PREFACE. Vll 



and the Micllancl districts of England. AYliile at the 

 same time the supply of freshwater fish— much esteemed 

 as food by the poor in certain parts of England— will 

 be vastly increased. 



In 1878, this Act of Parliament was followed by 

 another Freshwater Fisheries Act protecting our Eivers, 

 Lakes, Ponds, Canals, &c. 



To the Eight Hon. A. Mundella, M.P. for Sheffield, 

 the public are indebted for the great pains and trouble 

 he gave in obtaining this boon for society. (See Ab- 

 stract of this Act, page 376.) 



Parliament has also legislated upon other matters, 

 and laws now exist (necessity having been shown) 

 relative to the preservation of Crabs, Lobsters, and 

 Oysters. 



Our information relative to the habits of Sea Fish is 

 not as yet quite complete enough to w^arrant our asking 

 Parliament for legislation. 



It would be in vain for me to attempt to give any 

 value of the British Fisheries, suffice it to say they are 

 worth many hundred thousands a year. 



Bordering the great North Sea alone, there are 

 several important fishing ports ; such as Yarmouth, 

 Lowestoft, Hull, Grimsby, Scarborough, &c. Over 2,000 

 trawling - smacks and an army of brave fishermen 

 are incessantly, day and night, all the year round, 

 fishing with their heavy trawl nets the vast sand 

 plateaus of the 140,000 square miles of the great 

 North Sea. 



The natural conditions of the bottom of this great 

 North Sea is in a scientific sense less known than the 

 deserts of Sahara. Yet this ''Great Fish Farm" of 

 Her Majesty's subjects is ]3i'actically more impor- 

 tant than the recent revelations made at a vast ex- 



