EMPIRE FISHERIES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 275, 9 August 1918, Page 8

EMPIRE FISHERIES

WAR-TIME-REVIVAL OF ONE-TIME POPULAR DIET FISH AT A PENNY PER LB. Sinco England ceased to be ft predominantly Koniim Catholic country fish as on article of diet hks fallen into a subordinate place. Prior to the war indeed it had come to be regarded more as a luxury for the well-to-do than as a necessity for the poor, except in the cheap, smoked forms; and artificial restrictions of supplies by a jealously-guarded trade ■tended to keep prices high. General food shortago has done much to restore the popularity of fresh fish within Iho last feiv year?; but war conditions havo imposed more drastic limitations than trade combines. It must be left to the piping limes of peace for advantage to bi> taken of the illimitablo resources of fish whiclv can lie derived from the territorial waters of the British Empire. Under any comprehensive scheme of Stale regulation fish could be mode the cheapest and most plentiful commodity on the British markets. As an illustration of the possibilities in this direction, the Canndian Grand Trunk Railway has proposed to erect refrigerating plant which should enable fish to be brought from Prince Kuperfc Island to Liverpool at a cost of a penny per lb.; this price could be reduced to three farthings?, or even a halfpenny, if the Imperial Government would enter into extended contracts. .After the war the whole of the vessels now employed for mine-sweeping in the North Sea might be organised as the nucleus of an Empire fishing fleet. In this connection it is of interest to note that the population of the United Kingdom consumes 600,000 tons of fish per annum, the equivalent of one-fortieth of the total food supplies. Under one such scheme as .that suggested the fish supplv might be 'increased fourfold.

Canada's Enormous Resources. A few statistics will servo to indicate the enormous proportions to which the ancient Canadian fishing industries had attained prior to Uits war. .The total quantity of salmon landed during the year 1&13-U waslss,ooo,ooolb.,ofaniarket value of J82,300,U00. A world-wide trade is done in canning and exporting salmon on the Pacific coast, the British Columbian fisheries accounting for about 1)5 per cent, of the landings. Next in importance to salmon conies the lobster lishery, the catch in the veur eiAliiig Maicn 31, 19H, representing u1,000,0001b., valued at sligatly under' ,£1,000,000. Third in importance ranks the cud fishery, which is almost exclusively an Atlantic industry. Here again a very large export trade is carried on with Southern lOurope, the United States, the West Indies, and South America. In 1913-M .£700,000 was realised for a catch of 100,000,0001b. Another Atlantic industry is the herring fishery, which, in the year quoted, yielded 2A3,000,0001b., it a market value of between .£OOO,OOO and .£700,000. Halibut is a deep-water fishery common to tiie wholo coastline of British Columbia. It averaged 25,000,0001b., at a. market valuation of J213),000. Other salt-waler Jisli of commercial importance aro haddock, hake, pollock, and mackerel. Uf fresh-ivater iisli the Great Lake trout is famous, the annual catch being valued at 'about .6100,000. In the neighbouring colony of Newfoundland dishing is ihe staple industry, over sixty thousand persons being engaged therein. The market value of the average annual catch for the five years ending 1913 amounted to Cod is the mainstay of the trade, representing about SO per cent, of tho output. Including Labrador there is a coastline of 0000 miles, most of which provides good fislu'jig ground. Only less important to cod are the trades in lobsters, herrings, seals and whales. Little has so far been done in exporting salmon from Newfoundland, owing to the. lack of cold storage, but given adequate facilities, this fishery has immense potentialities.

Australia' and New Zealand, Difficulties of distribution linve hitherto prevented the development of fisheries in the Antipodes, but the national resources are abundant. According to expert computation, Australia has over 2100 distinct species of marine and freshwater fish. The most prolific among edible sea iisli nre the schnapper, flathead, cod, and perch. In-shore fish comprise mullet, whiting, bream, and garfish, and the rivers Jmvo been successfully stocked with Enj-lisli brown trout and American rainbow trout. Several thousands of workers also find employment in such special fisheries as pearl, pearlshell, beche-de-rner, and tortoise-shell, the value of those trades amounting to nearly half a million sterling per annum. Little has been done in New Zealand to expand the fishing industry, although a considerable export trade is done with the Australian markets. The more prolific specie 3 peculiar to New ealand, among these being tho so-called bluecod; tho hapuka or groper, a very large edible fish, tho red schnapper, the barracouta. Better known varieties which flourish: are 6ea bream, mullet, and gurnard, and the., introduction of bass and trout into the rivers has been most successful. There can bo no doubt that the systematic cultivation of New Zealand fisheries would make tho Dominion an important centre of tho Empire's fish supply.

A similar claim could be established for the Union of South Africa, where no organised attempted has been made to exploit the rich natural resources. The chief edible fish 'caught off tho c 'outh African coasts are the snock, Kabeljaun, punga, geclbek, sole, mackerel, and silver fish. Whaling, however, is the most important branch of marine activity, the number of whales captured in each year considerably exceeding n. thousand.

It is obvious with ft sea-girt Empire like that of Great Britain the fishing rescources can be expanded indefinitely. There is practically no limit to the supplies if a uniform policy of development and conversation can be adopted.