism in the salmonidae. They had in the salmon and
trout family a group of parasites with the queer name of
Echinorhynchi. By experimenting with gameri, he had
actually succeeded in rearing with gameri in tanks, in an
aquarium, the eggs of parasites which had come from the
trout. He had fed these crustaceans with the germs which
had come from the salmon and trout family, to such an
extent that they actually succumbed from over-infection.
There was here, therefore, an instance throwing a clear
light on the means of infection of those fishes which formed
that family. Now, what obtained in that case obtained in
myriads of others, and it would be his business in the
communication he had shortly to read, to set forth, in more
clear and emphatic terms than he was able to do in those
cursory observations, data on which the importance of this

299

subject in relation to the death and disease of fishes was
based.

The CHAIRMAN, in putting the resolution, said he would
make but two remarks : first to remind the audience of what
Dr. Day had said, that the great majority of fish were
carnivorous animals, feeding either on other fish, or on
other marine animals of various kinds — he was speak-
ing particularly of marine fish — so that they might be
tempted to parody Peter Pindar's lines, and say that these
fish have other fish to bite, and those fish other fish, ad
infinitum ; but that was not quite true, because in the long
run you were brought down to the vegetable world, and
probably the whole of the predaceous population of the sea
depended ultimately upon those microscopic organisms
known as diatomacese, which in the ultimate resort were
the source of the greater portion of the protein compounds
on which all animals had to live. It was a wonderful
thing, if one considered the abundance of life in the Arctic
Ocean, the prodigious quantities of carnivorous animals of
all sorts which inhabited those seas — if you traced them step
by step, the grampus feeding on the fish, the fish on the
crustacean or on the mollusc, and the mollusc probably on
some crustacean, or still smaller animals, but in the long
run the ultimate store of food for all was in the prodigious
quantity of diatomaceae which occurred on the surface of
the ocean, and by the help of some fish converted oxygen
and ammoniacal substance into living beings. The only
other point he would refer to, was the admirable principle
Dr. Day had laid down, that before you abolished laws
you should carefully inquire into their foundations. That
was perfectly true : whether you were making laws or
abolishing them, you should be very sure what you were

about ; in fact, that was the basis of the great rule of
common sense, never to act unless you knew what you
were about, which was accepted by most persons in their
senses, and if that rule had universal acceptance in fishery
matters, he for one should not have had to offer so many
criticisms as he had occasionally had to do.
The vote of thanks was carried unanimously.

MOLLUSCS, MUSSELS, WHELKS, ETC.,

USED FOR FOOD OR BAIT.

BY

CHARLES W. HARDING,

ASSOC.-M. INST. C. E.

VOL. VI.— C.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

WHELKS ..... . .303

MUSSELS .... . • 3°4

MUSSEL CULTURE .... .312

DISCUSSION 3l6

CONFERENCE ON THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 1883.

THE Chair was taken at 2 o'clock by Mr. TYSSEN-
AMHERST, M.P., who briefly introduced Mr. CHARLES
HARDING, of King's Lynn, to the Congress.

MOLLUSCS, MUSSELS, WHELKS, ETC.,
USED FOR FOOD OR BAIT.

Whelks. — The Lynn fishery supplies about 20,000 bags,
or 1,250 tons of Whelks a year, nearly all of which are used
for human food. The average amount paid for them before
the expense of boiling and carriage is about £ 10,000.

Whelks are caught in whelk-pots, which are small round
baskets about I foot in diameter, with a hole in the top,
through which the Whelk crawls, and is unable to return.
These pots are sunk in from 5 to 30 fathoms of water, and
baited with Crabs, Haddocks, and other fish.

The following places are the principal sources of supply :
— Saltfleet, about 20 miles from Grimsby; Sherringham,
by Cromer ; Lynn Deeps, Docking Channel, Blakeney
Coast, Wells, Boston Deeps, Brancaster, Thornham, and
Hunstanton.

The Great Grimsby fishery supplies about 1 50,000 wash
of Whelks annually. A wash contains 21 quarts and a
pint, and the average price for the season would run about
3^. a wash, or a total of £22,500.

It is supposed that out of the 1 50,000 wash caught, not
more than 6,000 wash are eaten ; the other 144,000 are used
for bait by vessels engaged in catching Cod, Ling, and
Haddocks, each vessel using on an average voyage 45 wash,
which in fine weather they would use in four days. The
Grimsby smacks engaged in catching Whelks are fitted
with wells, -into which the Whelks are put after being first
placed in nets ; by this means they are kept alive, as they
are almost useless for bait when dead.

The vessels used in catching Whelks are from 15 to 30
tons register, and some of the better ones cost from £600
to £700 each.

Most of the Whelks caught by Lynn smacks are sent to
London for human food.

The edible Whelk is considered a very nutritious and
strengthening food, and is always free from poisonous
matter. I have heard fishermen say that a dish of Whelks
does them as much good as a beefsteak.

I am indebted to Mr. D. Barnard, of Lynn, and Mr.
W. G. Marshall, of Great Grimsby, for the above statistics
concerning the Whelk.

I consider the only legislation necessary for the protec-
tion of Whelks is that the fishermen should return to the
sea all Whelks less than if inch in length.

Mussels. — The most important mollusc, both for food
and bait, is the Mussel.

In British waters, spatting usually takes place in the
spring, and does not appear to be at all dependent on
warm weather. On December /th, 1877, I examined some
of the embryo taken from a spatting Mussel with a micro-
scope, and found it to have a reddish appearance, and
about the five-hundredth part of an inch in diameter. It
would not polarize, so I conclude the shell was not formed.

305

On the 1 2th December, 1879, I found large quantities of
Mussels to contain similar embryos, the weather at the
time being very severe. On December 3rd, 1880, I found
the same. The winters of 1879-80 and 1880-1 were excep-
tionally cold, so that it appears they are not dependent on
" heat and tranquillity " for their proper development.

On the 25th of May, 1879, after a very severe winter of
about nine weeks' continuous frost, I found on one of the
beds under my charge several acres of brood Mussels,
about the tenth of an inch in length. In the spring of the
year 1879, and the spring of 1880, overwhelming quantities
of brood were found on the scalps on the east coast of
England, which might be measured by hundreds of acres.
There has not been a fall of spat since.

I found a few Mussels containing spat this year as late
as the 3rd June ; they appear to spat every year, but the
spat does not always attach itself to the beds. It is
probably carried away by the tides.

Where Mussel brood is found in thick and dense masses,
they will be three years before they are what is called
sizeable, that is, two inches in length ; but instances are
found near low-water mark where a few have become
isolated, and have grown much more rapidly.

I do not think that Mussels will spat, or rather that the
spat will mature, in partially-salt water. The only places
where I have ever seen any young brood is where the water
has the same degree of saltness as the outside sea, which
on the east coast of England has a density of about IO26J ;
distilled water being 1000. Although it appears that salt
water is necessary at their birth, brackish water is better
adapted for fattening and growing, provided they are
covered with the tide at high water. I find by experience
that the most suitable degree of saltness of the water for
VOL. VI. — C. X

fattening purposes is where the density of the water is
about 1014. This likewise applies to the fattening of
Oysters.

To save the bulk of the spat when free is the great
object of Mussel culture ; therefore it is imperative to have
the ground of the natural sea bed as free from sand, weeds,
and mud as possible, so that the young may have some
clean hard substance to which it can attach itself. Ascidians
and sponges are very destructive to the young Mussel, as
they cover the culch, which would otherwise be favourable
for their attachment.

Mussels have a great many natural enemies, amongst
which may be mentioned the Star-fish or Five-finger, the
Dog-whelk (Purpura lapillus), the Sea Urchin or Echinus,
sea birds, Danish crows, and sometimes rats ; but Star-fish
deal the most wholesale destruction. I have known ten
acres of a thickly-covered scalp to be almost denuded in a
fortnight Last summer I had carted from beds under my
control between two and three hundred tons of this fish.
The Star-fish will always attack small Mussels in prefer-
ence to those of larger growth. It first grasps the Mussel
with its five fingers, and when it opens slightly to breathe
and feed, it inserts its stomach, or part of it, into the body
of the Mussel, when I believe digestion commences, and
the Mussel dies and opens its shell, and the Star-fish with-
draws its stomach with the meat of the Mussel. This
operation I have seen performed in all its stages thousands
of times, upon Oysters, Mussels, and Cockles.

The Dog-whelk bores a hole in the shell of the Mussel,
about the size of a small pin-head, and destroys it.

The Sea Urchin also bores a hole in the shell of the
Mussel, but much larger than the Dog-whelk, the hole
being about the size of a sixpence. This very rarely

307

occurs. I have only seen three instances, and that on
large Mussels near low- water mark.

Sea birds, Danish crows, and rats break the shell and
devour the Mussel.

I consider the best and only way that existing natural
Mussel beds can be properly cultivated and protected, is to
make them the actual property of some one. If they are
allowed to be fished indiscriminately, they will quickly
become exhausted, as has been the case with hundreds of
natural scalps on the coast.

Fifty years ago Mussels were very prolific on the East
Coast of England, and almost every small harbour had its
natural scalp outside, which fed the "lays" or fattening
grounds inside, to the great profit of the owners of such
lays. About that period some ill-starred individual dis-
covered they were valuable for manure, when commenced
a raid on the scalps, which is the origin of their present
downfall. I can remember, as a boy, seeing hundreds and
thousands of tons brought to land and sold to the farmers
for manure, at three-halfpence a bushel.

An Act was passed by Parliament in 1868, called " The
Sea Fisheries Act, 1868," which enables the Board of Trade
to grant provisional orders to corporations and private indi-
viduals to regulate Oyster and Mussel fisheries ; but the
result, so far, has been very unsatisfactory. The reports
of Mr. H. Cholmondeley Pennell, and Mr. W. E. Hall, two
of the Inspectors of Fisheries, on the Oyster and Mussel
fisheries, at eighteen different stations, show the beds to be
worked in a very unsatisfactory manner.

Mr. Hall reports in 1877, that the Boston Corporation
undertook to regulate the fishing in Boston Deeps in the
year 1870, so as to maintain the supply. The Oyster beds,
he states, remain in the state of denudation which chaiac-

X 2

308

terised them in 1869. The supply of Mussels, however,
seems to be rapidly diminishing, irom the persistent
poaching of the fishermen, and from want of power 01
the Corporation under their "order" to close a sufficient
portion 01 the ground every year. A similar " order " was
granted to the Corporation of King's Lynn, in 1872. Mr.
Hall reports on this "order" that the Corporation system
of management in regard to Mussels is dangerous to the
permanent welfare of the fishery ; whilst as regards Oysters,
the order is not carried into effect.

Under clause 4 of the order, the Corporation is com-
pelled to keep open ior fishing two-thirds of the area o:
the Oyster and Mussel beds, thus leaving a large pro-
portion of the whole in a great measure at the mercy o(
the fishermen ; and Mr. Hall justly points out the danger
the Mussel beds of the Wash are necessarily exposed to
from this provision.

When a Mussel bed is opened by either of the above-
mentioned Corporations, a day is fixed, and duly adver-
tised, and at 12 o'clock at night, scores of boats commence
taking the Mussels, some by tons, and some only by a few.
bushels. The next day the markets are glutted with small
Mussels, and in some instances I have known them to be
unsaleable. Even at the best they only make very small
prices ; whereas, if they had been gradually sent to the
various markets, good prices would have been made.

I am the lessee of about eleven miles of sea-beach on the
Norfolk Coast, belonging to Hamon Le Strange, Esq., whose
title to the proprietary right descends from a grant made
in the eleventh century by William II. to William d' Albini,
his butler.

The fishing on this beach consists of Mussels, Cockle
Clams, Winkles, and a few Oysters.

309

When I hired the fishing, eight years ago, there was not
one ton of Mussels on the whole eleven miles. I appointed
watchers, enforced a close time, cleaned the ground, and
endeavoured to keep off poachers, but with very indifferent
success. Mr. Le Strange, in 1879, applied to the Board of
Trade for the grant of an order for the establishment and
maintenance of a joint Oyster and Mussel fishery, under
the powers of "The Sea Fisheries Act, 1868," so as to
provide a better protection for the fishery. The Board of
Trade sent an inspector down to hold an enquiry as to the
proposed order, and in June this year the order received
the Royal assent, rather more than four years after the
first application, at a cost of several hundred pounds,
owing to the Board of Trade refusing to define the
boundary of an adjacent fishery to which they had pre-
viously granted an order.

This order will greatly benefit the long-line fishermen
off the coasts of Northumberland and the South of Scot-
land, as I have special railway rates to all the ports on
these coasts, and can afford, when I have any Mussels, to
deliver them at a reasonable price for bait. The import-
ance of Mussels for bait to these deep-sea line boats is
incalculable.

Mr. P. Wilson, late Her Majesty's Fishery Officer at
Eyemouth, in Scotland, reports that in one week the boats
from Burnmouth, Coldingham and Eyemouth used for
baiting their long lines, sixty-one tons of Mussels. They
landed, with this quantity of Mussels, 25,620 stone of
Haddocks, besides a considerable quantity of Cod and
Whiting, and got for the fish is. 8d. per stone, equal to
about £2,500. Observe, in one week alone, sixty-one tons
of Mussels were used at these three fishing-stations for
bait, the cost of which was about £160, the produce in fish

from which was 25,620 stone, worth £2, 500. Mr. Wilson
also reports that when the fishermen are unable to obtain
Mussels, they have had to bait their lines in many instances
with bullock's liver, and be content with half a catch of
fish.

The greatest trouble I have in protecting my Mussel
beds is from a class of men who call themselves fishermen,
but who are half farm labourers and half fish hawkers, and
are the scum of the villages bordering on the coast. I
have lost from two to three thousand tons of Mussels in
one year by these men, which would otherwise have gone
to Scotland to be used as bait by real fishermen. All of
this might have been prevented had the Board of Trade
granted a provisional order for this fishery when requested.
Taking Mr. Wilson's figures, that sixty-one tons of Mussels
will catch £2, 500 worth of Haddocks, Cod, and Whiting,
one thousand tons of Mussels would catch about ^"41,000
worth of fish.

Mr. John Doull, who succeeded Mr. Peter Wilson as Her
Majesty's Inspector of Fisheries at Eyemouth, writes to
me on the 3ist of May last as under : —

" I am not aware of any of the fishermen in this quarter
using Whelks as bait. At some places on this coast
Whelks are gathered and despatched to inland towns for
food.

"Limpets are, however, collected in large quantities,
and used by our fishermen on their lines along with
Mussels.

" Fishermen inform me that Mussels will keep alive for
three hours in water after they are taken out of the shell,
but speedily die when placed on the hook.

" To increase the supply of Mussels, I think that leases
of suitable portions of foreshores should be granted to

persons who may be desirous of cultivating Mussels
thereon, for which no rent should be charged until it would
be seen whether the venture would be successful.

"The cultivation of the Mussels to be subject to the
supervision of a Government Inspector, to see that it is
properly attended to.

" The supply of Mussels to our line fishermen is of vital
importance to them. For instance, here in Eyemouth
alone, where twenty-eight boats, manned by seven men
each, prosecuted the line fishing for Haddock from October
last until now, no less than 920 tons of Mussels were used
by them in that period, costing nearly £1,800 to the fisher-
men, about one-half of which sum was expended on the
carriage of the Mussels.

" These twenty-eight boats grossed on an average for the
season upwards of £600 each, still the item of Mussels
bulked largely in their expenditure.

"The 28 Eyemouth boats shot their lines 2825 times
during the fishing season ended May 1883 ; each boat
carries 7 men and 7 lines, but on Mondays 10^ lines; each
line is 1200 yards long, so that the total length of lines
that passed through the fishermen's hands during the
season was 15,200 miles, or a length that would extend to
about two-thirds the circumference of the earth.

"Every day the boats proceeded to sea they shot
135 miles of lines, and on Mondays 202 miles. On each
line there are 1050 hooks, and every time the boats were
at sea 205,800 hooks, baited with 411,600 Mussels, were
put into the sea. The total number of Mussels used
during the season, averaging two for each hook, was
46,819,500: exclusive of this enormous quantity of Mussels
a good deal of Limpets were used, and also some bullock's
liver. Nearly all the Mussels come from the Wash or the

312

Boston Deeps ; a very insignificant portion was from New-
haven and Ireland.

" No better fishermen than the Eyemouth men are to be
found anywhere ; they are noted for their industry, perse-
verance, and energy, and I certainly do not know of more
hardworking fishermen on the Scotch coast than those of
Eyemouth.

" The white fishing trade seems to be undergoing a great
revolution in consequence of the steam trawlers.

" Yours faithfully,

"JOHN DOULL."

I consider that, where natural beds of Mussels have once
existed, and the ground has not altered, there new Mussel
beds may be established and cultivated ; but the Govern-
ment must grant provisional orders to persons desirous and
willing to take in hand the cultivation of Mussels and
Oysters, and not allow the officials at the Board of Trade
to prevent the granting of such orders. The orders must
enforce heavy penalties on persons illegally taking the
molluscs, and provide for the imprisonment of those people
who are unable to pay the fines and costs, as the greatest
amount of poaching is done by the impecunious inhabitants
of the villages adjacent to the shore, and whose forefathers
a hundred years ago were the wreckers and smugglers of
that age. Illegally taking Oysters and Mussels from such
a fishery should be felony.

