CHAPTER V. 



THE SEA-FISHERIES. 



Into this complex and delicately adjusted struggle for existence 

 man now throws the weight of his influence, and as the captor of 

 hosts of marine organisms becomes a disturbing factor of import- 

 ance. Among the organisms which populate the seas of the globe 

 are very many Avhich are useful to him, either as food, as the 

 materials for adornment, or as the raw stuff for use in the arts and 

 manufactures. Whole groups of fishes such as the cod, plaice, ling, 

 haddock, herring, dab, flounder, witch, skate and ray, dogfish, and 

 others are food for the humbler members of the population, while 

 others such as the sole, turbot, salmon, halibut and brill provide 

 luxuries for those who are able to afford them. Among the 

 Crustacea the crabs and shrimps are the food of the more penurious, 

 while the lobster adapts itself to the more affluent. Periwinkles, 

 mussels, and cockles are luxuries suited for the narrower purses. 

 Oysters and turtles conjure up images of aldermanic junketings. 

 Other more obscure organisms find their places in the dietaries of 

 many of the peoples of the world. Edible sea-urchins {Echinus 

 esculentus) and holothurians (Beche-de-Mer and Trepang) are eaten 

 in some parts of the world. Polychaete worms too form an article of 

 food to some primitive peoples. From very early times the humble, 

 though succulent " dulce " (Iridaea edulis) has been eaten in this 

 country, and other marine algae are also articles of food. Every- 

 where the sea is the repository of stores of food for man. Not only so 

 but other important economic products are also yielded by the blue 

 water. Numbers of shellfish which are not taken for food are of 

 considerable value. The Mytilidae of warmer seas furnish the 

 " Orient Pearl " of the jeweller, and the shells of the larger 

 Margaritiferae are so valuable for the mother-of-pearl that they 



