IRISH FISHERIES. 195 



the vicinity of Dublin Bay a few years ago caused a 

 great outcry against the trawlers, to whose operations 

 it was attributed ; but the recent return of this fish to 

 its old grounds, notwithstanding the fact that trawlers 

 had increased in the interval, has tended to the 

 removal of this misapprehension. As the spawn of 

 the haddock is not deposited on the ground, but has 

 been proved to float during the development of the 

 young fish, it is difficult to understand how trawling 

 could interfere with the supply of these fish except by 

 catching them, and that is simply what the line fisher- 

 men themselves want to do. On the coast of Scotland 

 there have been the same fluctuations in the numbers 

 of haddocks, and they will undoubtedly again occur. 



The most important and profitable fishing to the 

 general body of fishermen on this part of the coast is 

 that for herrings, and it attracts, as I have previously 

 mentioned, a large number of boats from Cornwall, 

 Scotland, and the Isle of Man. The two great stations 

 for this fishery are Howth, at the northern point of 

 Dublin Bay, and Ardglass, a little south of Strangford, 

 and opposite the Isle of Man. The season commences 

 at some time in June, but the boats are not in full 

 work till July. From that time till the end of Sep- 

 tember, or sometimes far into October, drift fishing is 

 followed up in some part of the Irish Sea, the boats 

 gradually decreasing as the season advances, and many 

 of the Cornish boats leaving in August, so as to take 

 part in the pilchard-fishing on their own coast. 



A little curing is done at Howth, but a large propor- 

 tion of the herrings caught on the east coast is shipped 



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