No. X. 
 
 A PAPER 
 
 ON THE IMPORTANCE OF ENCOURAGING 
 
 IRISH FISHERIES 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCE, 
 
 Klcah atan Evening Sectional Meeting, 23itr> January, 1817, 
 
 By J. C. DEANE, Esq., M.R.I.A. 
 
 In occupying the attention of a Society for tlie promotion 
 of national industry, I might at any time calculate on your in¬ 
 dulgence towards such suggestions as I might he enabled to 
 offer for the development of an important branch of our in¬ 
 dustrial resources; but at a period like the present, when a 
 want of food presses upon all classes of the community, I may 
 perhaps claim a more earnest and favourable consideration in 
 submitting to your notice some facts regarding those great 
 stores of food which Providence has placed around our shores, 
 actually within our reach, unused and unavailable,—I mean the 
 fisheries. They have been from time immemorial a source of 
 supply, sometimes to ourselves, at other times to neighbouring 
 nations, but never to the extent to which they might have 
 been cultivated. 
 
 In oiu' earlier records concerning the state of the Irish fish¬ 
 eries, I find that a Statute was framed in the reign of Elizabeth, 
 prohibiting foreign vessels from fishing in our seas without a 
 license; and in the reign of Mary, the King of Spain was al¬ 
 lowed by her Majesty to fish on the coasts of Ireland, for which 
 he paid £3000 per annum into the Irish exchequer. In Charles 
 the First’s reign the Dutch paid £30,000 for liberty to fish 
 during the summer of1635 in the British seas; and, no doubt, 
 drew large supplies from the rich treasures of our Irish seas. 
 Indeed it is likely that they fished with more success on the 
 coasts of our island than on those of England and Scotland, 
 for during the prevalence of the wars of that period, there was 
 less liability of their being interrupted in their pursuit. It is 
 
lxii 
 
 well agreed, however, hy all those who have written upon the 
 subject, that from the British and Irish seas the Hollanders 
 drew their wealth and greatness; “ not,” says a learned writer, 
 “ that they are to be quarrelled with, but rather commended 
 for their industry, and we justly reproached for our sloth and 
 negligence in not partaking of such a blessing which Provi¬ 
 dence has thrown at our doors.” In 1650 Sweden also sent 
 one hundred vessels to fish on our banks, having been per¬ 
 mitted as a favour so to do, so little did we then know of the 
 value of our fisheries. The deplorable condition of the British 
 fisheries in the reign of James the First called forth the able 
 advocacy of no less a personage than Sir Walter Kaleigh, who 
 addressed His Majesty on the subject, and in dwelling on the 
 inestimable riches of the British seas, says: “ That our sea and 
 land commodities enrich and strengthen other countries against 
 our own; and in the great sea business of fishing the Hollanders 
 employ near 20,000 ships on the coast of England, Ireland, and 
 Scotland, and are enabled, and do build one thousand ships 
 and vessels yearly, having not one timber-tree growing in their 
 country, nor home-bred commodities to load 100 ships, and yet 
 they have 20,000 ships and vessels, and all employed. That by 
 twenty busses are set on work 8000 persons by sea and land, 
 and an increase of 10,000 mariners. That the mighty huge 
 fishing that ever could be heard of in the world is on the 
 coasts of England, Scotland, and Ireland; but the great fishery 
 or practice thereof is in the Low Countries, and other petty 
 states, wherewith they serve themselves and all Christendom." 
 Of the fact, that the riches of the nation could be materially 
 increased by a successful prosecution of the fisheries, Sir Wal¬ 
 ter appeared to be fully sensible, and urged the necessity of 
 advancing and cherishing the interests of the fishermen in the 
 following cogent reasons: “ First,” said he, “ they are useful 
 for taking God’s blessing out of the sea; secondly, for setting 
 the people on work; thirdly, for making plenty and cheap¬ 
 ness in the realm; fourthly, for increasing ships to make the 
 land powerful; fifthly, for a certain niu-sery for breeding and 
 increasing mariners; sixthly, for making employment for all 
 sorts of people, as blind, lame, and others, by sea and land, 
 from ten or twelve years and upwards; seventhly, for enrich¬ 
 ing your Majesty’s coffers by merchandize returned from other 
 countries for fish and herrings; eighthly, for the increase and 
 enabling of merchants, which now droop, and daily decay.” 
 Sir William Temple, in a letter addressed to Lord Essex, in 
 1673, says that the fisheries of Ireland “ might prove a mine 
 under water, as rich as any under groundand he went so 
 
far as to propose tliat no one “ should be eligible to sit in the 
 House of Commons, or be entitled to the commission of the 
 peace, unless he had taken a practical part in the management 
 of that branch of our industry.” Of the policy of this sugges¬ 
 tion I leave you to judge. It is, however, certain, from the 
 opinions at least of those who thought upon the subject in 
 those times, that the value of the fisheries was unappreciated, 
 and deplorably neglected by our country, to the immeasura¬ 
 ble wealth of others, and to our own shame. 
 
