49 
miles of the shore. The gill-net was the first kind of net 
which could be used, especially on waters where the fish 
spawned. If it was set to catch cod, you could not catch 
sprats with it; and if you were fishing for large herring, you 
would not catch a pilchard. He believed this Exhibition 
had been the means of drawing the attention of the public 
to a matter which thirteen or fourteen years ago a few 
isolated individuals were attending to, and it was a great 
point gained that the attention of practical fishermen 
should be directed to the matter, and especially to the 
preservation of spawn and young fry. The Jockey Club 
was a society formed for preserving the best interests of 
race-horses, and he did not see why an analogous society 
should not be formed to watch over the interests of 
fisheries. In Canada and the United States there was a 
Minister of Fisheries, and he hoped the time would come 
when there would be something similar in this country, so 
that through a practical investigation of the habits of fish, 
proper means might be devised to prevent the destruction 
which was now going on. 
Mr. JEX then referred briefly to the remarks which had 
been made by previous speakers, in the course of which he 
said that the pont-herring which used to come in large 
quantities to London, being caught along the Blackwater 
and right down the Essex coast, across to Boston Deeps, 
and even up the River Humber, had entirely disappeared. 
He also condemned the catching of whitebait, which was 
nothing but the young fry of sprat and herring. Legisla- 
tion had done a great deal for the crab and oyster fishery, 
and why should not the protection of other deep-sea 
fisheries be taken in hand? He did not advocate a close 
time for fishing, but thought if the size of mesh were 
restricted that would answer the purpose. It had been 
[41] E 
