26 THE BRITISH FISH TRADE. 



employed in the fishery. The result was obvious. As 

 Adam Smith put it in the "Wealth of Nations," vessels 

 were fitted out to catch the bounty, and not to catch the 

 fish. This evident result induced a Protectionist Parliament 

 to propound a fresh remedy. In addition to the bounties 

 on the tonnage of the vessels, a bounty of 2s., which was 

 subsequently raised to 4^., was paid on every barrel of 

 herrings cured. There is no doubt that under this system 

 the fishery was rapidly developed. The number of herrings 

 cured rose from about 90,000 barrels in 1809 to more than 

 350,000 barrels in 1828, when the bounty was abolished. 

 But it is not clear whether the vast increase in the trade 

 was due to the existence of the bounty. During the nine- 

 teen years which succeeded the abolition of the bounty the 

 trade continued to increase at an almost equal rate, and 

 560,000 barrels of herrings were cured in 1847, 640,000 

 barrels in 1848, and 770,000 barrels in 1849. 



Bewildered, perhaps, at the rapid increase of a trade 

 which, in the first instance, had seemed to require so much 

 fostering protection, many people imagined that the increase 

 of the fishery must produce its own ruin, and that a fish 

 which was being caught in season and out of season would 

 sooner or later be exterminated. Influenced by such 

 arguments as these, Parliament in 1851 adopted a new 

 policy, and initiated a system of restrictive legislation. 

 These restrictive measures retarded the development of the 

 fishery, and, at the close of the seventeen years during 

 which they lasted, the average quantity of herrings cured 

 was no larger than it had been at the beginning. In 1867, 

 in accordance with the wise recommendation of a special 

 commission, restrictive legislation was repealed. The 

 fishery, in consequence, increased ; and in 1874, for the first 

 time in its history, upwards of 1,000,000 barrels of herrings 



