, 1886-01-09
&c woalo,s EIa4 paopuorloN.


Extent Of the Industry Improvidsaf
Observation-Disclosures Seizure.
fTnrf, Field and Farm
IL Mulhalls statistics arc reliable.
nys an angling .%ournal, there are not
Tar short OF 10, 900 vessels engaged In
Europe and North America in fishing.
Between 500, 0OJ and 30, 900 meu are
emplo ed in this industry, and the total
annual product Of fish is not Jar short
OF 1000, 600 tons. Few people realize
the meaning Of these figures. A ton Of
fish is equal in weight to about twenty
eight sheep; and hence, II Mnihallis
estimate Is approximately correct, a
year fish sup ly for ten European
coun tries, included in this estimate, and
the | nited states aud anada might lie
represented by 4<,O00, 900 sheep. OF
this amount tho | nited Kingdom, Can
ada, l. ussia, and the [ nited states
alone aggregate ], 900, 900 tons, equiva-
lent to 5000, 900 sheep. 1t has been
truly said we talk in a metaphor of the
harvest Of tue sea, but we have only
lately been able to realize what the
metaphor means.
The Fisheries exposition in london In
iSSo did a great deal to encourage tue
study Of marine biology, and It was
with no small degree OF satisfaction that
W. are able 10 say that in this much
needed work the Lnited states ranks
second 10 no other country. On tho
other hand, Great Britain, whose fish
cries arc OF vital importance to her for
food, has done little, and cannot yet
boast a laboratory on the sesshore. In
deed, Professor Lancaster, an eminent
authority on marine biology, declares
the British industries still barbaric.
The produce OF the sea Il recklessly
seized, regardless of the con o luences
OF the method, the time. or the extent OF
tho depredarious. According to the
English authority, the old proverb that
there are as good fish in the sea as ever
came out OF It nc longer hol is good.
The harvest OF the sea in the future,
like the harvest on land, needs cultivat
ing. It was shown not long ago that 10
eight months twent eight boats en-
gagged in the paddock fishery at Rye
mouth, ngland, used go tons Of mus
sels-about si,OJJ, " mussels-in the
capture Of the haddock ct Professor
Lancaster says that no pains are taken
to cultivate or preserve the mussel, aud
knowledge of its reproduction ami
growth Is still incomplete, as IL ia Of
other bait. Soles are every year becom-
ing scsrcer. and oysters are becoming
nor difficult TO o tam. At present,
says the same authority, absolutely
nothing Is known OF the spawning of the
sole; the male iish is not even recog.
MEL ~
The reasons for oysters being scarce
are not known, nor how to make thu
a. undant. There are many Ct onomisIs
in ngland who MAINTAIN t hat the hap
hazard and improyident N thodsof Ash
ing are Q hausting tue ish supply OF
that country as suieiy as the mining is
e hausting the supply OF coal The sup
ply OF many kinds of fish is rapi .ly
diminishing. and tue only way to cheek
the waste is by the systematic study OF
the conditions which regulate the sup
pl;. 1t is undoubtedly true that tue
world could not 10 fed il men sought
their food on land with as little lore
thought and system as fishermen cast
their uets into the sea. To what extent
these facts, which are causing considera-
BILE dis uSsion in ngland, apply to the
enited ~Ntates, we are not prepared TO
say