2 DEEP-SEA FISHING. 



have been handed down to them, for any knowledge of 

 the subject in what by courtesy may be called olden 

 times. Our purpose, however, is to speak of modern 

 fisheries, and the few introductory remarks we shall 

 offer relate to their condition at the present day, so far 

 as they can be ascertained, and the influences which 

 affect them ; to the spawning habits of some of the sea 

 fish; and to the question of what support recent investi- 

 gations of that part of the subject give to the idea that 

 unrestricted fishing is likely to result in a permanent 

 decrease in the supply of fish. 



Sea fisheries must always be regarded with consider- 

 able interest in a country like our own, of which no 

 part is more than a very few hours' journey from the 

 coast, where in some form or other they come under 

 our notice. Independently of their economic value in 

 furnishing a large supply of food to the people, they are 

 justly regarded as of importance in fostering the national 

 disposition for seafaring pursuits, in training a great 

 number of the maritime population to a life in which 

 hardship and danger are unavoidable elements, and in 

 giving occupation to many thousands besides who are 

 engaged in the trades and manufactures they directly 

 encourage. There is also an idea of sport and of uncer- 

 tainty, necessarily connected with genuine sjDort, which 

 gives a charm, perhaps often unconsciously, to the pur- 

 suit of fishing, even when the fisherman is toiling for 

 his daily bread ; while to those who only take to it as 

 an amusement, and do not require to consider the money 

 value of their captures, the attractive nature of the occu- 

 pation is especially evident. Almost all the attendant 

 circumstances of his profession take the fisherman out 

 of the category of ordinary workmen ; his labour is not 

 mechanical, and steam can oidy help him indirectly in 



