J. PISCICULTURE AND THE FISHERIES. 443 



the archipelago and Black Sea, follow the shores of the Med- 

 iterranean in all their windings ; and the traps are placed 

 off the headlands, so as to intercept the fish in their move- 

 ment. The arrangement for their capture is in some respects 

 similar to that of the fish pounds on the coast of New England, 

 the fish entering a bowl, and, when there, they are raised 

 near the surface and killed by means of harpoons and boat- 

 hooks. As many as 700 fish are sometimes taken at a time ; 

 more usually, however, not more than 400 or 500. They vary 

 in number considerably with the season, and not unfrequently 

 measure eight and half feet in length and four feet in diame- 

 ter at the neck. 



It is believed by the fishermen in the Mediterranean that 

 the sword-fish precede the tunny for their protection against 

 sharks. The small tunny, called pelamid, is also taken in 

 considerable numbers. The nets are made of very strong 

 rope to prevent the escape of these powerful fish. The flesh 

 of the tunny is prepared as food in various ways, one method 

 consisting in boiling it, and, when cooled and dried, packing 

 it in barrels, and filling up the cavities with oil. A finer 

 quality is also put up in tin cans. The larger part of the fish, 

 however, are simply salted. A great deal of oil is obtained 

 from the heads and other refuse of the fish, immense caldrons 

 being used, capable of holding 800 heads and 400 skeletons 

 at a time. After boiling, the mass is subjected to compres- 

 sion in powerful presses. While two to three thousand fish 

 will pay the expenses of a season, the number actually cap- 

 tured sometimes amounts to from eight to fourteen thousand. 

 The production of this establishment in 1871 was worth 

 nearly 30,000. The demand for the fish is at present limited 

 to the countries bordering on the Mediterranean ; but it is 

 becoming better known elsewhere, especially in Germany. 

 17 A, September 1, 1872, 326. 



FISHING STATISTICS OF GREAT BRITAIN FOR 1869. 



According to a return of a recent order of Parliament, the 

 following are the statistics of the fisheries of the United Kino;- 

 dom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1869. The number of 

 boats employed was 42,960, with an aggregate tonnage of 

 242,179 tons. The total number of persons engaged in fish- 

 ing was" 160,748. Of the boats in use 4856 belonged to what 



