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Part III. — Ninth Annual Report 
sporadic. A most interesting and novel paper gives a good idea of the 
condition of a fisherman's family in San Sebastian, with particulars of 
the furniture, clothing, and all belongings in the house. This family 
pays 12s. 6d. per month rent, and the value of all belongings, plus 
clothes, &c., is, per list, £50, 14s. A very full account is given of Cuban 
Sponge Culture^ which is proposed to be introduced into Spain. Great 
destruction of life in the littoral took place last winter ; and it is noted 
that northern fish were driven south, and their own fish driven offshore 
by the severity of the weather, — Arcachon, especially, suffered. 
A paper on the question ' Whether Spain ought to be able to supply 
' herself with Fish,' gives some figures of great importance. From this we 
find that, while she exports considerably, yet her exports, on the whole, 
do not reach 10 per cent, of the imports, these latter being mainly salted 
and dried cod, with a proportion of fresh fish. * The importation of salted 
cod was : — 
In 1883 . 39,755,834 kilos. . value 25,046,175 pesetas. 
. 1889 . 43,548,185 „ . „ 27,435,356 
1890 . 47,395,053 ,, . 29,558,883 
On the other hand, in 1889 the whole capture of Spain from its littoral 
was 86,222,765 kilo., value 36,716,495 pesetas ; so that, compared with 
the baccalao imported, the result shows 50 per cent, in quantity, and 76 
per cent, in value, of the catch of all Spain itself. It would thus appear 
that the whole catch of Spain does not, by about one half, meet the 
annual consumpt of the country. Surely such an important market ^ 
ought to receive more of our attention. There is a lesson here also in the 
fact, that we ourselves cannot find any such figures of our own national 
capture, and export, and import of fish, to arrive at any proper idea of 
our progress as ichthyophagi I 
The municipal duty on sardines and aachovies for consumption in 
Madrid has been lowered from 25 centimes of a peseta per kilo, to 18 
centimes, by special order. 
Under the quaint heading 'The Martyrology of our Industries,' an 
appeal is made to prevent the injury resulting to the great fishing industry 
of Galicia, owing to their inability to take salt on board their vessels for 
curing purposes, the Government officials being afraid. ' The ignorance 
' of our administrators of how to prevent fraud causes them to live in con- 
' tinual distrust.' As ' 50,000 families ' are dependent on the fisheries in 
Galicia, the necessity for considering their demands is evident. 
A valuable paper on the turtle fisheries of Cuba deserves attention. 
XV. ITALY. 
There is very little to chronicle respecting the Italian sea fisheries, no 
fishery report having been published since the one referred to two years 
ago, and no meetings of the Fishery Commission have been held. 
During last autumn and winter the restocking of public waters by the 
Government was continued — salmonidse in the rivers and lakes of 
Northern Italy, and young eels in the lakes of Central and 
Northern Italy. Professor Giglioli investigated last summer, by 
the orders of the Government, the rich sponge-banks which were 
discovered three years ago south of Lampedusa, a war steamer, the 
' M.A. Colonna,' being placed at his disposal for the purpose. It 
appears that the Fishery Society of Rimini {Societa di Fratellanza e dl 
Previdenza fra i Marinari Riminesi) has appointed a Commission to 
make special investigations into the fisheries of the Adriatic, and how 
