34 DEEP=SEA FISHING. 



public all over the country. We need hardly say that 

 there is a general demand for full-roed fish ; roe of 

 various kinds is considered a delicacy, and the fish- 

 monger obtains a higlier price for the sea fish which 

 contains it than for one that is said to be " poor." The 

 public are the persons in fault here ; for the fishermen 

 naturally look out for those fish which will bring them 

 the highest price. Let us take the herring as a con- 

 spicuous example of this. It is the object of the curers 

 to obtain " full fish " il possible ; they will give the 

 highest prices for them, because they know the public 

 prefer and will pay more for them. It is true that 

 " fat fish " — those with hardly any development of the 

 roe — are also in favour ; but they are less frequently 

 caught, and must be eaten without delay, or their par- 

 ticular flavour is lost. It seems generally admitted that 

 these fish will not cure so well as the others — a matter 

 that yet requires explanation, since in the case of the 

 closely-allied pilchard, the fat fish are those most in 

 demand for salting. However, the nearer herrings are 

 to the spawning time, the better, as a rule, is the market 

 for them. When therefore the public decline to give 

 the highest price for those fish which contain the largest 

 quantity of roe — when the finest Yarmouth bloaters are 

 unsaleable, and the " Full " Crown brand of the Scotch 

 Board of Fisheries loses its value in the home and 

 foreign markets, then our fishermen will perhaps not 

 seek to catch more full-roed herrings than they can 

 consume in their own families ; but we cannot now 

 well blame them for taking such fish, as everyone, 

 from the highest to the lowest, is most anxious to 

 purchase. 



It might be imagined that if the millions of herrings 

 which are annually caught just before the spawning 