Mussels are largely cultivated on the continent. The
exports from Antwerp for Paris alone, as recorded in the
"Halles Centrales" Statistics for the season of 1873
amounted to seven million francs (^28o,ocx>). This repre-
sents the produce of natural beds and scalps unimproved
by man's care.

313

In the town of St. Valery-sur-Somme, in France, arti-
ficial breeding, rearing, and fattening of Mussels, upon prin-
ciples akin to those which obtain in ostreaculture, is carried
on, and the success attained is such as to be worthy of a
record in the history of attempts made to utilise the un-
bounded wealth of food lying ready to man's hand along
the sea-shore. Lines of wattled stakes, averaging 5 30 yards
in length, are driven in the sand close to the fair-way, just
above low water-mark. These bouchots de grand flot, as
they are called, extend over twenty-five acres. They serve
for fixing the spat, which is floated up to them by the
tidal currents, and constitute a collecting ground for
brood, which are afterwards removed into shallow tanks
of about fifty acres, dug out high on the strands between
the tide marks. They are puddled with clay, and fitted
with sluice-gates. The salt water in these tanks is slightly
admixed with soft river water. They also serve as nur-
series for the young Mussels, which hang in clusters and
gather on wattles. When they attain proper size for
transplanting, they are removed into the pare, where
they will grow and develop into marketable Mussels.
All this is being successfully carried out by M. Lemaire,
who obtained from the French Government, in 1873,
leave to appropriate a small strip of 40 acres of the
foreshore fringing the low sandy estuary of the Somme.
The success of this short experiment was so marked, that
after an official visit paid by the Minister of Marine, and a
number of savants, including M. Coste, who had predicted
a failure, the original concession was extended to 620 acres.

There are numerous other places on the Continent of
Europe where Oyster and Mussel culture is successfully
carried on.

The secret of the whole matter is, where Mussel and

314

Oyster culture has proved successful, that the person
undertaking the same has obtained a concession from the
Government to work the beds exclusively himself, and has
not been hampered by other persons claiming a right to
fish on his grounds ; in other words, fishings are worked in
precisely the same way as farms, where the farmer sows
his seed, and at the proper season reaps his corn.

In England the laws allow the seed to be sown and
protected to a certain extent, and when the molluscs are a
certain size (i.e., two and-a-half inches for Oysters, and two
inches for Mussels), the whole world is free to come and fish
on the beds by taking out a nominal licence, which is at
the rate of $s. 6d. per ton on the burden of the smack for
one year, or gd. per ton per month. This applies only to
fisheries worked under the "Sea Fisheries Act, 1868."

To make the Oysters and Mussels the actual property of
some private individual or body corporate appears at first
sight to be rather hard on the so-called fishermen ; but it
must be borne in mind that any person who undertakes to
properly cultivate a portion of the foreshore for the increase
of Oysters and Mussels must be in a position to expend a
certain amount of capital, and therefore he would not very
probably do much manual labour, but confine his energies
to the employment of watchers or water bailiffs, to the
making of " lays " or " pares," by digging large reservoirs
between tide marks, and the various other expenses con-
tingent upon the enterprise ; so that the supply of molluscs
would be greatly increased, and the fisherman or labourer
employed would have more work than he has under the
present exhausted state of things.

Under the "Orders" granted to the Corporations of
Lynn and Boston for the cultivation of Oysters and Mussels,
they have collectively jurisdiction over 229 square miles in

315

the Wash ; and I have no hesitation in saying that, if the
Mussel beds in this area were properly worked, they are
capable of supplying with bait the whole of the long-line
fisheries of the country.

To catch the Mussel spat I have tried rows of wattled
stakes placed in different positions on the beds as in France,
but I found that they became covered with a green weed
in a very short time, and were therefore unable to receive
the spat.

I found that rows of stakes or blocks of cliff stone placed
on the scalp remained free from weed and gathered the
spat

Mussels are used very largely for food in London, Man-
chester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Leicester, and other
towns, the supplies coming from the Wash, Morecambe
Bay, Devonshire, and large quantities from Bruinisse in
Zeeland.

The Mussel is admitted on all hands to be the most
deadly bait for salt-water fish, and from experiments I
have made I believe the reason to be attributable to its
tenacity to life. A Mussel taken from its shell and sus-
pended on a hook in sea-water will be alive in two days. I
am aware that fishermen are under the impression that they
die shortly after being placed on the hook, but that such
is not the case I am certain ; the microscopic movement of
the cilia on the four gills or branchiae may be overlooked
by a fisherman, but undoubtedly this lifelike movement is
appreciated by the fish, and causes the Mussel to be the
most deadly of baits.

The Mussel beds on the east coast of England are
capable of supplying with bait the whole of the line fishing.
The method of obtaining this bait up to the present has
been for the Mussels to be sent from the Wash and other

3i6

places by rail and by fishing smacks, in the winter time
when they are wanted. The railway rates to the Northum-
berland and south Scotch ports vary from 205-. to 23^. ^d.
a ton ; in addition to this there is the cost of carting from
the natural scalps, some distance to the nearest station.

I consider a great improvement might be made upon
this by selecting suitable sites on the foreshores of the
estuaries in the north of England and the firths of Scot-
land, and sending the Mussels to the north during the
summer months, as small steamers, which will not run in
the winter, will take them to the north for about 8s. to los.
a ton during the summer months. This would decrease the
cost of Mussels to the fishermen at least 2os. a ton.

DISCUSSION.

Mr. EARLL (of the United States Commission) said he
had enjoyed the paper very thoroughly, and had gathered
much valuable information from its details. He could see
that it had required very careful research to collect the
information which it contained. He was not specially
familiar with the shell-fish fisheries of Great Britain, but, as
he understood it, one of the principal objects of these Con-
ferences was a presentation of facts which would be valuable
to foreigners in regard to the fisheries of Great Britain,
and, on the other hand, of facts in regard to other
countries, which would be useful to the inhabitants of
Great Britain. They had learned, during the morning
discussion, of certain fishes that might be of importance to
Great Britain, which had not yet been introduced, and of
others which, though already introduced, were regarded as
decidedly injurious, and it seemed to him that one of the
principal objects to be attained was definite information

317

on these points. He had recently learned from Captain
Danewig, of Norway, that the soft clam (My a arenarid)
was very abundant on that coast, but that was not used
either for bait or as food. He inferred that the same
species was abundant on the British Coast — if he were
mistaken on this point he should be glad to be corrected,
but he thought the inference was that there were large
quantities. In the United States they made very little
use of mussels, although there were large quantities of
them : the fishermen did not use them for bait, and the
people, excepting a few in the vicinity of New York, knew
nothing of their value as food. They substituted the soft
clam, of which the people of Norway and Great Britain
had not yet learned the value. Since coming into the
room, he had hastily put together a few facts concerning
the extent to which this species was used in the States.
In the State of Maine 318,000 bushels, or 1,000,000 Ibs.
of this mollusc were used for bait and for food. In
Massachusetts an equal quantity, if not more, and in the
middle states 406,000 bushels, making in all over 1,000,000
bushels, having a value to the fishermen of $458,000. He
had not the statistics for Connecticut, Rhode Island, and
some of the other States where these shell-fish were also
used in considerable quantities, but including them it
might be said that over ij million bushels, valued at
probably not less than $600,000, were used on the Atlantic
sea-board. Some fishermen on the coast confined them-
selves to the quarrying, as it was called, of these shell-
fish, for they had the habit of burying themselves two or
three inches deep in the mud or sand of the shallow bays
along the shore. This industry afforded employment to a
large number of fishermen at a time when there was nothing
else to be done. Some of the smaller vessels, not considered

3i8

safe to encounter the winter gales, were taken into the
shallow waters, where they served as hotels and work-
houses for the men engaged in quarrying the clams.
These men spent two or three months in gathering a vessel
load, shelling and salting them, to be sold in the early
spring to the vessels engaged in the great ocean cod
fisheries ; whilst large numbers were also engaged, during
the entire summer, gathering them to be sold in the larger
markets for food, where they were prized very highly, not
only by the labouring classes, but by the best people of
the country. It appeared to him that the people of Europe
had at their doors a large resource wholly undeveloped,
and he should be very glad if, by calling attention to this
question, he should in any way assist in adding to the
stock of food, or to the readiness with which fishermen
might procure bait.

Dr. DAY said he had made some inquiries with regard
to the mussel fisheries last year when in H.M.S. Crichton
on the east coast of Scotland. It had been suggested
by Mr. Harding that the mussel beds should be granted
to private individuals to work, because if they were left
open to the fishermen they would work them out until
nothing was left. But then a difficult question came
forward. If these mussel beds were granted to private
individuals, how were the fishermen to get their bait ?
They complained that when mussels were in the hands of
private individuals, the charge was so great that they could
not get bait for fishing. If any or all of these beds in one
locality were given to a private individual under Govern-
ment supervision, it ought to be on the distinct under-
standing that the mussels were forthcoming at a certain
price, not a prohibitive one, and that the fishermen could
have them at any time.

319

Mr. SAVILLE KENT had listened with great interest to
this Paper, and thought the statistics would be of the utmost
service ; he also felt indebted to Mr. Earll for his notice
of soft clam, which there was no doubt did exist abundantly
on the coast of England, and might be utilised as it was
on the coast of France. There were also half a dozen
other species on the east coast, and which might be equally
utilised as the food of man. They were mostly bivalve
molluscs, and amongst them might be mentioned the
bastard oyster, which was generally considered an enemy
to the other oysters, because it filled up the places where
they were cultivated. It was used, however, on the south
coast of France, and might be equally used here. There
was also the Donax pentaculus and Venus mercenaries, and
the razor shell, which were all estimable food, and were
appreciated on the coast of France and most parts of
America.

Professor BROWN GOODE said the remarks of his col-
league, Mr. Earll, about the distribution of the soft shell
food clam, and the manner of its capture, reminded him of
a subject which was frequently proposed for discussion at
the debating societies and schools in America, viz., Is
digging clams fishing or agriculture ? It was the fact that
along the entire coast of New England the agricultural
population in many instances derived half their support in
digging, with hoes and shovels, clams of various species.
Mr. Earll had spoken of the My a arenaria, but there was
another species on the coast equal in abundance, the round
clam, called also by the Indian name quahang, and some-
times called the wampum clam, because it was the shell
from which the Indians made money ; broken fragments of
the shell were strung on bits of skin, and used as a medium
of exchange. Then the Venus mercenana also occurred

320

everywhere from Cape Cod to Florida. Its production
was almost equal in extent to most other species. Mr.
Earll had estimated the value of the soft shell clam at
about $700,000, and he thought the production of the
round clam must be equal, or nearly so. When small it
was considered a great delicacy on the dinner-table in the
summer months when oysters were not in season. He was
led to refer to this species from the fact that Mr. F. G.
Moore, Curator of the Liverpool Museum, placed in his hands
the other day a paper in which he described a successful
experiment of the introduction of this round clam into the
waters of the St. George's Channel, and he hoped it would
take root here and become useful. There was another
species closely resembling this, the sea clam, or hen clam
(Macter solidissima). It was also abundant on the sandy
shoals, and afforded bait to fishermen to something like
$30,000 or $40,000 a year. This also might be introduced
with advantage in the North Sea. Many species in
America, as, for instance, the mussel, the whelk, the cockle,
and the little littarina (the common name of which he
did not know), were exceedingly abundant, but were not
gathered by fishermen to any extent. He had great
pleasure in moving the vote of thanks to Mr. Harding for
his Paper.

Alderman SMETHURST (Grimsby) had great pleasure
in seconding the motion. He said he was aware of the
difficulty of blending instruction and entertainment together
to the satisfaction of an audience, and this seemed to be
more a question to be reasoned out amongst a number of
gentlemen practically acquainted with it in Conference,
than to be talked about in a General Assembly. Speaking
of bait, they all knew what was most suitable for their own
localities in fishing, and the bait used differed considerably

321

in different localities. In some parts they used mussels for
fishing along shore within sixty or seventy miles of land,
but when they got beyond that they used different kinds of
fish for different seasons. When they got on to what was
called the " shawl " of the Dogger Bank, in the spring of
the year, when the fish began to accumulate in the warm
weather, they used whelks, when they went down at the
fall of the year to the north end of the Dogger deeper
water, they began to use lamprey eels along with whelks, to
assist in catching two or three kinds of fish which harboured
there ; as they extended further across the sea the bait was
changed again, according to the season of the year, and the
depth, and the clearness or thickness of the water. In some
parts they used lamprey eels for clear water, but when they
got to about two hundred miles away, they then took what
they considered a different class of bait to fish in deeper
water. There they caught cod, ling, halibut, skate, and
haddock. The bait used was lampreys, as a rule, and
later on herrings. In clear water the herring was the
most suitable fish ; in thick water they used whelk bait,
on account of the smell, which attracted the fish when
they could not see it. In the summer time, when on
what they call the Little Fisher Bank, they used herring
principally for taking large halibut and ling. At this
particular time of year they were fishing close to the
coast of Norway on the stony ground, a place which
he and his two sons opened out four years ago. They
were now on the ground using mackerel for taking halibut
weighing from 7 Ibs. up to 1 6, 18, and 20 stone. They
used vessels carrying 6 and 7 tons of ice each, and they
were employed for seven or eight months in the year.
Grimsby might be considered the largest fishing port in
England. It received upwards of 100,000 tons of fish in a
VOL. VI. — C. Y

322

year.- The whole of this was not sent into the country for
food, but part of it was used for bait, whilst a great part
came to London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, and
the large manufacturing towns. It was very right that this
shell-fish should have every care and culture, and should
not be allowed to be wantonly destroyed, because fishermen
must have bait before the fish could be caught, and if the
brood of the mussel were destroyed, and the whelks, the
amount of fish caught would be greatly affected, and if it
even became scarce and dear, people would have to pay a
greater price for the fish they eat. The great cry every-
where now was how to get cheap fish into London, and
that was a question to which he had devoted all his energy
for the last thirty years, and had given his opinion when
on the Commission which sat in London some three
years ago.

The motion having been put and carried,

Mr. HARDING in reply, having thanked the Congress for
the manner in which the Paper had been received, said
there were few clams in England. On the coast which he
hired, of about five miles, the men did not get a dozen in
a day. With regard to the restrictions of price, he could
only say that he had several thousand tons of mussels
suitable for bait, and could not dispose of them at any
price.

Mr. BlRKBECK, M.P., then moved a vote of thanks to
Mr. Tyssen-Amherst for presiding. He felt specially
indebted to him, being the representative of one division
of his own county, where this question was one of great
importance.

Mr. TOLLEMACHE, M.P., in seconding the vote of thanks,
said, although there had not been so large a meeting as he
had hoped, there had been a most interesting discussion.

323

The vote of thanks having been carried unanimously,
The CHAIRMAN said it was a great pleasure to him to
associate himself with the subject of this Paper, in which so
many fishermen on the coast took an interest. The mussel
did not make a great stir in the world, like many
of the fishes, but it was not to be despised on that
account. He asked Mr. Harding just now whether any
pearls were found in the mussels on our coast, but he
informed him there were not, but there were some in many
of the fresh-water mussels. If he mistook not, when he was
at Conway, where there are thousands of mussels, he was
informed that pearls were rather numerous. The discussion
had been of great interest, showing the different kinds of
molluscs that inhabited various parts of the coast, and also
that many which were not appreciated here were set great
store by in foreign countries. In human affairs it often
happened that small things were overlooked, and, like the
mussels which were trampled upon on our shores, had to go
to the wall ; but Providence ordained that they performed
in a humble way a very important function, and, with the
great monsters of the deep, contributed to what was so
well represented in the Exhibition, the harvest of the sea.

Y 2

THE ARTIFICIAL CULTURE
OF LOBSTERS.

BY

W. SAVILLE KENT, F.L.S., F.Z.S.,

AUTHOR OF ' A MANUAL OF THE INFUSORIA ;' LATE ASSISTANT IN THE NATURAL

HISTORY DEPARTMENTS OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM, AND PRACTICAL

CURATOR AND NATURALIST TO THE BRIGHTON, MANCHESTER,

AND WESTMINSTER AQUARIA.

VOL. VI.

CONTENTS.

_ FACE

SCARCITY OF LOBSTERS . 0 0

. 323

ARTIFICIAL CULTURE

ADDENDUM

DISCUSSION

CONFERENCE ON MONDAY JULY, 23, 1883.

JOHN TREMAYNE, Esq., in the Chair.

THE ARTIFICIAL CULTURE OF
LOBSTERS.

ONE of the most important objects of the Conference held
in connection with the International Fisheries Exhibition
is, I anticipate, to elicit data that may be utilised for the
improvement or resuscitation of our many fishing industries
already established, and for the opening up of new fields
that may give employment to the fishing community, and
increase the supply of wholesome food for the use of the
masses.

Taking this for granted, I here propose to submit to you
the results of some practical experiments made on my part
some few years since, in connection with the artificial culti-
vation of lobsters, trusting that the deductions I have
arrived at with relation to the same may contain, at least,
some crude ideas that may be hereafter fashioned, into
shape and prove of utility to the public.

