118 THE HERRING FISHERY 



since Louis XIV. had established a fishery to 

 the great harm of its Enghsh rival. The 

 remainder of the busses, together with all their 

 stores, were sold off in 1680 on the company 

 becoming embarrassed by debt. Not deterred 

 by this want of success, Sir Edward Abney 

 and others started a fresh company in 1683 

 under the privileges and immunities of the 

 earlier company's charter ; this undertaking 

 also failed,^ a lamentable contrast to the con- 

 tinued prosperity of Holland, as appears from 

 the pages of " Britannia Languens " (1680), 

 where it is stated that the Dutch herring and 

 cod fishery employed 8,000 vessels and 200,000 

 seamen and fishermen, whereby it gained 

 annually £5,000,000 sterling, and provided 

 employment for a multitude of people. 



Pepys' Diary (November 28th, 1662, and 

 July 7th, 1664) contains references to the 

 establishment of the Royal Fishery, to the 

 governorship of which the Duke of York was 

 appointed by the King, and to a charter 

 granted under the Great Seal of England to the 

 Corporation of the Royal Fishery. Pepys was 

 a member of the Council of the Governors of 

 the Corporation. The Corporation was mis- 

 managed, and Pepys was one of the persons 

 appointed to make a report on the affairs of the 



* The development of the fisheries during the seventeenth century 

 is dealt with at some length by Smith Elder in "The Royal 

 Fishery Companies of the Seventeenth Century" (1912). This 

 book also contains a most interesting account of the disputes and 

 discussions that centred around " Mare Liberum" and " Dominium 

 Maris." 



