598 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



in order to buy trout and salmon spawn from the Austrian fishermen, as 

 the irregular way in which our fisheries are managed does not, for the 

 time being, offer any chances for an extensive use of this spawn at home. 

 The smaller pisciculturists are not inclined to give it up to the larger 

 waters, in which they have not the right to fish ; while the proprietors 

 of these larger waters do not feel encouraged to buy spawn, on account 

 of the irregular manner in which fishing is carried on and the little pro- 

 tection it enjoys. Our smaller hatching-establishments are, neverthe- 

 less, of importance to fish-culture, because they have at least awakened 

 an interest in this matter, and because they undoubtedly are the sources 

 from which our domestic waters will be restocked. 



9. — VALUE OF THE PRODUCTS OF THE FISHERIES. 



Fish, crawfish, and many other marine products, form an easily 

 digestible and pleasant food, which, it is maintained, is also calculated 

 to stimulate mental activity. Civilized nations cannot do without this 

 important aliment without detriment to themselves. Fish, even with- 

 out any elaborate dressing, form a good and easily-prepared meal for 

 the laboring classes. 



Their flesh contains as large a quantity of proteine as pork ; 100 

 pounds (Austrian) offish-flesh contain as much nourishing matter as 200 

 pounds of wheat-bread or 700 pounds of potatoes. 



It is an essential advantage of the fisheries that their products supply 

 delicacies for the table of the rich, and wholesome cheap food for the 

 poorer classes. 



It is a great defect in the Austrian fisheries that the extraordinary 

 quantity of fish procured by occasional lucky hauls does not find a 

 ready market. The great number of huso caught in the Danube, occa- 

 sional rich hauls in the Alpine lakes, or even on the sea-shore, prove of 

 no benefit to the fishermen, and the dead ones have frequently to be cast 

 back into the water. 



All this should be remedied by better arrangements for preserving 

 and shipping, by a well organized fish-trade, by improvements in the 

 manner of smoking fish on the Euglish plan, and finally by making use 

 of the refuse for various purposes, as for fish-oil, and even for manure. 



In 1865, Dr. Lorenz, as also quite recently Professor Gohren, [Land- 

 wirthschaftlichen Wochenblatt des K. K. Adccrbauministeriums, 18G9, p. 

 114,) has directed attention to the importance of the fish-guano, which 

 might, with great advantage to our Austrian agriculture, be made from 

 the refuse of our fish, especially on the coast. 



It must certainly be considered as in part the effect of a better sys- 

 tem of fish-culture, of a well -organized fish-trade and stricter laws, that, 

 according to calculations made some years ago, the daily consumption of 

 fish per head amounts to i pound (avoidupois) in London, -fa pound in 

 Paris, and -fa pound in Berlin; while in Vienua, the capital of a country 

 so rich in lakes and rivers, it is only ^ pound. While in other cities 