The lobster, I need scarcely remark, occupies a front
position in the ranks of our food fishes. Its intrinsic value,
weight for weight, is little inferior to that of salmon, while
its nutritive and restorative properties as an article of diet,
are, in accordance with the latest dictum of the medical
faculty, vastly superior. An idea of the inadequacy of the

328

supply of this crustacean, obtained in British waters, to
meet the public demand, may be gained from the statistics
contained in the Government Report upon the Crab and
Lobster Fisheries, published in the year 1877. Herein it
is shown that, upon an average, no less a number than one
million of lobsters are imported annually into the United
Kingdom, in the living state, from Norway alone, which is
the chief source of our supply, this million, at the date
quoted, representing a money value of about £22,500.

Statistics are likewise here given of the numbers of
lobsters annually derived from different portions of the
British coast line, the keynote and burden of the whole
report being, however, the unwelcome, but only too familiar
intelligence, that lobsters are continually becoming scarcer
and dearer, and that the fishermen have, year by year, to
go further afield, dividing the large profits, once accruing to
the few, among the many, to meet the requirements of the
market. The lobster, not many years since within easy
reach of all members of the community, is in fact rapidly
following the lead of the native oyster, and threatens soon
to be a luxury at the disposal only of the wealthy. A
quotation from the report already referred to will suffice
to establish this assertion. Here is the testimony we find
on many a page. England and Wales : " Crabs and lobsters
are decreasing ; they are overfished." " The grounds in-
shore . have been fished out, and the men have to go to
deeper water." Scotland : " A very large majority of the
witnesses, with special means of arriving at a just conclusion
on the subject, are satisfied that the crab and lobster
fisheries of Scotland are in a state of gradual decay." Of
Norway, our richest source of supply, a Mr. Fisher, one of
the Billingsgate salesmen most extensively engaged in the
Norwegian lobster trade, gives evidence thus : — " The

329

supply has fallen off during the last seven years. Ten or
twelve years ago he used to import 600,000 lobsters a year
from Norway, from three districts only. He is now working
six districts, double the amount of coast, and the six dis-
tricts only produced last year from 400,000 to 500,000
lobsters." Other evidence elicited by the Commissioners
resulted in their verdict that " there is little room left for
doubting that there has been a very serious falling off in
lobsters in Norway."

The causes that have contributed towards the decadence
of the lobster fisheries generally are relegated in the report
to three distinct categories. I. The overfishing of the
inshore districts. 2. The destruction of undersized fish.
3. The consumption of the eggs or spawn for culinary
purposes. For the second only of the evils thus sum-
marised— that of the destruction of undersized fish — has a
remedy been actually applied, and beyond doubt with
highly beneficial effects, through the appointment for
lobsters of the eight-inch gauge, fish within which length;
by the Act 40 and 41 Viet. c. 42, 1877, are now of illegal
size. The suggestion of a close time for lobsters during
their spawning season, to prevent overfishing and to protect
their eggs, has not been found practicable, since it would,
in the first place, interfere unjustly with the inherited rights
of the fishermen, while, in the second instance, it would
interrupt the supply at the period when lobsters are, as an
article of food, in their very best condition.

Assuming for the time that both the protection of the
undersized young and that of the adults, during the spawn-
ing season, had become binding by law, I feel justified in
asserting that we should have, even then, only arrived half
way towards the root of the evil, and that the prime factor
in the decadence of our lobster fisheries is to be found in

330

the permitted wholesale destruction of the lobster's spawn.
Comparing matters with the law as it now exists, with
relation to the trout and salmon fisheries, the foregoing
regulations, if enforced, would, in fact, leave us in precisely the
same position as obtained with these important industries
prior to the introduction of the artificial system of cultivat-
ing and protecting the eggs and fry of the Salmonidae. To
all who have given attention to this subject it is a well-known
circumstance that, but for the introduction of the artificial
system of culture on the part of patriotic pisciculturists,
our lakes and rivers would never have recovered from the
exhausted condition to which they had been reduced by
overfishing. Now, what has been achieved in connection
with the Salmonidae I am prepared to maintain is capable
of realization with the lobster tribe. That lobsters may be
artificially cultivated from the egg I have already proved
by practical experiment on a small scale, and to demon-
strate that the same principles applied upon a whole-
sale one might be utilized for re-stocking our exhausted
inshore fisheries is the chief object of this communication.

In order to place you fully in possession of the circum-
stances and capabilities of the subject introduced, it is
desirable that I should give you a brief sketch of the early
life-history of the lobster. As is familiar to all present,
the eggs of the lobster, upon extrusion, are attached in
masses to the filamentous appendages, or " swimmarets " of
the abdomen, or so-called " tail " of the lobster, and consti-
tute what is popularly named the " Berry." The amount
of eggs extruded by the female fish, it is singular to ob-
serve, coincides remarkably with those of the salmon, num-
bering from 20,000 to 30,000. Attached beneath the*
parent's abdomen, in the form of " berry," the eggs remain
for a period of three or four months, and then the young

are hatched. No nutritive or other than a purely me-
chanical relationship subsists all this time between the
parent and its egg-clusters, the passing of its small brush-
like claws among them to rid them of any extraneously
derived substances, and the occasional fanning motion of
its swimmarets to increase the stream of oxygenated water
through and among the eggs, representing the sum-total of
attention they receive.

The young animals that issue from the eggs of the
lobster are distinct in every way, including shape, habits,
and mode of locomotion, from the adult If, on the con-
trary, they were born like their parent, they would at once
sink to the bottom of the water in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of their birthplace ; the area of their distribution
under such conditions would be extremely limited, and
through close interbreeding, it may be anticipated that the
stock would become materially deteriorated. Nature, here,
however, as in the case of the great majority of marine in-
vertebrate animals, has provided her offspring with special
facilities for becoming distributed to long distances, their
bodies being so lightly constructed that their specific gravity
scarcely exceeds that of the fluid medium they inhabit,
while they are additionally provided with long feather-like
locomotive organs, with which they swim at or near the
surface of the water. As such essentially free-swimming,
pelagic animals, they now spend the entire first month or
six weeks of their existence, in which time, it is scarcely
necessary to state, they may be carried by the tides and
currents many miles away from their place of birth. During
this interval, however, the little lobsters by no means retain
their primitive shape ; their delicate chitinous skins, the
rudiment of the future shell, is constantly getting too tight
for them, and is thrown off to give place to a larger and

332

looser one, that differs each time in many structural points
from its predecessor. As determined by my own experi-
ences, such a changing of the skin, or "ecdysis," as it is
technically termed, is effected no less than half a dozen
times before the little animal arrives at the ambulatory con-
dition, and takes upon it the form and features of the
parent. This chapter in the life-history of the young
lobster is of the most interest, perhaps, when studied by
aid of the recently kindled, but ever-increasing, light of the
doctrine of evolution. In its onward progress towards the
form and proportions of a typical lobster it is thereby found
to pass through conditions that in former times were re-
garded as distinct animals belonging to less highly organ-
ised groups of the Crustacea than the parent animal.

Thus, when liberated from the egg, the little crustacean,
designated a " Zoea," has no abdominal appendages, and
swims through the water by means of the external branch-
lets, or " exopodites " of its thoracic limbs, and in this
respect resembles the so-called Opossum Shrimp (Mysis)
referable to the order Schizopoda. This condition is main-
tained through several successive skin-castings, or ecdyses,
the abdominal appendages, or swimmarets, however, grad-
ually developing, and the thoracic swimming organs be-
coming simultaneously reduced. At or about the sixth
cast these last-named structures have entirely disappeared ;
the little animal swims through the water with the aid only
of its abdominal swimmarets, and is to all intents and pur-
poses a small prawn (Pal&mon). The internal elements, or
" endopodites " of the primarily bifid thoracic limbs have,
meanwhile, developed into true legs, so that, after the
manner of a prawn, the young lobster can either walk, upon
the ground or swim in midwater. It is with the next
ecdysis only that the animal becomes a typical lobster, re-

333

stricted to an ambulatory mode of existence, or capable of
spasmodic translation only through the water in a backward
direction through the flapping action of its spreading tail.
Did we trace back the developmental phases of the lobster
to a period before it had left the egg, we should find that
for a while it represented a much lower type than an
Opossum shrimp, or prawn, it having then but three pairs
of jointed appendages, and corresponding in this respect
with what is known as the primitive larval or " nauplius "
condition of all crustacean life.*

Interesting as these developmental phenomena of the
lobster are shown to be, the chief object of my bringing
them before your notice is to impress upon you the fact
that, during the first three or four weeks, at least, of its
existence, the lobster is so small and helpless, and so ex-
posed to surrounding perils, that a very infinitesimal per-
centage only of each liberated brood can hope to run the
gauntlet of its numerous enemies, and to settle down to the
bottom of the sea as an ambulatory lobster. Gregarious
shoals of full-grown fish, such as herrings, atherines, and
sand-eels, subsist almost exclusively upon pelagic Crustacea,
be they the adult phases of smaller species or the larval
conditions of larger types, such as crabs and lobsters ; while
the young of almost every fish that swims, in addition to a
host of marine invertebrate animals, are addicted to a
similar diet. The risks that a lobster runs during the first
few weeks of its infancy, are, in fact, as great, or, indeed,
greater than those encountered by a young salmon, in its
native streams, during its egg and " alevin " conditions.

* Certain, but not all (see Addendum, p. 343), of the several growth-
phases of the common lobster here described have, on all substantial
points, been likewise independently observed in France by M. Gerbe,
in Norway by Professor Sars, and of the American variety by Mr. S. J.
Smith.

334.

Now all present will, I think, admit that that day on
which it was found possible to protect and rear these infant
salmon, until they were fit to shift for themselves and be
turned into the river, constituted the turning-point in the
downward career upon which our salmon fisheries, up to
within a comparatively recent date, had entered. But for
this discovery, that the eggs and young of the Salmonidae
might be artificially reared and protected, and in spite of
all rules and regulations concerning a close time and the
protection of undersized fish that had been established, our
best salmon and trout streams would by this time have
been literally ruined.

Now, gentlemen, the very important proposition that I
have to submit to your consideration is, that the eggs and
young of the lobster are, as compared with the salmon,
equally susceptible of artificial cultivation, and you will
agree with me, I think, if I can substantiate this statement,
that the resuscitation and restocking of our exhausted
lobster fisheries are brought within, at least, a measurable
distance of accomplishment. Nothing short of evidence
of the most practical description will, I am aware, assist
me in substantiating the position I have undertaken, and
such evidence I will now place at your disposal. At many
of the- large public Aquaria with which in former years I
have been associated as naturalist, berried lobsters have
brought forth their progeny in the tanks. On most of
these occasions the fate of the little lobsters has been to
either perish for want of suitable nutriment or to be eaten
up by the other fish. Notably, however, in the year 1875, at
the Manchester Aquarium, I observed of a newly-hatched
brood that they assembled like a cloud of gnats and fed
freely upon the finer particles of minced fish thrown into
the water as food for the ordinary occupants of the tanks.

335

It was the observation of this phenomenon that suggested
the possibility of rearing them artificially. Examples
were accordingly removed, placed by themselves, and fed
at regular intervals with the food for which they had dis-
played a partiality, the upshot being that a considerable
number of them were reared through the several metamor-
phoses previously described, and until, in fact, they had
become fully formed ambulatory lobsters measuring about
one inch in length. Specimens of these little lobsters thus
artificially reared I have the honour to submit to you.

It remains for me to state that the experiment, thus brought
to a successful issue, was accomplished in the roughest and
rudest manner. The little animals were merely placed, a
number together, in glass jars having each a capacity of
about one quart, the sea-water contained in them being
simply changed each morning. Such crude efforts on a
small scale being rewarded with success, it is not only pro-
bable but it may be maintained as a reasonable and logical
deduction, that the culture of young lobsters on a very
much larger scale, and with the aid of all those perfected
appliances and experiences that have been brought to bear
upon the hatching and rearing of Salmonidae and other
fishes, would be easy of achievement. The period during
which the young lobsters would require attention, dating
from the time of their exclusion from the egg until they
attain to the ambulatory state, is represented by an in-
terval of but a month or six weeks, and the amount of food
each individual lobster will consume in that time does not
exceed one or two ounces. The ambulatory state arrived
at, the little animal, though not exceeding an inch in length,
is perfectly fit to shift for itself, and, like a young trout or
salmon of the same size, on being consigned to the water im-
mediately goes to the bottom and seeks to hide itself beneath

336

the stones or any suitable shelter that may present itself.*
The rearing of lobsters in thousands instead of in tens or
units would, it is needless to assert, be but a matter of aug-
mented apparatus, and what the results would be upon our
depopulated lobster grounds if several thousands, or rather
millions, of such young animals could be turned out upon
them annually, those are best qualified to record a verdict
who have already had practical experience in the cultivation
of Salmonidae.

Certain details respecting the suggested culture of lob-
sters on an extensive scale, and having such a practical end
in view as the restocking or improvement of our home
fisheries, may now be proceeded with. In the first place,
the simplest method of obtaining the young lobsters to be
reared is doubtless to keep the berried hens in suitable
ponds or tanks until the young are liberated from their
eggs. This process, though a sure one, necessarily entails
the feeding of the adult fish for a period of several
months while their eggs are ripening, and this expense, in
my opinion, might be avoided. As explained in an earlier
paragraph of this Paper, the relationship maintained between
a- female lobster and her eggs is a purely mechanical one,
for the purpose of securing their protection, aeration, and
freedom from extraneously derived substances until the
young are hatched. Now all these conditions could be as
efficiently secured by an artificial system of culture, almost
precisely identical with that which has been brought to bear
so successfully upon the cultivation of the eggs of the Sal-

* Although not frequently obtained close to shore in this very early
ambulatory condition, my friend Mr. Henry Lee, F.L.S., tells me that
he has, many years ago, taken such little lobsters, having an average
length of from one to one and a half inches, in the neighbourhood
of Shanklin, Isle of Wight

337

monidae and other fishes. The eggs of the lobster might be
similarly spread out upon trays or grids, allowing the
free percolation of well-oxygenated water> and intelligent
supervision being at hand in the same way to remove
all dead examples or other deleterious matters. Or
nature itself would be yet more nearly imitated if the
groups of eggs, numbering many hundreds, as attached to
the swimmarets of the parent, were bodily removed, and
by some simple device suspended in grape-like clusters
within the midst of the circulating currents. The young
lobsters being hatched, they will be found to thrive best in
deeper receptacles where they will have abundant room
to swim. The font-like rearing troughs introduced by Mr.
Oldham Chambers, F.L.S., the goblet-shaped glasses utilised
by the Canadian pisciculturists, but more especially the
larger glasses on the " intermittent syphon system " and
other hatching receptacles for floating spawn made use of
by the United States Fisheries Commission, may be cited
as being particularly suitable for lobster rearing.* Feeding
the young brood is obviously a mere matter of mechanical
detail, finely-minced fish or mussels being the most con-
venient pabulum. Whatever is decided on, due attention
must be paid to the food being supplied abundantly and
regularly, otherwise they will fight and devour one another.
The well-known pugnacity and reputed cannibalistic tend-
encies of lobsters and other Crustacea has been supposed

* I here take the opportunity of acknowledging the kind courtesy
shown me by Mr. Earll of the United States Fisheries Commission in
introducing and explaining to me the very complete collection of hatch-
ing and rearing tanks exhibited on behalf of the United States Govern-
ment in their department of the International Fisheries Exhibition.
Such inspection, it may be added, resulted in that gentleman's con-
currence with my own opinion, that the receptacles on the " inter,
mittent syphon system " were especially adapted for lobster culture.
VOL. VI. — C. Z

338

by some to present an insuperable obstacle to the culti-
vation of lobsters in quantities. Where, however, an abun-
dant supply of other food is forthcoming it will be found
that they prefer it to their own species ; and I need hardly
remark that cannibalism where animals are reduced to a
state of starvation is not, as a moral attribute, monopolised
by the Crustacea.

Once reared through to the ambulatory condition the
little lobsters are fit for liberation in their native
element, and here care must be exercised in the choice of
the ground upon which they are turned out. That of a
flat sandy nature affording no shelter, and where they
would be speedily sought out and devoured by their
numerous enemies, should be avoided. Rocky ground,
which is their natural haunt and from whence, as is well
known, the most abundant supply of lobsters is derived,
is that on which they should be set free. Arriving
at the bottom of the water they will, as previously observed,
immediately seek for a suitable crevice wherein to hide
themselves, and this having been met with it is adopted as
their permanent abode, to which they will constantly re-
treat after their sorties in search of food, which are usually
made at night This selection by lobsters of a definite
dwelling place is a well-known circumstance to fishermen
and others practically acquainted with the habits of marine
animals. It may be cited as an additional encouragement
to those who may be tempted to embark upon the industry
of lobster culture, since the lobster being a sedentary or
home-staying type, those who sow the pasture lands of the
sea with this particular crop may likewise from the same
ground reasonably hope in the process of time to reap the
fruit of their labours.