 While the minds of men of speculative genius were thus 
 directed to the subject, our Legislature, as might naturally be 
 expected, was not inattentive to the encouragement and ex¬ 
 tension of the Irish fisheries, as objects of importance in a na¬ 
 tional and commercial point of view; and before I proceed to 
 consider their existing state, I shall very briefly glance at the 
 progress which they have made through the. medium of legis¬ 
 lative assistance. 
 
 In the reign of George II. (the earliest Statute which I 
 think it necessary to refer to) an Act was passed for the encou¬ 
 ragement of the coast fisheries; and about this time Mr. Doyle, 
 an hydrographer, discovered a most valuable and productive 
 fishing-bank off Waterford, where he fished with the greatest 
 success. He named the bank after his boat, “ the Nymph,” 
 and being then about to publish a chart of the harbour of 
 ■ Waterford, he made sketches of the various headlands, with 
 their bearings from the bank, which he engraved for the chart. 
 Mr. Doyle made certain proposals to supply the English mar¬ 
 kets with fresh fish, but they were not then put into execution. 
 
 In the third year of the reign of George III. the system of 
 bounties was first adopted by the Irish Parliament, and twenty 
 shillings per ton was granted on all deep-sea fish ; but a sub¬ 
 sequent Statute (the 25 Geo. III.) limited this bounty to “ fish 
 for curing, and the consequence of this change was great 
 . distress among the fishermen ; and on the 19th March, 1789, 
 a petition was received from the Skerries fishermen (the prin¬ 
 cipal body), complaining of having been ruined by fishing for 
 the bounty on the North-west coast under the new law, and 
 praying for aid to pay their debts, and carry on the fishing for 
 the Dublin market.”* The 41 George III. granted the large 
 sum of £30,000 for bounties for supplying fresh fish to the 
 English markets, which induced another attempt to be made 
 to fish “ the Nymph Bank,” Mr. Frazer being selected to carry 
 out the experiment, the Irish Government coming forward 
 
 * Commentaries on Ireland. Second edition. 
 
most liberally in its aid. It appears, however, that the project 
 was sacrificed to party purposes. In the year 1808 the Marine 
 Society offered their assistance to the Nymph Bank.Company, 
 which offer was rejected; and the Society, determining to fish 
 on their own account, sought an Act of Incorporation, but not 
 having succeeded in obtaining it, their intention was frustrated. 
 Mr. Frazer is reported to have continued to fish upon the Bank 
 with some fair success, but in the year 1804 the Company was 
 dissolved. Various enactments, from the year 1776, extend¬ 
 ing over a period of ten years, were passed for the encourage¬ 
 ment of the Irish fisheries. In the year 1786 the bounty was 
 raised to 4s. per barrel, and premiums were offered for the 
 four greatest quantities of herrings taken between the 1st of 
 January and December the 31st of that year ; and after this 
 several Statutes continuing the old bounties were passed, until 
 the year 1819, when the Irish Fishery Board was formed. 
 
 In that year a bounty of £2 10s. per ton was granted to the 
 owner or person chartering or hiring any vessel of fifteen tons 
 or upwards, for fishing and curing fish, but not to be paid for 
 any greater number of tons than sixty. There was also a 
 bounty on whale-oil and whalebone. In 1820 the tonnage 
 bounty was increased to three shillings per ton; and in 1824, 
 by the 5 Geo. IV. c. 64, that on production was reduced to 
 four shillings per barrel for herrings, to be annually reduced 
 one shilling per barrel, and to cease finally in 1829; and the 
 tonnage bounty, by an annual abatement of five shillings per 
 ton, was also directed to be discontinued at the same time. 
 The system continued, however, to operate till April, 1880. 
 
