122 



ered, notwithstanding settlements, or incumbrances, to mate 

 Leases in perpetuity, at the full improved value, of any portions 

 of Land required for fishery purposes, adjacent to the shores of 

 Ireland : such leases to be valid, provided a sum equal to five 

 years' rent be expended in good and substantial buildings on the 

 land, within seven years. 



" 16th. That the section of the statute of Charles the First, 

 securing to the Public a right to the use of the strands and wastes 

 on the shores of Ireland, for fishery purposes, and conferring a 

 complete freedom of fishing on all British subjects, be clearly 

 established by a further enactment. 



" 1 7th. That a Practical Education in the manufacture of nets, 

 and in other fishery avocations, be adopted in the national 

 schools of the maritime districts of Ireland." 



CHAPTER XII. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE IRISH SEA FISHERIES. 



THE shores of Ireland are remarkable in a geographical point 

 of view indented as they are with so many deep creeks and 

 havens and spacious bays. The advantage which this country 

 possesses in her insular position for maritime purposes is there- 

 fore enhanced by the gift of an extraordinary range of coast as 

 compared with her limited area. A consideration of this cir- 

 cumstance will direct attention to the fact, that Ireland is 

 surrounded by an accessible and almost boundless supply of food, 

 offering an auxiliary means of employment, and a fertile source 

 of wealth. 



Without entertaining speculative ideas, or attempting to 

 magnify the importance of Sea Fisheries on many grounds which 

 appear in reflecting upon the subject, such as their commercial 



value their capabilities as a source of livelihood and subsistence, 



or as a training nursery for seamen it is sufficient to remark, that, 

 with the known extent of the natural supply, the density of our 

 population, the accessibility to markets, (latterly improved by 

 railway communication,) and the facilities now existing for 

 commerce these resources would apparently have promised a 

 certain and lucrative trade. It might indeed have been imagined 

 that Ireland would not only furnish an ample stock of Fish for 

 home consumption, but a superabundance sufficient to meet an 

 extensive foreign demand. Yet, instead of Ireland being a great 

 fish-producing and fish-exporting country, the fact is the reverse ; 

 the quantity of the commodity taken round her coasts falls short 

 of the requirements even of her own inhabitants, and during the 

 height of the late terrible Famine, when it might have been 



