78 The Commercial Products of the Sea. 



first approach of fine weather, pass in great shoals along 

 the coast of Spain, and reach that of France about May or 

 earlier. In Provence, on the Mediterranean, the fishing, 

 however, commences in March and ends in June, while on 

 the coasts of Britanny it only commences in July, and 

 finishes early in October. The shoal increases as it 

 approaches the north, hence the necessity of often 

 changing the nature of the nets which are used with 

 fisheries. 



From Douarnenez to Sables d'Olonne there are about 

 2500 boats employed in this fishery. Each of these requires 

 about 30 barrels of salted cod roe for bait during the season, 

 and as this sometimes runs up in price to 4 and ^5 the 

 barrel, this entails a very heavy outlay. Besides which, 

 there are the other numerous ports of Bordeaux, Rochelle, 

 Bayonne, etc., to be supplied. 



Two of the largest stations are at Douarnenez and 

 Concarneau. Fleets of boats go out some five miles and 

 spread out their nets, by the side of which some cod-roe is 

 thrown to attract the fish. The nets are weighted at one 

 end, and have corks attached to the other, so that they 

 assume a vertical position two nets being placed close to 

 each other, that the fish trying to escape may be caught in 

 the meshes. The fish is sold all over France (fresh when 

 it is possible) half-salted, or salted and pressed into barrels, 

 and preserved in oil. 



Brought to land, they are immediately offered for sale, 

 as if staler by a few hours they become seriously deterio- 

 rated in value ; no first-class manufacturer coming to buy 

 such. They are sold by the thousand. The curer employs 

 large numbers of women, who cut off the heads of the fish, 

 wash, and salt them. The fish are then dipped into boiling 

 oil for a few minutes, arranged in various-sized tin boxes 



