FOOD FISHES 55 



And, again, the meeting-place of warm and cold currents is, 

 as we have seen, always a rich feeding-ground for fish. 



SUMMARY. Near the land at the mouths of warm estuaries 

 are the Oysters and Mussels, while farther off, but still in the 

 shallow water of the shore, are the Crabs and Lobsters, Prawns 

 and Shrimps. Farther off again, though not in really deep 

 water, are the various kinds of bottom fishes, the Halibut and 

 Plaice, the Cod and Haddock of the cold northern seas, and the 

 Turbot and Soles of the south, while far off in the deep waters 

 of the west and only occasionally approaching the land is the 

 great Hake, and the Ling and Coalfish. 



Above all these, swimming in the middle or surface waters, 

 are the Herrings, Sprats, Pilchards, and Mackerel. 



Grimsby and Billingsgate are the great fish markets of the 

 kingdom, but all round the coast there are fishing ports, and 

 as soon as the fish are landed they are packed in ice l and 

 sent away to all parts of the kingdom, so that inland towns 

 as well as those at the sea-side are able to have fresh fish. 



Yet so abundant is the supply 2 that not only do we provide 

 our own population with all that it requires, but we also 

 export considerable quantities to foreign countries. 



' Fishing, next to agriculture, is the greatest of British 

 industries, judged by the number of men engaged, the amount 

 of capital invested, and the importance of the product to the 

 food of the people. It is an industry which has its risks, but 

 it breeds a race of healthy men. The forces of nature teach 

 self-reliance, and it is this quality which causes fishermen to 

 be the least fostered class of the nation, yet perhaps the most 

 valuable. The fishing community is little recruited from 

 outside, and it can never adequately be replaced. It is 

 prolific, and three-quarters of its excess population enter the 

 navy and merchant service. Its men possess an hereditary 

 instinct for the sea, and the war is surely demonstrating the 



1 We import from Norway every year thousands of tons of ice : in 1913 

 over 233,000 tons. Hull is the port of entry. 



2 The total value of the fisheries of the United Kingdom in 1913 was over 

 14,000,000. Their importance in order of weight is : herring, cod, haddock, 

 whiting, hake, mackerel, skate and rays, ling, sprats 5 turbot, sole, pilchard. 

 Plaice and halibut are included with other flat-fish, but in the returns of 

 English fish plaice conies fourth in the list and halibut eighth. 



