[9] THE FISH SUPPLY OF LONDON. 651 



tributiou of fish. Finally, we are of opinion that, taken in connection 

 with our earlier remarks as to destruction of spawn, and the taking of 

 immature fish, and also the i^resent r.ates charged for railway carriage, 

 the following have, amongst other causes, contributed to the unsatisfac- 

 tory state of the fish supply, viz : 



" 1. The small size of the market at Billingsgate. 



" 2. The utterly inadequate approaches thereto. 



" 3. The arrangement at present existing for its management. 



" We have spoken frankly, and we fully realize that our recommenda- 

 tions involve important and costly changes, which, however, are called 

 for by the present condition of things." 



Before proceeding to show how utterly incompatible the recommen- 

 dations of the corporation's fish committee are with the further exist- 

 ence of the Billingsgate monoply, it seems desirable to repudiate with- 

 out further delay any agreement with the allegations of this report as 

 to " the destruction of sj)awn and small fish, and the taking of imma- 

 ture fish." With this end in view we cannot do better than quote the 

 words spoken at a meeting of the Society of Arts, upon the 10th of 

 May last, by Professor Huxley, who is perhai)S the highest authority 

 in England upon such matters. In reply to a not very wise speech, 

 complaining that the fish supply of London was falling off and the re- 

 tail price of the article increasing, and attributing the mischief to the 

 wholesale system of trawliug now in vogue, " which destroys millions 

 of small fish, and ruins no end of spawn," Professor Huxley rose and 

 said that — 



'.' He experienced much the same sensation as Kip Yan Winkle must 

 have felt when he awoke after his long sleep; for the speech he just 

 heard was identical in spirit and almost in words with a great multitude 

 of speeches which came before him about twenty years ago, when he 

 had the honor of being a royal commissioner to inquire into the condi- 

 tion of our sea fisheries. That commission arose in this way : Mr. Mil- 

 ner Gibson, who was president of the board of trade, sent for him one 

 day, and told him that a member for a northern county meant to move 

 for a commission of inquiry into the destruction of the fisheries on the 

 east coast by trawling, and asked him what he thought about it. He 

 ventured to say that he thought it was all nonsense, and that Mr. Mil- 

 ner Gibson had better refuse the commission. He did so, but the mem- 

 ber beat him in the House of Commons, and he sent for him (Mr. Huxley) 

 next day and told him he must serve on the commission. He served 

 on it for two years^ during which time a larger body of evidence came 

 before him than had come under the eyes of most people. The com- 

 plaints then made of trawlers were precisely those they had just heard;, 

 that the damage done by line fishermen was destroying a great source of 

 the supply of men to the navy ; that it was destroying the breeding of fish 

 in the North Sea, more especially cod, whiting, and haddock ; and, not 

 only so, but it was rapidly destroying that upon which the trawlers 