 Grants for repairing and constructing piers and harbours, 
 and for repairing poor fishermen’s boats, were distributed from 
 the year 1819 to 1830, £5000 per annum being placed at the 
 disposal of the Commissioners for that purpose. Loans to fisher¬ 
 men, part of an accumulated fund, was set apart by the Board to 
 assist in repairing the boats and furnishing gear; but great dif¬ 
 ficulty was experienced in administering the system to advan¬ 
 tage : frauds to a very great extent were practised, and the 
 loans were discontinued. The residue of the grants vested hi 
 the Fishery Board was, after the dissolution of that body, first 
 entrusted to the Board of Inland Navigation, and shortly after¬ 
 wards to the Board of Works. In the year 1835 a Commis¬ 
 sion was directed to inquire into the state of the Irish fisheries; 
 and in 1836 they furnished a most valuable Report, which con¬ 
 tains an immense mass of information, being the evidence and 
 experience of all those who were then engaged in the fisheries, 
 or likely to .know much about them. In the year 1842 an 
 
lxv 
 
 Act was passed, 5 & 6 Viet. c. 106, which provided for the 
 registry of fishing vessels, under which, (with a more recent 
 Statute (the Piers and Harbours’ Acts), which I shall have 
 occasion to refer to before I conclude), our coast fisheries are at 
 present managed. 
 
 I believe this shortly brings before you the legislation 
 which was provided for the encouragement and promotion of 
 our fisheries. The most important of those enactments was that 
 which encouraged the building of vessels for the fishing trade, 
 by giving bounties on production and tonnage. During its con¬ 
 tinuance there can be no doubt that a stimulus rvas given to 
 the energies of the fishermen; but, upon the other hand, it 
 gave rise to a perpetration of frauds and evasions which were 
 by no means calculated to forward the true interests of the trade, 
 or improve the moral condition of those engaged in its pursuit. 
 It is unnecessary for me to discuss the various opinions which 
 have been expressed in favour of or against the revival of the 
 system; they may be shortly summed up by stating, that those, 
 who approve of it contend that during its continuance our 
 fisheries progressively improved, and that by the abrupt with¬ 
 drawal of that encouragement, they have declined and become 
 depressed in their condition; while those who disapprove of 
 the system say, that capital was not supplied through the me¬ 
 dium of the bounties, but that they operated merely as pre¬ 
 miums on the result of the very small portion of capital then 
 embarked iu the trade, but did not tend to increase the capital 
 so employed. To the existing state of the fisheries, and the 
 value of encouraging them as an industrial resource, I now 
 have to direct your attention. At the present period of dearth 
 and scarcity, when we are compelled by necessity to seek for 
 every available mode of subsistence for our famishing poor, it 
 is justly a matter of surprise that they have not been more 
 looked to as a source for providing food of a cheap and nutri¬ 
 tious character. It has been remarked that, during the past 
 year, the supply of fish on all our coasts was much more 
 abundant than it has been for many years, and the weather has 
 not proved unfavourable for their capture. 
 
 “ In the year 1782” (writes Mr. Knox), “ when the West¬ 
 ern Highlands of Scotland suffered so much from famine, the 
 annual arrival of the herrings had never been known to fail 
 completely till that remarkable year, when those little visitors 
 seemed to conspire with the seasons in order to rouse the- 
 notice of the Government towards those distant shores. While 
 the elements kept back or destroyed the regular produce of the 
 earth, the herrings abandoned their well-known ground, di- 
 
lxvi 
 
 rected their course towards tire Irish Channel, or stopped there 
 after their annual progress round the Land’s-end; and whence 
 the Highlanders, not being provided with proper vessels, were 
 unable to follow them. But this was not alt: whilst the people 
 were deprived of grain,, roots, milk, vegetables, and herrings 
 (their usual food in good seasons), an almost uninterrupted 
 succession of storms, such as had not happened within the me¬ 
 mory of man, prevented them from attempting the white 
 fishery; neither, had the weather been moderate, could they 
 go out without the means of subsistence: thus a double famine 
 arose.” 
 
 Comparing, then, the state of Ireland at the present mo¬ 
 ment (suffering heavily as she is under the dispensation of 
 Providence), with that of the Western Highlands in 1782, it 
 will be admitted that we have not been as severely dealt with. 
 Countless shoals of herrings abounded on our coasts and in our 
 harbours, creeks, and inlets, during the summer of the last 
 year; and they have been sometimes absolutely used as manure 
 for the ground for want of salt to preserve them. We have had 
 no hurricanes to prevent our fishermen from following the fish, 
 and yet we hear the cry of starvation in our maritime coun¬ 
 ties—ay! and much louder (as, for instance, in the western part 
 of the county of Cork) than in any other part of the country. 
 Surely there must be something wrong in all this! Cannot 
 the evil be arrested, and the progress of famine in some mea¬ 
 sure stayed, by providing means for our people to make use of 
 the food with which God has enriched our seas; and while we 
 seek to meet adversity, and to turn to proper account this great 
 article of subsistence, should we not endeavour to cultivate and 
 permanently extend the fisheries as one of the best resources of 
 our national industry ? 
 
