one, and the average take by the 13 existing preserving establishments was 15,000 fish per night for 26 nights. It was estimated that during the season 1,250,000 salmon were taken, weighing on an average 16 lbs. each, of which 950,000 were canned fresh, and the remainder salted and barrelled. The following figures give an approximate return, for it is difficult to obtain precise statistics :

In the last-named year 250,000 salmon, weighing 4,000,000 lbs., were salted. Owing to the enormous increase of production, the market value of both canned and salted salmon has been much lowered. The average price was not over

6s. per dozen 1 lb. cans.

In 1876, during the fishing season, 18 establishments on the Lower Columbia river put up 428,730 cases of salmon. Of these over 400,000 cases contained four dozen 1 lb. tins, and the remainder consisted of 2 lb. and 2 lb. tins. Over 100,000 cases were shipped direct from Astoria to England in the first three months. In 1877 the total catch was 378,325 cases. The total exports from San Francisco by sea to Europe and the colonies were 170,887 cases in 1876, and 160,982 cases in 1877.

Attempts have been carried on for many years past, which have been attended with partial success, to acclimatize the salmon in the Australian rivers, and considerable quantities of ova have also been sent out to Tasmania and New Zealand,

77

CHAPTER VI.

THE SARDINE FISHERY.

Derivation of the name “sardine”—Extent of the French fishery-Mode of preparing the fish for market-Statistics of the fisheries-Dried sardinesThe anchovy -The menhaden, or moss-bunker, prepared in oil in America.

THE purity and delicacy of the little fish (Clupea sprattus, Lin.) which haunts the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean is known everywhere; its excellent keeping qualities, when preserved in oil, enabling it to be transported for an indefinite distance. It has much in common with the sprat in flavour, but also reminds the epicure of the anchovy, which is also common on the Mediterranean and other coasts of France.

There are sardines and sardines, for the family to which this fish belongs includes the whitebait, the sprat, and the pilchard. As they were chiefly found in large shoals on the coasts of Sardinia, they have thence derived their popular name, and this has also been incorporated into the specific name of Clupea sardina, Cuvier. In Italy, however, these fish are known as "sardella," and the anchovy as " sardon."

The sardine fishery is eminently French. It is carried on from the Gulf of Gascony to the east. Quitting the Mediterranean, where they are born, the sardines, on the

first approach of fine weather, pass in great shoals along the coast of Spain, and reach that of France about May or earlier. In Provence, on the Mediterranean, the fishing, however, commences in March and ends in June, while on the coasts of Britanny it only commences in July, and finishes early in October. The shoal increases as it approaches the north, hence the necessity of often changing the nature of the nets which are used with fisheries.

From Douarnenez to Sables d'Olonne there are about 2500 boats employed in this fishery. Each of these requires about 30 barrels of salted cod roe for bait during the season, and as this sometimes runs up in price to £4 and £5 the barrel, this entails a very heavy outlay. Besides which, there are the other numerous ports of Bordeaux, Rochelle, Bayonne, etc., to be supplied.

Two of the largest stations are at Douarnenez and Concarneau. Fleets of boats go out some five miles and spread out their nets, by the side of which some cod-roe is thrown to attract the fish. The nets are weighted at one end, and have corks attached to the other, so that they assume a vertical position-two nets being placed close to each other, that the fish trying to escape may be caught in the meshes. The fish is sold all over France (fresh when it is possible) half-salted, or salted and pressed into barrels, and preserved in oil.

Brought to land, they are immediately offered for sale, as if staler by a few hours they become seriously deteriorated in value; no first-class manufacturer coming to buy such. They are sold by the thousand. The curer employs large numbers of women, who cut off the heads of the fish, wash, and salt them. The fish are then dipped into boiling oil for a few minutes, arranged in various-sized tin boxes

filled up with the finest olive oil, soldered down, and placed in boiling water for some time to test the boxes, and those which leak are put aside. Women burnish the tins, the labels are put on or sometimes enamelled on the tins, which are then packed in wooden cases, generally containing 100 tins, and are then ready for export. It does not always seem to be remembered that the longer the tin is kept unopened the more mellow do the fish become; and, if properly prepared, age improves them as it does good wine; but if they are too salt at first, age does not benefit them they always remain tough. The sizes of the tins are known as half and quarter tins. There are two kinds of half tins, one weighing 18 ounces, and the other 16 ounces gross. The quarter tin usually weighs about seven ounces; but there are larger quarter tins sometimes imported, which tins are still used in France, but seldom seen in England.

Sardines in oil form the most important branch of the trade. It has become immense, and employs large numbers of people. A quarter of a century ago the shipment of sardines in oil from France was not above £24,000 in value; but in the last 10 years it has ranged from £500,000 to £750,000, according to the abundance of the fish. About 4500 boats, registering some 10,000 tons, are engaged in the sardine fishery.

In 1866 the value of the French sardine fishery was a little over 7,000,000 francs. In 1873 it reached 13,757,534 francs, and, owing to the abundant catch, the price fell to 15 francs the 1000, against 75 francs the 1000 in 1872.

In some years the sardines are most plentiful; in others they are scarce. At Douarnenez and Concarneau, the principal centres, 884 boats were employed in 1866; and in the month of July these boats caught more than

110,000,000 sardines, the sale of which produced 707,648 francs. By the end of August the fish were so abundant that they were sold as low as Is. 6d. the 1000, a thing not known for 10 years previously.

In 1873, in the quarter of Auray, the sardine fishery was carried on by 239 boats. The catch amounted to 43,170,000, of which 32,000,000 were tinned, 10,120,000 were pressed or salted, and the rest locally consumed or sent into the interior.

At L'Orient the catch was valued at 2,730,000 francs; at Douarnenez, 2,976,551 francs; at Quimper, 1,587,534 francs; Brest, 291,836 francs; Morlaix, 48,145 francs. Occasionally 115,000,000 sardines have been caught in a single season on the French coasts of the ocean.

The French fisheries on the coast of Finistère and Morbihan are of very great importance. Large quantities of sardines, mackerel, and lobsters are caught; and close upon 181,000 fishermen were employed during 1873. In 1871-72 the quantity of sardines caught decreased, but during 1873 the catch was good. The value of preserved sardines exported alone from Brest to New York in 1873 was £56,640.

Of fresh and salt water fish caught, the largest proportion goes by railway to Paris. During the year 1873 the fishing stations at Douarnenez, Audierne, and Guilvince (all on the Finistère) alone sent by rail to Paris more than 4000 tons of fresh fish, and, strange to say, it can be purchased cheaper in Paris than fish of the same quality at Brest or neighbouring towns.

The sardine frequents the bays and inlets of Gallicia; and in the single province of Pontevedra there are more than 102 stations occupied in salting this fish, which is carried on by females. In 1873, 5,000,000 lbs. of these fish