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a similar law in Spain is that, while at the end of last 
century and the beginning of this, this fish was so abun- 
dant in the rivers of the north and north-west of Spain, 
that servants bargained with their masters‘that they should 
not eat salmon more than two days a week; the price is 
now so high in the capital as to place it beyond the reach 
of all but the highest grades of society, and even what is 
there consumed comes in a great part from abroad. This 
state of things points to the necessity of legislation, and in 
consequence, the question of a change in the law is at present 
under consideration by competent authorities. 
Having shown and explained the injury occasioned in 
Spain by abuses in the fisheries, and also the necessity for 
placing rational restrictive measures on the working, it will 
doubtless be asked whether, owing to the extent of the 
prejudices existing on the subject, the very fishermen for 
whose benefit they were put forward would not ignore 
them. Their objection has very little practical importance 
and can easily be met. In the first place fishermen desire 
only to have plenty of fishing and to have it at little cost. 
In the second—when they know the causes of the evil— 
it is necessary for them to employ all their energies and 
make some sacrifice to respect the means of reproduction, 
because if only a few abstained from joining the concourse 
the whole thing would bea failure. If the sea could be 
subdivided like the fields, so that each section would 
respect reproduction and would not gather in the harvest 
till it was ripe, there would be no need for restrictive 
measures, but since the exploration of the deep is common 
property there can be no remedy but such as is obtained 
by the Government of each country. The necessity for 
this not only interests fishermen, but is a question of the 
food supply of nations. 
