394 DEEP-SEA FISHING. 



castle, near Dundrum Bay, has obtained some celebrity 

 for its boats, some reputed improvement by altering 

 the proportions having been made there on the Norway 

 yawl ; and Greencastle yawls are the type of the 

 northern Irish line-boats, such as we have already par- 

 ticularly noticed at Moville. In the Drogheda district 

 cod, ling, and conger are fished for to some extent, and 

 especially by the people at Rush, who are rather con- 

 spicuous among their neighbours for the energy with 

 which they work at the line-fishing, as well as for their 

 practice of curing the white fish. There is a little trawl- 

 ing with small craft from Balbriggan and one or two 

 other places ; but the great trawl-fishery on this part of 

 the coast is carried on, as we have before described, by 

 the large smacks from the adjoining district of Dublin. 



From the sketch we have now given of the present 

 state of the Irish sea fisheries it will be seen that all the 

 usual methods of fishing are more or less followed up 

 around the island, and only require proper develo]3ment 

 to ensure much larger takes of fish than are now 

 obtained. Deep-water trawling, the herring fishery on 

 the east coast, and the mackerel fishery on the south are, 

 however, the only ones of any great importance; and 

 the large number of strange boats annually taking part 

 in the two last shows that there is an abundant supply 

 of fish to encourage more systematic work from the 

 native fishermen. The following is the classified return 

 of Irish fishing boats for 1872, according to the published 

 Statement of the Registrar-General of Shipping : — 



1st Class. ! 2nd Class. 



Boats. 

 386 



Tonnage. 

 9121 



Boats. 



3589 



lioals. 

 4i75 



Total. 



8450 



