26 



FISHERIES 



^' I 



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has just been reported ' by Mr F. W. Duff, the British 

 consul at Ootbenburg, to the Foreign Office, He states 

 that "great slioals of herrings of the large kind which 

 disappeared from this coast in 1809 have now made their 

 appearance again north of Qothenburg, on the coast in this 

 country. The first appearance of the herring took place 

 at Christmas (1877), when whales were seen following the 

 shoals of herrings towards the coast." This is by no means 

 the first time that herrings have returned to a particular 

 locality after an interval of very many years. 



French and Dutch Fisiferies. — The French fisheries 

 on the coast of tlie Channel are of much the same kind as 

 tliose ou the English side — trawling, drifting, and lino- 

 lisliing. Trawling is carried on to a considerable extent 

 from Boulogne, Treport, Calais, and some other places where 

 there is convenient access to railways ; and recently two 

 companies have been established for trawling with steamers 

 along the sandy coast between Arcachon and the mouth of 

 the Qiroude. On the coast of Brittany the longnstanding 

 fishery for sardines, or, as they really are, young pilchards, 

 is regularly worked. It is remarkable that this fishery is 

 almost entirely dependent for its success on a good supply 

 of cod-roes, in which a large trade with Norway and other 

 places is carried on solely for this purpose, the separated 

 ova of the cod being freely scattered among the sardine nets 

 in order to attract the fish. French and Dutch vessels 

 work regularly in the North Sea for herrings and cod, and 

 the French fish in large numbers along the east coast of 

 England in company with English boats during the herring 

 season. They also take part in the Kinsale mackerel fishery. 

 The French fisheries at Newfoundland have been already 

 noticed ; considerable attention is also given by the French 

 to the cod fi.shery at Iceland About 200 French vessels 

 visited Iceland in 1877, and during the five years 1872-6 

 the average annual produce of about 120 vessels from 

 Dunkirk alone was 5 million kilos, of fish, and of oil about 

 500,000 kilos.2 



The French oyster fisheries have for many years received 

 considerable attention, and at Arcachon especially great 

 success ai)[)ears to have attended the cultivation of the beds. 

 Eighty-five per cent, of the oysters obtained from these 

 fisheries are said to be the produce of four or five breeding 

 grounds, Auray and Arcachon being the most prolific. 

 The total produce of all the French oyster fisheries in 1875 

 reached the enormous number of 97,227,000 oysters.' 



Echinus Fishery. — On the French and Italian coasts of 

 the Mediterranean the echini or sea^eggs, animals belonging 

 to the echinoderra or star-fish tribe, are regularly collected 

 for the market, and are in great request among the poorer 

 classes of the population. They are eaten uncooked, the 

 egg-shajied spiny shell being divided into twc parts by a 

 Bingle cut with a knife, and the soft and slippery contents 

 then readily extracted. The echini form part of the various 

 marine productions well known at Naples aafrvUi di mare. 



Tripano Fishery. — The tripang or heclie de mer belongs 

 to the order Ilolothuriadue or sea-cucumbers. Representatives 

 of the group are found in British seas, but by no means so 

 abundantly or of such general large size as in tropical 

 waters. Several species go under the commercial name of 

 " tripang"; they are collected among almost all the islands 

 of the Indian Archipelago down to New Quinea and 

 Australia, and also on the north coast of Ceylon. In shape 

 the tripang resembles a cucumber, but with a '"cle of 

 short branched tentacles at one end, and surroi uuing the 

 mouth. The colour is generally black, more or less varie- 

 gated with red or orange, and although sluggish in its 



> Comnurcial Reports, No, 2, 1878 (Herring Fishery). 

 • CoriMUar Reports, part v., 1877. 



' See a Report by M^jor Hayes to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 

 1878, which containa an immense amount of valaatile informaUon. 



movements, the animal has great power of contracting and 

 altering its form. Coral reefs are favourite haunts of the 

 tripang, and it is found in both deep and shallow water. 

 The only preparation it receivr s after being gutted consists 

 in drying in the sun and smoking over a wood fire. 

 Macassar is the centre of the tripang trade, but the whole 

 produce of the fisheries goes to China, and the trade ia 

 entirely in the hands of native merchants. 



Law relating to Fisheries. 



