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would ride in about a foot of water, they passed readily 

 through the surf, and could be easily taken up and carried 

 on their backs when they got on shore. He thought Mr. 

 Walsh's idea, if it could be carried out, of having a steam 

 carrier for going from port to port to collect the fish, would 

 be very good, otherwise it was often thrown on shore to 

 rot. There might be tons and tons of herrings thrown on 

 the shore because there were no means of sending them to 

 market. Again, another missing link with regard to these 

 Irish fisheries was this, if Scotch or Cornish boats were to 

 come to the south or west coast of Ireland there might be 

 harbours of refuge as near as possible to the fishing grounds, 

 provided by and under the control of the Government, and, 

 on the other hand, there must be light tramways to connect 

 the more distant parts with the established railway termini. 

 The charts in the British section would explain why it was 

 from the month of May or June to the end of the year the 

 west coast fishery was practically not prosecuted ; the fish 

 were there and were not caught, first, because the men were 

 not there, and, secondly, because the fishing grounds were 

 so distant from any harbours. 



Mr. J. A. BLAKE, M.P., proposed a vote of thanks to the 

 two gentlemen who had read Papers. As an Irishman he was 

 very much interested in the fisheries, and felt much obliged 

 to both gentlemen for the most interesting and valuable 

 Papers they had read. No man in Ireland was more 

 entitled to speak on industrial subjects than Mr. Bloomfield, 

 because no one had made greater efforts in that direction 

 than he had. It was more than a quarter of a century 

 since he had been associated with him in an effort for 

 the extension of railway accommodation in Ireland, and 

 for the State to purchase the railways ; it was a great 

 misfortune for Ireland that this was not done, and also 