If the scheme here proposed of rearing both the eggs and

339

young of the lobster should be found capable of practical
application, it may be hopefully anticipated that a check
will at length be given to that most pernicious practice of
utilising the spawn or berry of the lobsters for culinary
purposes. Tens or even hundreds of millions of lobster
eggs, each egg representing a potential lobster, are thus
wastefully consumed in this country year after year. The
late Mr. Frank Buckland, who was one of the most strenu-
ous protesters against this wanton destruction of lobster
spawn, thus writes, in the year 1875, in his "Report upon
the Fisheries of Norfolk " — " It must be evident that the
destruction of so many lobsters in the form of eggs must of
necessity greatly tend towards producing the scarcity of
lobsters which is now being felt in the London and other
markets." As an illustration of the quantity of lobster
eggs that are used by the cooks who must and will have it
for colouring fish sauces and for decorative purposes, it will
be found stated in the same Report that — no less than from
14 to 1 8 Ibs. of lobster spawn have been supplied by a
single collector in this manner for culinary purposes during
the two months of April and May. The number of eggs
contained in this mass of spawn amounted at the very least,
in Mr. Buckland's estimate, to 1,720,320, and this figure
represents, it must be borne in mind, but an unimportant
fraction of the sum total that is consumed for a like pur-
pose throughout the realms of the United Kingdom. Now,
what would be thought of the individual who advocated or
carried into practice the utilisation of the eggs of the
salmon for a similar purpose* : would any term of oppro-
brium that might be levelled against him be considered too

* I am informed, on good authority, that salmon spawn, cooked and
eaten after- the manner of green peas, is not an altogether unknown
delicacy in certain parts of Ireland.

Z 2

340

strong or any punishment too severe ? And yet, precisely
such a disastrous policy is in the case of the lobster freely
sanctioned and approved, without let or hindrance, every
day in the year. A remedy for this long-acknowledged
evil has been suggested on many sides in the form of the
proposition that the sale of berried lobsters should be made
illegal. Such a suggestion, however, if carried into practice,
could be easily evaded by the fishermen, who would simply
remove and throw away the spawn before bringing the
animals to shore. If, however, the cultivation of lobsters
from the egg should be developed as a practical industry,
there is every reason to believe that a stop would be speedily
put to the wholesale destruction of their eggs that is now
being carried forward If the expression of public opinion
should prove insufficient to bring about so desirable a
result, the supply of eggs at present only flowing to the
saucepans of the cooks might be diverted to the hatcheries
of the cultivators through the offer, if need be, of a better
price than they are at present commanding as a mere con-
diment for sauce. As a matter of fact, it is simply for its
decorative effect and not as a flavouring agent that the
article is in such demand by our West End chefs,
and surely in these days of discovery and invention
the chemists might come to our aid with some harmless
and yet equally brilliant pigmentary substance, that
being utilised as a substitute would remove all further
necessity for the present lamentable destruction of embryo
lobsters.

The question that remains to be considered is as to whe-
ther lobster culture in the manner here suggested might be
prosecuted with pecuniary advantage by private individuals,
or whether it is a subject adapted only for the intervention
of the State. It is certainly scarcely to be anticipated that

many private persons will be found sufficiently philan-
thropic to undertake the restocking of our exhausted lobster
grounds for the benefit of the fishing commonwealth.
Nevertheless, there are many large landowners with estates
bordered by a rocky coast-line, who would doubtless wel-
come the opportunity of thus placing at their tenants'
disposal the means of materially augmenting their source
of income. To those among this category who have had
practical experience in trout and salmon hatching, this sub-
ject of lobster culture might be especially recommended
upon several grounds. The routine in either case will be very
similar, while a large portion of the apparatus constructed
for salmon hatching might be utilised for lobster culture,
and moreover would be empty and available for use just at
the time when the lobsters commence to spawn.* To other
nations besides our own it may be anticipated that this pro-
posed plan of hatching and rearing lobsters would be found
advantageous. By way of illustration, reference may be
made to the arduous efforts that were instituted in the
United States, and notably by Mr. Livingstone Stone, to
transport the lobster across the continent from the Atlantic
to the Pacific seaboard where it was previously unknown.
Experiments in every instance were made with adult

* Mr. Frank Gosden, pisciculturist to the Duke of Wellington, has
imparted to me within the last few days a very interesting piece of
information that bears upon the subject of lobster culture. He tells
me that for some time past, during the summer months, he has with
great success devoted the troughs utilised in winter and spring for
hatching trout, to the rearing of newly-hatched freshwater crayfish.
Lobster rearing on the same principle he considers would be equally
feasible. It is perhaps desirable to mention here that the river cray-
fish has not, like the lobster, a free-swimming or Zoea phase, but
enters upon the ambulatory condition immediately it leaves the egg.
The treatment required for the two animals would therefore not be
precisely parallel.

342

lobsters, involving the employment of bulky apparatus,
great expense, and many failures before even a small
amount of success was obtained* If, in place of this,
recourse had been had to young fry that had arrived at
the ambulatory state, and were just ready to transfer to the
sea, thousands might have been successfully transported in
less space and at less cost. Better results still would,
probably, have been arrived at if the eggs only, detached
from the females, had been carried across to the Pacific
coast, and a hatchery for their development and the rear-
ing of the fry been established contiguous to the shore on
which it was proposed to set them free.

Although practical attention has not hitherto been
directed to the artificial culture of lobsters from the egg on
the system here advocated, experiments have been made
both in this country and in France and Norway to establish
parks and enclosures for the cultivation or storage of the
adult animals. In all these cases, however, so far reported,
the results obtained have not been encouraging, the outlay
required to keep up the supply of food leaving no margin
for profits. It is still, nevertheless, an open question
whether or not in certain favourable situations where a food
supply could be obtained at a minimum cost, the culture of
adult lobsters might not be developed into a remunerative
financial enterprise. It may be remarked in this connec-
tion that fish condemned as unfit for human food is, to the
average amount of one ton per day, sent away for destruction

* According to the latest Report, p. 10 of the Descriptive Catalogue
of Economic Crustacea, &c., of the United States, in the Great Inter-
national Fisheries Exhibition, London, 1883, the attempts made to
transport lobsters to the Californian coast have been entirely unsuc-
cessful. Such failure may probably be attributed to the small number
of individuals that ultimately survived and were distributed at their
port of destination.

343

from the metropolis of London alone. Now the lobster, as
is pretty generally known, is particularly partial to stale
fish, and when supplied with fresh food in the tanks of an
aquarium, is, unless greatly pressed by hunger, in the habit
of burying it until it has arrived at an advanced state of
decomposition. It is evident that a very small portion of
the fish above referred to that is destroyed daily in this
metropolis, and which might be had for the cartage, would
suffice to feed many thousand lobsters, and might be con-
verted into that highly esteemed crustacean at a consider-
able profit to the cultivator. The object of this Paper is
not, however, to advocate the cultivation of adult lobsters,
but expressly that of establishing hatcheries for the de-
velopment of the ova and young, for the purpose of
replenishing or restocking our much exhausted fisheries.

In this direction it may, I think, be predicated that lobster
hatching and rearing is hereafter destined to occupy a
prominent position in the science of pisciculture, and if con-
ducted with any approach to the perseverance, intelligence,
and ingenuity that has been already concentrated upon
kindred branches of the fishing industry, cannot fail to
achieve an equally signal and complete success.

ADDENDUM.

It has been represented to the Author of this Paper, since the
publication of the first edition in August last, that the addition of
illustrations of the metamorphoses of the lobster as herein de-
scribed would be both of scientific interest and of utility to those
who may elect to carry out the practical culture of these crusta-
ceans. A plate, herewith appended, has accordingly been pre-
pared from the series of examples grown at Manchester in the
year 1875, and which were exhibited at the recent Conference.

344

The publication of these figures is rendered the more desirable
from the circumstance that neither the earlier nor the later of the
several developmental phases of the lobster, as originally sup-
posed, are figured and described in the accounts, previously
quoted, given by Professor Sars* and Mr. S. J. Smith,f of the
European and American varieties respectively. Those inter-
mediate larval conditions that formed the subject of the above-
named authorities' observations are represented, in point of fact,
by Figures 3, 4, and 5 alone of the accompanying plate. Neither
the first condition in which the lobster leaves the egg, as shown
at Fig. i, nor the final one in which the external branchlets of the
thoracic limbs have become obliterated, the long antennae de-
veloped, and the little creature in other respects so modified as to
resemble the parent as represented by Fig. 5, are included in the
accounts here cited. The material upon which the observations
concerning the developmental phases of the lobster, made by
Professor Sars and S. J. Smith, were based, was derived, more-
over, from surface skimmings in the open sea, or from store
ponds in which adult lobsters were kept, and not from examples
cultivated by hand through every successive stage, as was the
case with those here figured.

As shown in the accompanying plate, no less than five distinct
phases intervene after leaving the egg, before the little crustacean
becomes recognizable as a veritable lobster. In the first of these
(Fig. i), which is of but very brief duration, the limbs and tail
are applied close to the body. The beak or rostrum, which
forms so conspicuous a feature in all the succeeding phases,
appears at first sight to be altogether wanting, but is found, on
closer examination, to be present underneath the transparent
outer membrane, but tucked away out of sight between the legs,
after the manner of the proboscis in the pupa of a butterfly.
This primary larval, or "Zoea" phase, not noticed by Sars or

* Om Hummerens postembryonale Udvikling. Af G. O. Sars,
Forhandlinger i Videnskabs-Selskabet i Christianana aar 1874.

t * The Metamorphoses of the Lobster and other Crustacea.' By
S. J. Smith, U.S. Fish Commission Report, 1871-72.

345

Smith, was first observed by Couch so long since as the year
1843, a figure of the same then given by him being reproduced
at page Ivii of the introduction to Bell's ' History of the Stalk-Eyed
Crustacea/ Ed. 1853. The second and third larval conditions
(Figs. 2 and 3) very closely resemble one another, and differ most
remarkably from the preceding one in the conspicuous develop-
ment of the beak or rostrum, and of the filamentous natatory
appendages, or exopodites of the thoracic limbs. Between them-
selves these second and third larval conditions are distinguishable
by their difference in size, and by the greater numerical develop-
ment, in the later phase, of spinous processes upon the dorsal
aspect of the abdominal segments. In the fourth phase (Fig. 4)
rudimentary abdominal appendages have begun to make their
appearance. These become more fully developed in the suc-
ceeding phase (Fig. 5) where they share with the thoracic appen-
dages, which are now relatively reduced in size, the locomotive
function. The corresponding structures developed upon the
sixth abdominal segment at the same time convert the hitherto
simply spatulate tail into a many-jointed structure, identical in
all essential points with that of the adult. With the next ecdysis
(Fig. 6) the long antennae make their appearance, the exopodites
or swimming appendages of the thoracic limbs have become
entirely obliterated, so that the little crustacean is no longer a
Schizopod, like the opossum shrimp (Mysis), but is in all respects
a typical Macrouran, differing only in its more slender propor-
tions from the parent lobster. At this stage of its existence it is,
in fact, so lightly constructed that it either walks along the
ground or swims in mid-water, after the manner of a prawn,
which it much resembles, and it is only with the next shell-
casting or ecdysis about a week later, that the limbs and body,
becoming relatively heavier, the normal ambulatory mode of
existence characteristic of the adult animal is permanently
adopted.

346

EXPLANATION OF PLATE.

Illustrating Developmental Phases of the Common Lobster
(Homarus vulgaris).

All the figures, excepting 7 and 8, are magnified representations,
the straight or curved lines, drawn in close proximity to the
respective figures indicating the natural size of the objects
delineated.
Fig. i. First larval or " Zoea" phase, immediately after exclusion

from the egg.

„ 2 and 3. Second and third "Zoea" phases devoid of ab-
dominal appendages or swimmarets.

„ 4 and 5. Fourth and fifth "Zoea" phases, in which the
abdominal appendages are more or less conspicuously
developed.

" 6. Sixth phase, in which the adult form is attained through
the development of the long antennae, and through the
obliteration of the swimming appendages of the thoracic
limbs.

„ 7 and 8. A single matured or " eyed " ovum, and a group
of similar ova, with their filamentous footstalks, of the
natural size.
„ 9. One such ovum highly magnified, and showing the

enclosed embryo.

„ 10. The simple spatulate form of the tail, as developed in
the larval conditions represented by Figs. 1-4.

DISCUSSION.*

Mr. KENNETH CORNISH, after some remarks on the
value of fish as food, having particular reference to a paper
read by Sir Henry Thompson at a previous Conference,
was going on to describe an improved method which he

* The following discussion and motions carried refer in part to a
Paper that was read the same afternoon by Mr. T. Cornish, on the
subject of Crustacea generally.

METAMORPHOSES OF THE LOBSTER (HOMARUS)

347

had adopted for cooking fish, when he was reminded by
the Chairman that the special subject of the Conference
that day was crustaceans. He said he would not detain
the meeting, but had also devised a method for preserving
fish in the form of powder, by which the whole of
the nutritive constituents were preserved, including the
albumen.

Mr. BlRKBECK, M.P., then moved a vote of thanks to
Mr. Cornish and to Mr. Saville Kent for their interesting
papers, which had contained a deal of information
which was probably new to many persons present.
Mr. Cornish had told them of a remarkable fishing ground
on the coast of Cornwall, which might be safely fished
without any restrictions, whilst on the other hand Mr.
Saville Kent had given statistics proving that the supply
of lobsters was apparently decreasing rapidly. He
might say that on the coast of Norfolk there was a
small lobster and crab fishery on a ground of about
fourteen miles in length by three to four miles in breadth,
which many years ago was a very productive fishery, but
unfortunately the practice of breaking up small crabs' for
bait, and also the practice of sending to market berried
hen lobsters, was carried on to such an extent that the
fishery was reduced really to nothing. He was asked to
institute a Board of Trade inquiry, and the late Mr.
Buckland and Mr. Spencer Walpole came down and held
it ; the result being that an order was passed putting a
stop to the capture of berried hen lobsters and also the
soft crabs, and the fishermen were strongly advised to
stop the breaking up of small crabs for bait. That order
was in force for three years, and when it expired, which
was on the 1st of February this year, another inquiry was

348

held by the Board of Trade, under the supervision of
Professor Huxley. The evidence which was given, not
only from the fishermen, but the salesmen, was so con-
vincing as to the effect of the order being to increase the
supply to four or five times what it was previous to the
order being passed, that the Board of Trade had now
passed an order putting a stop to the practices which were
in vogue for ten years, and the fishermen had made up
their minds that they would endeavour to get a local
Act passed to put a stop entirely to the breaking up of
small crabs. That showed what could be done in a small
district, and he hoped it would be carried out throughout
the country.

Mr. BRADY had much pleasure in seconding the resolu-
tion. He did not know that there was any question
more interesting than that of crab and lobster fisheries,
unless it was the artificial cultivation and production of
salmon and trout. He quite agreed with Mr. Saville Kent
on the great importance which would be derived from
the artificial cultivation of these fish in the same way as
salmon and trout, but he did not follow him so far as to
think that the same instruments or conveniences could
be used for one as were used for the other, inasmuch
as one must be carried on near the sea, and the other
far inland. With regard to the crayfish, he agreed with
him it could be done, but that was only a matter of
detail. He feared, however, it would be like other matters
which were for the public good, that it would be hopeless
to expect private individuals to undertake it. This
subject, along with the artificial propagation of the better
species of fish, and, probably, eventually they might come
to that, was a matter which concerned the State more

. 349

than private individuals, and he thought it would be found
very difficult to find private gentlemen so scientific as
to go to the very large expense which would be required,
without any certainty of recouping themselves or obtaining
interest on the money.

The resolution was carried unanimously.

Mr. CORNISH, in reply, having thanked the meeting,
said he would make one remark on Mr. Saville Kent's
paper, that was with regard to the use of the berry of
the lobster. If they could only bring it home to the
minds of cooks that the berry of the lobster was absolutely
tasteless, and if it had any taste at all it was a slightly
unpleasant taste of iron, and that, therefore, it was only
valuable as a colouring matter, there might be some hope
of putting a stop to the present practice of using it for
sauce. He then proposed a vote of thanks to the Chair-
man for his kindness in taking the chair. He had known
him for some years as a practical fisherman, and he was
sure a better chairman could not have been selected.

Mr. SAVILLE KENT seconded the motion, which was
carried unanimously.

The CHAIRMAN said he could assure the Conference
it had given him great pleasure to be present that day,
because this question of crustaceans was one which must
interest every one. The lobster and crab fisheries had
always had a peculiar interest to him, because it was
essentially a fishery for poor men. The crabbers generally
worked with their own hands alone, and in their own
little boats, and were exposed to almost as hard work
as any toiler of the sea, so that anything which could

350 .

be done to protect their interests, or increase the supply
of this fish, would be most valuable to the fishing com-
munity. With regard to what had been said about legal
interference, he might say that in 1877 an Act of Parlia-
ment was passed to a certain extent protecting crabs
and lobsters, by prohibiting the sale of undersized fish.
The question of berried hens, as they were called, was
very much discussed when that Act was passed, and he
took a great deal of trouble to get information and
evidence with regard to them. It was not the cooks
alone who were to blame in causing berried hens to be
sent so largely into the market, the fishermen themselves
doing it, because the lobsters having berries on them
were in as good condition for eating as at any time in
the year, and if the sale of berried hens were prohibited,
as Mr. Saville Kent remarked, and as he had heard
from the fishermen themselves, they would simply evade
the law by brushing off the berries. The size of crabs
was another question which was very largely discussed,
and, as Mr. Birkbeck could bear him out, the people
in Norfolk, where crabs were not as large as on the south
and west coasts, were in favour of a larger size being
named than that which was placed in the Act, viz.,
44- in. across the crab's back. That was such a tiny thing,
and contained so little meat, that a very small extension
in the size would produce much more valuable food for
the table, and the fish would increase its species in an
enormously large proportion. With regard to the district
which Mr. Cornish had spoken of, where fishing could be
carried on for over 200 square miles without doing any
harm, he would point out that there was a great natural
protection existing there, for that fishing ground was

exposed to all the tremendous rollers of the Atlantic
Ocean, so that it could not be fished so constantly and
incessantly as inshore crab fisheries, and those places
around the shore where it was acknowledged on all
hands that crab and lobster fisheries required protection.

