( 269 ) 



GREECE. 



(For Plan, see p. 76.) 



THE fisheries of Greece, on account of the number of persons who gain their living by this 

 rade, hold a prominent position in the country. But these products, barely sufficing for 

 the daily consumption, do not influence foreign trade. Even in the smallest ports there are 

 some fishing-boats which practise fishing either by the net, drag-net, or line. The population 

 living by fishing is comparatively large, but we do not know the exact figure, having no 

 official statistics on this point. 



There are in Greece twenty-four establishments for pisciculture, which are the property 

 of the state. The lease of these establishments is put up for auction by the public treasury 

 every ten years. The best of these establishments are installed in the lagoons, which extend 

 over a space of more than 30 square kilometres, in front of the town of Missolonghi. Two- 

 thirds of the population of this town earn their living by fishing, and above all by a kind 

 of pisciculture, that is, retaining the fish in the lower lakes by an enclosure, and afterwards 

 capturing them just at the moment when, eager to spawn, they seek to regain the open sea. 

 The weight of the fish thus reared, and afterwards caught, amounts to more than 600,000 

 kilos, a year. The fish are sold fresh in the market of the same town, or that of the 

 neighbouring town, Patras (Achaia). The preparation of salt fish is only carried on on a very 

 small scale. The best and most appreciated product of the country is the Boutargue. What 

 is thus designated consists of ovaries full of the mature eggs of the Mugil Cephalus, salted and 

 afterwards dried by exposure to the air. In three ports cf the country, Corinth, Chalcis, and 

 Orseoi, they practise, especially in summer, the Sardine, Anchovy, and Scomber-mackerel 

 fishing fish that are here always salted. Last year was very unfavourable for this fishing, 

 and it was with difficulty, even in the three above-mentioned ports, that they could muster a 

 thousand barrels of salt fish of 40 kilos, on an average. This fishery has supplied the trade with 

 more than 10,000 barrels. Last year a hundred boats, manned with crews amounting to three, 

 hundred and fifty men, remained without employment. 



At Spezzia one hundred and fifty men, manning twenty-five boats, towards the month of 

 May, devote themselves to the Tunny fishery by means of a net expressly made for this kind 

 of fish, of which the produce amounted to 7000 kilos, in the last cruise, which was sold fresh 

 in the market of Nauplia at the rate of fr. 1'50 per kilo. This fishery, owing to the number 

 of persons engaged in it, is rather important, and it is to be hoped that it may be introduced to 

 other parts of the coast. The fish that chiefly supply our markets are the red gurnet (Mulus 

 fuscatus et barbatus) ; the (Dentex vulgar is et macrophthalmus); (Chrysoplirys aurata) ; (Pagellus 

 erytlirinus mormyrus) ; smarides (Smaris vulgaris) ; mullet Mugil cephalus, capita saliens labio 

 chelo et curtus} ; whiting (Merlangus poutassou ;) Hake, (Merlucius vulgaris) ; (Golius jojo niger 

 auratus, etc.') ; (Epineplielus gigas] ; (Labrax lupus) ; (Licliia glaueus) ; sardines and anchovies ; 

 (Salpa box), &c. &c., and others in smaller quantities. Not having great fisheries in the 

 country, we have no laws or special rules respecting them. There are laws, however, for the 

 protection of the young fish, prohibiting the use of certain machines, and above all the drag- 

 nets and seines (peche (Lite au bceuf), and the use of narcotic plants deleterious to fish, such 

 as the Verbacum sumatum, L. and the EuphorUa dendroides, L., as well as explosive materials. 

 The fishermen are subject to all the sanitary laws, and rank in the class, of coasters ; they aro 

 thus under the protection of the law and the treaties, provided that the coasting-trade and the 

 fishing are licensed Hellenic citizens. There is, in Greece, another maritime industry, whicli 

 cannot be separated from fishery properly so called ; it is the sponge fishery which provides 

 nearly all the world with these articles of domestic use. This fishery is practised in three 

 different ways, by diving apparatus, by harpoon, and lastly by single divers. Five ports in 

 Greece exclusively furnish all the sponge fishermen. They are the ports of the Island of 

 Egina, Hydra, Hermione, Kranidi, and Trikeri. 



