The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-06 00:00:00

THE SEA FISHERIES.

The Royal Commissioners, Professor Huxley and Mr G.
Shaw Lefevre, appointed to inquire into the condition of the
sea fisheries of the United Kingdom, concluded their in-
quiries, so far as regards Cornwall, on Friday, when a
largely attended meeting was held in the Town-hall, St.
Ives. Several witnesses were celled, and a mass of evi-
dence was given, of which the following is the pith :
The mackerel and pilchard fisheries were chiefly carried on
at St. Ives, where there were 247 seine boats and six corn•
paniee, and according to the number of seines in each so
the turns were taken. A shoal of fish was detected by em-
ploying " huers ;" they endeavoured to surround the shoal,
and then towed the net into shallow water. The fishers got
one-ninth share of the " take" in the seine fishing. A wit-
ness said the only complaint was of the drift men encroach-
ing on the time by going out too early in the evening. He
had seen a shoal of about 40,000 hogsheads, but only 4.600
hogsheads could be saved, Shallow:seines would be use-
less, as the fish would go under. He had heard that the
trawlers injured spawn; plaice and whiting were damaged.
The pilchards were exported chiefly to the Italian ports.
William Rouse, a fisherman, said, of most kinds of fish
found on the coast he believed tho ground seines de-
stroyed spawn—e.g., plaice, sole, and turbot, Many of the
drift fishers came within the 1,000 fathoms stated by the
Act. Hook fish were scarcer than formerly ; the whiting
spawn was killed extensively; whiting was frequently sold
four or five inches in length. A witness named Roberts
said he had not known of any prosecution of the drift
men for infringing on the section of the Act, for in the
night the boats might go where they preferred ; the
seine owners could not operate at night. The
average length of seines was from 200 to 260 fathoms.
Sometimes the fish moved at the rate of lf mile per hour,
At the Guildhall, Penzance, on the previous day a vast
amount of evidence was given before the commissioners, in
the course of which it was stated that the average cost for
a boat properly fitted for herring, pilchard, and mackerel
fishing was about £7OO. It was believed that there would
be a good deal of oyster and crab fishing if they were not
caught during spawning time. The ground nets destroyed
a great number of small fish, There were about 1,000 men
employed in fishing in Newlyn and Mousehole. The ling
fish was almost annihilated; lobsters had greatly fallen off
but hook fish had not much decreased. The Newlyn boats
were generally away to the North Sea 13 or 14 weeks, and
returned in time for the mackerel season, which lasted about
eight weeks. The pilchard season commenced at Mid-
summer. One witness said he had drifted for herrings and
only carried one light in the boat, He knew there was a
regulation respecting the lights, but it was not acted on.
'I he men might go trawling, drifting, or fishing, as they
pleased ; there was no inspector to inquire into such matters.
The small seines interfered with the large ones. There were
about 250 drift boats, and they shot over and broke the
shoals of the fish and scattered them. The firing of guns
was not good for the fisheries ; the shock disturbed the fish.
Joseph Green, a master of mackerel, pilchard, and drift
boats, of 20 years' standing, stated with regard to the
pilchard seines, that last year a shoal of fish came along,
and one of the small seines interfered, and in consequence
of the dispute the shoal passed on and was lost. This year
he saw another collision. The shoal of fish came, and a
large seine pulled in a position to intercept it. A small seine
across her bows, and a contention arose, the consequence
being that the shoal was lost. On another occasion, after
the larger seine had shot out, a small seine did the same.
About 70 hogsheads were caught by .the small one, but
about 30 hogsheads were killed in the meshes, and, after
being in the water three days, were sold for manure. That
was owing to the seine not being properly constructed for
that sort of fishing. He should say that no seine should be
smaller than 180 fathoms long and 12 fathoms deep. The
large seines generally were about 200 fathoms, Smaller
seines than 180 fathoms would be injurious to the fish and
cause a great waste. Ho was in favour of the extension of
the fence months, as much benefit, in his opinion, would
be thus derived. He also thought there should be a limit
for the drift boats. Several witnesses endorsed the views
expressed, and the Commissioners assured them that every
attention would be given to the evidence adduced.