ENGLISH FISHERIES. 123 



the network of railways and telegraphs all over the 

 country are, therefore, of the greatest value to the fish- 

 ing trade, by enabling the supplies to be sent direct to 

 the places where the greatest demand exists. Another 

 result from these facilities of communication and transit 

 is the general equalization of prices; for, if fish be 

 scarce on one part of the coast, it is, as a rule, not so 

 everywhere at the same time, so that the inland markets 

 are tolerably sure of a supply from one quarter or 

 another. Still the demand is an ever-increasing one ; 

 fish cannot be supplied from abroad, and there are few 

 people in this country who would not like to have it if 

 they could. At present France frequently sends to our 

 markets, and large numbers of soles and other prime 

 fish are sent to Paris. 



Brixham, although essentially a trawling station, is 

 also interested in the line fishery, and possesses a large 

 fleet of hookers of from five to eight tons, which do good 

 work on the productive whiting ground along that part 

 of the coast. It is worthy of note, that the trawlers 

 work so much on the same ground as is fished by these 

 hookers, that there is often a difficulty in keeping clear 

 of their anchors ; they both catch whiting, the one by 

 hook and the other by net, and they have both regu- 

 larly done so as long as can be remembered ; yet the 

 whiting season of 1876 was as productive as had been 

 known for many years. It appears to me desirable to 

 call special attention to these facts, for they afford the 

 strongest possible evidence, that systematic trawling for 

 a very long series of years over the same ground need 

 not exhaust the supply of fish from it, or interfere to 



