FISHES AS FOOD 



265 



The Pilchard {C. pilchardtis). — This fish is pretty much like 

 a herring in appearance, but its body is of rounder shape, the 

 scales are very large, and there are several other points of differ- 

 ence. It ranges from the south of Ireland and England to 

 Madeira, and into the Mediterranean. As is well known, the 

 pilchard fishery of Cornwall is one of the most important indus- 

 tries of that county. 



Sardines are simply young pilchards, and not a distinct species 

 as sometimes supposed. They are fished on a large scale on 

 the west of France, and also off the coast of North-west Spain 

 (Galicia). Sardines are caught by the French to the value of 

 some ^400,000 per annum. Our own import of preserved fish 

 (largely sardines) from France in 1902 was worth ^373,960. 



Fig. 1 193. — Anchovy [Engratclis eitcrasicholns) 



The Anchovy {^Engraulis encrasichohis, fig. 1193)- — This 

 slender little fish, which is best known to us as the source of 

 various flavourings, is easily distinguished from its congeners 

 by the way in which its snout projects in front of the mouth, 

 so that this opens on the under side of the head, much as in a 

 shark. The anchovy ranges from the coast of Norway down 

 the sea-board of Western Europe, and through the Mediter- 

 ranean. Although native to our seas it is not the object of a 

 British fishery, but the Dutch capture it in large numbers, in 

 the Zuyder Zee and the estuary of the Scheldt, by means of 

 small drift-nets fixed at either end, netted gaps between willow- 

 and poplar-fences (near Bergen-op-Zoom), and by large sweep- 

 nets. The importance of the anchovy-fishery to Holland will be 

 realized from the fact that in 1902 the catch amounted to 100,000 

 ankers (an anker = about 88 lbs.). At Bergen-op-Zoom in that 

 year 127 cwts. of these fishes were cured, over ']'] cwts. of salt 

 being used in the process. In the anchovy-fisheries along the 

 Mediterranean littoral of Spain, France, and Italy drift-nets and 

 seines are employed. 



The Cod Family (Gadid^). — From the economic stand-point 



