THE SEA FISHERIES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 17 



V. General political considerations. — Under this head are included the 

 subject of the fisheries in relation to the State, bounties, inspection, in- 

 ternational relations, &c. 



I propose to consider the subject of the fish and fisheries of Eastern 

 North America substantially as given above, although I shall not be 

 able to follow the various subdivisions in equal detail, indeed omitting 

 some of them entirely for the present. So much yet remains to be 

 known in regard to many of the topics enumerated that I can only 

 hope that the meagerness and incompleteness of what I may say of 

 them will call attention to the fact and secure the co operation of others 

 in a future more reliable rendering of the whole subject. 



GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS IN REGARD TO THE SPECIAL IMPOR- 

 TANCE AND VALUE OF THE SEA FISHERIES. 



It may be safely stated that as a source of animal food to man the 

 sea is the great fountain head, and that without this resource the sup- 

 ply of such food would be comparatively limited and far inferior to the 

 demand of the various populations of the globe. 



In the much greater proportion of ocean to land this reservoir of food 

 is practically inexhaustible, and not only do the people living near its 

 shores find a daily supply for consumption in a fresh state, but by 

 proper methods of preparation and preservation the product of the sea 

 can be fitted for long-continued keeping and for transportation to dis- 

 tant markets, where fishing is difficult, or into the interior, where it is 

 impracticable. It is not a little remarkable that abundant as is the 

 supply of fish in the warmer portions of the world it is impossible to 

 preserve them there, and consequently, in Catholic countries especially, 

 where the consumption of fish on certain days is a necessity, the colder 

 countries of the North are drawn upon to furnish cod, haddock, hake, 

 herring, etc., to their own great profit. It is difficult to make a calcu- 

 lation as to the comparative amount of animal food derived from the 

 ocean and the land, but it is stated (Report of the British Sea Fisher- 

 ies, 1806, I, p. xvi) that the weight of trawled fish supplied to the Lon- 

 don market amounts to 300 tons daily, and is nearly equal to the total 

 amount of beef, and that the price paid to the fishermen for this food is 

 only one eighth of that paid to the first producer of the beef. It is also 

 a gratifying and important consideration that the sources of food in the 

 sea are very far from being all made use of, and that while in regard to 

 the best known and most highly appreciated fish improved methods are 

 constantly being devised for successfully increasing the amount of the 

 catch at less expense, there are avast number of sea animals which, 

 while highly prized iu some portions of the world, and really of supe- 

 rior excellence and wholesomeness as food, are despised elsewhere. In 

 time, however, such prejudices will be overcome and the various spe- 

 cies referred to fully appreciated. 

 S. Mis. 90 2 



