THE SEA-FISHERIES 309 



day's fishing, therefore, nine millions of sprats may be 

 captured, and this goes on day after day without making 

 any appreciable difference to the abundance of the fish. 

 The question has naturally occurred in connection with 

 this and other similar fisheries elsewhere, whether it would 

 not be desirable, with a view to a more perfect distribution 

 and more economic utilization of this food product, to 

 establish curing or canning industries for the purpose of 

 converting the temporary superabundance of the fresh 

 perishable fish into a more permanent and highly nutritious 

 article of diet. It is satisfactory to know that the matter 

 is now being investigated from both the scientific and the 

 commercial points of view and that experiments are being 

 made which it is hoped will lead to such preservation 

 industries being established. 



The United States Bureau of Fisheries with its very 

 extensive organization and ample resources sets an example 

 to the civilized world in the promotion and utilization of 

 their important fisheries — both marine and fresh- water. 

 Their experts seem to be equally successful in devising new 

 methods and in conducting an active propaganda. The 

 establishment of a new fishery, the provision of the necessary 

 markets and the all-important demand on the part of the 

 public are promoted simultaneously. The method seems 

 to be to boom one fish at a time : in 1916 it was the tile-fish, 

 and in 1917 the dog-fish under a new name. Our European 

 food-fishes have been known to the public for centuries, 

 and their names, such as herring, cod and plaice, are very 

 old ; but the " tile-fish " is new to the markets and the 

 name is a recent invention. When, as the result of scientific 

 exploration, the fish was found fn quantity and introduced 

 to the fishermen and the public, and it became necessary 

 to find a name shorter than the zoological designation 

 Lopholatilus chamceleonticeps , the terminal part (" tile ") ^ 



^ And possibly also because of the tile-like markings on the 

 head. 



