FISHERIES 227 have fallen off since the famine, the people be- ing too poor to procure the necessary boats and outfits. In -1846 the number of vessels and boats engaged in fishing was 19,883, with 113,073 men; in 1856, 11,096, with 48,774 men 5 in 1866, 9,444, with 40,663 men; in 1868, 9,184, with 39,339 men; and in 1872, 7,914, with 31,311 men. In the last named year 1,113 of the vessels, with 5,438 men, were solely engaged in fishing; 685, with 3,126 men, principally; and 6,116, with 22,747 men, only partially. The number of those only partially engaged is probably too large by some 8,000, and they are for the most part employed only a few days in the year. The herring and mackerel fishery is perhaps the most important on the Irish coast, and is largely participated in by Cornish, Manx, and Scotch boats. The annual catch is valued at about 450,000. From Dublin to Waterford trawling is exten- sively carried on to supply the Dublin market. Herrings are caught here, and off Arklow and "Wexford are the principal oyster banks. From Cork to Cape Clear the mackerel is chiefly ta- ken, Kinsale being the headquarters of that fishery, while from Ardglass to Dublin is the principal herring fishery. The value of the oysters annually taken is about 50,000. The salmon fisheries of the rivers of Great Britain and Ireland are very productive; they are regulated by law, and are in general private property. The estimated value of the catch of England and Wales has increased within a few years from 20,000 or 30,000 to 100,000 ; the Irish yield is about 400,000 a year, and that of the Scotch salmon fisheries about 300,000. In 1869 there were 5,113 persons employed in the salmon fishery of England and Wales; in 1870, 4,593 ; in 1871, 5,437; in 1872, 5,217, of whom 2,907 were net fishermen and 2,310 anglers. The number of vessels fitted out for the fishery of cod, &c., in Scotland in 1872 was 155, of 6,400 tons and 1,624 men; for the herring fishery, 95 vessels, of 2,976 tons and 434 men. The number of decked and undecked boats engaged in the shore-curing fisheries was 15,232, with an aggregate tonnage of 106,464, employing 46,178 fishermen and boys, 863 curers, and 41,930 (estimated) other persons. The value of boats was 381,338 ; of nets, 521,327; of lines, 94,628; total value of equipments, 997,293. In 1869 there were registered at the several ports of the United Kingdom 42,960 fishing boats, with an aggregate tonnage of 242,179, giving employ- ment to 152,779 men and 13,969 boys. Of these numbers 16,195 boats, with a tonnage of 127,013, employing 54,757 men and boys, be- longed to England and Wales ; 17,969 boats, 87,001 tons, and 73,179 men and boys, to Scot- land; and 8,796 boats, 28,165 tons, and 38,812 men and boys, to Ireland. In 1872 the number registered was 40,546, with an aggregate ton- nage of 261,761, viz. : England and Wales, 15,331 of 140,535 tons; Scotland, 16,765 of 92,595 tons; Ireland, 8,450 of 28,651 tons. Cod, Ling, and Hake. YEARS. rels. Dried, cwt. Pickled, barrels. 1811 91,827 1821. 442,196 1831 489 870 87,674 2,950 1841 557,262 91,495 9,480 1851. 544,009 90,659 5,032 1861 668,828 82,845 4,145 186(5. . 658,147 115,819 9,957 1868 651,484 118,831 9,659 18TO 888 160$ 145,289 9,945 1811. 825,476 119,080 9,283 1872 773 858$ 145,976$ 11,940$ Of the whole number, 5,284 of 145,387 tons were of the first class (15 tons and over), 25,452 of 102,392 tons of the second class (un- der 15 tons, not navigated by oars alone), and 9,810 of 14,002 tons of the third class (navi- gated by oars only). Besides the above, there were 375 boats of 5,047 tons registered at the Isle of Man, and 802 of 2,988 tons at the Channel islands. The following table exhibits the quantity of white herrings (salted in bar- rels) and of cod, ling, and hake cured in Great Britain at various periods, the returns after 1851 being confined to Scotland and the Isle of Man, and after 1868 to Scotland: The chief seats of the herring fishery are Stor- noway in the Hebrides, Peterhead and Fra- serburgh in Aberdeenshire, and Wick. More than half of the cod, &c., are caught at the Shetland islands, and considerable quantities are taken at the Orkney islands and from Stornoway. The trade of the United Kingdom in fish and the products thereof, from 1868 to 1872, is shown in the folio wing- tables: 1MPOKTS. YEARS. Fish, cwt. Value. Fish oil, gallons. Value. 1868 431,263 440.53 3,525,782 658,288 1869 629,449 681.109 8,846,528 8(1.788 1870 768,576 768.387 4,965,912 954,710 1871 605,830 711.295 6.219,108 1,087,734 1872 671,192 659,042 4,717,188 855,590 The fish oil is brought chiefly from British America and the United States; fresh fish from Holland and Norway ; and cured or salt- ed fish from British America, Norway, France, the United States, and Denmark. EXPORTS. YEARS. DOMESTIC. FOREIGN AND CO- LONIAL PRODUCE. Herrings, barrels. 426,656 422,718 585,193 659,954 631,570 the f( of sa od, &c Value.
Other fish, value. Fish, all kinds,cwt. Value. 18(58 596,903 602,806 723,005 888,446 891,634 )urth c Imon, , 33, 228,850 256,959 192,529 279,962 292,167 olumn valued 490; 2 23,264 26,852 48,804 85,849 44,93
for 18 at 4 3,667 1 63,609 65,844 85,502 111,738 173,410 71 are 3,926 ; Bushels 1869 1870 . . . 1871 1872 Included in 7,752 cwt. 28,871 of c