 The quantity of fish which we use for our home consump¬ 
 tion is very great, and I may say almost all the cured fish which 
 we consume is imported from Scotland, to whom we have long 
 been steady and well-paying customers. Of this some idea 
 may be formed, when 1 tell you that the supply of herrings 
 yearly furnished by Scotland to us is very nearly equal to that 
 which she exports to the rest of the world besides. From 
 April, 1844, to 1845, she sent rrs cured herrings to the extent of 
 120,298 barrels, many of the contents of which were probably 
 taken from our own seas, cured by her, and sold to us. Scot¬ 
 land, not blessed with the same advantages which we possess 
 in soil or climate, derives a large revenue from the industrious 
 
 C ecution of her fisheries; while Ireland, with land, and good 
 too, in waste, capable of raising grain in abundance, and 
 
having fisheries just as productive, if not more so, neglect them, 
 and suffer them to he used for the enriching of others. 
 
 Are the fisheries properly pertaining to Scotland more 
 abundant than out’s ? Yes, because their industry is greater. 
 Are their harbours, more than our’s, safe and accessible asylums 
 for the refuge of their fishing craft ? Yes, because, naturally 
 inferior, they have been made industrially superior to our’s by 
 the construction of piers and harbours of refuge. Is there a 
 •deficiency in labour to work the fisheries advantageously? The 
 Census, I apprehend, will answer, No. Or, again, is the suc¬ 
 cess of the Scotch fisheries, as compared with our own, to be 
 attributed to any Government aid extended to them? I would 
 say not; for, with the'exception of the mere superintendence 
 of the Fishery Board, and a small distribution in the way of 
 grants to fishermen for repairing their boats, the fisheries have 
 to depend on the industry of those engaged in the piusnit. 
 What, then, is the true cause of the depressed state of our Irish 
 fisheries? 
 
 To the consideration of this question I shall now apply my¬ 
 self, and I hope to be enabled to shew that Irishmen pos¬ 
 sess means within themselves to place their fisheries upon a firm 
 and comprehensive basis, and to make them, like those of Scot¬ 
 land, a source of abundant wealth. 
 
 Our fisheries (at least for my present purpose) may be con¬ 
 veniently divided thus : 
 
 Our In-shore Fishery; 
 
 . The Deep-Sea Fishery; 
 
 The Salmon Fishery ; and 
 
 The Oyster and Lobster Fisheries. 
 
 To the two former (as being the main sources from which 
 we may expect to derive wealth by the prosecution of them) 
 I would more immediately call your attention this evening. 
 
 The In-shore Fishery is that from which we receive the 
 general supply of fresh fish for home consumption, and is 
 chiefly carried on in smacks, wherries, and hookers, from five 
 to twenty tons burden, and in smaller boats and yawls. In 
 ■the more remote fishing districts, with some exceptions, the 
 character of the fisherman partakes of that of neither sailor nor 
 fisherman; in most instances, properly speaking, he is an agricul¬ 
 tural labourer, following fishing more as a temporary resource 
 than as a trade. It may be, that the general proprietorship of 
 land, even among the more humble of our population, has 
 strengthened the inhabitants of our maritime districts in this 
 particular, and may have exercised an influence on the regular 
 and profitable prosecution of this branch of our industry. The 
 absence of a steady daily market for the supply has tended 
 
Ixviii 
 
 materially to originate this mischief; for the fisherman, iui- 
 cheered by the hope of being enabled to dispose of the produce 
 of his labour, becomes indolent and apathetic in the pursuit of 
 ■fishing, and naturally seeks in other occupations a more certain 
 return for his industry. Besides, if he does succeed in taking 
 a large quantity of fish, he has neither the means nor the facility 
 to transport it to the more inland towns, where he would be 
 certain of disposing of it; and even those who purchase fish (the 
 kedgers, as they are called on the western coast) are not en¬ 
 abled to bring it from remote districts soon enough to market, 
 or in a sufficiently fresh condition to ensure a remunerative 
 price. Again, the fisherman, generally speaking, is totally 
 ignorant of the art of curing; and when the supply is greater 
 than the demand, he has no capital to purchase salt to preserve 
 it; and mayhap if he had, it is not to be procured in his locality. 
 This, combined with a want of the knowledge of curing, and 
 ■the absence of a steady demand, drives him, as I said before, 
 to other sources of employment; and steadiness of demand, 
 amongst a population who are not wealthy, cannot be expected 
 for an article of comparative luxury, such as fresh fish, more 
 particularly amongst the portion of the inland population, sub¬ 
 ject as hitherto to existing difficulties of supply. But these 
 observations, so far as regards the sale of fresh fish, only apply 
 where there are no markets, and where the facility of carrying 
 it to market does not exist. Wherever these two great desi¬ 
 derata are supplied, proportionate success must attend the fish¬ 
 eries, and stimulate the energies and enterprise of those engaged 
 in them. 
 
