STATISTICS OF FISHERIES OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC. 23 



probability is that it will be more successful than its predecessors. The 

 fishermen operating from the mouth of the Elbe up to the boundary of 

 Jutland, catch, for the most part, bream, herring, and sturgeon. The 

 sturgeon fishing has been particularly good during the last few years. In 

 1871, however, it was not so good in the river Eider. In 1873, so many 

 plaice were caught that whole wagon-loads were sold for a trifle. The 

 number of cod and ray caught was likewise very large, while the herring- 

 fisheries on the east coast of Schleswig-Holstein were very poor. On the 

 Mecklenburg coast, especially near Warnemiinde, the herring-fishery has 

 been carried on for some years by societies. Warnemiinde possesses 

 four herring-nets. Of the three societies fishing east of that town, one 

 netted $750 in 1871, while another realized only half of that sum. 

 The fishermen on the coast of Pommerania are very poor, for the fisher- 

 ies yield but little. The fisheries on the coast of Eastern Prussia are 

 richer, salmon and bream being caught in considerable quantites. In 

 September of 18G0 about 3,500 salmon were caught at the village of 

 Euss, near Memel, the average weight of each being 33 pounds, while 

 some ranged in weight from 82^ pounds to 102 pounds. 



5. — Great Britain and Ireland. 



Great Britain, undoubtedly, has larger fisheries than any other coun- 

 try in Europe. Cod are caught near Newfoundland ; herring, pilchard, 

 and sprats, off the British coasts ; salmon, mackerel, plaice, and other fish 

 are caught in Scotland and Ireland. McCullogh estimates the annual 

 income of the British fisheries at $20,000,000 j others, at $60,000,000. 

 The increase of the cod-fisheries will be seen from the following figures : 

 In 1790, it was 72,100,000 pounds ; in 1811, 137,038,880 pounds, valued 

 at $12,458,080 ; in 1825, only 107,030,000 pounds ; and in 1835, only 

 78,320,000 pounds, valued at $1,780,000 ; while in 1848, it was again 

 110,000,000 pounds. The success of the mackerel fisheries in 1821 was 

 entirely unexpected. The value of fish caught by sixteen boats, near 

 Lowestoft, on June 30, was $26,200 ; and the total value of fish caught 

 on the coast of Suffolk amounted to about $70,000. In 1827, no less 

 than 10,521 persons were engaged in the pilchard fisheries on the coasts of 

 Cornwall and Devonshire, and the capital employed in these fisheries was 

 $2,20G,075. There are cases on record where 10,000 barrels were landed 

 in a single day at one port, each barrel containing 2,500 fish. During 

 .the winter of 1829-'30, the sprat fisheries were so successful that loads 

 of from 1,000 to 1,500 bushels — costing from 12 to 16 cents a bushel — 

 were brought to Maidstone to be used as manure for the hop-fields. The 

 herring fisheries are still more abundant, and were especially rich in 

 1S71 on the south coast. In Lowestoft alone, more than 50,000,000 of 

 fish were brought ashore in seven days. They sold, of course, at a very 

 small price. On the Scotch coast, the fisheries were not so successful. 

 Tho herring-fisheries in Stornoway proved a failure, and the result of 

 the fisheries on the east coast was not much better. Notwithstanding 



