FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE SEA — FISHES. 2G3 



The average imports seem to be about 11,000 tons per 

 month. The quantity of spoiled fish seized is propor- 

 tionately very small, only about 10,000 to 12,000 cwt., 

 and the same of shell fish per month, except perhaps in 

 the exceptionally hot months of summer, when it may 

 reach a somewhat higher figure. 



The total imports of fish into the United Kingdom 

 were in : — 



Cwts. Value. 



1861 337,517 £376,561 



1871 605,330 711,295 



1881 1,530,219 2,332,605 



1883 1,295,754 2.311,966 



1884 (Cured) ... ... 814,648 1,493,485 



In 1883 we imported 427,826 cwt. of fresh fish not of 

 British take, valued at £522,445, and of cured or salted 

 fish 868,125 cwt., of the value of £1,773,027. 



The supply of fresh fish to the London market does 

 not keep pace with the increase of population and wealth, 

 and may be said to be less by about 20,000 tons than what 

 it was ten years ago. It appears to be now about 130,000 

 tons in quantity, and as the largest portion of what is 

 caught on our coasts comes to London, the consumption 

 of fish is not as great as it might be if the fisheries were 

 better carried on, and the prices reduced by retailers, 

 instead of maintained, by frequently destroying whole- 

 some fish, rather than selling it below a certain price. 



According to Mr. W. Smith Scott, fish-salesman of 

 Birmingham, about 100,000 tons of fish per annum 

 reaches that town for the use of its population and that 

 of the surrounding districts, which have a population 

 numbering about two millions. Deducting one-third for 

 weight of packages and waste, this leaves a little over 

 60,000 tons as food, or about twenty ounces per head of 

 the population; The heaviest weight is herrings and 

 mackerel and salmon from Ireland and Norway, the 

 Scotch salmon going principally to London and Man- 

 chester. 



The sale of fish in Dublin, in 1878, was stated as 

 follows : — 