Fish in English law fall under the p"" leral principles of the law 

 as to aniiiiuI.sy(?'(B imtura:. All nmiikinil, says lilaokstone, had by 

 the grant of the Creator an original right 'o pursue them; and this 

 natural right KtiU continues unless so far t. , it is restrained by the 

 civil law. Acoorilingly everybody has a /-'ht to take fish in the 

 seas, in public rivers, or iu private rivers L.'ingiiig to himself. 

 In private (i.e., non-navigable) rivers the right of fishery belongs 

 prima facie to the owners of the laud on cithe side, in public or 

 navigable rivers to the public at large. In joth, however, an 

 exclusive right of fishery may exist, by which th presumptive right 

 is excluded ; and this, in the case of public ri .'ers, can only take 

 place by grant of the crown. Since Jlagna C'harta the crown can 

 no longer make such grants — at least such seems to be the better 

 interpretation of the words in the statute. 



These various rights are more or h'ss roughly distinguished in 

 English law as follows. A common fishery is the right of fishing 

 in the sea and public rivers open to all the public. A several fishery 

 is the exclusive riglit of au individual, derived through or on account 

 of ownership of the soil. A free fishery is an exclusive right of fish- 

 ing in public water, derived from royal grant. A common of fishery 

 is the right of fishing " in another nan's water," like common of 

 pasture, &c. These rights include fish of all descriptions, with this 

 exception that the crown has an old prerogative right to the whale 

 and sturgeon, which, " when thrown ashore or caught near the coast, 

 are the proi)erty of the sovereign on account (as it is said in the 

 books) of their superior excellence." A curious distinction is made 

 between the whale and the sturgeon : — De sturrjiotu observetur quod 

 rex ilium habebit iiUegrum; de balena vero svfficit si rex habeat caput 

 el rcgina eaudam. 



As to the mode in which fish may be caught there does 

 not seem to be any restriction nt common law. It is a question, 

 however, whether a wear, " by which is meant a fixed structure on the 

 bed of the river, the object of which is, either by means of au 

 apparatus which then catches them or by impeding their progress, 

 to prevent all or nearly all the fish from passing upwards, * is not 

 illegal at common law. Iu the case of a public river a stiiicture of 

 this sort would be objectionable on the ground of its impeding the 

 navigation, and in a case relating to the River Severn the judges held 

 that the crown could not derogate from the public right of navigation 

 by any grant to erect wears in a public river. The legal writer from 

 whom we have quoted above, while stating that no case had arisen 

 directly on the point in England, Scotland, or Ireland, is of opinion 

 that " both "wears and fixed nets, and all other apparatus which 

 prevent fish passing to or fro are illegal at comrion law and form m 

 good ground of action, " even although they may not obstruct 

 navigation. ^ Though one riparian owner may, by fishing by net 

 or rod at all hours and by means of servants anil assistants, almost 

 use up the fish as ellectually as by keeping fixed nets, this kind of 

 user could not properly be a cause of action, just as one owner who 

 has a large number of cattle could not be liable to an action a*. 

 the suit of another who has no cattle, and so makes no use of t';ie 

 water. But it is otherwise wliere a total obstruction occurs. Hence, 

 even independently of any statute, any fixed apparatus in a river or 

 stream which prevents the fish going up to the other riparian owners 

 is a good cause of action at common law, as it deprives him of one 

 of the natural riparian rights." 



A considerable number of statutes have been ] ...ssed on the 

 subject of fisheries, tiic most imiwrtant of which are those relating 

 to salmon. 



A short Act was passed in ) 876 enabling boards of conservators 

 to fix a close term for trout, commencing not earlier than 2d 

 September, nor later than 2d November, and extending over 123 

 days. A biU for the protection of freshwater fish has passed 

 through parliament during the present session (1878). Sections 

 8 and 9 of the Salmon Fisliery Act 1861 (which relate to fish- 

 ing with light spears and other prohibited instruments, and to 

 using roe as a bait) nlmll, as amended by the subsequent Salmon 

 Fishery Acta, apply to trojit and char in all waters within the limits 

 of the Act, which are the same as the limits of the Salmon Act. For 

 all other freshwater fish, not migrating to or from the open sea, 

 a close season is established from 1st March to 31st May, both 



* Fishery Laioa nf the United Kingdom, by James Paterson, Lon- 

 don, 1883. ,, - . 



