320 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [4] 



'' about 90,000 tons, are brought by train. As all of this fish has to be 

 carted through the streets of London to Billingsgate, and then brought 

 back again to the West End and distributed over a radius of 7 or 8 miles 

 it is not surprising that the proportion of condemned fish arriving by 

 train is far higher than that brought by water. Of the 111 tons of fish 

 I have mentioned as condemned, 615 tons were brought to Loudon by 

 train, as against 162 tons by water. This affords conclusive evidence 

 of the necessity of a commodious fish market in one of \he sites recom- 

 mended by the engineer and architect of the metropolitan board of 

 works in the immediate neighborhood of the termini of the great rail- 

 ways on the north side of London. So long as London was supplied 

 with fisn by water transit, Billingsgate might have sufficed; but uqw 

 that two-thirds of the fish are brought by train, it is ridiculous to carry 

 such a perishable article as fish through crowded thoroughfares where 

 according to Mr. Walpole, " the risk of the fish going bad is increased 

 by the delays, constantly extending for hours, and occasionally extend- 

 ing over days, which are due to the inadequate approaches and want 

 of room outside Billingsgate." Let Billingsgate remain as the market 

 for water-bofne fish, but let us have another market in the immediate 

 vicinity of where the greater proportion of fish reaches the metropolis. 

 What is termed fish offal is in this district, I believe, usually sold at 

 Is. to 1*. Qd. a barrel for manure to the farmers, and by them very much 

 prized ; but the question arises, and it is one of some consequence to 

 the fishermen and curers, are you making the best use of this offal? 

 We know that isinglass, medicinal oil, glue, and guano can be made 

 from parts of what are termed offal. Specimens of isinglass of the finest 

 qualities from l^ova Scotia were shown at the Edinburgh Exhibition. 

 The utilization offish offal is attracting considerable attention in Norway, 

 and a grant was voted last year by the Norwegian Parliament to Mr. 

 Sahlstorm, C. E., to carry on experiments in the utilization offish offal. 

 Mr. Sahlstorm is, I believe, the patentee of an invention for utilizing 

 €very portion of a fish. The flesh is converted into extract of fish, the^, 

 liver into oil, the bones into isinglass, the heads into guano, and th^ 

 skin into leather. Probably Norway, particularly at such places as the 

 Loftbden Islands (an interesting account of the fisheries of which, and 

 of the manufacture of cod-liver oil, is given in Du Chaillu's "Land oj 

 the Midnight Sun "), affords a better field for the particular industry I 

 am referring to. But with better means of fishing I believe the fish, 

 eries off the Shetland Islands might be turned to more profitable ac^ 

 count. \ 



The first essay for which £100 is offered relates to the natural his- 

 tory of commercial sea- fishes. We require to know more about the 



. food of sea-fishes, also at what age these fish become reproductive, and; 

 what localities particular fish frequent at different seasons of the year. 

 A knowledge of these matters would be of great assistance to fisher 

 men. Another essay is on the " Relation of the State to Fishermen an 