 The fishing establishment at Dunmore is an interesting 
 proof of the truth of this. In the year 1840 Mr. Strangman 
 of Waterford, with one or two other individuals, associated in 
 the purchase of two fishing vessels, of about thirty-five tons 
 burden, and brought over some experienced men from the 
 southern coast of England to carry on the trawl-fishing on 
 that coast. Duninore possesses a most excellent and com¬ 
 modious harbour, from whence Waterford is hut distant 
 twelve miles, and from thence first-class steamers start weekly 
 for the principal English ports. A short experience proved 
 to Mr. Strangman how valuable the fisheries were on the 
 coasts adjacent to Dunmore, and he was enabled to shew a 
 return of twenty per cent, upon the capital expended. This soon 
 induced others to follow his example ; and upon my visiting 
 Dunmore in the early part of last year, I found twelve vessels 
 of from thirty-live to forty tons permanently engaged in the 
 deep-sea trawling. 
 
 A regular supply soon genci 
 
 rated an increased demand; 
 
and fisli-dealcrs for the English market soon established them¬ 
 selves in Waterford. They purchase the fish readily from the 
 boats, pack it in ice, and, having facility of transit by the 
 steamers, send it to London, Liverpool, and Bristol. The 
 men occupied in these vessels receive a share in the produce 
 caught (being the only true means of encouraging steady in¬ 
 dustry), and thus, meeting with a certain demand upon their 
 arrival from fishing, they are naturally led on to increased ex¬ 
 ertion and enterprize. Mr. Strangman told me that the Eng¬ 
 lish dealers pay for turbot 1(W. to Is. per lb., and for sole 
 kl. to bd. To steady markets and great facility of transit 
 thereto may be attributed these high prices: and it is truly 
 . painful to contrast the pleasing effects produced by these means 
 with those observable in the more remote districts, where such 
 advantages do not exist. In Crookhaven, on the south-western 
 coast of Cork, I have often purchased a large-sized turbot for 
 Is., and soles for 2d. and M. each, which, it is obvious, would 
 never have been disposed off at such a price if the fishermen 
 could have reckoned with any degree of certainty on a more 
 remunerative market. 
 
 With these few remarks on the state of our In-sliore 
 Fisheries, I now pass to consider the state of the Deep-Sea 
 Fisheries, which may indeed be said to be altogether neglected 
 and untried; not that there is any lack of a due appreciation 
 of their importance and productiveness, but that the want of 
 capital among those who are aware of their value prevents 
 them from being prosecuted and made a source of abundant 
 wealth. The deep-sea banks (at least so many of them as 
 have been discovered) lie generally at a distance of some 
 thirty or forty miles from the shore, and abound with quan¬ 
 tities of cod, ling, and haddock, the right to fish which banks 
 is in ourselves; but in the ill-found, crazy, and undecked 
 boats of our fishermen, it would be useless, as well as hazardous, 
 to attempt this fishing, and the cost of a vessel suitable for 
 carrying it on is a sum absolutely unattainable to them. With 
 fishing gear complete it would amount to at least £650; and 
 thus, from the absence of capital engaged, the deep-sea fish¬ 
 eries afford us little, if any, of their valuable produce; but we 
 must not forget that, with vessels equally costly, the Dutch 
 (•“ without one timber-tree growing in their country") for 
 centuries have been in the habit of adding such a large amount 
 to the wealth of their state. 
 
 . Upon the one hand, then, we have our In-shore Fisheries 
 carried on to a very limited extent, and the supply therefrom 
 uncertain, principally in consequence of the want, of markets 
 and means of conveyance to them; added to which there is a 
 
lxx 
 
 lamentable ignorance of the curing art, and an utter absence of 
 the means of carrying it on: and on the other hand we find our 
 extensive' deep-sea-banks are left untried and uncultivated, in 
 consequence of the want of capital to supply vessels of an ade¬ 
 quate size for the prosecution of that fishery. How are these 
 evils to be remedied—by what'or by whose instrumentality? 
 Some urge the necessity of Government interference, and even 
 go so far as to call for a revival of the bounty system; others 
 look to the'establishment of joint-stock companies, who would 
 supply boats, as the best means to effect improvement in the 
 fisherieswhile to the combination and association of capital 
 by a few individuals attached by local interest to the fishing 
 station (which may be legally called a local partnership), do 
 others look for any certain success. 
 
