THE CONSUMPTION OF EELS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2349, 17 July 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE CONSUMPTION OF EELS.

The report, of the Inspector of Fisheries,"jiisi, issued, eiives interesting details respecting the trade in- eels between London aud the Continent. Eels form a : ,very considerable item in the general food supply of England, and especially in the Metropolis. It is estimated dun in London alone some 24,000 regukr;cust6merß contract for their supply of this fish, and sell them, again retail, lo take only the consignments to Billingsgate, it appears that ths importations from Holland amount to about to ahout 1000 tout annually, worth rather more than £BO,OOO. The fish are taken in the Znyder Zen in the autumn and early winter, and are stored in reservoirs until wanted for the market. A. large trade with Germany is now springing up, and the. importation is stated, to amount to some 20,0001b every waek or ten days. Next in importance to the Dntoh trade is that with Ireland, estimated at ,450 tons a year. The Scottish trade amounts to some 50 tons, The English eel fisheries have also to be taken into acoount, although their produce is chiefly consumed'outside the Metropolis, and only a small percentage finds its way to Billingsgate. Altogether the present consumption of eels in London may be considered to be at least 1650 tons a vear, with a value of £130,000, If we take the rest of England into consideiation, the value of eels consumed annually oanriot be put it less than half a million sterling, '■ and of these the far greater part we thrown on the market during the firafc six months of the year, three months of whioh are included in the close season for freshwater fish. Prom Holland the fish arrive in tanks, and consequently in excellent condition. From the United Kingdom generally they are sent in boxes; and, notwithstanding their well-known tenacity of life, they are received in a more or less exhausted condition.