CRUSTACEANS.

BY

THOMAS CORNISH.

VOL. VI.— C,

CONTENTS.

PAGE

PAPER 355

DISCUSSION ..•••••••• 369

CONFERENCE ON MONDAY, JULY 23, 1883.

MR. JOHN TREMAYNE in the Chair.

CRUSTACEANS.

I HAVE been requested to read to you a short Paper on
" Crustaceans."

The Crustaceans are a large class of articulated animals
whose distinguishing feature to the mere outside observer
is that they are covered over the whole of their bodies and
legs by a shell of more or less hardness, and it is this total
covering in a coat of mail which mainly sets them apart
from other classes of animals.

They are found on the land, in the fresh water, and in the
salt water : and, amongst themselves, are divided into two
distinct varieties, ie., the " Sessile-eyed "crustacean, in which
the eye lies flat in its socket, with just the amount of
mobility and scope of vision which the eyes of most animals
have ; and the "stalk-eyed" crustaceans, in which the animal
has a certain limited power of projecting its eye, at its own
will, beyond its socket or immediate surroundings, and so
obtaining a considerably enlarged sphere of vision.

With the single exception of the common river cray-
fish I shall confine myself to-day to the crustaceans whose
home is in the sea.

Among these I shall very curtly dismiss the "Sessile-

2 A 2

356

eyed " class, with the remark that no one of them has any
interest for us except from a scientific point of view.
Practically, so far as they affect us at all, they are objection-
able. To them belong the " Hoppers " which make our
beaches, and especially those on which sea-weed is apt to
accumulate, unbearable on a hot summer's day, and as well
that curse of the fisherman who uses trammel nets, one of
the gammaridae which, in countless numbers, will clean to
the bone, within eight hours, a fish caught in the net, and
send it up as white and neat as ever the Royal College of
Surgeons set up a skeleton.

I think I may say that so far as the word " crustacean "
conveys any definite idea to the minds of the majority of
those here it carries the meaning of " crabs and lobsters ; "
and I take these animals, which are not unimportant as
sources of food supply, with the addition of prawns and
shrimps, and their congeners, as the subject of my present
paper.

If you will look at the next lobster, or crab, or shrimp,
which you may see, you will, with the delicate use of a fork
in the case of a boiled specimen, find that it has, or had, an
eye placed at the top of a stalk, or pedestal, based within
the socket of the eye on a moveable mechanical joint, and
there receiving the usual information from the brain of the
creature through the nerves. You will find that the socket
of this eye is invariably protected by spines of a strength
proportionate to the size of the creature, and that this eye
can be projected or retracted at the will of the shell fish.
It resembles in some respects the telescopic eye of the snail,
but it is not capable of anything like the same protrusion
nor is it so mobile. In the " shrimps " the eye at its full
protusion and elevation rises above the level back of the
animal to an extent which enables it to see all round it.

357

Any one who has watched a shrimp in a small pool of salt
water will acknowledge this. Most shrimps are so semi-
transparent in water that it requires a practised eye to
observe them, but, once see a shrimp leisurely making its
way across a pool, thinking of nothing at all, and alarm that
shrimp by putting your walking stick in front of it, and you
will at once (but to see this you must have learned to watch
nature closely) see it raise its little black eyes, take a rapid
view of the ground in its rear, and with one flip of its
tail disappear stern foremost into the hole it has selected
for its place of refuge.

The arched back of the crabs and lobsters prevent the
same thing occurring in their cases, but they yet derive a
very greatly increased scope of vision from their power of
thus protruding their eyes. Quite recently a specimen of a
little lobster-like creature, Scyllarus arctus (it is so rare in
English waters, except in Mount's Bay, that it has no
English name) has come into my possession which I have
preserved and have with me. It is worthy of notice, not
only because its eye is an exceedingly good example of the
"stalk-eye," but because I believe only three specimens
(two off Plymouth and one from the stomach of a cod
taken off Polperro) have been seen in England out of
Mount's Bay. In that bay I have secured some twenty
specimens, many alive and full of spawn ready to be shed,
as was the case with the specimen I have with me. There
is reason to believe that it was observed in Mount's Bay so
long ago as the middle of the last century ; but it is
distinctly a crustacean of the Mediterranean Sea.

Confining myself now to these stalk-eyed crustaceans of
the sea, I may say that something over one-hundred species
have been recorded as having been observed in British
waters. A large proportion of these, perhaps one half, are

of the small shrimp and prawn order, which are not carefully
looked after, except by naturalists making the study of
them their speciality. Of the others (to which I have
given much practical attention) I have captured in Mount's
Bay with my own hands certainly four fifths of the species
known to exist, including many of the rarest specimens
occurring in our seas.

I may explain that the reason why I have seen so many
species of crustaceans more than my neighbours is that I
have fished for them myself. Most of the sea crustaceans
are small and considered valueless. This is a misapprehen-
sion, nearly all of them yielding dainty food ; but the
fisherman is intensely conservative in his instincts, and it is a
very difficult thing to get him to preserve a crab or a lobster
or any of the class which has not already established itself
as an edible and saleable commodity. To begin with, they
are all his natural enemies. Unless they are caught in the
legitimate crab-pot, from which all small specimens can
escape, they are taken in his nets. They come into the net
in pursuit of the best fish caught in it, and they get
entangled. So long as they have life they are using their
claws to cut the cords of the net, and so it happens that
every crustacean does damage to the net which captures it.
The fisherman, intent on his better fish, never waits to
disentangle a crab of any sort unless it is a valuable one.
He simply wrenches off its legs or lays it, in the net, on
the gunwale of the boat and smashes it with his hand to
deprive it of the power of doing further mischief, and goes
on with the hauling of his net. Thus, rare crustaceans are
rarely recognised. I have had in the last thirty years
constant opportunities of reversing this process, and of
carefully picking out of my nets thousands of little crabs
which would have been passed without notice by the

359

ordinary fisherman : and consequently, partly on that
account, and partly on account of the situation of Mount's
Bay, I have seen more species of marine stalk-eyed
crustaceans than most people.

As the typical "stalk-eyed" crustaceans of our British
waters you may take the common lobster, the common
crab, and the cray-fish (either salt water or fresh water — it
does not matter which). You know about the size of these.
The largest crab on record weighed something over 13 Ibs.,
and its preserved shell is now in Mr. Laughrim's collection
in the Natural History Department of this Exhibition.
The largest lobster (the specimen is in the same place)
weighed something short of 12 Ibs.* The sea cray-fish is, to
look at, a larger animal than either the crab or the lobster,
but, having no large claws, always turns out of lesser weight
size for size.

But what are these puny creatures to the stalk-eyed
crustaceans of other days ! I do not now refer to the
sprawling spider crab exhibited in the Japanese Department
of this building, and which measures I believe, ten feet
from finger tip to finger tip ; but to that huge, solid lobster-
like crustacean disclosed to us by geological research,
and which must have been some eight feet long in the body,
and have contained meat enough to make a salad for a
regiment of soldiers !

Still, as we only have these little specimens left, we must
do the best we can with them ; and the first thing to which
I will call your attention is a matter which strikes the
observer last of all. You probably know that crustaceans
are propagated from eggs which, whilst in the body of the
lobster, or cray fish, are found in the form of " coral," but

* There is a specimen of a Lobster in the Fishmarket, I.F.E.
which weighed over 20 Ibs., but it is from America.

36o

which when further developed appear outside in the form of
"berry." In this latter form you also find them in the
crab. From these eggs are hatched some wonderful little
creatures of intense activity, resembling nothing so much as
the animalculae shown by the microscope in a drop of ditch
water. They are as unlike the shellfish they are to become
in mature life as a grub is unlike a butterfly, and, curiously
enough, they are sessile-eyed.

I will now go on to the lives of the crustaceans after they
have assumed their final shape. They all are much of the
same size when extruded from the egg ; but at maturity
they vary from the " common Pea-crab " or from " Andrews's
Galathea," either of which at its full maturity can be placed
on a threepenny bit and leave an ample margin, up to the
largest of our lobsters, crabs, and crayfish. When I was
learning these matters the late Professor Bell used very
kindly to allow me to send to him for identification any
specimens about which I had any doubt, and in 1864 I
procured from the submerged part of a deep sea buoy
specimens of two very tiny crabs, neither of which was
more than J inch across the back. One, I thought, I
identified as Eurynome aspera a crab so rare that I dared
not mention it on merely my own authority. The other I
could not make out at all, so I sent both to Professor
Bell. To my extreme delight he told me I had E.
aspera in its young, but final, form, but he took all the
pride out of me by pronouncing the second specimen to be
a young common crab. I mention this to show how
tremendously this latter crab increases in size and bulk.

And as to this question of bulk. The stalk-eyed crusta-
ceans are, as we have considered, enveloped in a hard and
non-elastic coat of mail. We have seen that they increase
enormously in size. How then do they grow ? They grow

in this way : Once in every year, and, of the same species,
at the same time in every year, the crab or lobster, or cray-
fish or shrimp, instinctively retires to some lonely hole in
the rocks, and mopes until a crack in the shell occurs across
it, precisely where the carapace or back ends, and the tail
begins. So soon as this happens the animal begins to drag
its whole self out of the shell. In from half an hour to an
hour it has drawn the flesh of its great claws out of their
shells through the little wrists, and has even drawn its eyes
out of their protecting cases or pedestals, and has cleared
itself of its old shell altogether, and it lies beside it a
perfect crab, or whatever else may be its shape, but quite
soft and shell-less, and apparently exhausted. The empty
shell also retains its perfect shape ; but a comparison of the
two shows you at once how the growth takes place. The
real crab is sizes larger than its late shell, and in about a
week a new shell has hardened over it, and this process is
repeated yearly, as I have said, until a period of age comes
at which it apparently ceases, and the creature grows no
more. We judge this because we find that our very largest
specimens are always covered with corallines of very slow
growth.

Probably most of you consider of a crab or lobster as
you see it on a fishmonger's stall, a squat thing with its
legs sprawled out. But they are very different when alive
and in the sea. Then those long legs are in their proper
position, and the shell-fish walks on them daintily, with its
long antennae or feelers out in constant motion searching
for its food. The lobster is a foul feeder, and prefers its
food in a state of putridity, or at all events, not fresh ; but
the crab will touch nothing that is not fresh. Any of you
acquainted with the working of aquariums may be able to
correct me in this statement ; but I make it from my

362

practical knowledge of the baits we use in fishing for crabs
and lobsters. In each case we use fish bait I once
discovered a benighted little fishing cove where the fisher-
men actually commonly used large turbot and red mullet
— a pound and a half and over in weight — for bait for crab.
They had no market for turbot and red mullet, whilst they
had for their crabs and lobsters. Having, of course, much
finer gear with me than they used, I very soon harried the
inshore sands, and established a barter market in which
one turbot of good size was exchanged for one ray of any
size, and a small ray equalled a good red mullet. When
ray were scarce with me, the market price of a turbot was
is., and that of a red mullet 6d.

To this question of the bait offered to — which means, of
course, the favourite food of — some crabs, I can offer
another illustration. The red mullet which we catch are
taken in fixed-bottom fishing nets called trammels, and the
fish caught in these nets frequently remain for many hours
before they are taken out, and we find that crabs, and
especially the spider crab — our English representative of
the gigantic crab in the Japanese Court, of which I have
made mention — always attack the liver, the dainty part of
a red mullet, first. Sometimes they eat more of the fish ;
but the liver invariably suffers first. We know this because
from the peculiar formation of the net the attacking crab is
almost invariably captured with its prey.

But this fact of the preference of crabs and lobsters for
soft bait suggests another question. If the food which they
preferentially seek is of this soft nature why should they
be furnished with claws of such tremendous cutting and
crushing power ? Every crab and every lobster is furnished
with a claw (the smaller one) adapted for cutting as scissors
do, and another, the larger one, adapted for crushing ; and

363

between these two claws they can tear every bit of food
they capture into little fragments and feed themselves with
it, literally " from hand to mouth." It is a very pretty
sight indeed to see the tiny Galathea Andrewsii, of
which I spoke just now, kept in the holes of a clinker, in a
soup plate filled with salt water, come out of their holes
when the water is stirred, and feed themselves with
particles of food utterly invisible to the unassisted eye, by
capturing some passing bit of food in their elegant little
claws and conveying it to their mouths, precisely as we
should do with a cherry or bit of biscuit. Crustaceans are
slow of movement, and may have to feed on things of a
much harder nature than the bait with which we fish for
them. This may explain the necessity for their having
such powerful hands, for their claws are but hands. But
then, as they are an exceedingly pugnacious class of
beings, it may be that the extraordinary power given to
their hands is needed for belligerent purposes. A crab
will fight anything. I have seen a captured crab seize
a captured picked dog-fish by the tail, and the dog-fish,
striking backwards, as is its wont, make its spines " click "
(ineffectually of course) on the back of the crab repeatedly ;
until the crab got a grip with its other claw on the dog-
fish's throat, and then the battle was over. Of course a
crab, size for size, is much harder and more powerful than
a lobster. I have seen a crab, in conflict with a lobster,
catch the latter over the forepart of the head, where its
shell is hardest, and crush it in by one effort. No lobster
could do this to a crab fairly its equal in size. And it
rather bears out my idea that the claws of these creatures
are weapons of war rather than means of providing them-
selves with food, that the moment any one of them receives
severe injury in a claw it "shoots" it, that is, it deliberately

364

severs the connection of the claw with the body at the
shoulder — the joint next the body — by an act of its own
will, and that Nature regularly and repeatedly (but on
each occasion with less effect) reproduces the claw on a
smaller scale than the one shot off. It seems probable
that if the large claw was necessary to the feeding of the
animal Nature would rather seek to cure an injury to it
than let the animal discard it altogether; but the crab
makes no two ways about it. Within a second of the
injury received the whole limb is discarded ; and lobsters
are much more apt to do this than crabs. This known
difference in the temper of the two came out once very
funnily whilst I was fishing. We value lobster much more
than we do crab. A crab, when it catches you, holds on
with a crush much harder than does the lobster. An old
boatman of mine once, whilst landing a lobster, got caught
by it over the thumb. Any violent act of resentment would
have made the lobster shoot its claw ; and I looked round
just in time to see the boatman balancing the lobster up
and down from the gunwale of the boat, bearing the pain
of the pinch, and apostrophising it with " Ef thee'd a-ben a
crab I'd ha' smashed thee agen the gunnel."

But, having dealt with the food of crustaceans, we will
deal with the crustaceans as food. Many of the smaller
species — all, in fact— are utilised as food by fish of several
species (families, I may say). Thus the family of the cod
(Gadidce), and of the flat-fish (Pleuronectidce), feed largely
on stalk-eyed crustaceans, and so, indirectly, make them
available to us as food. So well is this fact known amongst
those interested in the subject that no one of them would
permit the stomach of a cod or a dorse, and some other
allied species, to be thrown away without a careful over-
hauling first. The first recorded specimen of the rare

365

crustacean, Scyllarus arctus, to which I have alluded was
found by my friend the late Mr. Jonathan Couch in the
stomach of a cod. The only specimen I ever saw of a crab
called the long-legged portunus (P. longipes) I obtained
from the stomach of a dorse. But specimens thus obtained
are of course not available to us as food. We have recog-
nised the value of the larger species, and passed no end
of laws to protect them in their earlier stages. For about
three families we have made close times and size-rules, and
all the rest of it. I do not know but that in some districts
these things may be beneficial, but I do fknow that the
Commissioners who inquired into the matter found that
there existed off the Land's End one solid bed of crab and
lobster deep-sea fishing ground of at least 200 square miles
in extent ; and they thought, and I think with them, that it
will take a good many centuries to exhaust that field by
any method of fishing. The crustaceans of that district
and the coal of England will be exhausted much about the
same time. I am not aware that any fishing ground
approaching this in extent exists elsewhere in Great
Britain, and I approve of the legislation which has taken
place. Where the area of production, and therefore the
area of fishing, is limited, protection is absolutely necessary
if the efficiency of that particular fishery is to be main-
tained. By actual experiment I have ascertained that a
common edible crab (Cancer fagurus) measuring three
inches across the carapace, or back, turns out one ounce and
a half of meat available for food, whilst a crab of four inches
across the carapace (a size which a three-inch crab would
probably attain in its next year of growth) turns out four
and a half ounces of meat available for food. Clearly
therefore the young crab should be protected, but the
enforcement of protection by law is very difficult. It

366

might be otherwise if the men who fish limited areas
could be made to understand that in the long run close
protection will prove their best friend

We are eating these large crustaceans as luxuries, and
we are eating shrimps and prawns as dainties ; but between
these two there exist several species of crustaceans which
attain maturity at a size of from three to five inches across
the back which we never think of eating, but which yet are
full of excellent meat. We make a delicacy of the river
crayfish, but we despise, or rather utterly ignore, the spider
crab, the shore crab, the two larger Xanthos, the velvet
swimming crab, the Galatheas (squat lobsters) and many
others — including the one, Scyllarus arctus, which I have
mentioned, but which must, in the present state of our
knowledge about it, be treated as of very local permanent
occurrence in our seas ; other observers than myself, placed
by my experience on the scent, may establish it as a
common inhabitant of our waters. Of all of those, untold
stores might be captured along all our rocky sea-shores,
and all of them yield good food in larger quantities, and
with not much more trouble, than would an average prawn.
We do not trouble about them, and their capture is, as I
have shown, a chance affair ; but go to the Japanese De-
partment, or the Chinese, or even to our own Department
of Speculative Ideas in this building, and see what endless
pots and models of pots and traps there are exhibited there,
designed on purpose to catch prawns and shrimps, but
which would also catch these wasted treasures of the sea,
if they were looked after.