 And first, with respect to Government interference, a step, 
 and a most wise and salutary one, has been already taken by 
 the Commissioners of Fisheries, that is, the Board of Works, 
 who, finding the great evils which arose on the western coast 
 from a want of a steady daily demand, have established three 
 stations for the purchase and curing of fish. The places (where 
 I may say by this time their operations are already commenced) 
 are Boundstone, Behnullet, and Killybegs. Salt has been 
 stored, competent curers have been employed, the necessary 
 means and appliances for curing erected, and the Government, 
 through its officers, intend for a limited period to become the 
 purchasers offish, but only in the event of there being no other 
 purchasers in the market, and then at a fixed and fair price; 
 thus, with the smallest possible amount of interference, to create 
 a market for the fisherman, and, by example, stimulate his indus¬ 
 try arid arouse his energies. A small supply of lines and hooks 
 will be deposited at each station; every facility will be afforded 
 to our native fishermen to learn curing; and the fish, when 
 cured, packed, and barrelled, will be sold; and, by showing 
 that a remunerative price can be obtained, men of enterprise, 
 combining in a spirit of mutual confidence, may be induced to 
 follow the example thus set by the Government. As far as I 
 am enabled to offer an opinion on the subject, I look to this 
 move as one of the surest steps to the idtimate development 
 of the fisheries as a trade. 
 
 In the establishment of joint-stock companies for fishing, 
 and for providing boats for fishermen for deep-sea purposes, 
 some look with confidence for an effective result; but I am 
 bound to say, at the same time, that success has not attended 
 the many attempts which have already been made for that pur¬ 
 pose. I am fully aware that now-a-days company-making is 
 unpopular, and, perhaps, the reason may be that parliamentary 
 
lxxi 
 
 exemption from liability lias rendered shareholders less careful 
 of the general concern than in ordinary partnerships; for I am 
 persuaded that mutual confidence is the great source, not only 
 of private mercantile aggrandizement, hut of national prospe¬ 
 rity: 
 
 “ Bona tides reipubliose stabilitas.” 
 
 The clubbing together of fishermen themselves for the 
 purchase of vessels for the carrying on of the fisheries, as is 
 generally adopted on the coasts of England and Scotland, is 
 pronounced by many to be the best organization for fishing 
 puiposes; for those who subscribe their capital are at once 
 proprietors and fishermen, and are practically engaged in the 
 endeavour to make it a remunerative investment, by work¬ 
 ing their own vessels; and thus the great expense which 
 the management of a company would necessarily entail is by 
 this plan saved. There can be no doubt that if capital could 
 be extensively combined among our fishermen, it would rea¬ 
 sonably produce the best results; but until it be forthcoming 
 in this way, we should not condemn efforts to obtain it through 
 the medium of joint-stock capital. These undertakings have 
 latterly undergone such a depression in public esteem, that it 
 is not at all improbable that private enterprise may resume its 
 old legitimate form of mutual responsibility and co-operation, 
 and that we may yet experience on our shores all the benefit 
 of extensive private association. Attempts are now making to 
 organize companies, some for supplying fishing-boats and fish¬ 
 ing, and others for merely curing and purchasing fish. The 
 latter appears to me to be the safer plan, for capital may be 
 thus managed with more scrutiny than when afloat ( I mean 
 in the pmchase of vessels or in the occupation of fishing); but 
 since capitalists in both countries have become habituated to 
 the employment of their capital under Acts of Parliament in 
 joint-stocks, we must naturally look to those operations of 
 commerce in the first instance for development of such resources 
 as we at present possess. 
 
 Having thus brought before your view some facts connected 
 with the earlier value of our Irish fisheries, and the legislation 
 under which they have been protected and encouraged, the 
 state of our In-shore and Deep-Sea Fisheries, and the leading 
 causes of their depressed condition—and having endeavoured 
 to place before the Society, in a very general way, the most 
 practical plans which have been suggested for their improve¬ 
 ment, let us for a moment reflect on the great and inestimable 
 value which would arise if we were enabled to place them in 
 
