.''230 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [2J 



and other sea fish only very few undergo development, and that only a 

 very small number of those developed ever reach maturity. This being 

 the case, it will be evident that if the eggs are placed in circumstances 

 ■favorable to development, and if the young are protected for some time 

 ^after hatching, the number of any given fish might be increased to an 

 -almost indefinite extent. Hence it might have been expected that we 

 would first have directed our attention to the artificial cultivation of 

 the cod or some other fish that appears rather to be diminishing than 

 increasing in numbers along our shores. This, however, necessitates 

 more appliances than we can at present command, and we have there- 

 fore determined to begin our inquiries by endeavoring to increase our 

 limited knowledge of the herring, especially of its food and early life- 

 history. That this is not only an important question to take up, but 

 one of the first questions which deserves attention, will be evident when 

 the part the herring plays as food, not only for man, but also for the 

 cod and salmon, is taken into consideration. 



In order to carry on investigations as to the food, habits, and early 

 life-history of the herring, it was necessary to have at our disposal a 

 steam-vessel, dredging apparatus, &c. Accordingly we applied to you 

 to move the Lords of the Admiralty to grant the use of a steam-pinnace. 

 This application has for the present been declined, for reasons stated; 

 but, as you are aware, we are still in communication on the subject, 

 and it is to be hoped that the Lords of the Admiralty will yet see their 

 way to grant our request; for, if the investigations could be set on foot 

 at once, we are confident that important results could be obtained dur- 

 ing the remaining part of the present year. 



In reference to the above proposed scientific investigations, we are 

 impressed with the importance of testing new and more skillful methods 

 of fishing, as, for instance, the successful working of the seine purse- 

 net upon the American coast, which might probably be well adapted to 

 the herring fishery on our own coasts ; also the cod gill-net, likewise 

 used with much success on the American coast ; and there is no doubt 

 that, with increased Government assistance, much might be done in 

 this direction for the development and improvement of our fisheries. 



B.— THE EFFECT OF FIXED ENGINES ON THE SALMON FISH- 

 ERIES—A PRIZE ESSAY ON " SALMON LEGISLATION IN 

 SCOTLAND," BY J. M. LEITH. 



We now come to " fixed engines," which, together with pollutions, 

 share the unenviable distinction of being the most destructive agency 

 affecting the salmon-fishings of the whole kingdom. It was very early 

 discovered that the use of fixed nets and engines in rivers exercised an 

 injurious effect upon the development of the fisheries, and in fact that 

 it promised, if unrestricted, to exterminate salmon altogether. There- 

 fore, as we see by the old statutes before referred to, fixed engines were 



