io THE HERRING FISHERIES. 



The Statute of Herrings passed in 1357 enacted, "That 

 all herrings should be bought and sold in the haven of 

 Great Yarmouth during the fair, not at sea, or within a 

 radius of seven miles from the port of Great Yarmouth, 

 and that the last of fresh herring should not be more than 

 40.?., and that two lasts of fresh shotten herring should only 

 be equal to the last of fresh full herring. 



" That all sales should be contracted between sunrise and 

 sunset, that six score should be the hundred of herrings, 

 and the last to be ten thousand. 



" Further, that the merchants of Yarmouth and Metro- 

 polis or elsewhere sell the thousand of herring to the public 

 after the price rate of the last, and that the Yarmouth 

 dealers should sell the last of red herring within forty days, 

 at and not exceeding half a mark of gain above 40^. paid 

 for fresh," &c. 



These provisions show how important was the acknow- 

 ledged position of Yarmouth in its relations to the herring 

 fishery. 



The herrings appear on the Irish coast in June, and just 

 at the close of the mackerel fishery, and they are captured 

 both by the Irish and Manx fishermen. Immense shoals 

 now commence their journey down the west coast of Eng- 

 land, literally darkening the sea with their numbers and 

 density. They have been known to extend a distance of 

 six miles off the Isle of Man. Great quantities are caught 

 in Cardigan Bay, Swansea Bay, and St. Ives Bay. It may 

 be noticed that the west coast of England fishery com- 

 mences about the same time as the east coast of Scotland, 

 and also that the Irish herring fisheries are almost a name ; 

 for instead of working a coast that may be said to super- 

 abound with this fish, they are content to derive supplies 

 from the north of Scotland. 



