The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-05 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 called, 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,
panics, 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
ono-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 the 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 1j 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 fisted for herring, pilchard, and mackerel
fishing was abate: £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
wore 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 lie 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 en.
scattered
The men might go trawling, drifting, or fishing, as they
pleased ; there was no nispector to inquire into such matters.
The small seines interfered with the large ones. There were
about
s 2
of 0
the drift
fish and
and
shot over and broke the
al
was not good for the fisheries ; the shock disturbed the fish.
shos boats, they
them. The firing of guns
Joseph Green, a master of mackerel, pilchard, and drift
boats, of 20 years' standing, stated with iegard 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
ran 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 caug?t
by ,the small one, but
about 30 hogsheads were killed in the meshes, and, after
being in the water thiee 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. He 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.

AN ADMIRER OF COLOUR, writes as follows to
the Spectator, in regard to the reported change of
fashion adventured upon LI H.R.H. the Prince of Wales,
as described by our contemporary in a lively article recently
quoted in The S am much amused by your in-
genious article on. " The Prince and the Fashions," yet I
read with some regret, though not surprise, your acquies-
cent sentence against colour in men's costume, I can by no
means see the force of your rcasoning. I am old enough
to remember a time when every gentleman excepting
clergymen wore a coloured coat; and I cannot bat call to
mind the lamentations which prevailed on the introduc-
tion of black. "Now, it was said by repining elderly
ladies, "we shall see nothing but gloom and a great
deal of shabbiness for the remainder of our days."
I have some sympathy with tLem still, I lament over the
gloom which settled upon us somewhere about 1820, I believe
and think it has lasted much too long, lam sick of
rusty
black, the shabbiest of all garbs. I well remember the
bright, handsome, respectable blue coats which middle-aged
doctors like Sir Astley Cooper and the first Dr. Parry of
Bath always wore, with their polished metal buttons. I
cannot, of course, go back to Goldsmith's peach-coloured
coat, or to the beautiful sky-blues, or rich clarets, or rubies
that were known in the Grandison time. But even these,
absurd as you may think then (and I by no means recom-
mend peach blossom to the Laureate), gave a distinctive
character to men, and took offfrom the insipid formality of
our modern gentlemen's costume. If economy is in ques-
tion you must not recommend black velvet ; a specimen
here and there would be noble and imposing, but it must be
only a speoimen.