FISHERIES 



3174 



FISHERIES 



in British waters. In Great Britain 

 it is much neglected, possibly be- 

 cause.it requires to be caught with 

 hook and line, and then only in 

 restricted districts. Pollack, again, 

 is caught in large quantities on the 

 line off Cornwall and other places, 

 but it does not pack well, or keep 

 well, and is thus neglected. Skate 

 and ray, until recent years, were 

 not seen in the fishmongers' shops 

 nearly so much as they are now, 

 but are highly esteemed in French 

 restaurants. Other fish are con- 

 sumed almost entirely in or near 

 the locality of their capture, among 

 them the coal-fish and cat-fish of 

 Scottish waters, the pollack and 

 pilchard of Cornwall, the conger, 

 the dog-fish, and weever of Sussex. 

 Landings in England and Wales 

 In 1913, the last completed year 

 before the Great War, the total 

 landings of fish in England and 

 Wales reached a maximum, while 

 in Scotland the quantity was less 

 than that of the previous year, 

 though of greater value. For the 

 11 years, 1903-13, the quantities 

 and value of fish landed in England 

 and Wales were as follow : 



1903 

 1904 

 1905 

 1906 

 1907 

 1908 

 1909 

 1910 

 1911 

 1912 

 1913 



Cwts. 

 11, 198,000 

 11,365,000 

 11,310,000 

 12,195,000 

 13,994,000 

 13,282,000 

 13,955,000 

 13,118.000 



14,612,000 

 16,152,000 







6,930,000 

 6,490,000 

 7,201,000 

 7,641,000 

 7,826,000 

 7,748,000 

 7,497,000 

 7,966,000 

 8,051,000 

 8,884,000 

 10,009,000 



The total landed showed an in- 

 crease, largely attributable to the 

 record catch of herring in 1913, of 

 44 p.c. on that of 1903, and of 10'5 

 p.c. on that of 1912. The E. 

 coast contributed about 92 p.c. of 

 the pelagic fish. 



MARKETING. The placing of fish 

 upon the market involves first the 

 production and catching of the 

 fish, and, secondly, the means of 

 distribution. The catching is done 

 either by nets, baited hand-lines, 

 or traps, the latter used especially 

 for shell-fish. The nets are the 

 trawl, the drift-net, and the tram- 

 mel. Commercial distribution 

 bears little relation to the natural 

 distribution of the fish in the sea. 

 Thanks to improved methods of 

 transport, and ice-packing, thou- 

 sands of tons of fish are brought a 

 thousand miles to be sold at Billings- 

 gate. Much of this is collected in 

 the fishing grounds themselves by 

 fast steamers. This is known as the 

 " fleeting system." About 40,000 

 tons per annum is brought to the 

 Thames every year in this manner. 



Fish caught in trawl-nets are dead 

 when brought on board, and must 

 be packed in ice. The same thing 

 applies to fish caught on lines, only 

 hauled up at long intervals. 



Other fish, such as cod and hali- 

 but, which are hauled up by hand- 

 line as soon as hooked, can be kept 

 alive in salt water until reaching 

 their destination, a process which 

 is somewhat cruel, and, moreover, 

 does not conduce to keep the fish 

 in good condition. Marine fish 

 really keep better if they are killed 

 as soon as they are caught, gutted 

 at once, then washed and salted. 

 The great bulk of the fish in Great 

 Britain, probably about 1,000,000 

 tons per annum, is distributed 

 by rly., and the various rly. com- 



ries have special departments 

 dealing with the fish traffic 

 alone. How complicated the whole 

 question of distribution and cost 

 is, may be realized from the fact 

 that (as F. G. Aflalo says) " a slice 

 of turbot eaten in a London club 

 may have been caught in the Bay 

 of Biscay, then brought on ice to 

 Plymouth Barbican, sent by S.W. 

 Rly. to Waterloo, thence by van to 

 Billing s g a t e, 

 and finally by 

 cart to the 

 Bond Street 

 shop from 

 which the club 

 buys it." 



INSPECTION. 

