192 REPORT — 1860. 



properly ascertained seasons. The Board was established in 180S, and its beneficial 

 operations would be proved by the statistics of the progress of the fishery ; and it 

 will be seen that this fishery became, and is now, one of the greatest and most 

 prosperous iu the world, and is now only in danger from improper interference, if it 

 is not guarded and controlled by the influence and opinions of scientific and intelli- 

 gent men, such as are found at this Association. 



To prove the great interest that is taken by other maritime nations in the Herring 

 Fishery, he stated that an interesting discussion took place at the French Academy 

 in 1855, on the question of the migration of the herring, with no satisfactory 

 results, from the want of the knowledge of facts : also, that the Government of 

 Norway had been occupied for several years past in legislating with the view of 

 promoting the Herring Fishery on the coasts of that country; and that in Sweden 

 an elaborate report had been prepared, by the authority of the Government of that 

 country, by one of the heads of the civil department, M. von Wright, with the 

 view of obtaining information as to the cause of the total disappearance of the vast 

 shoals of herrings that formerly visited the Swedish coasts; and that the Govern- 

 ment of Holland is anxiously occupied in obtaining information on the subject, and 

 has employed scientific men to investigate the subject of the visits of the herrings, 

 and to prepare reports. The results of these observations, made on board of forty- 

 five of the Dutch fishery busses, are given in a work published by the authority of 

 the Dutch Government, which has been thought of such importance that the 

 British Board of Trade has ordered a translation of it to be made and published for 

 general information ; and it is important that it should be known that this move- 

 ment of the Government of Holland is caused by the lately rapid declension of the 

 Dutch Fishery, and that Government, seeing the rapid progress of the British Fishery 

 on our coasts, has established a system of superintendence and regulation similar to 

 that so successfully promoted by the Fishery Board. 



He said that there were many subjects for inquiry which do not properly belong 

 to our Fishery Board, the Commissioners of which and their officers have special 

 duties to perform under legislative enactments, and it may therefore be considered 

 as a reproach to this country, which gains so abundant a supply of food of the best 

 description, while at the same time securing a large force of useful mariners ready 

 to defend our coasts, and in the day of peril to man our navy, that no efficient 

 efforts have yet been made to elucidate the natural history of the herring. 



At the present time we seem to pay too little attention to the fostering of our 

 native industry ; it is surely obvious that in encouraging the search for gold in our 

 colonies, we are losing, or sending away from our own country, some of the most 

 enterprising and industrious of our inhabitants, not easily to be replaced ; while by 

 encouraging the search for the golden treasures on our own coasts, as truly said by 

 the distinguished author, Cuvier, we create those men of so much value to a 

 maritime country — "intrepid and iiobust mariners," besides adding every year 

 additional supplies of food and "inexhaustible biches." 



To prove the great advantage of the system of superintendence and inspection of 

 the Fishery Board and their officers, some statistics were given of the progress of the 

 Fishery : among others the following : — 



When the Fishery Board was first established in 1803, the quantity of herrings 

 cured and salted in barrels was 93,185 barrels, while in 1855 the quantity cured 

 was 766,703 barrels ; and adding the quantity sold fresh, 130,759 barrels, we find 

 the total quantity of herrings caught in that year was 897,462 barrels — yielding at 

 a moderate calculation the value of one million sterling, which may be safely taken 

 as the average annual value of the herrings fished on the coasts of Scotland, without 

 calculating the quantity caught at Yarmouth and other places on the English and 

 Irish coasts, which are principally sold fresh or smoked. 



Before an efficient system of legislation and regulation was adopted in this 

 country, the demand from abroad was inconsiderable, but it has annually increased 

 since : for instance, in 1812 the quantit}- exported to the Continent was only 4720; 

 in 1815 it amounted to 35,891 ; in 1840 to 82,351 ; in 1845 to 143,754 ; in 1850 to 

 257,108 ; and in 1855 the quantity exported was 344,029. And to show how rapid 

 the progress has been in foreign markets of the sale of British herrings, he gave the 

 amouut of the British, Dutch, Danish and Norwegian herrings imported into one of 

 the largest exporting towns in Prussia (Stettin) in successive years. 



