AMOUNT CAUGHT 23 



cent, of the herrings we consume ; and that is 

 so although the various fisheries of the United 

 Kingdom provide about 85 per cent, of all the 

 fish eaten in the country, apart from canned 

 fish imported from North America. This 

 astonishing fact is accounted for by the inner 

 workings of the herring trade, and by the 

 varying dates of the herring seasons off the 

 coasts of the different countries. 



• • • • • 



There are in existence books, pamphlets, 

 reports, Acts of Parliament having reference 

 to the herring, sufficient in number to stock 

 a good-sized library ; it is not my purpose, 

 therefore, to attempt to add anything to the 

 exhaustive information already available, nor, 

 indeed, is it within my power to do so. My 

 native Norfolk love for the herring as part of 

 my daily sustenance has led me to make rough 

 notes of historical and other references to the 

 subject that have come under my notice from 

 time to time, while studying the navigation 

 laws, our foreign policy, and the early history 

 of our trade. Additional material came to 

 hand recently after I had been requested to act 

 as spokesman of the Association of Chambers 

 of Commerce of the United Kingdom on a 

 deputation to the President of the Board of 

 Trade, Mr. Runciman, M.P., and the Secre- 

 tary of State for the Colonies, Mr. Bonar Law, 

 M.P., at the Colonial Office, April 3rd, 1916, on 

 the subject of Navigation laws ; and again 



