Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/279

F I S F I S 2(59 inclusive. Fishing for or dea .in ; in freshwater fish during this close season is subjected to ;i penalty not exceeding 40s. for the first or 5 for the second olFenee, recoverable on summary con viction before two justices. The Fisheries (Dynamite) Act is extended to private waters. Tim Act 40 and 41 Viet. c. 62 is an Act to amend the law relating to the fisheries of oysters, crabs, and lobsters, and other S .M fisheries. The sale of oysters is prohibited, in the case of deep sea oysters," between 15th June and 4th August ; in other cases between 14th Way and 14th August. Oysters taken in foreign waters, or preserved in tins, or intended for the purpose of oyster cultivation are not within this section. The, Board of Trade has power to temporarily prohibit or restrict dredging for oysters on certain banks. Crabs measuring less than 4i inches across the back, or carrying spawn attached to the tail, c., or having recently cast the shell may not be sold, except for bait. Lob. .tcrft measuring less than 8 inches " from the lip of the back to the end of the tail, when spread as far as possible Hat," may not be sold. Oysters arc also specially dealt with by the " Sea Fisheries Act, 18(38," which is an Act to carry into effect a convention between Kngland and France concerning the fisheries in the seas adjoining the British Islands and France, and to amend tho laws relating to British sea fisheries. International Laic. As between different nations, fishing in the high seas is common to all, while fishing in the territorial waters of any particular state (i.e., within three miles of the coast) is limited to the subjects of that state. Between France and England the rights of fishing in the seas adjacent to both countries are regulated hv the convention and Act of Parliament cited above. Between Kngland and the United States questions of great importance have arisen as to their respective rights of fishing in North American waters. Mutual concessions were made by treaties in 1818, 1804, and 1871. The last was the Treaty of Washington, by which " the in habitants of the United States are to have in addition to their rights under the treaty of 1818, in common with British subjects, for ten years from the date of the treaty and until the end of two years after notice has been given by either party, the right to take fish of every kind except shell-fish on the sea coasts and shores, and in the bays, harbours, and creeks of the provinces of Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the colony of Prince Edward s Island, and of the several islands thereto adjacent, without being restricted to any distance from the shore, with permission to land upon the said coasts and shores and islands, and also upon the Magdalen Islands for the purpose of drying their nets and curing their fish." Salmon and shad fisheries and all other fisheries in the rivers and months of rivers are reserved for British subjects. Exactly similar rights are granted to British subjects on the eastern sea coasts and shores of the United States north of the 39th parallel of north latitude. But inasmuch as the English Government insisted that the privileges granted to the United States were of greater value than those conceded to England, it was agreed that commissioners should lie appointed to determine the amount of any compensation which ought to be paid to the English Government in consideration of such excess. The commissioners have recently made an award finding tho sum of 1,000,000 to be clue from the United States to England. Certain places designated in the abrogated treaty of 1854 are to be excepted from the operation of the treaty as " places reserved from the com mon right of fishing." (E. R.) FISHES. Sec ICHTHYOLOGY and PISCICULTURE. FISHING-FfiOG, also Frog-fish or Sea-devil (Lophiua jiiwrtturiiiii), a fish well known off the coasts of Great Britain and Europe generally, tho grotesque shape of its body and its singul ir habits having attracted the attention of naturalists of all ages. Its head is of enormous size, broad, Hat, and depressed, the remainder of the body appearing merely like an appendage. The wide month extends all round the anterior circumference of the head; and both jaws are armed with bands of long pointed teetli, which arc inclined inwards, and can be depressed so as to offer LO impediment to an object gliding towards the stomach, but to prevent its escape from the mouth. The pectoral and ventral fins are so articulated as to perform the functions of feet, the fish being enabled to move, or r.ither to walk, on the bottom of the sea, where it generally F; ;. 1. The Fishing-Frog (Lophius i/iscatorius)* hides itself in the sand or amongst sea-weed. All round its head and also along tho body the skin bears fringed appendages resembling short fronds of sea-weed, a structure which, combined with the extraordinary faculty of assimilat ing the colour of the body to its surroundings, assists this fish greatly in concealing itself in places which it selects on account of the abundance of prey. To render the organ ization of this creature perfect in relation to its wants, it is provided with three long filaments inserted along the middle of the head, which are, in fact, the detached and modified three first spines of the anterior dorsal fin. The filament most important in the economy of the fishing-frog is the first, which is the longest, terminates in a lappet, and is movable in every direction. There is no doubt that the fishing-frog, like many other fish provided with similar appendages, plays with this filament as with a bait, attract ing fishes, which when sufficiently near, are engulphed by the simple act of the fishing-frog opening its gape. Its stomach is distensible in an extraordinary degree, and not JU- FIG. 2. A young Fishing Frog. rarely fishes have been taken out quite as large and heavy as their destroyer. Ib grows to a length of more than 5 feet ; specimens ( f 3 feet are common. Young individuals are somewhat dissimilar in shape to old ones, and arc provided with more numerous and longer appendages and filaments. The British species is found all round the coasts of Europe and western North America, but becomes scarce beyond 60 N. lat.; it occurs also on the coasts of the Cape of Good Hope. A second species (Lophivs Intlegassa) inhabits the Mediterranean, and a third (L. seligerus) the coasts of China and Japan.