 Fish come 

 under the 

 notice of the 

 food inspector, 

 whose duty it 

 is to see that 



no fish are exposed for sale unless 

 they are of sufficient freshness to 

 be good for food. Absolute fresh- 

 ness is desirable in fatty fish, such 

 as mackerel, herrings, and eels, but 

 the firmer cod and turbot eat better 

 the day after they are caught. 

 Purchasers should avoid fish which 

 are bruised, as often happens to 

 those caught in a trawl. 



It is by no means easy to tell a 

 perfectly fresh fish. The sense of 

 smell is an unsatisfactory test, 

 being more acute in some people 

 than in others, and, moreover, a fish 

 may be fresher or staler than its 

 smell suggests. Frequent washing 

 of the fish, as is carried out on the 

 slabs of many fishmongers, keeps 

 away the smell. Well-marked dull- 

 ness in the eyes of the fish is a re- 

 liable test for freshness, but sets 

 up a somewhat high standard, be- 

 cause the eyes become dull in 24 

 hours, and decomposition may not 

 set in for much longer. 



Another test is that of the 

 rubbing off of the scales. If this 

 can be done with ease the fish 







279,000 

 290,000 

 302,000 

 324,000 

 329,000 

 294,000 

 263,000 

 228,000 

 273,000 

 327,000 

 328,000 







7,209,000 

 6,780,000 

 7,503,000 

 7,965,000 

 8,155,000 

 8,042,000 

 7,760,000 

 8,194,000 

 8,324,000 

 9,211,000 

 10,337,000 



should not be eaten. The same 

 remark applies to fish whose flesh 

 comes readily off the back bone. 

 The gills in a fresh fish are red, but 

 the exact colour differs in different 

 species. Thus, the gills of the 

 whiting and the haddock are not 

 as dark in colour as those of the 

 salmon. After 24 hours the gills 

 lose their fresh red colour, though 

 frequent washing tends to retain 

 it. If the fish be held out by the 

 hand and remains horizontal with- 

 out drooping, it is a sure sign of 

 freshness. As staleness comes on, 

 the body becomes more and more 

 limp, before there is any really 

 unpleasant smell. This stiffness, or 

 rigor mortis, sets in about twelve 

 hours after death, and may last 

 for another 24 hours, or even 

 longer in fresh fish placed on ice 

 at once. These tests are used by 

 experienced inspectors. 



Finally, one may just note that 

 cod should be very firm to the 

 touch ; skate should be thick, 

 firm, and the flesh pure white ; 

 eels should be bought alive ; 

 whiting deteriorate quickly ; the 

 flesh of turbot is not pure white ; 

 herrings show redness about the 

 head when fresh, but in mackerel 

 this redness indicates decay. It 

 should be noted that certain 

 frauds are perpetrated by un- 

 scrupulous salesmen on ignorant 

 purchasers. The street-hawker 

 often sells slices of halibut as 

 turbot, not showing the whole 

 fish. The skinned weever is also 

 sometimes sold for sole, and lemon 

 soles frequently as soles. It is a 

 good rule never to buy a portion 

 of fish unless the skin is on it. 

 Fish in Season 



Cookery books and calendars 

 usually contain tabulated lists of 

 edible fish in season, but many of 

 these lists are misleading. Strictly 

 speaking, there is no season in 

 which any fish should not be sold 

 for food, except from a legal point 

 of view. Speaking generally, it 

 may be said that a fish is at its best 

 at the half -spawn period, i.e. when 

 the roe is about half ready for 

 depositing. Some fish, however, 

 are at their best in full roe. Im- 

 mature fish, on the other hand, i.e. 

 fish too young to spawn, are never 

 out of condition, but should be 

 avoided for the sake of conserving 

 the supply. 



Fish are brought to the markets 

 from such great distances that it 

 becomes more and more difficult to 

 define their seasons. Thus it used 

 to be considered that the winter 

 was the proper season for cod, but 

 excellent cod may now be got 

 during the summer. Soles may be 

 had in good condition all the year 

 round, but plaice are inferior 