This waste of food supply is due to two causes — one is
that the " men that know " (the scientific naturalists) take
no measures to reduce their knowledge into practice. And
the other is that the " men that work " (the fishermen) are

367

naturally, as I have said, unwilling to save sea produce
which is worse than useless to them without a market.
This remark applies equally to enormous quantities of fish
which are captured constantly in ordinary trawling, and,
because they are strangers to the fishermen and will not
find a market, are thrown overboard as useless. It is not
quite germane to my subject, but if it were I could dilate
on scores of species of fish constantly taken in our seas,
excellent as food, and thrown overboard simply because,
being unknown, they would find no sale. If this Exhibition
can, as one only result, break down the arrangements which
keep good and cheap, but comparatively rare, fish out of
the public markets, and so cause the demand which can and
will create a supply, it will have conferred a very great
boon on the English public ; and I do not see why it should
not do it. I have never yet seen a fish that is unfit for food,
if in good condition at the time of its capture ; and in saying
this, I am saying much, for I have made it a rule to have
cooked the second specimen of any rare fish which I get.
The first is of course set up for some museum.

There is another thing about our smaller crustaceans
which is worthy of notice. Some of our little crabs — and I
dare say more in other species than I have noticed — give
us notice in spring of the fish which we may expect in
autumn. For instance the occurrence in free numbers in
April of a small crab known as the "masked" or ''old
man " crab (Corystes cassivelaunus) in particular localities
always assures us that about August we shall in the same
locality get an abundance of plaice, and soon after that
large red mullet. When I say large red mullet I speak of
fish weighing from 42 oz. (the heaviest ever recorded in
British seas, and taken in Mounts Bay) to 25 oz., and thence
to 1 6 oz. At this time these facts are to us coincidences,

368

and nothing more ; but if they were closely followed up by
many observers, they would produce for us more good fish
than we get on our present haphazard principles.

I spoke just now of the very combative nature of some
of the stalk-eyed crustaceans. The species that most excel
in this quality are the soldier or hermit crabs. Their first
idea of independent life is to eat some friendly whelk, and
occupy its shell. Their next is to give battle to every crab
of the same persuasion as themselves that they come
across ; and altogether they form, as you can see in any
aquarium, the most quarrelsome and most amusing set of
crustaceans in existence.

It may seem utterly absurd to speak of these hard-
shelled crustaceans as capable of suffering from skin-
disease, but it is nevertheless the fact that they are so.
Under certain circumstances, of which we know nothing, a
peculiar cancerous eating out of the outer part of the back
and claws takes place, spreading irregularly like a map
over the crustacean, and showing a black colour. Shell-
fish thus attacked are known as "pocked" crabs or
lobsters, and are unfit for food ; but I need not labour
this point further, because I know of no fisherman who
would send a crab of this sort into the market.

One more statement of a fact (some people might call it
an anecdote) and I have done. Most of you probably know
that on a dark summer's night the water of the sea, to the
depth of as much as twenty fathoms, is from some cause or
another luminous when disturbed. When this phenomenon
occurs, a fishing line can be traced down its whole length,
and a fish caught at the bottom of the sea comes struggling
and sprawling up in a blaze of phosphorescent light. I was
once fishing in about fourteen fathoms of water, when I
hooked a fish. I hauled it up, making as it came a most pro-

369

digious luminosity. When it came alongside, my boatman
struck at it with the gaff, and off from amidst the mass
of phosphorescent light the iron gaff came with a click.
He struck again with the same result. And he said, " This
thing is not right, master ; let it go." I did not. I gave a
dead haul, and got aboard a very large sprawling cray-fish.
It was not, as my boatman had supposed, a direct emanation
from the regions below.

DISCUSSION.*

Mr. KENNETH CORNISH, after some remarks on the
value of fish as food, having particular reference to a paper
read by Sir Henry Thompson at a previous Conference,
was going on to describe an improved method which he
had adopted for cooking food, when he was reminded by
the Chairman that the special subject of the Conference
that day was crustaceans. He said he would not detain
the meeting, but had also devised a method for preserving
fish in the form of powder, by which the whole of
the nutritive constituents were preserved, including the
albumen.

Mr. BIRKBECK, M.P., then moved a vote of thanks to
Mr. Cornish and to Mr. Saville Kent for their interesting
Papers, which had contained a deal of information
which was probably new to many persons present.
Mr. Cornish had told them of a remarkable fishing ground
on the coast of Cornwall, which might be safely fished
without any restrictions, whilst on the other hand Mr.
Saville Kent had given statistics proving that the supply

The following discussion and motions carried, refer in part to a
Paper that was read the same afternoon by Mr. W. Saville Kent, on the
subject of " Artificial Culture of Lobsters."

VOL. VI.— C. 2 B

370

of lobsters was apparently decreasing rapidly. He
might say that on the coast of Norfolk there was a
small lobster and crab fishery on a ground of about
fourteen miles in length by three to four miles in breadth,
which many years ago was a very productive fishery, but
unfortunately the practice of breaking up small crabs for
bait, and also the practice of sending to market berried
hen lobsters, was carried on to such an extent that the
fishery was reduced really to nothing. He was asked to
institute a Board of Trade inquiry, and the late Mr.
Buckland and Mr. Spencer Walpole came down and held
it ; the result being that an order was passing putting a
stop to the capture of berried hen lobsters and also the
soft crabs, and the fishermen were strongly advised to
stop the breaking up of small crabs for bait. That order
was in force for three years, and when it expired, which
was on the 1st of February this year, another inquiry was
held by the Board of Trade, under the supervision of
Professor Huxley. The evidence which was given, not
only from the fishermen, but the salesmen, was so con-
vincing as to the effect of the order being to increase the
supply to four or five times what it was previous to the
order being passed, that the Board of Trade had now
passed an order putting a stop to the practices which were
in vogue for ten years, and the fishermen had made up
their minds that they would endeavour to get a local
Act passed to put a stop entirely to the breaking up of
small crabs. That showed what could be done in a small
district, and he hoped it would be carried out throughout
the country.

Mr. BRADY had much pleasure in seconding the resolu-
tion. He did not know that there was any question
more interesting than that of crab and lobster fisheries,

37i

unless it was the artificial cultivation and production of
salmon and trout. He quite agreed with Mr. Saville Kent
on the great importance which would be derived from
the artificial cultivation of these fish in the same way as
salmon and trout, but he did not follow him so far as
to think that the same instruments or conveniences could
be used for one as were used for the other, inasmuch
as one must be carried on near the sea, and the other
far inland. With regard to the cray fish, he agreed with
him it could be done, but that was only a matter of
detail. He feared, however, it would be like other matters
which were for the public good, that it would be hopeless
to expect private individuals to undertake it. This
subject, along with the artificial propagation of the better
species of fish, and probably, eventually they might come
to that, was a matter which concerned the State more
than private individuals, and he thought it would be found
very difficult to find private gentlemen so scientific as
to go to the very large expense which would be required,
without any certainty of recouping themselves or obtaining
interest on the money.

The resolution was carried unanimously.

Mr. CORNISH, in reply, having thanked the meeting,
said he would make one remark on Mr. Saville Kent's
paper, that was with regard to the use of the berry of
the lobster. If they could only bring it home to the
minds of cooks that the berry of the lobster was absolutely
tasteless, or if it had any taste at all it was a slightly
unpleasant taste of iodine, and that, therefore, it was only
valuable as a colouring matter, there might be some hope
of putting a stop to the present practice of using it for
sauce. He then proposed a vote of thanks to the Chair-
man for his kindness in taking the chair. He had

2 B 2

372

known him for some years as a practical fisherman, and
he was sure a better chairman could not have been selected.

Mr. SAVILLE KENT seconded the motion, which was
carried unanimously.

The CHAIRMAN said he could assure the Conference
it had given him great pleasure to be present that day,
because this question of crustaceans was one which must
interest every one. The lobster and crab fisheries had
always had a peculiar interest to him, because it was
essentially a fishery for poor men. The crabbers generally
worked with their own hands almost, and in their own
little boats, and were exposed to almost as hard work
as any toiler of the sea, so that anything which could
be done to protect their interests, or increase the supply
of this fish, would be most valuable to the fishing com-
munity. With regard to what had been said about legal
interference, he might say that in 1877 an Act of Parlia-
ment was passed to a certain extent protecting crabs
and lobsters, by prohibiting the sale of undersized fish.
The question of berried hens, as they were called, was
very much discussed when that Act was passed, and he
took a great deal of trouble to get information and
evidence with regard to them. It was not the cooks
alone who were to blame in causing berried hens to be
sent so largely into the market, the fishermen themselves
doing it, because the lobsters having berries on them
were in as good condition for eating as at any time in
the year, and if the sale of berried hens were to be
prohibited, as Mr. Kent remarked, and as he had heard
from the fishermen themselves, they would simply evade
the law by brushing off the berries. The size of crabs
was another question which was very largely discussed,
and, as Mr. Birkbeck could bear him out, the people

373

in Norfolk, where crabs were not as large as on the south
and west coasts, were in favour of a larger size being
named than that which was placed in the Act, viz.,
4j in. across the crab's back. That was such a tiny thing,
and contained so little meat, that a very small extension
in the size would produce much more valuable food for
the table, and the fish would increase its species in an
enormously large proportion. With regard to the district
which Mr. Cornish had spoken of, where fishing could be
carried on for over 200 square miles without doing any
harm, he would point out that there was a great natural
protection existing there, for that fishing ground was
exposed to all the tremendous rollers of the Atlantic
Ocean, so that it could not be fished so constantly and
incessantly as inshore crab fisheries, and those places
around the shore where it was acknowledged on all
hands that crab and lobster fisheries required protection.

INDEX.

ABERDEEN, fishing port of, 75

Acalephse, 283, 284

Acclimatisation, 36, 49, 50, 51, 58, 65

Acidity affects fungus of salmon disease, 29

Act 40 & 41 Viet. c. 42, 1877, 329

Albacores, 113

Algae, 276, 277, 279

Alkalinity affects fungus of salmon disease, 29

Ambulatory condition of crustaceans, 333-335, 338, 341, 342

American black bass, 220, 228, 235, 237, 238

,, brook trout, 62

,, experiments for culture of lobsters, 341

,, hatching and rearing tanks, 337

,, lobster, growth phases, 333, 342

,, mackerel fishery, 138

,, purse-seine net, 88
Ammodytes, 282
Ammoniacal substance, 299
Amphipoda, 278, 283
Amplypneustes ovem, 279
Anadromous species of fishes, 275
Anderson, Dr., 249
Andrew's Galathea, 360, 363

Angling clubs (for coarse fish), number of members, 208
Annelids, 282
Anstruther, 283

Antiseptics, service of, for preserving mackerel, 128
Antwerp, 312
Apparatus, 39, 42

„ for fish culture, 341, 342, 345
Appendix A to Salmon Fisheries Paper, 183

» B ,, ,, ,, 184

,, C- ,, ,, ,, I5O

Apprentices to fishing vessels, question of cruelty to, 120

376 INDEX.

Aquaria, 334

Aquarium fungus is Saprolegnia, 14

„ of Fisheries Exhibition, fish in, are diseased, 14, 28
Arctic Ocean, 299
Artificial culture of lobsters, 327, 33O,~334, 336, 341, 345'

,, propagation of fish, 36
Ascidians, 306

Asia, Northern, devastation of fish in, 26
Atmospheric vicissitudes, influence of, 269, 281
Attwood, Captain, 295
Awe fishery district, 195

BAIRD, Professor Spencer, 44, 50, 61
Bait, 294, 362

„ for mackerel fishing, 129, 139

„ for whelks, 303
Baltic, 277
Barbel, 220, 275
Barber, Mr., of Mevagissey, 289
Barnard, D., 304

Barrel of herrings, contents and value of, 73
Basque provinces, filaria eaten in the, 261
Bass, black, cure of disease, 27
Berose, 283

Berried lobsters, 334, 336, 344, 347, 370, 372
Berrington, Mr., information as to salmon disease, 6
" Berry," ova of lobster, 363, 371]
Bertolus, Dr., 257
Berwick, experiment at, i$

,, salmon, arrival of, 8
Bettws-y-coed, n

Billingsgate, quantity of salmon received at, 42, 166, i8&
Birds may transport fungus of salmon disease, 5
Birkbeck, E., M.P., 65, 322, 347, 369
Black bass, 50, 59, 61, 62, 68

„ fish, 278

"Blacktails," 150, 151, 185

Black wood, Tweed salmon reports published by, 152
Blakeney coast, 303

Bleak, supposed to cause tapeworm in man, 257
Bloch, 256

Bloomfield, J. C., remarks by, 180, 224
Blue fish, 295
Blue mould. See Mould.
Board of Trade inquiries, 344, 345

,, ,, inquiry on Norfolk fisheries, 370

„ orders, 307, 309, 310
Boar-fish, 291

INDEX. 377

Bonaparte, Prince Louis Lucien, 261

Bonitoes, 113

Borer, 278

Borne, Herr Max von dem, experiments by, 217

Botanical pond at Howietoun, 49

Bothriocephalus latus, 21, 257

Botrytis bassiana, 10

Boston, 303, 307, 312, 314

" Bounties," 76

Bowness, sewage from, 6

Brady, Mr., remarks by, 56, 96, 236, 348, 371

Brancaster, 303

Branding of herring barrels, 84

Brathay River, 258

Bream, 68, 220, 273

Breeding hurdle, the, 215

,, periods, cessation of feeding at, 275
Brefeld, investigation by, 17
Briganti, 252
Brill, 280, 288

Bristol, diseased mackerel at, 30
" Brithel " (old Cornish name for mackerel), 118
British Columbia, 27

„ ,, devastation of fish in, 26

Britt, 281
Brook trout, 62
Brown algse (fuci), 276
Brown Goode, Professor, remarks by, 293 1
Bruce, Mr., remarks by, 1 08
Buccinum, 280
Buckinghamshire trout, 274
Buckland, Frank, 66, 156, 164, 191, 199, 268

,, „ Report upon the Fisheries of Norfolk in 1875 by, 339, 344

" Bukies," 49

Bulletin des Sciences Naturelles, 252
Bullhead, 219

Bull-trout, 43, 150, 151, 154, 156, 184
Bund, J. Willis, 59
Burnmouth, 309
Byers, Mr., information as to salmon disease, 7

CMCA.L appendages, 273

Calanidae, 283

Calanus Finmarchicus, 281, 283

California, 44, 60

Californian salmon, 60

Campbell, Sir George, remarks by, 105

378 INDEX.

Canadian herrings, 103

,, pisciculturists, 337
,, salmon and salmon fisheries, 173, 175
Cancer pagurus, 365
Cape Cod, 295
Capel, Mr., 271
Caplin, 294

Carham, experiments in pond at, 151
Carnivorous fish, 278

Carp, 51, 217, 219, 220, 234, 237, 239, 269, 271, 272
Cartilaginous fish, 274
Castries Rivers, diseased fish in, 7
Causes of decadence of lobster fisheries, 329, 330
Centrolophus pompilus, 278
Centrophages typicus, 281
Centrostephanos rodgersii, 279
Cessation of feeding during certain periods, 275
Cestode tuberculosis, 260
Cestodes, 29

Cetacea, question of destruction of, 141
Chacamass River (Oregon), 60
Chambers, W. Oldham, 61, 337
Chamber's fish box, 226
Char, 62, 66

,, of Loch Leven, 49

,, Loch Rannoch, 49
Chimsera, 272

Christison, Sir R., remarks by, 152, 183
Chub, 217, 220
Cirripeds, 283

Clams, 294, 308, 317, 319, 320
Classification of fishes, 269
Claws of crustaceans, 362
Climate, effect of, 274
Close time, 78, 160, 162, 329, 334

„ ,, for mackerel and pilchards, question of, 141
Clyde fishery district, 196

Coastguard, repressing of poaching by, in Ireland, 199
Cobbold, Dr. Spencer, 19, 297
Cockles, 308, 320

,, fertility of, affected by parasite, 30
Cod, 90, 152, 273, 276, 279, 285, 289

,, contents of stomach of, 364

„ fishery, Labrador, 294

,, kept in vivaria, 279

,, nematodes in, 261
Cceca, pancreatic, tapeworms in, 249, 250
Coldingham, 309

INDEX. 379

Cold season, cessation of feeding, 275

Colours of fish influenced by their food, 279

Columbia. See British Columbia.

