l8 THE EDIBLE FISHES OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



chiefly interested. While this should undoubtedly be done, 

 any work carried out should be so arranged— as far as 

 practicable — as to dovetail in with work carried out by the 

 higher authority. In addition to this, and for the purpose 

 of generaly disseminating knowledge of our fisheries and the 

 many allied .matters, Fisheries Colleges — somewhat after the 

 fashion of those recently founded with such great success in 

 Japan — should be established without delay. These could 

 be placed at convenient spots and should be so constituted as 

 to be in a position to teach all general matters, such as various 

 fishing methods, the preparation of fishery products as food, 

 the various methods and the principles of oyster cultivation, 

 &c., as well as certain biological matters, upon a knowledge 

 of which the successful prosecution of a fishery so often 

 depends. To assist in the carrying out of the work, intelli- 

 gent young men, possessed of a very necessary amount of 

 patriotism and the desire to learn, should be sent for certain 

 terms, to study the fisheries problems, and the " method of 

 attack " of those problems in other countries. Such men 

 would then, in the ordinary course of events, become the 

 teachers in our Fisheries Colleges; but in any case, whether 

 the latter were established or not, the knowledge thereby 

 gained would be invaluable when adapted to our own condi- 

 tions. This, I may add, is part of the already successful 

 plan, at present being followed by our hardy and go-ahead 

 neighbors, the Japanese. 



Hitherto, the only State in the Commonwealth of Australia 

 that has seriously attacked fisheries work* has been New 

 South Wales; and during the last few years a considerable 

 amount of useful investigation into our fishes and fisheries 

 has been carried out. As far as " outside " marine investi- 

 gation is concerned, the most important work so far per- 

 formed by this State was that undertaken by Mr. Frank 



* At least as far as marine work is concerned. 



