A View of the present State of the Salmon and Channel Fisheries, and of the Statute Laws by which they are regulated; shewing, that it is to the Defects of the latter that the present Scarcity of the Fish is to be attributed. Comprehending also the Natural History and Habits of the Salmon, with some of its Peculiarities hitherto undescribed. Together with the Form of a New Act, designed to remedy the Evils so generally complained of; and an Abstract of the Evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons upon the Subject, with Notes. By J. Cornish, Esq.-London: Longman and Co. 1825. 8vo. pp. 217.

THERE is no subject of general interest, of obvious importance, or of scientific research, which does not properly come under the notice of the Philomathic Journal. It is sufficient for our purpose if it stand connected with the physical, moral, or intellectual improvement of mankind. Recognising the paramount importance of the practical and useful, we introduce to our readers the present state of the Fisheries of this country in general, and of the Salmon Fishery in particular; and we do so the more cheerfully, because the subject has lately occupied the attention of the Legislature, and is still far from being fully appreciated, or generally understood.

The fisheries of Great Britain are a source of wealth that has been hitherto nearly neglected. While some nations have derived political importance from them alone, and Holland has for centuries been in the practice of fishing on our coasts with the greatest success, we have contented ourselves with sending a few labourers into the harvest, who have in many instances trodden down and destroyed more than they have reaped. Various reasons have been assigned for this negligence on our part, and various remedies have been proposed; but still we have continued the same supine and even ruinous system, till at length the evil has attained a magnitude that will not be concealed, and must speedily be checked.

It is an undisputed maxim in political economy, that every facility should be afforded to the production of food of good quality, and at a moderate price. There is this peculiar

advantage in fisheries in general, that the cost of the fish consists merely in the expence of taking it; and the fisherman is exempted from the multifarious charges to which the agriculturist is amenable. We shall not at present stop to notice the Herring Fishery, and the consequences of the reduction of the salt duties; nor enquire into the reasons why the Dutch herrings, though caught on our coast, are superior to our own. That is a fertile subject in itself, and is worthy of a separate consideration. Adopting, in some measure, the method of the author, we shall take a distinct view of the Sea, and of the River Fisheries, which, notwithstanding they have many points in common, are, in most respects, modified by very different circumstances. In turning our attention to the Coast and Channel Fishery, we are led to notice the scarcity which has prevailed, and is increasing, of fine sea fish. As this is a fact that will not be disputed, we shall proceed to investigate the causes that may be assigned for it.

It seems at first sight extraordinary, when we reflect upon the acknowledged profusion of fish with which nature has endowed our shores, so as even to attract the industry of foreigners of all nations, and consider their amazing fecundity, and the space in which they have to move,-that any combination of circumstances, which the perverted ingenuity and cupidity of man could invent, should be able to diminish the stock. The causes that have mainly contributed to this, are, first, using nets, the meshes of which are too small; second, fishing too near shore; third. trawling: and all these are resolved into the destruction of spawn and the fry, and have arisen partly from the insufficiency of the laws, but chiefly from their not having been carried into effect.

There is one general principle, which is recognised in all laws which regulate the taking of fish; namely, that it is unlawful to capture them till they have arrived at nearly their full growth, for which there are two reasons: the first, that then they have contributed to increase their species; and the other, that they then furnish the greatest quantity of, and we may generally add, the most wholesome food. Experience has abundantly proved the wisdom of this principle, while it has also shewn the necessity of its being supported by vigorous enactments, zealously enforced.

It may be proper to state, that all fish deposit their roe in shallow water, and various statutes have been passed to regulate the operations of fishermen, and restrain them from fishing on the ground upon which the spawn is laid. The preamble of the 3 Jac. I. c. 12, states-

Forasmuch as it is certainly known, by daily experience, that the brood of sea-fish is spawned and lieth in still waters, where it may

have to receive nourishment, and grow to perfection; and that it is there destroyed by weirs, draw-nets, and nets with canvass, or like engines in the middle or bosom of them, in harbours, rivers, and creeks, within this realm, to the great damage and hurt of fishermen and hindrance of the commonwealth:"" ཎྜ་་』

and proceeds to provide a remedy for the evil, and, subsequently, by the statute of the 13 & 14 Car. 2. c. 28, it was enacted, that

or

No person should, from the first of June to the last of November, presume to take fish in the high sea, or in any bay, pool, creek, coast, of or belonging to Cornwall or Devon, with any drill net, trammel, or stream-net or nets, or any other nets of that sort or kind, unless it were at the distance of one league and a half at least from the respective shores, upon the penalty or forfeiture of the said nets so employed, or the full value thereof, and one month's imprisonment without bail or mainprize:""