Commensals, 278

Committee of inquiry into fisheries, 1 20

" Common pea crab," 360

Conger eels, 289

Connecticut River, 68, 69

Conon fishery district, 196

Constabulary, pollution of rivers repressed by, in Ireland, 199

Consumption of eggs or spawn for culinary purposes, 329, 339, 345

Contursi, 253

Conveyance of fish, 87, 125, 142, 316

Conway, 323

,, river, n

Coopers, number employed in herring fishery, 75
Copepods, 281
Coquet, river, 154

„ „ diseased fish in, 5
•« Coral," 359
Cornish, Kenneth, remarks by, 141, 343, 349, 369, 371

,, fishermen, in
Cornwall fishery, 118, 344
Corregoni, acclimatisation of, 50
Corystes Cassivelaunus. See " Masked" crab.
Cost of culture of lobsters, 342, 343, 346
Coste, M., 54
Couch, 281

" Cowels " (fish baskets), 136
Crab and lobster fisheries, Government report upon, 328, 345, 346

„ fisheries, 241
Crabs, 285, 356, 357, 359, 361, 363-365. 37^

„ for bait, 344
Cramp-fish, 279

Cranial bones affected by salmon disease, 3
Cray-fish, 359, 369, 371

„ culture, 341, 345
Creran fishery district, 195
Crews of mackerel boats, 120
Crimping of skate. See Skate.
Grossman, J. H., remarks by, 180, 239
Crown, salmon fisheries controlled by the, 158
Crumplen, Mr., remarks on coarse fish culture, 234
Crustaceans, 277, 278, 281, 283, 295, 299

,, as food, 364

,, bearers of dracunculus, 262

„ definition of, 355

Culture of coarse fish, reasons for, 209

380 INDEX.

Culture of coarse fish, methods of, 210

„ ,, ,, pond system of, 215

„ of fish, on an extensive scale, 336, 337

,, of lobsters, 327

,, of salmonidae. See Fish culture,

Cured herrings, 74, 81
Currents, 269, 277
Cyprinus lacustris, 253
Cystallogobius Nilssonii, 282
Cysticerci, 259

DACE, 220

,, diseased, 5, 6

,, Saprolegnia growing on, 1 6

Damage done to nets and fish by crustaceans, 356, 358, 362
Dams, fish prevented by, from getting up rivers to spawn, 164, 179, 189
Danewig, Captain, 317
Danish crows, 306, 307
Daphnse pulix, 49
Data for improvement or resuscitation of established fishing industries, 327,

334, 336, 337, 342, 343

,, increased supply of wholesome food, 327

„ opening up new fields of employment to fishermen, 327, 334, 336
Day, Dr. Francis, 94, 257, 263, 299, 318
„ „ „ paper read by, 267
„ „ „ speech by, 57
Dead fish, 260

Death of fish by being handled, 24
Depletion of inshore fisheries, 289, 293
Destruction of immature fish, 293, 329, 346
Developmental phases of lobster, 333, 343
Diagnosis of existence of ligules, 255
Diatomaceae, 283, 299
Diesing, 252
Different species of fish found inside cod captured at St. Andrews, 285, 286

„ „ „ „ „ flounders „ „ 288, 289

„ „ „ „ „ haddocks „ „ 287, 288

Difficulties in connecting hatchery with water supply, 36-41
Discussion on coarse fish culture, 224

„ ,, crustaceans, 369

„ ,, fish diseases, 19

„ „ food of fishes, 293

„ „ herring fisheries of Scotland, 89

,,- „ mackerel and pilchard fisheries 138

,, t, molluscs, 316

,, ,, salmon and salmon fisheries, 173
Disease of salmon. See Salmon disease.
Diseased and dead fish, numbers of, found in River Tweed, 156, 163

INDEX. 381

Diseases of fish, 368
Distribution of herrings, 87

,, ova from infected rivers, 22

District fishery boards, 163, 167, 168, 190, 191
Docking Channel, 303
Dog-fish, 282, 285, 292
Dog whelk, 306
Dogger Bank, 321
Donax pentaculus, 319
Don River, disease in, 28
"Dotted mackerel," 125
Doull, John, 310
Dracunculus, 262
Drift-net fishing for mackerel 126, 129

,, „ pilchard, 135

" Drivers," 126
Duchamp, Dr., 252, 253, 255
Ducie, Earl, remarks by, 105
Duddon River, infected though unpolluted, 6
Duff, R. W., M.P., remarks by, 106
Dunn, Mr., of Mevagissey, 268, 281, 282
Dutch herring fishery, value of, 74, 84
„ salmon, arrival of, 8

EARLL, R. E., speech by, 316, 337

East coast of England fisheries, 121

Echinorhynchi, 298

Eden, Mr., opinions on salmon fisheries, 188, 203

Eden River, diseased fish in, 5

Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, 283

Edward, Mr., of Banff, 282

Eels, 289

Effect of scarcity of food, 288

Eggs of crustaceans, 359

„ of lobster, 334-337, 339

„ of salmonidse, time occupied in hatching, 37, 38
Eight-inch gauge, 329
Embryophores, 260
Empusa Muscse, 10, 12
Enemies of young salmon, 153
England and Wales, overfished, 328
English salmon, arrival of, at market, 8
Entomostraca, 49, 279, 283, 284
Entozoa, fish are affected with, 20
,, infest salmonidae, 248
„ little regard paid to, 248
Epidemic in Rivers Usk and Wye, 5

„ none in eastern rivers south of Tweed, 5

382 INDEX.

Epidemic none in River Tees, 5

„ „ River Tyne, 5

,, subsides spontaneously, 18

,, violent amongst trout, 6
Epizooty, 260, 261
Erie, Lake, 65
Eurynome aspera, 360
Esk River, Midlothian, 155
,, (Yorkshire), no serious fish epidemic in, 5
Exe, capture of pilchard in estuary of the, 131
Exeter, Marquis of, 26, 35, 67, 145

„ ,, cultivation of American black bass by, 221

Export trade, 74
Eyemouth, 309

FEDSCHENKO, 262

Female lobster and her eggs, 336

Ferrusac, 252

Fertility of cockle and oyster affected by parasite, 30

Filariae in mouse, 251

,, mistaken for eels, 261
Filtered water, 37
Findhorn fishery district, 196
Finely minced mussels as food for lobsters, 337
Fins easily affected by salmon disease, 3
Firth of Clyde, 90

„ Forth, 90, 108, 283
,, „ sunfish taken in, 262

Fish culture 209, 210, 215, 327, 336, 337. See also Oyster culture.
,, ,, advantages of the study of, 54
,, ,, Association, 67

„ in Canada, 52, 62/64, 66
„ ,, in the United States, 60, 62, 64, 66
Fisher, Mr., Billingsgate salesman, evidence by, 328, 329
Fisheries, salmon, of Canada, 173, 175. See also Salmon fisheries.
„ „ Scotland, 149

„ „ Tweed River, 149, 156, 160, 162, 163

„ „ United States, 173

Fishermen, number employed in herring fishery, 75 \

„ ,, „ mackerel fisheries, 121

Fishery Board for Scotland, 72, 81, 83
Fishes, predaceous, omnivorous and herbivorous, 269
Flat sandy ground unsuitable for liberation of young lobsters, 338
Flies, dead, attacked by mould, 10
" Floating Anchor," the, 119
Flounder, 271, 288
Flukes cause " rot," 249

„ rarely occupy vital organs, 249

INDEX. 383

Fock, Dr., 257

Folkestone, capture of pilchard at, 131

Follett, Mr., 19

Food of crustaceans, 361

,, Salmonidae, fresh water, 47-49

„ „ sea, 46, 47

Forbes, Stuart & Co., statistics, 8
Forth^ the river, 43
France, lobster cultivation in, 342
Fraserburgh, fishing port of, 75
French pilchard grounds, 131, 145
Freshes, no effect in diminishing salmon disease, 7
Freshwater fish, 274

,, fisheries, 292
Fryer, C. E.y remarks by, 143, 241

Fungus of salmon disease affected by acidity and alkalinity, 29
,, destroyed by salt water, 26
„ may be transported by birds, 5

GALATHEA ANDREWSII. See Andrnv's Galathea.

Galatheas, The. See Squat lobsters. -

Gameri, 298

Ganoid sub-class of fishes, 274

Gar-pike, 273

Garvies, 78

Gillaroo trout, 48, 271

Gills, not attacked, 4

Glands, salivary, 270

Glasses on intermittent syphon system, 337

Gobioid fish, 282, 284

Goeze, 257

Golden tench, 51, 59

Goode, Professor Brown, 60, 61, 138, 173, 221, 264, 293, 297, 319

Goodsir, 268, 283

Gosden, Frank, pisciculturist to the Duke of Wellington, 341

Government, question of protection of " drivers," by, 126

„ Report upon crab and lobster fisheries, 328, 333, 345

Grampus, 299
Great Grimsby, 303, 321
Great Lake trout, 48, 274

,, „ ,, death from salmon disease, 258

,, ,, ,, from River Brathay, 258

,, ,, „ parasites from, 258
Green, Mr., remarks on coarse fish culture, 230
Gregarious fish, 280, 288
Griffith, Sir Richard, 57
Grilse, 151, 156
Ground fish, 280, 288

384 INDEX.

Gudgeon, 219
Guinea worms, 262
Gulf of Maine, 296
Gulls, 293

Giinther, Dr., 43, 48
Gurnard, 271
Gymnorhynchus, 262

HADDOCK, 286

,, as food for salmon, 152
,, nematodes in, 261

Haden, Dr. Seymour, remarks on coarse fish culture, 235
Hag, 278
Halibut, 288
Hall, W. E., 307

Hamilton, Marquis of, speech by, 67
Hampshire trout, 274]
Hand-line fishing, 289

„ „ for mackerel, 129

Harbour accommodation, 85, 88, 99
Harding, C. W., 303, 322
Harrison River, diseased fish in, 7
Hatcheries, 36, 41, 43, 210, 343
Hatching and rearing, 334-339, 34i» 342

,, receptacles for floating spawn, 337
Hatching box (Chamber's), 226

„ (Lund's), 211
Hatching season, 150
Heating food, 296
Herbivorous fishes, 269, 272, 278
Hermit crabs, 368

Herons, destruction of young salmon by, 153
Herring, 29, 272, 275, 280, 282, 284, 285, 287, 290, 292, 293

„ as bait, 321

„ as food for salmon, 152, 184

,, Fishery Commission, 1878, Report of, 76, 89

,, nematodes in, 261

,, number cured in certain years, 73
Heterodontus galeatus, 279

Hogarth, A. B., testimony of, respecting over-netting, 166
Home, Mr. Milne, reply to discussion, 181
Honeyman, Professor, 21
" Hoppers," damage done by, 356
Houston, Dr., 276

Howietoun Fish Hatching Establishment, 38, 43, 54, 279
Hubrecht, Professor, remarks by, 297
" Huers " (watchers for pilchard shoals), 135
Hunstanton, 383

INDEX. 385

Huron, Lake, 64

Huxley, Professor, speeches by, 54, 248

Hybridisation of fish, 58, 66

Hybrids, 150

Hyphae of fungus, 9, 1 1

„ termination by Sporangia, 13, 15

ICE, dangers of, 40

,, use of, in packing mackerel, 128
Ightham ponds, 14
Immature fish, destruction of, 293
Importance of menhaden fishery, 296
Importations from Norway, 328
India, herrings off western coast of, 281
Indian Scioena, 271
Infection of fish from parasites, 298
Inherited rights of fishermen, 329
Inoculation for salmon disease, II, 16
Insects affected by saprolegnia, 250
Inshore fisheries, 29, 289, 293
Inspectors of salmon fisheries, suggestions as to, 201
Insurance of fishing boats, 126
Internal parasites, 19
Interruption of supply, 329
Intestinal canal in fish, 270
Introduction of rapacious fish, 59
Ireland, 312

,, fisheries of, 56

„ methods of conducting matters relating to salmon fisheries in, 171, 199
,, neglected lakes in, containing fish, 224
Irish fishery, 34, 121, 142

,, pilchard grounds, 131

,, salmon, arrival of, 8
Italian pilchard fishery, 134

"JANE," loss of the mackerel boat, 119, 126, 127
Jelly-fish, 130, 136

,, as food for salmon, 152
John Dory, 271
Johnson, Mr., remarks by, 102

KELP, 49

Kelts, 28, 157, 183

„ diseased, 5, 6
Kent, W. Saville, 319
King mackerel, 1 16
Knox, 268, 282
Kiichenmeister, 262

VOL. VI. — C. 2 C

386 INDEX.

LABRADOR cod-fishery, 294

La Bresse, cause of fish-disease in ponds of; 254

Lake Palo, 253

Lakes, food in, 49

Lamprey, 278, 321

Land-locked salmon, 49, 58, 61-64, 66, 67

Land's End crab and lobster fishing grounds, 365

Leaf screen for hatcheries, 41

Lee, Henry, F.L.S., 336

Legislation and fisheries, 76, 90, 92, 97, 100

,, for preservation of mackerel, question of, 141
Leicheart, Professor, remarks by, 298
Le Strange, H., 308, 309
Leuciscus, ligules abundant in, 252

„ alburnus, 257
Leuckart, Professor, 257
Leucocytes in fluid from diseased fish, 255
Leven fishery district, 196

Leven River infected by salmon disease, though free from pollution, 6
Licences for salmon fishing, 168, 170, 199
Life history, 330-338
Ligula abdominalis, 252

„ digramma, 259

„ edulis, 252

„ „ cause of pleasant flavour, 253

„ „ causes no injury to man, 21, 253

„ „ eaten as a delicacy, 20

„ „ first supposed to be fat, 252

„ „ killed by slight cooking, 20

„ mansoni, 252

„ monogramma, 259

,, nodosoa, 257

,, simplissima, 252

„ tincae, 252
Ligules, 251

„ eaten in Italy, 252
Ligulosis, 260

Lime in water may predispose to salmon disease, 26, 28
Limpets, 310
Ling, 90, 289
List, Mr., experiment, 15

„ return by, of dead and dying fish found in the Tweed, 156
Little fisher bank, 321
Littorina, 320
Loach, 219

Lobster fisheries, 241, 295
Lobsters, 356, 357, 359, 361, 363

„ -mackerel feed on eggs of, 295

INDEX. 387

Loch Hourn fishing grounds, 81

„ Leven, 49

,, „ trout, 7, 48

,, Rannoch, 49

„ Tay, 49, 50

„ Werner (in Sweden), 49
Lochy fishery district, 195, 196
Lofoten Islands, 283

London, numbers of coarse-fish anglers in, 208
Long-legged portunus, 365
Long-line fishing, 289
Lovat, Lord, remarks by, 149, 182
Lug-worms as food for salmon, 152, 184
Lumpsucker, 271
Lund's hatching box, 211
Lune River, diseased fish in, 5
Lynn deeps, 303

„ fishery, 303, 308, 314
Lyons, cultivation of coarse fish at, 235

MACARONI piatti, 20, 252
MacDonald, R., remarks by, 100
Mackenzie, Mr., 22
Mackerel, 280, 281, 290, 292, 295, 321

„ anatomy of, 113

,, average weight of, 1 16

„ chase of, by porpoises, 130

„ colours of, 116

,, diseased, at Bristol, 30

„ „ at Ramsgate, 22

„ muscular action after death, 9, 117

„ nematodes in, 261

,, price of, 118

„ propulsive power of, 114
Mactra solidissima, 320
Maine, 296

Maitland, Sir James Gibson, 7, 27, 35, 66, 279
Mammals, aquatic, 249
Manchester Aquarium, 334
Mann, Mr., remarks on coarse fish culture, 225
Marber, Mr., 21
Marine fisheries, 278

„ vegetation, 277
Marshall, W. G., 304

Marston, R. B., replies to discussed questions, 238
" Masked " crab, followed by plaice and red mullet, 367
Massachusetts Bay, 295
" Mather " or " Herring Sile," 152

2 C 2

388 INDEX.

Mclntosh, Dr., 268, 285, 288
McLean, Mr., remarks by, 98
Mediterranean, 277
Menhaden as bait for mackerel, 139
,, fishery, 85
,, herring, 296
Mevagissey pilchard fishery, 137
Midwater fish, 288
Migration of mackerel, 125, 140

pilchards, 137

„ salmon, 155, 156, 185
Milt, deposit of, in spawning bed, 150, 151
Minced fish for feeding young, 334, 337
Minnow, 158, 219

,, tapeworm in, 250
Mississippi, 279
Mobius, Professor, 277, 279
Molluscs, 277, 299

„ available for bait, 319
Moore, F. G., 320
Mortality of fish, 4
Mould, 9, 10

Mount's Bay, crustaceans found in, 357, 367
,, fleet, 126

,, pilchard fishery, 137

Mouse, parasites in, 251
Mouth of fish, 270

,, ,, affected by salmon disease, 4

Mucor, 12
Mullets, 271

Mussel beds, protection for, 307
Mussels, 280, 290, 304

as bait, 315, 321

„ as food, 15, 315

„ „ in United States, 320

„ as manure, 307

,, causes of depletion in beds, 314

,, conditions of success in culture, 313

,, culture of, in France, 313

,, enemies of, 305

„ from Zeeland, 315

,, glutted markets for, 308
price of, 316, 318
spat, 304, 305

,, water suitable for, 305
Mutual Fishing Boat Insurance Club, 126
Mycosis, salmon disease is a, II
" Mystery," voyage of the, 121

INDEX. 389

Myxine glutinosa, 278

NAIRN fishery district, 195

National Association of fish culture, 227, 232, 241

Naucrates ductor, 278

Nematodes, 261

„ in what fish plentiful, 261
Ness fishery district, 194

Nets, regulations as to, 33, 78, 80, 82, 88, 98, 102, 160, 166, 179
Newhaven, 312
Newquay pilchard fishery, 137
Norfolk Broads, 6 1

,, crab and lobster fishery, 370
North Sea, 277, 320
Northern " Opah," the, 113
Norway, experimental cultivation of fish in, 342
Norwegian herring fishery, 74
lobsters, 328, 329
,, salmon, arrival of, 8

Nutritive and restorative properties of the lobster, 327, 334

OBAN, quantity of fish despatched from, 101

Obstructions in rivers, 47, 48

Oil sardine, 281

" Old Man " crab. See "Masked " crab.

