12 



frozen condition. It is not a rich fish, nor has it been 

 turned to as much account as it might be as a cured 

 article of export. What we prize most in this branch 

 of the trade is the Labrador herring, which for size and 

 nutritious properties is superior to any that the resources 

 of the world have given to the Fisheries Exhibition. 

 This fishery is rarely ever followed as a separate pursuit. 

 Herrings usually appear in August, and are seldom found 

 on the coast after September. The fishing is attended 

 to by the cod-fishermen as an adjunct to "the fishery," 

 as the cod-fishing alone is termed. I may here note 

 incidentally that we have a local legal decision that 

 salmon is not fish ! — a condition which, however para- 

 doxical it may seem, was conventionally correct, for it had 

 relation to a charter for a fish cargo, which locally was 

 understood to be codfish, and which the offer to ship 

 salmon did not satisfy. For various reasons the herring 

 fishery has not expanded into the proportions it seems 

 capable of attaining, but this is probably because cod- 

 fishing offers superior attractions. The annual value is 

 about ;^ 140,000. Herrings are taken in mesh nets and 

 in seines. As many as two thousand barrels have been 

 enclosed in one haul of the seine. When taken in such 

 large quantities the cure is often inferior, from the dif- 

 ficulty of saving the fish in good time. Net fishing is 

 more regular and satisfactory. The United States and 

 Canada receive the larger portion of the catch of Labrador 

 herrings. They should undoubtedly be known more ex- 

 tensively here, and their excellence would give them a 

 high place in the fish-food market. 



