II n. T. SOUTHWELL OK THE HERniKG FISHERY. 
239 
XII. 
NOTES ON THE IIElHilNO FISHERY OF 188'). 
r.Y Thomas Southwell, F.Z.S. 
Rend 2 yd February, i886. 
In tho presout laiuontablo absence of authentic ollicial statistics 
with vogartl to tlio Fisheries of tho English Coast, we .arc 
nceasionally startled l)y some item of information which comes to 
ns generally in a natlier round-about way, calling attention to the 
magnitude of this neglected industry. 'J'hns in tho ‘ Field ’ of 
21th October, 1885, appe.ared a statement to the elfect that the 
various English railways carried from the fishing stations on our 
coast, in the year 1884, tho enormous weight of 248,078 tons of 
iish, mtlier more than one-half of which had been brought into the 
jiorts of Grimsby (04,077 tons) and Yarmouth and Lowestoft 
(00,885 tons), and to this must be added the lish taken direct to 
market by the steam carriers. It seems almost beyond conception 
that an industry of such m.agnitudo should bo carried on almost 
unrecognised by the State and in an utterly haphazard manner, in 
season and out of season, and in .almost total ignorance of tho food, 
habits, and periods of reproduction of tho objects of our pursuit. 
If a knowledge of the life history of fresh-w.ater fishes is desimble 
as tho first step to their proper conservation, surely it is not less 
necessary to obtain some insight into the habits of the sea fishes, 
which represent so much more important .an item in the national 
food supply; yet all that is known with reg.ard to the periodic 
movements, food, and reproduction of the multitudes of Herring 
which h.appily still frequent the seas within easy reach of our 
most important fishing stations, might be told in a very few words, 
and tho same remarks will apply to almost all the food fishes 
of the ocean. 
