SCARCITY OF FISH.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4386, 10 April 1875, Page 3

SCARCITY OF FISH.

The following from Iron may not he without application here ;—“ Spite of the old saw and song that ‘ there are as good fish in the sea as ever yet were taken,’ Mr, Cholmondeley Pennell, a trustworthy authority, is of opinion that another ten years will see a crisis iu many branches of our sea-fisheries if measures be not at once taken to avert it. The fishermen themselves see it, and are calling out for legislative enactments to pi’otect them from themselves, or rather from each other, and the great London fishmongers are complaining that year by year, cod, soles, lobsters, and the other products of the harvest of the sea in which they deal are continually getting smaller. It is probable that, numerous as are the finny ti-ibes, many of them may live chiefly in the shallows and off the coasts, and it is quite conceivable that by fishing at improper seasons, and over-fishing particular tracts, the supply may be diminished to an extent that will temporarily at least, raise prices to an inconvenient height, by decreasing the supplies. Pish, as an article of diet, and a palatable and wholesome change from flesh fare, is becoming more generally appreciated ; and it would be a pity if, for want of due diligence on the part of those in authority, the supply should be seriously diminished. At the same time, the arrangements for the distribution of the existing supply iu the metropolis are far from being pei'fect ; and it is to be feared that any natural scarcity that exists is increased, to some extent, by artificial means.”