CHAPTER X. 



OUR WHITE-FISH FISHERIES. 



Difficulty of obtaining Statistics of our White-Fish Fisheries — Ignorance 

 of the Natural History of the White Fish—" Finnan Haddies "—The 

 Gadidae Family : the Cod, Whiting, etc. — The Turbot and other Flat 

 Fish — When Pish are in Season — How the White-Fish Fisheries are 

 carried on — The Cod and Haddock Fishery — Line-Fishing — The 

 Scottish Fishing Boats — ^Loss of Boats on the Scottish Coasts — 

 Stomis in Scotland — ^Trawl-Net Fishing — Description of a Trawler — 

 Evidence on the Trawl Question, 



How do we obtain our haddocks 1 Where do we *get our tur- 

 bot ? How comes it that aU kinds of sea-fish are now so dear ? 

 I propose briefly to answer these often-asked questions, and to 

 indulge at the same time in a little gossip about our larger sea- 

 fishes, so far as their economic history and value are concerned. 

 The two families which supply the cod, haddock, turbot, 

 sole, and other weU-known table-fishes, such as the whiting and 

 flounder, are known to naturalists as Gadidos and Plmronectidce 

 — the latter being the family of the flat fishes. Cod and tur- 

 bot are of considerable individual value, large prices being, at 

 certain seasons of the year, obtained for them ; indeed, it is not 

 long since the columns of the Times recorded that a guinea had 

 been given for a single cod-fish ; and as to haddocks and whitings, 

 once so cheap, they are now, in every sense of the word, dear, 

 because, in addition to costing much money, they are not so 

 fine in quality as they used to be. At one time, in various parts 

 of both England and Scotland, a prime haddock, of say three 

 pounds weight, might have been purchased for about twopence ; 

 and a cod-fish of great size could, in the days referred to, be pur- 

 chased for ninepence. Indeed, so near the present time as a 

 quarter of a century ago, all kinds of white fish were purchasable 

 at less than a penny per pound weight ; and as for sprats and 

 herrings, a large dish of the former could be had for a half- 



