Fisheries of the Gulf of St, Lawrence, 43 



Herrings, which afterwards went to Hamburg, where they were 

 complained of, as having been found unworthy of the brand, the 

 Board despatched the General Inspector of the East coast to that 

 place, in order that he might rigidly examine the contents of all 

 the barrels ; and on receiving an unfavourable report as to the 

 result of his investigation, the officer was immediately dismissed. 

 The effect of this prompt measure has been, to raise the character 

 of the brand even higher in the estimation of the Foreign Fish 

 Merchants, to whom the circumstances were generally known. It 

 is by the preservation of the purity of the official brand, that the 

 produce of the British Herring Fishery is to be upheld in charac- 

 ter abroad, and the demand for it largely extended in Foreign 

 Markets." 



As a proof of the gradually increasing confidence which the 

 Crown brand received on the Continent, the Commissioners furnish 

 a statement of the number of barrels exported to the Continent, 

 during the preceding seven years, commencing with 57,388 barrels 

 in 1837, and annually increasing to 181,583 barrels in 1843. 



The Commissioners further say — "An extensive export Mer- 

 chant has given it as his opinion, that if great care shall be continued 

 in the selection, cure, and official Inspection of the Fish, the Con- 

 tinent of Europe would consume more British Herrings than are 

 now caught in our fisheries. Although they have to contend with 

 all the disadvantages of a duty levied on them often shillings per 

 barrel, British Herrings are now brought into competition with 

 Belgian Fish in their own markets, and are annually diminishing 

 the sale of Dutch Herrings, by furnishing part of the supplies in 

 markets formerly entirely dependant on them. By this means 

 their pr'ce has been so reduced, that the number of " busses " fitted 

 out for the deep sea Herring Fishery, has been already considerably 

 diminished." 



In their Report for 1845, the Commissioners say — "The 

 increasing demand for British Herrings of late years in Germany, 

 arises from their moderate price, their careful selection, their 

 superior cure and quality, and above all, from the security which 

 dealers have in the official brands. The general stipulation between 

 sellers and buyers is, to deliver and receive u Crown " " aud Full " 

 branded Herrings ; and Mr. Miller, the Inspector of the East 

 Coast, states in a Report made to the Board, of the information 

 gathered by him during a short tour of inquiry made by order of 

 the Commissioners, that he has the authority of a firm at Stetting 



