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The Museum Gazette 



NOTES ON EATABLE BRITISH FISH. 



At the present day the list of British fishes used as food 

 is made up almost entirely of marine fishes : Eels, Salmon 

 and Trout being almost the only fresh-water fishes that are 

 considered palatable. This arbitrary choice, when we come 

 to reflect on the matter, is an outgrowth of modern civilisa- 

 tion, of railways, and cheap transport, and lastly is governed 

 by the fact that we live on a island, and that a small one. 



By way of proving this contention it will be sufficient to 

 show that in the olden days, when travelling, even in this 

 country of small distances, was both difficult and dangerous, 

 fresh-water fishes were highly esteemed as food, as witness 

 the "stews" constructed in the grounds of old monasteries 

 and manor-houses remote from the sea. To-day, the cultiva- 

 tion of fresh-water fishes, save of salmon and trout, has fallen 

 into disuse ; and this because the sea furnishes an abundant 

 supply which can be readily transported throughout the 

 length and breadth of the land at a comparatively small cost. 



The ease with which sea fishes can be captured in large 

 quantities and distributed throughout the country has thus 

 killed the industry of pisciculture inland ; and when this died, 

 the taste for fresh-water fishes, Carp, Perch, Tench, Roach, 

 Pike, and Chubb, died out, so that to-day we speak of them as 

 " Coarse fish," fit only to provide sport for the angler. That 

 this is to be regretted there can be no doubt, but the fact 

 remains. On the Continent the case is otherwise ; for fresh- 

 water fishes of all kinds are still in high repute, and their 

 cultivation affords remunerative employment to thousands. 

 Some day perhaps we shall awake to the fact that after all 

 " Coarse fish " are not only tolerable but even pleasant to 

 the palate. And this revival may be brought about by the 

 fact that, through greed and short-sightedness, we shall have 

 made sea fishes so rare that only the wealthy among us will 

 be able to afford them. 



