INTRODUCTORY 



like the turbot, the sole, and the oyster were ruthlessly 

 and greedily pursued, to the partial neglect of, say, the 

 humbler herring and skate, which continued to increase 

 and multiply, commanding but a poor market-price in 

 comparison with their scarcer and more succulent brethren. 

 Thus to-day the fishmonger who can afford to sell a 

 herring for a halfpenny must charge a shilling for 

 a sole. 



From the further cultivation of arts and crafts, the 

 man of the coast realised at length that fish had other 

 profitable uses than those of the table ; from increased 

 knowledge of navigation, from experiments in diving, 

 and from watching the beach at low tide, he learned that 

 the sea had other saleable commodities to offer besides 

 fish in the strict sense. For ages he had adorned himself 

 and his family with sealskin, sharks' teeth, shells, coral ; 

 had converted fish-bones into knives and war-hatchets 

 and needles and hooks ; had collected cowries for his 

 currency, and amber to conjure with; and perhaps it 

 was not such a very wide step thence to the preserving 

 and utilising of fish skins and oil, or to a systematic 

 search for and regular trade in pearls, whalebone, 

 sponge, or the purple dye secreted within the shell of 

 the Tyrian murex. 



From the time that the fisheries became once firmly 

 established as a recognised industry, there is not a great 

 deal to be said as to the history of their development. 

 Probably the reason for this is that, unlike most trades, 

 fishing does not easily lend itself to improvements and 

 new fashions. The fisherman thinks that what was good 



19 