lxxii 
 
 any tiling like a working condition as a trade. “ Mines’ 1 (says 
 Raynal) “ can be exhausted, and the fisheries never are. Gold 
 is not reproduced, but the fish are so incessantly; and he (to 
 use Dr. Franklin’s words) that puts seed into the ground reaps 
 fifty-fold, but he that puts a line into the sea and pulls out a 
 fish pulls out a piece of silver.” These mines, then, are around 
 our coast, for which we are not called to pay for the privilege 
 of working. We have abundant labour, and were capital 
 forthcoming to forward our fisheries, our coast population- 
 men, women, and children—would soon find occupation and 
 employment of a profitable and permanent kind: the- men in 
 building boats and in fishing—the women and children in the 
 manufacture of nets, and in the several- stages of the curing 
 process. Scotland does all this; she sends her produce to the 
 European and Indian markets as well as to us. Her exports 
 last year in herrings alone, to places in and out of Europe, were 
 176,080 barrels, producing a large and important return, and 
 employing a great number of fishermen and their families, 
 coopers and ropemakers, ships and seamen, to convey the salt 
 for curing. Spam, too, I find, has recently sent to Scotland 
 for her herrings; and, spite of duties amounting almost to a 
 prohibition, they have found their way to the heart of France. 
 Is it not, then, justly a matter of wonder and astonishment that 
 Ireland, with her coast supplied as abundantly, if not more so, 
 than any nation in the world, with equal facilities with Scot¬ 
 land for shelter, conveyance, and opportunities for export, 
 should not only suffer so great a source of wealth to be uncul- 
 vated, but should weaken the right hand of her maritime 
 strength, by allowing the fishermen to be unemployed and in¬ 
 capable of serving with efficiency in our navy when occasion 
 should require their services.. 
 
 Before any thing, in my humble judgment, can be done for 
 the permanent improvement of the fisheries, and for the esta¬ 
 blishing of an export trade, we must supply our fishing com¬ 
 munities with materials for carrying it on. And, first of all, 
 we must have piers and harbours of refuge along our coasts. 
 Already there has been -legislation upon this subject; and a 
 Statute, which I before cursorily alluded to, was passed last 
 session, and a sum of £50,000 was granted for the promotion 
 and extension of our fisheries, by giving grants of public 
 money for the construction of piers and harbours. As I am 
 informed, the provisions of this Act are in course of extension 
 to no less than thirty-six places in Ireland; and I am given to 
 understand, that the applications to the Board of Works for 
 erecting piers, &c., were much more numerous than could be 
 
lxxiii 
 
 supplied by a grant of twice tlie amount given by tlie Statute, 
 evidencing in no small degree that tliere is a desire to encou- 
 ra <ie and protect the interests of the fisheries, at all events in 
 this particular. If they (the fisheries) be carried out in con¬ 
 nexion with the piers and harbours, as has been indicated, 
 these, at least, cannot be called unproductive works. 
 
 The next step should be to erect curing-houses, and stores 
 for salt. For, however a luxurious market like that of London 
 or Dublin may consume the supplies of fresh fish hitherto ob¬ 
 tained, it is to the great national consumption of cured provi¬ 
 sions we must look for such a market as shall create what may 
 be truly called national prosperity. This desirable object of 
 establishing curing-houses may be well effected by the same 
 machinery as that provided by the Piers and Harbours’ Act, 
 namely, by the co-operation of parties locally interested with 
 the Government. These great and essential materials, namely, 
 piers and curing-houses, being extensively supplied, rve may 
 then look confidently for the gradual embarking of capital for 
 the building boats, &c., supplied as it must be either through 
 local resources, or through the medium of joint-stock capital. 
 
 Loans, in kind, of lines, hooks, and other necessary gear, 
 may be established with beneficial results. How often is the 
 poor fisherman unable to procure the implements of his trade, 
 unless at a high price, from the country dealer, and then of an 
 inferior character. The resident gentry in the neighbourhood 
 of the fishing station may aid in the management of the loans, 
 which would have the good effect of making them acquainted 
 with the characters of the fishermen, and enable them to dis¬ 
 criminate between the industrious and the indolent. 
 
 Light carriages or carts may be established, through private 
 or other enterprise, for the conveyance of fresh fish from the 
 distant and more remote districts to the inland towns, which 
 would no doubt be a most remunerative speculation. And here 
 I would say, that the various relief committees and associations 
 throughout the country may do well to adopt this suggestion. 
 The guardians of the poor, too, may profit by it; and work- 
 houses, from their superior arrangement, while they might ob¬ 
 tain what might otherwise be considered objects of luxury 
 (that is, fresh fish), might repay the supply by manufactur¬ 
 ing nets and other engines for the production of their suste¬ 
 nance. Fish is brought by carriage conveyance from the coast 
 of France to the interior; and the vessels engaged in the 
 fishery at Boulogne, Dieppe, &c., land their produce, to be 
 transported with rapidity and dispatch to Paris and the inter¬ 
 mediate towns. The establishment of railways in that country 
 
lxxiv 
 
 will soon render this mode of conveyance unnecessary, hut 
 until railways extend in Ireland, and afford increased accom¬ 
 modation of transit, should we not make use of those modes 
 which have been found to answer so well in France ? 
 
