THE SEA FISHERIES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 151 
of our actual catch, but failing to secure what is in other countries con- 
sidered a source of national wealth. Apart from the increase in quan- 
tity of the well-established preparations of fish by drying, salting, smok 
ing, &c., there is a large field open in putting up fish in hermetically 
sealed cans, either in oil, pickle, or spices. 
The Centennial Exhibition of 1876 afforded an opportunity for the 
presentation of vast numbers of preparations of fish, as made and con- 
sumed in large quantities in France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, which 
could be readily imitated in the United States, and find a market either 
here or in foreign countries. Indeed, almost every fish of the Mediter- 
ranean in the various preparations, notably the mullet, the mackerel, 
the tunny, the perch, bass, &c., and even squids or cuttle-fish, were 
found to constitute no inconsiderable item. 
Of herring there are many preparations greatly in demand in Hurope, 
of which we know nothing. A reference to some of these will be found 
in the Report of the U.S. Fish Commission, Voi. II, page 183 (Wide- 
eren on the Herring and its Preparation as an Article of Trade). 
The carcasses of sharks, skates, and other now refuse fish could be 
converted into food for dogs, poultry, and even used in feeding young 
trout or salmon, &e., in piscicultural establishments. Hven if they 
could be sold at from 1 to 3 cents a pound for the dried meat, in the 
large demand that could readily be developed for the various purposes 
mentioned, a satisfactory profit could be derived. The meat could be 
chopped fine or converted into meal, as with the well. known fish-meal 
of Norway. 
IV.—MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT OF FISHERIES. 
CONSIDERATIONS RELATIVE TO THE BEST MODE OF MAINTAINING 
AND INCREASING THE SUPPLY OF THE SEA FISIIERIES. 
This subject may be best treated under the following heads: First, 
legislation in the way of regulation and prohibition; second, the in- 
erease of the absolute number and variety of fish; third, equalizing 
the supply of fishes and bringing them from distant points within easy 
or convenient reach of the fishermen. 
1.—LEGISLATION. 
The history of the fisheries for many centuries past has been largely 
a record of attempts either to give monopolies to favored individuals 
and companies, or well-meant, but in most cases ill-judged, endeavors 
to protect the fish from destruction and to secure the rights of the peo- 
plein their capture. The tendency, however, of later years, has been 
materially to relax and in many eases to abolish these regulations, and 
it is now becoming generally conceded that, so far as the sea fisheries 
are concerned, the less the obstacles we place in the way of the prosecu- 
tion of the fisheries the better. It very rarely happens that the enact- 
