THE FISHERIES OF CHINA. 371 
tribes whose meat is soft and fine, and they are to be caught in rivers, brooks, 
lakes, ponds, and the surface of the ocean. Another factor which has checked 
the development of deep-sea fishing has been the lack of rapid transportation 
facilities and of refrigerative means, necessitating the preservation of deep-sea 
fishes in salt before they could be sent inland. On the other hand, there are 
products of the sea which are regarded by us as delicacies of the table, but which 
have little or no consumption in the West. Just to mention a few well-known 
ones, the fins of the shark, the béche-de-mer, the cuttlefish, the jellyfish, the 
scallop, and the awabe form important articles of domestic commerce, but are 
not bought or sold to any extent in the West. Many people of the West poke 
fun at us for what may be termed our motley taste for fish food. They declare 
that we are omnivorous, as far as eating the products of the sea is concerned. 
It seems to us that if the standard of civilization is partly to be measured by 
the ability and ingenuity of the people to maintain life by utilizing the variety 
of foods placed at its disposal, then we have helped to solve one of the important 
problems of life. We have found so many of the finny tribes suitable for food 
and capable of being transformed into delicious dishes that it is possible for us 
to have a fresh species on our table every day during the year. 
The more common of the edible fishes in our country are the perch, mack- 
erel, sturgeon, goby, pomfret, eel, gudgeon, shad, sole, mullet, flounder, herring, 
carp, bream, etc. 
With our dense population it is a matter of necessity that we seek our food 
from the waters as well as from the air andthe land. As a writer has said, ‘“‘ All 
waters are vexed with our fisheries. Our nets and other contrivances for 
capturing fish display great ingenuity, and most of them are admirably adapted 
for the purpose (and no wonder, with our centuries of experience and experi- 
mentation). The right to fish in running streams and natural waters is open 
to all, with a few exceptional cases, while artificial reservoirs, as ponds, pools, 
tanks, tubs, ete., are brought into available use; rice fields near tide water are 
turned into fish ponds in winter. As to the modes of securing the inhabitants 
of the deep, they are killed with the spear, caught with the hook, scraped up 
by the dredge, ensnared by traps, and captured by nets; they are decoyed to 
jump into boats by painted boards, lifted by lifting nets, and dived for by 
birds—for the cormorant seizes what his owner could not reach.’ The last- 
named method is unique, I believe, in the world, and in our country is confined 
to one family, the Liu family. The fishes caught, however, are limited to those 
of creeks and small streams and of unpalatable kinds, bought and eaten only by 
very poor people. 
With the spread and growth of new ideas through intercourse with western 
nations, the possibilities of the fishing industry have become more and more 
apparent to our leaders, and it is realized that for a proper development the 
whole industry must be thoroughly organized and all modern improvements in 