 Our deep-sea fishing hanks, too, should he surveyed hy 
 government, as well with the view of ascertaining their exact 
 position, as of recording their productiveness.* 
 
 During the past year some gentlemen with whom I con¬ 
 nected myself sought to organize a company for supplying 
 fishing-boats, and for fishing generally. We presented a me¬ 
 morial to the late government for a vessel to survey the great 
 Nymph Bank, and a revenue cruiser was at once placed at our 
 disposal; hut not having received public support, we were, with 
 much regret, unavoidably prevented from taking advantage of 
 this liberal offer. 
 
 The expense of providing gear would have been very con¬ 
 siderable (more than those who organized the project felt 
 themselves called upon to incur), and it was even questioned by 
 practical men whether the survey could have been effectively 
 carried on by one vessel, and more particularly as the time 
 was limited for her occupation in our service. I believe, also, 
 •that the value of any survey made by private individuals would 
 not be recognized by the public as authentic, and that to be 
 really useful it should be conducted by Government, through 
 the medium of its own officers, aided by experienced fishermen, 
 as well as by men of science. A report formed on a survey 
 of this kind would be most valuable, particularly to those 
 anxious to embark in the fishery of the deep seas, and a 
 knowledge of the position and of the resources of the banks 
 •would, I have no doubt, tend to increase the number of vessels 
 of that size sufficient and capable for promoting those fisheries. 
 
 If we were in the condition of those enterprising Dutchmen, 
 who, without the aid of joint-stock companies, and Joint-Stock 
 Company Acts, relying on the mutual honesty of merchants, 
 fished the Dogger Bank by private capital, we might have 
 •no difficulty in seeing our way to the realization of all the 
 wealth which Providence has manifestly placed in the hands 
 of men who can mutually confide in one another. As it is, 
 habituated as we have been, for two generations, to the protec¬ 
 tion of parliamentary associations, it is hardly to be expected 
 that private enterprise and individual responsibility could come 
 
 •Mr. Strangman, of Waterford, told me that he, as well as others, would 
 have embarked capital in providing vessels for carrying on the deep-sea 
 fisheries of the Nymph Bank, but that they were deterred from so doing, in 
 Consequence of the expense which a preliminary survey of its position and 
 productions would entail. 
 
forward in aid of long, habitual neglect; but a great public 
 Society, incorporated for the promotion of national industry, 
 may at least hold out a hand of encouragement alike to those 
 who have been accustomed to exempted liability, as to those 
 who rely on the great mercantile industry -which had created 
 the commercial prosperity of Holland, of England, of America; 
 and may shew to all men of enterprise the means whereby 
 they may increase their wealth, and promote common pros¬ 
 perity. And not only could this Society, by taking up the 
 fisheries as an industrial resource (a marine husbandly justly 
 within their charter), stimulate the enterprise of capitalists of 
 all denominations, but, in a degree only secondary to the scien¬ 
 tific operations on the dry surface of the soil, extend the king¬ 
 dom of science into the depths of the sea, hitherto deemed in¬ 
 accessible, and, by completing the survey of the bottom of the 
 ocean, enrich the knowledge of marine zoology, geology, and 
 botany. If such surveys, scientifically ascertained, and re- ; 
 duced, as they easily might be, to modes of expression which 
 humble men could understand, were made accessible to the 
 members of our fishing community, there can be no doubt 
 that capital would be applied in a much more remunerative 
 manner than at present, when the fishermen can only depend 
 on empyrical observations for the place, season, or quality of 
 bait, &c., necessary to carry on their operations. These, how¬ 
 ever, are remote considerations, depending on the application 
 of cultivated minds to scientific inquiry through long periods 
 of observation; but, in the mean tunc, practical experience 
 and mature consideration of what is already known upon the 
 subject may enable me humbly to suggest to your Society 
 some means within your immediate ability to adopt, by which 
 these inestimable resources may be made more immediately 
 productive. 
 
 I would suggest, therefore, that in your museum, where 
 you have arranged the models of those instruments most effi¬ 
 cient for the production of the fruits of the dry soil, you also 
 should give' a place to those other implements not less needful, 
 by which food and wealth may be drawn from the soil covered 
 by the sea. Amongst such models, one which I conceive in 
 the present state of our fisheries’ interests may be among the 
 most immediately useful, is that cart which I have already 
 spoken of for the transit of fresh fish from the coast to the 
 market, a model of which, to be constructed from the best 
 examples of such conveyances, I shall have the honour to sub¬ 
 mit to the Society, and to pray of them to place in their indus¬ 
 trial collection, as a nucleus, however inadequate, for a future 
 marine industrial museum.