THE BRITISH FISH TRADE. 47 



Billingsgate ; estimating them again at ;£"20 a ton, the total 

 value of the fish carried by railway to inland towns, and by 

 water to Billingsgate, must be worth ;^6,28o,ooo. It has 

 been already shown that the value of the fish exported 

 exceeds ^1,820,000 a year. It is possible, therefore, accu- 

 rately to account for fish worth ;;/J" 8, 100,000. If it be recol- 

 lected that Liverpool, one of the most important fish 

 markets in the country, is largely supplied by water, that 

 Shields, Edinburgh, and, to a certain extent, Glasgow, are 

 also supplied by water, and that all round the coasts a 

 population — counted by tens of thousands, in the summer 

 season — is consuming fish, it seems not unfair to assume 

 that another ^^ 1,000,000 or ^^ 1,500,000 worth of fish may 

 be accounted for, and that the gross yield of the fisheries 

 may again be raised to ^^9,000,000 or ^10,000,000 a year. 



There are several points connected with these figures 

 which are well worth attention. The first circumstance 

 which will strike everyone is the insignificance of the yield 

 of the Irish fisheries. Only 7,000 tons of fish were conveyed 

 inland by Irish railways. It is true that large quantities 

 of fish are taken direct from the Irish ports to Holyhead 

 and Milford ; but, if it be assumed that the whole of the 

 fish taken inland from these two ports was Irish, the Irish 

 fisheries will still only supply 20,000 tons of fish to the 

 markets. The Irish fishermen are mainly engaged in 

 supplying the home markets ; the Scotch fishermen are 

 largely occupied in supplying the foreign markets ; and yet 

 Ireland only sends one ton of fish to the home markets for 

 every three tons which the Scotch fisheries, after complying 

 with the requirements of a great foreign trade, are able to 

 consign to them. It may be thought that the situation of 

 Ireland, its distance from London, and the intervening 

 channel are responsible for this state of things. But there 



