FISHERIES. 



WHETHER considered with reference to nat- 

 ural history, manual operations, or econ- 

 omical advantages, the fisheries of Great Britain 

 and Ireland form a theme of considerable interest. 

 To the naturalist, the specific characters of the fish, 

 their food, their change of habitat, and the seasons 

 at which they reproduce their kind, or become 

 proper objects of capture, are points of attractive 

 inquiry ; while to the economist, the finding out of 

 the best modes of capture and curing are matters 

 of great importance. The present sheet offers a 

 brief exposition of a branch of our commerce 

 which is not so well understood as it ought to 

 be, either by the general public or the political 

 economist. A complete view of the fishing in- 

 terests of Great Britain naturally divides itself into 

 two portions, one comprising the food, the other 

 the oil fisheries. We devote the largest part of 

 our space to a review of the former branch of our 

 national industry, as being the most important. Re- 

 cent fisheries exhibitions (Berlin, Norwich, Edin- 

 burgh, London) have specially directed public 

 attention to fish, fish-catching, and fish-culture. 



I. THE FOOD-FISHERIES. 



The fisheries of Great Britain and Ireland are 

 of the greatest importance to the well-being of the 

 people, whether we view them as a source from 

 which may be drawn very large supplies of cheap 

 and nutritious food, or as an outlet for the remuner- 

 ative investment of capital, and the employment of 

 a large body of the population. Although the 

 development of our fisheries as a means of com- 

 merce is of comparatively modern origin, fish has 

 been used as an article of food from the earliest 

 ages. The rude means of capture at one time 

 adopted, when the object was only to satisfy indi- 

 vidual wants, have long since been superseded by 

 a machinery of nets and boats capable of capturing 

 the finny tribe in quantities sufficiently numerous 

 to supply in some degree a portion of the food- 

 wants of our rapidly increasing population, and to 

 make our fisheries no mean source of national 

 commerce ; and modern enterprise is doing much 

 to increase these supplies, by adding to the power 

 of capture, and sailing to greater distances, in 

 order to find fresh shoals of fish. That there will 

 be an ample demand for the additional fish-food 

 which improved modes of capture may obtain for 

 us, is quite certain, there being an ever-increasing 

 demand for all that can be brought to market. 



Fish is a nutritious and generally much esteemed 

 article of diet. It should be cooked as soon as 

 possible after being taken from the water, as it 

 quickly becomes stale. The fish that are whitest 

 and most flaky when boiled, such as turbot, 

 soles, cod, haddock, whiting, and flounders, are 

 easiest to digest ; those which abound in oily 

 matter, such as salmon, herrings, and eels, are 

 if more nutritious, not so digestible. As to the 

 relative nutritive properties of fish and other 

 animal food, Professor Brande states that ' when 

 45 



the muscular parts of animals are washed re- 

 peatedly in cold water, the fibrinous matter which 

 remains consists chiefly of albumen ; and is, in 

 its chemical properties, analogous to the clot of 

 blood.' Muscle yields also a portion of gelatine ; 

 and the flesh of oxen and of some other animals 

 affords a peculiar substance, of an aromatic 

 flavour, called by Thenaud osmazotu. Albumen 

 and gelatine, then, constitute the leading nutritive 

 ingredients in the different kinds of flesh used as 

 food, and it is important to observe that their 

 relative proportions are not very dissimilar in 

 quadrupeds, birds, and fishes, as shewn in the 

 following table. The water was determined by 

 evaporation in a close-covered vessel, or at a tem- 

 perature below 212 : 



Albumen r . , . Total of N- 

 or Fibrin. "' tritire Matter 



22 7 29 



20 7 27 



20 6 26 



19 6 25 



19 5 24 



14 7 21 



1C 6 21 



13 S 18 



Water. 



100 Parts of 

 Muscle of 



Mutton 71 



Chicken 73 



Beef. 74 



Veal 75 



Pork 76 



Cod 79 



Sole 79 



Haddock 82 



According to Johnston, fish in general is less fat 

 than flesh meat 



Fish, when out of season, are unwholesome and 

 not good : they are said to be sick ; but, by a wise 

 provision, the time varies with the different kinds 



S denotes that the Pish is in Season ; F. in finest Season : 

 and O, out of Season. 



of edible fish, so that some may be had good 

 during every season of the year. Unfortunately 



