VI PKEFACE. 



There are nearly four millions of mouths in London 

 to be fed daily, and thirty- three millions of hungry 

 subjects of Her Majesty in England, Wales, Ireland, 

 and Scotland, demand also a daily supply of fresh fish. 

 At present this daily supply is forthcoming ; but how 

 long this is to continue without falling off is a question 

 Avhich makes me shudder. It is therefore the more 

 desirable that public attention should be directed quite 

 as much to the cultivation of the waters, as it has been 

 hitherto to the cultivation of the lands. Aquiculture is 

 quite as important as Agriculture. 



Parliament has been most generous and thoughtful 

 in the matter of fisheries ; whenever it has been shown 

 to them (after strict deliberation in Committee) that 

 legislation is required, legislation has been framed ac- 

 cordingly. The law has now since 1862 thrown its 

 protecting shield over our salmon fisheries in England 

 and Wales, which (despite the carpings and grumblings 

 of individuals) have most decidedly increased ; that is 

 to say, that many more salmon have been sent into the 

 markets to be eaten than were forthcoming eighteen 

 years ago. 



In due course the time arrived when it was desirable 

 that legislation should be made relative to the hitherto 

 neglected freshwater fisheries of this country. 



In 1875, I had the honour of inspecting and report- 

 ing to Parliament on the rivers and broads of Norfolk, 

 the fisheries of which from time immemorial had been 

 treated in the most wasteful manner. This resulted in 

 the Norfolk and Suffolk Fisheries Act— an Act that has 

 already done an immense deal of good, and has caused 

 the greatest satisfaction, not only to the inhabitants of 

 Norfolk and Suffolk, but also to the angling communities 

 of most of our great manufacturing towns in the London 



