Fish and Fisheries of New South Wales, 
CHAPTER I. 
Introduction. 
Tue fisheries of this Colony have recently attracted much attention; 
they have become an industry increasing each year in extent and value, 
but it is only within a year or so that anything definite has been 
known about them. One or two private individuals have interested 
themselves, but, until the Royal Commission on the Fisheries of New 
South Wales in 1880, any reliable and systematic information was not 
within the reach of the public. Now that the defect has been remedied 
it is proposed to give a popular account of our fish and fisheries, for the 
benefit of the colonists generally or those interested in the subject else- 
where. As far as the facts are concerned nothing would be better than 
the Blue Book published by the Commission, containing the report, 
the minutes of evidence, and the valuable appendices. The report 
especially is admirable in every way, and abundant use will be made of 
it in this essay ; but something more is requisite to make the scientific 
side of the subject a little more accessible. We have popular manuals 
of botany and geology, in which the technical terms in use are carefully 
explained and made familiar. The terms in both these sciences are 
numerous and perplexing ; it is not so with the science of fishes, or as it is 
called Ichthyology. The teclinicalities are few and easily understood, and 
when they are so understood the scientific manuals on the subject will 
be open to all. By this means every fisherman of ordinary education 
will be able to get the scientific name of any species he may find. This 
would seem but a small gain, but when it is known that under this name 
can be found all that science has recorded about the fish, its uses, habits, 
structure, anatomy, and its place in nature, the gain of knowledge is 
great. Fishermen no doubt have their own names, and in a rough way 
apply their experience ; but this has no acknowledged record or defini- 
tion, and the local name of a species here may be applied to a totally 
different fish elsewhere. All the facts of experience may easily become 
misapplied through a name which thus becomes a source of confusion 
instead of knowledge ; but with a recognized name it is hardly possible 
that an intelligent fisherman will not be largely benefited by the 
scientific researches of others. It is not now as it was a few years ago, 
when such a thing as a scientific catalogue of fishes was not to be found, 
and even the incomplete works on the subject were enormously expen- 
sive and quite out of the reach of persons of ordinary means. Since 
Dr. Gtnther published his great Catalogue of Fishes the subject has 
been placed within the reach of all, There are many copies of this 
A 
