CHAPTER V. 



HISTORY OF SEA-FISHERIES. 



THE capture of tlie many varieties of fish has 

 given rise to a very important source of industry 

 to the inhabitants of the coast of most maritime 

 countries, and the places where regular periodical 

 supplies are obtained are named "fisheries" 



Fisheries are localities frequented at certain 

 seasons by shoals or great numbers of fish, some- 

 times of one particular description only, -where 

 they are taken upon a vast scale. The right of 

 frequenting these fishing grounds has frequently 

 been a matter of international dispute, and some- 

 times the subject of treaties, while exclusion from 

 them or invasion of presumed exclusive rights to 

 their enjoyments has often been the cause of 

 warlike preparations. The principal kinds of fish 

 which are the object of these systematic occupa- 

 pations arc, besides the leviathan of the deep, 