-proving, that our early legislators had correct notions on the subject. These statutes were rendered practically nugatory, by the circuitous and expensive legal process prescribed for their enforcement. By an act, passed in the 1 Geo. I, persons fishing (except for herrings, sprats, &c.) with a net, the meshes of which were less than three inches and a half from knot to knot, were liable to forfeit the nets, to be fined 207., and in default of payment, to be confined to the county gaol for one year. Notwithstanding this, and many similar enactments, the practice of trawling (that is, dragging the bottom of the sea with a long pole, to which nets are attached) continued, and still continues to such an extent, that Brixham alone has sent out at one time upwards of one hundred trawlers, the bag of whose nets were so small meshed, as to detain fish not larger than a sixpence; and thus a number of young fish are destroyed, which the science of arithmetic will not enable us to calculate. We have no hesitation in affirming, that the practice of trawling (especially over the spawn beds) is alone sufficient to account for the scarcity of fish, and it does appear to us most extraordinary, that so destructive and illegal a method should have been suffered to prevail for one month, much less for more than a century. The laws have banished, theoretically, the trawlers to a distance of one league and a half from the shore, upon the supposition, that, at such a distance, the water would be too deep for the fish to spawn in; yet they fish, by hundreds, in open day, within half a mile from the beach.

We shall dismiss the Channel Fisheries with remarking, that, while fishing with small-meshed nets, and trawling over the spawn-beds are practised, the public may in vain expect to have fish fine, plentiful, or cheap.

In directing our notice to the state of the Salmon Fisheries of this country, the first thing which occurs to us, and in which the public are deeply interested, is the gradually increasing scarcity and consequent advance, in the price of salmon; an evil which has been regular and progressive. Following the line of observation adopted by the author of the work before us, we shall lay before our readers a brief sketch of the causes of this scarcity; and point out what appears to us the most effectual means of counteracting the various destructive practices, which, if persisted in, universally, would not only banish the fish from our shores, bút actually exterminate the race.

It is extremely doubtful, whether salmon was plentiful in England some centuries ago: we incline to think it was not; for it was sold very high in the thirteenth century, as appears from a list of prices fixed by Edward the First, in order that his subjects might not be at the mercy of the fishmongers.* From this document, it seems, that while the best turbot was sold for six pence, and the best cod for three pence, the salmon, from Christmas to Easter, was fixed at five shillings, and after Easter at three shillings. Considering the value of money at the time, and comparing the price of salmon with that of other fish, it will be found to be exorbitantly dear. But whatever might have been the degree of plenty in remote times, it was, certainly, plentiful even to excess, within the period of a century from the present time; for not only were masters in their indentures restrained from obliging their apprentices to eat salmon more than two days in a week, at Chester and the parts adjacent ; but indentures with similar restrictions have been found at Exeter, and various other places; and we could point out persons now living who remember the current price of salmon, at the places where it was caught, from one penny to three pence per lb.; and in Ireland, any person holding the rope when the net was drawn, was entitled, by custom, to claim any one fish that might be taken. We mention these facts to shew, that salmon has become scarce within the memory of man, and we shall presently shew, that the causes of scarcity have began to operate at full extent within the same period. In order to make the subject more clear, it is necessary to point

In this list the price of a pike was so high as six shillings and eight pence; but there is good reason to believe they had not long been introduced in England, and were extremely scarce. Such, however, is the capricious nature of taste, that the porpoise was considered a great dainty, and valued at six shillings and eight pence! We doubt whether we moderns could relish the flesh of a porpoise with all means and appliances to boot."

6

0

out a few of the habits of this fish, because they are somewhat peculiar, and will be found to aid indirectly in their own destruction. The salmo salur, or common salmon, lives, indifferently, in fresh and salt water; indeed, both are essen tial to its existence: in the former, it invariably deposits its ova, and in the latter, it thrives, and arrives at maturity. Towards the fall of the year they quit the sea, and ascend the most rapid rivers, for the purpose of spawning, seeking the most retired places, and surmounting the most astonishing obstacles; having fulfilled their object, they become weak, thin, and even unwholesome; in this state they are called spent fish; they then hasten back to the sea, to recruit their strength, and recover their condition, till the return of the same season calls them to repeat their migration. The fry are excluded from the egg about the latter end of March, but by the beginning of May they swarm in myriads; at this period they are called smelts, and are carried to the sea with the first flood. Various are the accounts given by naturalists of the fecundity of salmon; some assert, that the roe of a single fish contains 600,000 pea; others limit it to 25,000; but all agree in a number sufficient to insure an abundant supply. The period of time which they require to grow a certain size, is very doubtful, and this part of their history is involved in much obscurity, as their periodical migrations render it no easy matter to recognise them in their separate stages of growth, and this difficulty has generated a controversy as to the identity of fish, which the legislature has decided, we think erroneously, to be separate and distinct species. We shall notice this subject at some length, because it is of importance to our present inquiry.

,

From this sketch it will be seen, that the periodical passage of salmon, up and down the rivers, at stated times, places them entirely within our power; for, by the erection of barriers across the same, (which we shall speak of hereafter,) every fish ascending and descending the stream may, to a certainty, be captured.

The author of the work before us has brought forward many facts tending to establish pretty clearly to us, that the salmon, salmon peal, sea trout, and smelt, are the salmo salar in its different stages of growth; and, if this opinion be correct, then the legislature, by allowing them to be taken, materially injures the increase of the fish, and departs from the principle already laid down, as they must be considered unsizeable salmon. In the first place, the fish known by these four names, are alike in every respect internally and externally, having the same essential constituents of fins, branchiæ, &c.