178 



was attempted. Frazer, meantime, made three voyages to Bristol, and 

 sold his fish at good prices the city paying a bounty of 2s. Qd. per 

 cwt. on the cargoes. In 1804 the Waterford company dissolved. 



" Another efibrt had been previously made by the Government in 

 behalf of the Fisheries, under the management of the Dublin Society. 

 For this purpose, Is. per barrel duty was laid on imported herrings, 

 to be expended in the encouragement of the north-west Fishery. This 

 duty, by 23 & 24 Geo. III., c. 1, was raised to 3s. and by an Act of 

 the following year, to 10s. (subsequently reduced to 9s.) In 1776-7 

 (17 & 18 Geo. III., c. 18), bounties were granted on ships prosecuting 

 the white fishery, south of latitude 44. In 1801-2 (21 & 22 Geo. 

 III., c. 15), three Inspectors of Fisheries were appointed, and 6d. per 

 pound sterling ordered to be deducted from the bounties for their pay- 

 ment. In 1785, 20,000 was granted to trustees, on the petition of 

 William Conyngham, esq., for the encouragement of the Fisheries; 30s. 

 per ton bounty was also granted to the owners of British or Irish 

 Fishery vessels, up to the concurrence of eighty tons. Another bounty 

 of 60s. was given for building vessels for the deep-water Fishery, on 

 the north-west coast, to be launched before December 1st, 1788; and 

 lastly, bounties were granted on the export of fish, fish oil, and whale- 

 bone, not being for Great Britain or the Isle of Man. The Inspectors, 

 too, were at this time increased to five, and Is. in the pound sterling 

 stopped for their salaries. By the same Act, fishing vessels were re- 

 quired to bear distinguishing marks, the size of the meshes of fishing 

 nets was regulated, and the season for taking oysters was subjected to 

 rule. By 25 Geo. III., c. 65, it was enacted, that 20,000 might be 

 raised on the estate of W. Conyngham, esq., for the same purposes 

 as the preceding grant to that gentleman. On the following year, 

 bounties were extended to vessels not under twenty tons, and an ex- 

 port bounty of 2s. 2d. per barrel on herrings was granted. At the 

 same time 10,000 were voted to certain individuals, for building 

 accommodations to fishermen, and improving the navigation of Lough 

 Swilly the parties advancing an equal sum. In 1786, barrel bounty 

 was raised to 4s., and premiums offered of eighty, sixty, forty, and 

 twenty guineas respectively, on the four greatest quantities of herrings 

 taken between January 1st, and December 31st of that year; 3s. 3d. 

 per cwt. also was given on the export of white fish, in lieu of the 

 bounties granted on that article by 25 Geo. III., which were repealed. 

 In the year 1791 (32 Geo. III., c. 23), the bounties of 25 Geo. III. 

 were continued till the 25th March, 1795, and from this period, by a 

 succession of prolongations, (and with some insignificant change of 

 detail,) this statute continued to be the great regulator of the Irish 

 Fisheries, until the year 1819, when the Irish Fishery Board was in- 

 stituted. Of the proceedings of this body, and their results, particulars 

 will be found in the succeeding pages. It continued in activity during 

 ten years, which may be considered as the period of greatest activity 

 in the Irish Fisheries; and with its existence closed the long succession 

 of efforts to establish the Fisheries by pecuniary encouragement. The 

 abolition of bounties, (and consequently of the Irish Fishery Board,) 

 was the work of public opinion, which, as usual, followed lagging in the 

 rear of the march of events. From the year 1830 to the present time, 



