SCIENTIFIC WORK IN THE SEA-FISHERIES. 203 



and Commissions were numerous, and in the seventeenth cen- 

 tury many protective Acts were passed, and companies floated 

 to encourage the struggling fisheries ; whilst in the eighteenth 

 century the bounty -system was instituted, and was abolished 

 only in 1830. 



Of the Commissions, it is only necessary to allude to one or 

 two. Thus, in 1833, the Commissioners appointed by the House 

 of Commons reported that the fishes of the British Channel had 

 been declining since the peace of 1815, that the numbers of boats 

 and men were decreasing, and that the fishermen and their 

 families were dependent on the poor-rates for support. Now at 

 that time it must have been extremely difficult to arrive at 

 a right conclusion, since statistics of value were almost non- 

 existent, and the Commissioners had little else to rely on than 

 the evidence placed before them. It is at any rate certain that 

 at that period comparatively few fishermen had a knowledge of 

 the finny wealth of the Channel. 



A great change was apparent in the Eeport of the Eoyal 

 Commission of 1866. The Commissioners (Sir James Caird, 

 Prof. Huxley, and Mr. Shaw Lefevre), after a prolonged inquiry, 

 had no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that the supply of 

 fish is increasing, and admits of progressive increase. Yet the 

 Commissioners were not then fully aware of the marvellous 

 powers of reproduction and the complex life-histories of the 

 fishes. It has also to be remembered that the mode of fishing 

 known as trawling (though a very old method) had not been 

 developed as it now is, yet England had no less than nine 

 hundred and fifty-five sailing trawlers working in the North Sea 

 and St. George's Channel, that were estimated to supply three 

 hundred tons of fish daily. 



Shortly afterwards (1871) the United States Fish-Commission 

 sprang into existence, mainly from the complaints as to the 

 diminution of the stock on the American fishing-grounds. In a 

 few years (1878) this Commission commenced the hatching of 

 sea-fishes, with what success will subsequently be shown. 



The conclusions arrived at by the Commission of 1866 held 

 for twelve years, when complaints by the liners caused Parlia- 

 ment to arrange for a Commission of two (Messrs. Brckland and 

 Walpole) to carry out an inquiry on the same lines as the last. 



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