SOME FISH-NOTES FROM GREAT YARMOUTH. 



a ring. If such were the case, the strange circumstance leads 

 one's mind to queer speculation. 



The Scad, or Horse Mackerel, has been exceedingly numerous 

 this fishing, and running to a largish size. On one or two 

 occasions the tide-mark, thick with dead Herrings and Mackerel 

 debris from the nets drawn in by certain tides, was well sprinkled 

 with fish of this species. I cannot understand why this fish is so 

 despised locally as food, even by the very poorest. 



The finding of an anchovy in a "swill" of Herrings was 

 reported to me in the middle of October. This fish is of rare 

 occurrence here, for the advent of such a remarkable species 

 would speedily lead to its recognition. If Couch's remarks 

 ('Cornish Fauna') still hold good, that "this fish abounds 

 towards the end of summer ; and if attention were paid to the 

 fishery, enough might be caught to supply the consumption of 

 the British Islands," it is surprising that individuals should not 

 more often straggle round into the North Sea. The meshes of the 

 nets are so much smaller to-day that few fishes, smaller than 

 Herrings, striking them escape. 



There was a remarkable inshoring of Whitings in September, 

 the numbers keeping up without any seeming diminution well 

 through November : it seemed to me curious that so compara- 

 tively few should be taken in the Herring nets considering the — 

 I think I may say — myriads that came within the three mile 

 limit. Every boy armed with a piece of knotted string and a 

 couple of hooks, with almost anything for bait, seemed to be 

 almost as successful in capturing them as those who had pro- 

 vided themselves with superior tackle and knowledge. The 

 jetty was so crowded that folks fished, as it were, over each 

 other, and the piers and beach were lined with sea-anglers. 

 Some of the figures published of catches taken from the Britannia 

 Pier are given as follow : — 

 Nov. 5th 



6th 



7th 



8th 



9th 

 10th 

 At the harbour's mouth, on the Yarmouth side, there runs a 



978 Whitings 



1859 



»> 



1202 



>> 



1263 



?» 



1614 



>> 



1311 



)5 



... 10 Dabs . 



.. 4 Cods 



... 13 „ . 



.. 5 „ 



... 14 „ . 



.. 4 „ 



... 12 „ . 



..5 



-. 4 „ . 



. 2 „ 



... 13 „ .. 



■• 3 „ 



