2C 



the railway companies for the carriage of fresh fish. A 

 less grasping policy would, I believe, be more remunerative 

 to the railways and certainly more advantageous to the 

 public. But this is a subject which will be more fully 

 discussed in a subsequent Paper by his Excellency Mr. 

 Spencer Walpole. 



The conclusion I arrive at is, that the requirements for 

 the further development of our herring fisheries are : 



1. Better harbour accommodation. 



2. The application of steam power. 



3. Increased railway facilities, and lower railway 



rates for the distribution of fresh fish. 



As my right hon. friend Mr. Shaw-Lefevre, M.P., is to 

 read a Paper on the " Principles of Legislation in connection 

 with Sea Fisheries," I have not alluded to the laws re- 

 lating to trawling, and other matters for regulating our 

 sea fisheries ; I have only touched on a subject, which I am 

 sure will be more ably dealt with by my right hon. friend, 

 to such an .extent as I deemed necessary to make the con- 

 dition of our herring fisheries intelligible before an Inter- 

 national Conference. 



Regarding the objects in the Exhibition calculated to 

 develope the herring fisheries, there are models of boats of 

 the most approved build propelled both by steam and sail, 

 nets of the most improved pattern, conspicuously among 

 them being the American purse-seine net, admirably 

 adapted, in the opinion of some competent practical men 

 with whom I inspected it, for the herring fisheries ; there 

 are refrigerating vans, and barrels made by steam ma- 

 chinery. 



But more important to my mind than the modern ap- 

 pliances I have referred to for the capture and transit of 

 fish are the conclusions arrived at by the competent autho- 



