The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1886-01-14

Universal Fish Culture Nece~ssry'to Supply
the Harvest Of the Sea-.
From, Vurf Vield and Eorp,

Universal Fish Culture NecoesnryrtO Supply
the Harvest Of tho Sea-.
From Turf. Field. aud Farm.
II Mulhall's sta isti g are reliable,
says an angling journal. there are not
far short Of 100. 600 vessels engaged in
Europe and North America in fishing.
Between zoe. 900 aud .oa, 900 men are
employed in this Industry, aud the
total annual product of fish is not far
short of 1,5O0,0 600 tons Few people
real ze the meaning of these latter
figures. A ton of fish is equal in
weight to about twenty-eight sheep;
and hence, If Mulhalls estimate is APP
proximately correct, years fish sup
ply for ten European countries, in
Guided in th:s estimate, and the United
States and Canada might be repre-
scented by 10000 900 sheep. OF this
amount the United Kingdom, Canada,
Russia, and the United States alone
aggregate 900. 900 tons, equivalent TO
$50 5000 sheep. 1t has been truly
said that we talk in a metaphor of the
harvest of the sea, but we have only
lately been able to realize what the
metaphor means. The Fisheries Ex-
post on in London in 1889 did great
deal to encourage the study of marine
biology, and it is with no small degree
of satisfaction that we are able to say
that in this much-needed work the
United States ranks second to no
other.
On the other hand, Great Britain,
whose fisheries are of vital Importance
to her for food, has done little, and can
not yet boast laboratory on the sea-
shore. Indeed, Professor Lancaster,
an eminent authority on marine biol
ogy, declares the British fishing indus
tries still barbaric. The produce of
the sea is recklessly seized, regardless
Of the consequences of the method, the
time, or the extent OF the depredations.
According to English authority, the o d
proverb that there are as good fish in
the sea as ever came out of it no longer
holds good. The harvest of the sea in
the future. like the harvest on land,
needs cultivating. 1t was shown rot
long ago that in eight months twenty
eight boats engaged in the haddock
fishery at Ryemouth, England, used
$40 tons Of mussels-about 10000
mussels-in the capture of the paddock.
Yet Professor l. nkester says that no
pains are taken to cultivate or preserve
the mlssel, and knowledge of its re-
production and growth is still incom-
plete, as it is of other bait. Soles are
every year becoming scarcer, and
oysters are becoming more difficult to
obtain. At present, said the same au-
thorIty, absolutely nothing is known of
the spawning of the sole; the male fish
is not even recognized. The reasons for
oysters being scarce are no. known,
nor how to make them abundant.
There are many econom SITS III England
who maintain that the haphazard and
improvident methods of fishing are ex-
hausting the fish supply of that coun-
try as sure as mining is exhausting the
supply of coal. The supply of many
kinds of fish is rap dly diminishing,
and the only way to cheek the waste Is
by systematic study of the conditions
which regulate the supply. 1t is un-
doubleday true that she world could
not be fed if men sought their food on
land with as little forethought and
system as fishermen cast their nets into
the sea?" To what extent these facts,
which are causing considerable discus
sion in England, apply to the United
States We are not prepared to say.
The excellent WORK for many years of
our fish commission exonerates our
Government from the accusation of
total neglect Of this important industry.