374 THE SEA FISHERIES OF IRELAND. 



Shannon were soon abandoned as inconvenient, and for years Kinsale, 

 Baltimore, Berehaven, and Valentia were the chief centres of the industry. 

 All this time a local fleet was growing up along the coast, the boats bemg 

 obtained on Government loans, until at last the number of Irish boats 

 exceeded that of all the visitors put together. In 1 890, the Royal Dubhn 

 Society began to investigate the seas off Galway and Mayo, and in their 

 report for that year it was stated that " no place seems so admirably suited 

 for a fishing station as the Aran Islands." In 1892 the establishment of the 

 Spring Mackerel Fishery at the Aran Islands by the Congested Districts 

 Board opened up new possibilities, and these remote parts of the coast as 

 far as the north of Mayo are now rapidly developing new centres of the 

 trade. 



11..— FISHING GROUNDS. 



The Atlantic sends in its shoals of mackerel with fair regularity twice 

 every year. Herrings, too, appear in varying numbers. Pilchards used to 

 come, but have not done so for many years, and, unfortunately, dog-fish follow 

 the pelagic fish in millions. The fishing grounds around Ireland produce sole, 

 turbot, plaice, cod, ling, haak, haddock, conger, and ray, with a sprinkling 

 of halibut, and in the deeper waters tusk. Owing to the contour of the sub- 

 marine plateau on which Ireland stands, these fishing grounds on the western 

 side of the island extend to only a short distance from shore, whereas 

 on the south, north, and east they extend as far as boats can go. The 

 water which bathes the Irish shores is brought thither by the great drift 

 from the ocean known as the Gulf Stream, and, being replete with living 

 organisms, an abundance of food is always coming in from outside the 

 fishing area. While an immense area is thus available for these fishes 

 within the depth limits at which their existence is possible, it is a very 

 common mistake to think that fish are distributed equally over it. For 

 certain reasons, only partially understood, these various classes of fish have 

 their favourite haunts. In one region at a certain season, haak arrive in 

 great numbers, at another plaice or sole ; in one place ling predominate, in 

 another cod or haddock, but between these haunts, lines may be set with 

 most tempting bait, or trawls shot, and the takes be worthless. The stock 

 of fish, therefore, in the fishable area is thus often over-estimated, and calcu- 

 lations made where area is taken into account may be quite erroneous. 



On the Western Prairies at one time herds of buffalo roamed, which 

 reasonable men held to be interminable, and yet in one short year modern 

 weapons and an organised attack swept them off the face of the earth. 



The difficulty of getting at the herds of fish is greater than in the case of 

 the buffalo. Their numbers, too, are vastly greater, and consequently they 

 may stand line fishing, with its many delays and its desultory attacks, for 

 ages to come, as they have done in the past ; but when the modern steam 

 trawler, knowing the season when fish crowd into very limited haunts, gets 

 at these grounds with his persistence and effective gear, it is not a too 

 prejudiced view to take when we say that an exterminating hunt has begun. 

 A good deal of the line-fishing grounds around Ireland have thus been 

 invaded, but within the areas where line-fishing is safe and possible, there 

 is still room for very considerable development. 



Ray and conger have in Ireland generally been treated more or less as 

 worthless, or only fit to bait lobster pots, but nowadays the fishermen have 



