FISHERMEN AND FISHERIES. 143 



England, but in almost every other country, the fisheries 

 have been among the most important objects of legislation 

 and popular concern ; but their real importance grew, and 

 was only fully recognised, with the increase of population 

 and the development of trade. More especially in the 

 history of maritime States has the part played by the fish- 

 ing industry been most conspicuous. Fish, among both i n ancient 

 Greeks and Romans, was a most popular diet, and so much tl1 

 importance was attached to the cheapness and freshness of 

 the supplies of this food that the fishermen were compelled 

 to sound a gong immediately on their arrival at the market- 

 place so that the fish might be sold as fresh as possible, 

 while the sellers were not allowed to sit down during market 

 hours, that they might be induced to get rid of their pro- 

 duce as quickly and cheaply as possible. The ancient 

 Greeks, however, not only developed the fisheries around 

 their own coasts, but they carried the craft of fishing to 

 their colonies, many of which became valuable centres for 

 the supply of fish to the mother country. Byzantium and 

 Sinope owed their existence to the fact that their sites were 

 selected as admirable fishing stations, and the fisheries of 

 the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof came to hold much the 

 same position towards Greece as the cod banks of New- 

 foundland, ages afterwards, held towards England. 



The Romans, like the Greeks, developed their fisheries 

 to the fullest extent, and, besides seeking supplies in distant 

 waters, they even introduced new varieties from abroad and 

 acclimatised them, under Imperial guidance, in their own 

 waters. In this way the celebrated scarus, a native of the 

 -^Egean Sea, was established on the Italian coast, in the 

 reign of the Emperor Claudius. The introduction of 

 British oysters into the ancient oyster pares, at Lake 

 Fusaro and elsewhere, is a familiar instance of this practice. 