Omnivorous fish, 269, 278, 288

Ontario Lake, 64, 65

Oospores, germination, 1 6

„ shape, 16

Opossum shrimp (Mysis), 332, 333
"Orange fins," 151, 185
Orthagoriscus mola, 262
Osseous fish, 273
Ova, deposit of, &c., 150, 151, 156

,, destruction of, by swans, &c., 227

,, from infected rivers, prevention of distribution, 22

„ „ „ „ of no consequence, 23

Overcrowding in salmon rivers, 6, 7

,, of parasites causes death of fish, 249

Overfishing, 166, 329

,, of inshore districts, 329, 330

Owen, Professor, 272
Oxygen, 299

Oxygenation, want of, perhaps favours salmon disease, 18
Oyster, bastard, 319

,, culture, 54

,, fertility of, affected by parasites, 30

390 INDEX.

Oyster fisheries, 241
Oysters, 307, 308, 312

PACKERS, number employed in herring fishery, 75

Packing of mackerel, 128

Palate of carp, 270

Palo, Lake, 253

Parasites, 10, 278, 2981

„ comparative number of, 247, 255
„ constantly present in sun-fish, 262
„ grave injuries caused by, 248
„ in salmon from River Brathay, 258
,, may be dangerous at any stage, 252
„ propagated by intermediaries, 20
,, sexually immature, 259
,, undergo transformations, 247

Parasitism, best supported by fish, 261

Paris, 312, 314

"Parr," 150, 151, 158, 185

Partiality of lobsters for stale fish as food, 343

Pearls in mussels, 323

Peculiarities of Scotch salmon fisheries, 149, 150

Pelagic Crustacea, 333

'Penicillium glaucum, 9, 12

Pennell, H. Cholmondeley, 307

Perch, 59, 61, 68, 217, 219, 231, 271, 273
,, spawn, experiment with, 214

Peritoneum affected by parasites, 255

Peritonitis, progressive stages of, 256

Perpetuation of salmon disease, 15

Persons employed in mackerel fishery, number of, 121

Peterhead, fishing port of, 75

Pike, 217, 218, 273, 275

,, trisenophorus removed from, 257

Pike-perch, 50

Pilchard, 280

cooking of, 132, 134
„ curing of, 131, 134, 143
„ fishing grounds for, 131

Pilot-fish, 278

Plaice, 288

,, foretold by crabs, 367

Plagiostomes, 271

Playfair, Sir Lyon, 89, 108, 292

Pleuronectidae, 364

Plymouth fishery, 1 21 •

Poaching, 161, 165, 189, 308, 309, 310

" Pocked " crabs, 368

INDEX. 391

" Podlies " (Merlangus carbonarius), destruction of young salmon by, 153

Pollution of rivers, 6, 7, 155, 160, 164, 165, 179, 189, 199

Polydon folium, 278

Pond system of cultivation, 215, 232, 242

Porphyra, 278

Porpoise, diseased, 249

Porpoises, destruction of mackerel by, 131

Port Jackson, 279

Portunus longipes, 365

Potatoes as food for fish, 280

Prawns, 356

Predaceous birds, destruction of herrings by, 77, 92, 107

» fish, „ „ 77, 90, 92, 95, 99, 107, 269, 275

Prehensile teeth, 269
Preservation of fishing, 23
Prevention of overfishing, 329
Private ponds, 275

Productiveness of salmon not diminished by " salmon disease," 8, 13
Profits arising from lobster culture, 343, 346
Progress of the tapeworm disease, 256
Propagation of crustaceans, 359

Prosecutions under Salmon Acts, suggestions as to, 171
Protection of crustaceans by law, 365
of eggs, 329, 336, 339-341

,, of salmon fisheries by Government, question of, 149, 150, 190, 201
Pteropods, 277
Pyloric caeca, 273

QUAHANG, 19
Queen mackerel, 1 16

RAILWAY rates, 87, 316
Rays, 272, 273, 289

Rearing troughs. See Apparatus for fish culture.
Red algae (Floridi), 276
,, mullet, used as bait, 362, 367

Regulations for salmon fisheries, suggestions as to, 160, 196, 200
Remedy for destruction of undersized fish, 329, 334, 340, 341
Remora (sucking-fish), 278

Reports on Tweed salmon published by Blackwood, 152
Reproduction of Saprolegnia, 16

Respiratory organs not directly attacked by salmon disease, 4
Re-stocking or improvement of fisheries, 336, 341
Results of experiments, 327, 330, 334, 335, 340-342
Return of fish to rivers, 43, 46
River conservators, 168

,, pollutions. See Pollution of rivers.

„ water, 37'

392 INDEX.

Roach, 217, 220, 231

Rockling, 281

Rocky ground natural haunt of young lobsters, 338

Rot in sheep, &c., caused by flukes, 249

Routine of fish culture, 341

Rudd, 220

Rudolphi, 252

Russell, Lord Arthur, 264

SACRAMENTO River (California), 60
St. Andrews, 285

St. Aubyn, Sir John, remarks by, 38, in, 146
St. Ives pilchard fishery, 133, 136
St. Valery-sur-Somme, 313

Sale of berried lobsters should be made illegal, 340
Salem Harbour, 296
Salinity of sea, 277
Salivary glands, 270
Salmo brachypoma, 43
,, cambracus, 43
„ Gallivensis, 43
„ Orcadensis, 48
„ sebago, 49, 50, 61, 64, 67
Salmon, 38, 43, 62-64, 154, 271-273, 275, 298
,, arrival of, 8

,, condition of, during and after spawning season, 151, 156, 157
„ disease, 3, 156, 162, 163
,, ,, attacks young fish, 6

„ „ is a mycosis, II

„ ,, not prevalent in Tyne, 5

,, ,, recovery from, 7

„ fisheries, value of, 56, 60, 149, 150, 159, 178, 201
,, sterility of, 151
,, trout, 43, 150
„ value of, 44

Salmonidae, 43, 48, 209, 220, 222, 275, 298
„ eggs and fry of, 330, 334-337, 339
„ largely invaded by entozoa, 248
„ migratory, 43, 47, 49
„ non-migratory, 48, 49
Salpae, 277

Salters, number employed in herring fishery, 75
Saltfleet, 303
" Salting in bulk," 83
Sand-eels, 283, 285

,, as food for salmon, 152, 184
Sand-launce, 282, 284
Sand perhaps causes irritation in salmon disease, 4

INDEX. 393

Saprolegnia ferax, 9, 259

„ destroyed by salt water, 14

,, either saprophytic or parasitic, 17

„ exists only in fresh water, 17

,, experiment with, on flies, II

,, from insects affects fish, 13

,, has prevailed epidemically within last few years, 24

„ identical with aquarium fungus, 14

,, is cause of disease, II, 17

,, is a freshwater organism, 14

,, lives on dead organic matter, 17

,, of salmon is similar to that on dead insects, II

,, reproduction of, 16

Saprophytes, 9
Sardine, 281

Sardines compared with pilchards, 144
Sars, Professor, 283
Saw-fish, 281

Scales, diseased, hidden by coat, 3
Scisena, 271
Scilly, 125

Scotch fisheries boards, constitution of, 168
,, ,, Improvement Association, 164, 167

„ Fishery Acts, 44, 159, 171, 190.
,, salmon, arrival of, at market, 8

Scotland, amount drawn for crown leases of fisheries in, 204
,, gradual decay of lobster fisheries, 328, 329'
,, peculiarities of fisheries of, 150
,, salmon and salmon fisheries of, 149
,, sea coast fisheries, 149
,, Tweed fisheries, 149, 156, 160, 162, 163
„ West coast, 292
Scribbled mackerel, 125
Scyllarus arctus, 357, 365, 366
Sea birds, 293, 295, 306
„ Fisheries Act, 1868, 307
„ „ „ ,, defects of, 314

„ Commission, 1866, 72, 79, 89
„ geese, 295

,, gulls, destruction of young salmon by, 153
„ scorpion, 271
„ trout, 43, 150
,, urchin, 306
,, weeds, 276

Seaton, capture of pilchard at, 131
Seine-net fishing for mackerel, 126, 127
pilchards, 133, 135
Selection of breeding fish, 48
Semi-cartilaginous fish, 274

394 INDEX.

Senior, Mr., remarks on coarse fish culture, 233

Serpentine, introduction of black bass into, 228

Sessile-eyed Crustacea, 284, 355

Severn, salmo sebago for, 50

Shad, 275

Shanklin, Isle of Wight, Fisheries, 336

Sharks, 272, 273, 278-282, 292

Shaw, Mr., remarks by, 141

Sheat-fish, 275

Sheffield, number of coarse fish anglers in, 208

Shells of crustaceans, shedding of, yearly, 361

Sherringham, 303

Shetland Isles fishing grounds, 8l

Shi el fishery district, 196

Shoals of fish, migration of, 130

Shrimps, 356, 357

Siberia, diseased fish in rivers of, 7

Sicily, 277

Siggins, Mr., 22

Siluroid family, 275

Sim, G., 20, 268, 284

Simpson, R. J., 258

Skate, 114, 115, 281, 289

„ crimping of, 114
Skin castings or ecdyses of lobsters, 332
Slime of Christiania Fiord, 283
Sloughing of scaleless skin when diseased, 3
Small prawn (Palcemon), 332, 333
Smelt, 49

Smethhurst, Alderman, 320
Smolts, 151, 1 86

,, cost of raising, 44
Snout easily affected by salmon disease, 3
Soils, 269
Soldier crabs, 368
Soles, 280, 288, 291
South Esk fishery district, 193
Southport Aquarium, 278

Spaniards, method of curing pilchards by, '131, 133
Spawning beds, deposit of ova and milt in, 150, 151
,, boxes, 212
„ season, 329
,, times of coarse fish, 218
Spiroptera obtusa, 251
Sponges, 306

Sporangia at end of Hyphse, 13
Sprats, 78, 281, 284, 285, 287
,, as food'for salmon, 184
Spreckley, T., remarks on coarse fish culture, 229, 243

INDEX. 395

Spring water, 37, 38, 45
Squat lobsters, 366

Stalk-eyed crustaceans, 284, 355, 356, 359, 364, 368 •
Start Point (Eastern boundary of pilchard fishery), 131
Statistics relating to herring fisheries, 72, 73, 75, 81, 82, 85, 87, 98
„ ,, „ lobster fisheries, 328, 344

„ „ „ salmon fisheries, 8, 152, 153, 156, 159, 161-163, *78»

183, 187, 199, 201
Steam carriers, 83

„ power in herring fisheries, 82, 88
Sterility of grilse and salmon, 151
Stirling, Mr., observations by, 9, 14

„ experiment with " orange fins " by, 151

Stettin, number of herrings imported at, 74
Stocking of rivers, 45
Stomach of fish, 270
Stone, Livingstone, 341
Stone-coated worms, 287
Stormontfield experiment, 44
Strongylocentrotus erytherogrammus, 279
Sturgeon, 271-274, 278
Sucking-fish, 278
Sun-fish, 262, 278

,, „ parasites constantly in, 262

,, ,, taken in Firth of Forth, 262
Superior, Lake, 65
Surface, diseased fish rise to, 19

„ fish, 280, 288

Sutherland, the Duke of, river temperatures tested by, 157
Swans, damage done by, 226, 228
Swedish salmon, arrival of, at English markets, 8
Sword-fish, 274

TAPEWORM, fish of La Bresse affected with, 254

,, in minnow, 250

,, ,, an immature ligule, 251

„ in pancreatic cceca, 249, 250

„ most destructive, 249

„ sudden appearance of, 254

Tasmania, 274
Tay fishery district, 193
„ River, 152

Tees, River, no epidemic disease in, 5
Teeth in fish, 269
Tellina tenuis, 278
Temora longicaudata, 281

,, longicornis, 283
emperature of hatchery, 39, 40, 42, 45

" of rivers and seas, 157

396 INDEX.

Temperature of sea, 269, 277
Tench, 219, 234

,, diseased, 256
Tetrarhynchus, 262
Thames River, 154, 179

,, salmo sebago for, 50
Thompson, W., 268, 278
Thornham, 303

Throat, teeth of carp restricted to, 269
Thysanopoda Couchii, 281
Tilletia, 17
T,ime for feeding, 279

Tisdale, Mr. S. T., experiments with black bass, 222
Tollemache, Mr., M.P., 322
Torpedo-fish, 279
Trammels, 49

Transformation of ligules, 251
Transport from Atlantic to Pacific seaboard, 341, 342

,, of lobsters to California a failure, 343
Transportation theory of salmon disease superfluous, 6
Trawlers, damage done to drivers by, 126
Tremayne, Mr. John, remarks by, 264, 349, 372
Trevose Head (boundary of pilchard fishery), 131
Triaenophorus, 257
" Triton," cruise of the, 82
Trout, 48, 200, 225, 234, 271, 274, 275

„ and salmon fisheries, 330, 334, 340, 341, 345
,, diseased, 6
„ Lemanus, 66
„ Loch Leven, 38, 39, 43, 46
„ red spotted, 62, 63
,, sea. See Sea trout and Salmon trout.
„ streams as breeding grounds for coarse fish, 217
,, violent epidemic amongst, 6
Tunny, 9, 113, 117, 282
Turbot, 271, 277, 280, 288
„ used as bait, 362
Tweed, River, 43, 67

,, catch of salmon in, 8, 27
,, commissioners, 162, 163
,, diseased fish in, 4
,, experiment by Mr. List in, 15
,, Fishery Act, 160
,, number of dead fish found in, 156
,, salmon fisheries, 149, 156, 160, 162, 163
Tyne, fishery conservators of the, 155
,, no salmon disease in, 5

UNDERSIZED fish, 365, 372

INDEX. 397

Unger, observations by, 14

United Kingdom, salmon and salmon fisheries, 149, 201

,, London Anglers Fisheries Association, 211, 217
States, 293

,. „ salmon disease does not prevail generally, 25

„ „ salmon fisheries, 173

Ure, River, salmon disease in, 5
Usk, „
Ustilago, 17

VALUE of English salmon fisheries, 178, 201

„ Scotch „ 149, 150, 159, 201

,, mackerel, 118

„ pilchards, 133

,, of Scotch herrings, 73

„ vessels engaged in Cornish fisheries, 118, 126
Van Dyck, Dr., 262
Vegetable algae, 279
Vegetation of sea-bottom, 277
Velvet swimming crab, 366
Venus mercenaria, 319

Vessels, number engaged in Cornish fisheries, 118
Viscera remain healthy in salmon disease, 4
Vital organs of fish, death from diseased, 262
Vivaria, codfish and haddock kept in, 279
Voracity of fish, 276, 285

WAGES of mackerel fishermen, 120
Walpole, Spencer, remarks by, 172, 344
" Wash " measure, 303
Wasteful consumption of eggs, 339, 340
Waste of crustaceans fit for food, 366
Water for hatchery, 36-38, 41

,, plants as herbage and shelter, 49
Wear, River, diseased fish in, 5
Wells, 303

Welsh Harp, introduction of black bass into, 228
West coast of England, salmon disease in rivers, 5
Whales, 278

Wheeldon, J. P., remarks by, 227
Whelk pots, 304
Whelks, 49, 280, 285, 303, 310, 320, 321

„ as food, 304

,, legislative protection for, 304

,, vessels used for, 304
Whitader River, 154, 155
White-fish, 49, 50
Whiting, 68, 276

398 INDEX.

Whiting, nematodes in, 261

Whitling, 150

Wick Harbour, destruction of, 80

Widegren, St., of Scandinavia, 283

Wilmot, Samuel, remarks by, 23, 51, 63, 103, 108, 175, 236

Wilson, Peter, 309

Windermere, River Leven, outlet of, infected, 6

Winkles, 308

Wolves, entozoa of, 261, 262

Woods and forests department, action taken by, respecting salmon fisheries, 158

Woods, W. Fell, 30

Worms, 277, 287

Wounded surface easily attacked by salmon disease, 3

Wye, River, salmon disease in, 5

XIPHIAS, 274

YARMOUTH, bull-trout caught at, 185)
Yelk of young fish, 276

Young, A., opinions on salmon fisheries, 157, 164, 191
Young salmon, diseased, 6
,, salmon, enemies of, 153

" ZoosA,"or larval phase of crustaceans, 332
Zoological Society, 276
Zoospores in sporangia of Hyphae, 13
,, germination, 15

LONDON:
PRINTED B? WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,

STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.