There is but little fish consumed in the interior of Great Britain; and
even in most seaport towns the consumption is not very great. In London,
indeed, immense quantities of fish are annually made use of; and there
can be little doubt that the consumption would be much greater, were it
not for the abuses in the trade, which render the supply comparatively
scarce, and, in most instances, exceedingly dear. All fish brought to
London is sold in Billingsgate market; and, in consequence of this
restriction, the salesmen of that market have succeeded in establishing
what is really equivalent to a monopoly, and are in a great measure
enabled to regulate both the supply and the price.--_Macculloch._
This inconsiderable consumption of fish will be a matter of surprise,
when we see that the supply of fish in the seas round Britain is most
abundant, or rather quite inexhaustible. "The coasts of Great Britain,"
says Sir John Boroughs, "doe yield such a continued harvest of gain and
benefit to all those that with diligence doe labour in the same, that no
time or season of the yeare passeth away without some apparent meanes
of profitable employment, especially to such as apply themselves to
fishing; which, from the beginning of the year unto the latter end,
continueth upon some part or other of our coastes; and there in such
infinite shoals and multitudes of fishes are offered to the takers as
may justly cause admiration, not only to strangers, but to those that
daily are employed amongst them."--"That this harvest," says Mr. Barrow,
"ripe for gathering at all seasons of the year,--without the labour of
tillage--without expense of seed or manure--without the payment of rent
or taxes--is inexhaustible, the extraordinary fecundity of the most
valuable kinds of fish would alone afford abundant proof. To enumerate
the thousands, and even millions of eggs which are impregnated in the
herring, the cod, the ling, and, indeed, in almost the whole of the
esculent fish, would give but an inadequate idea of the prodigious
multitudes in which they flock to our shores. The shoals themselves
must be seen, in order to convey to the mind any just notice of their
aggregate mass." Mr. Macculloch, however, observes, that "notwithstanding
this immense abundance of fish, and notwithstanding the bounties that
have been given by the legislature to the individuals engaged in the
fishery, it has not been profitable to those by whom it has been carried
on, nor has it made that progress which might have been expected."
* * * * *