The mackerel fishery is strictly English, and is carried on with great vigour on the coasts of Kent and Sussex, in May, June, and July. Large as the supply is, it would still admit of augmentation; and herrings, also, might be caught in vast quantities on the coast of Kent, in October and November. The desideratum with the fishermen, now that peace has reduced their expence, is not so much a high price as a certain market; and the most effectual way to procure that is, to quicken, by every possible means, the conveyance to London. The navigation of the Thames not being at all times certain or expeditious, it was proposed some time ago (in 1812) to improve, or rather to re-make, the road to London from the small harbour called Holyhaven, situated on the Essex side of the river, about 80 miles from the metropolis. The late discoveries in the mode of ap plying steam to navigation, may perhaps render this unnecessary, but it cannot supersede another and more important plan, that of accelerating, by im provements in the roads, the conveyance of fish by land carriage from Brighton, and other parts of the Sussex coast to London. An association ofgentle men, under the name of the Downs Society qf Fish ermen's Friends, was formed in the end of 1815; they have since made several interesting reports, and give reason to hope that various improvements will be effected.
The pilchard fishery takes place chiefly on the coast of Devonshire and Cornwall, and, though sub ject to great fluctuations as well from the seasons as from our political situation relatively to the Con In 1750, the vessels employed were only 19; hi 1756, they had increased to 67. The war soon caused a decrease of one-half; but, at the return of peace in 1763, this fishery revived, and in 1770, the vessels employed amounted to 50; in 1773, to 55 ; in 1775, to 96. The American war again caused a decrease, and in 1782, the vessels so em. ployed were only 38. In 1784, they increased to 89, and in 1785, to 140; after this they exceeded 200 annually till 1793; but the long continuance of the late wars reduced them below the half; and the advantages of peace have been counteracted by causes which have as yet prevented the English ves sels from regaining the number employed previous to 1793.
The Newfoundland fishery has been considerable' for fully a century past; as a nursery for seamen, it is accounted of such consequence as to have formed the object of a specific article in most of our treaties of peace. The fish caught, particularly in time of peace, is sent less to Britain than to the Catholic countries in the south of Europe; a market subject to • all the interruptions attendant on a change of politi cal relations. The number of vessels employed in this fishery at different times was as follows: tinent, forms, on the whole, an important branch ; employing a number of seamen both in catch ing the fish and in carrying it to foreign mar. kets. Its season is generally from June to Sep. tember.
The herring, the most important of all our fish. tries, is happily now in a state of rapid extension. It formed, during the seventeenth century, the great employment of the Dutch seamen, and was con templated by their neighbours with very jealous eyes. Accordingly, in the reign of Charles H., particularly after the rupture with Holland in 1672, several acts were passed for the encouragement of our fishermen, and in a spirit of hostility to the Dutch. The sub. sequent accession of William to our throne, and the long friendship between the two countries, relaxed the exertions of government; and it was not till after the peace of r748, that a large bounty was given on the tonnage of the busses, or masted vessels, so em ployed. Still our fishermen proved unable to com
pete with the experience and patient perseverance of the Dutch, and it was found necessary to raise the bounty from 30s. to 50s. per ton. This had the de• sired effect, and the number of busses increased ; but the additional 20s. being withdrawn in 1771, the fishery again declined. The American war, and, subsequently, the wars of the French revolution proved extremely adverse to its extension : at last, in 1808, an act was passed,• the bounty to a L.3 a ton on the busses, with er grant of 21.
per barrel on all herrings caught whether in busses or boats. This important act was farther confirmed in 1815, and the bounty per barrel raised to 4s., with the essential qualification that the herrings should be gutted before curing, A farther and still more im portant law (27th• June 1817) declares, that not only common salt, but rock salt, which is much cheaper, may be used duty free for our fisheries.
These acts form the grand charter of the Bri tish fisheries. The bounty, which was formerly rec koned by the tonnage of the shipping employed, is now awarded on the quantity caught, the barrels being branded by customhouse officers. The mode of curing adopted by the Dutch has been communi. cated to our fishermen, and bounty refused in all cases in which either the herrings or barrels were in improper condition. The success has been corre spondent: successive reports made by the Coottnis stoners of the Berring Fidgety, in 1816, 1817, 1818, and 1819, concur in exhibiting a propessive in crease in the quantity gutted before curing, and, of course, entitled to the higher bounty. The increase of our fishing-craft, however, has been only in the number of boats. In the busses, or masted vessels, there is no augmentation, the bounty, even on its present footing (LS per ton), being insufficient to counterpoise the superior economy of the boats. (Fraser on the Fidgerges.) Greenland was first discovered by the English, but in this, as in other branches of navigation, we allowed the Dutch to take a lead. It was not till after 1750 that, government having granted a bounty of 40s. a ton on every vessel employed in the whale fishery, a considerable increase took place in this branch: The continuance of war, and the aggrandisement of the French in Italy, occasioned additional delvess sion, so that, in 1810, the number of our vessels em ployed at Newfoundland did not exceed 92. The peace seemed to promise a revival of this important nursery of seamen, and, in the year 1816, the num ber of vessels that arrived in Newfoundland was 795, manned by 6000 seamen (Report ("Committee in June 1817, p. 7); but the trade, both then and in 1817 and in 1818, proved unprofitable, in cons.• quence of indifferent seasons, of the high duty ins. posed on fish imported in British vessels into Naples, and of the competition of the French fishermen, who are supported by a high bounty from their govern. went. It will thus require a considerable time to re instate this branch of our fisheries. A treaty with the United States, concluded in the end of 1818, de termines the limits within which the shipping of each nation have the power of fishing.