FISH CULTURE IS FRANCE.

Press, Volume IV, Issue 448, 6 April 1864, Page 4

FISH CULTURE IS FRANCE.

[From the Times.'} The art of fish breeding has been extensively practised in France during the last 20 years, and "has recently been brought to a focus in the establishment constructed for the reception and distribution of fish ova at Huningue, near Basle, on the Ehine. The artificial system of spawning fish (i.e., by hand manipulation) owes its success to the fact of the fecundation of fish eggs being an external act—in other words, the roe of the female is not fecundated by the milt of the male fish till after it has been deposited in its watery bed. An observant fisherman of the department of La Bresse, in the Yosges, was the first in France to discern that the natural principle of fish fecundation could be easily imitated and so to be turned to profitable account in the pursuit of his business. Joseph Eemy, the re-discoverer of pisciculture was an unlettered peasant, and therefore unacquainted with the fact that fish-breeding had been practised in China from the remotest times with such success as to make fish one of the cheapest luxuries of that great country, or that the art was known in its utmost perfection m the classic days of Italy. Nor was he aware that one Gottlieb had practised it in Germany a century before him, and most likely he was even ignorant of the salmon-breeding experiments of Mr. Shaw at Drumlanrig Castle in the years 1837-8. I Remy, so far as the breeding of fish for commercial purposes is concerned, is undoubtedly entitled to all the praise of an original discoverer, and his own narrative of how he came to try the artificial system is explanatory of what is still a grievance and a misfortune—viz., the growing scarcity of our fresh water fishes. Remy, knowing how enormously prolific all kinds of fish naturally are, most of them'yielding their eggs by tens of thousands, could not understand how they were yearly becoming less plentiful, but, setting his eyes to observe and hie wits to work out the question, he found—lst, that an immense proportion of the ova was never properly fecundated; 2d., that, even if all eggs obtained the benefit of the milt, a vast proportion never came to life from being deposited in places where they were ultimately bereft of water, that others were eaten by waterfowl, or devoured by other fishes, and a proportion swept away to the sea, and so lost for ever. Then, again, Remy found out that however large a proportion of the eggs might ripen, and so become fish, a high percentage of these never became of any value, as they were killed in their infancy by juvenile anglers or preyed upon by larger fishes. Therefore Remy soon saw that the best way to increase the supply was by obtaining the eggs and protecting the young fish till they were able to take care of themselves. Having arrived at these conclusions, Remy set to work to collect in the various rivers of his native district the epawn of such fish as could most readily be obtained; these were hatched into life and protected and fed while young. But, not contented with this laborious plan, Remy was wont to watch for and obtain the gravid fish, and so acquire the ova, in what we may term wholesale quantities by the system of artificial spawning. Having assumed M. Gehin as a partner in his art, his experiments were largely extended, and were early crowned with a success far beyond what he anticipated, as was speedily demonstrated in the constantly increasing fish supply of hie native streams. Messrs. Gehin and Remy were at once rewarded with a sum of money, and a handsome bronze medal was unanimously voted to them by the Societe d'Emulation dcs Poshes. Besides these rewards, the fishermen were handsomely noticed in 1849, in a paper communicated by Dr. Haxo, of Epinal. to the Acad my of Sciences at Paris, which at

once fixed public attention on the art of pisciculture, and attracted to it tho patronage of the trench Government, whose first act, it is proper to say, was to reward and to employ the two fishermen whose names we have mentioned. .After the matter was taken in hand by the Government the spread of pisciculture was rapid. It would take up far too much space to detail minutely what has been accomplished in the art of fish nreeding in the fresh water streams of France; suffice it to say tlint at present no stream need be without a plentiful supnlv of fish, as any quantity of eggs can be obtained from the establishment at Himingue for the mere asking, and from that source many of tho rivers are now leaping with fish. Indeed, we know from information supplied at Huningue that the annual distribution of lish eggs is numbered by millions, tho quantity of ova supplied last year to various applicants wa3 over 17,000,000, some of which came to England and were deposited in the river Thames. Much of the success of this artificial culture of fish in France must be attributed to the great personal interest taken in the advancement of the art by Professor Coste, of the Institute. It is not too much to say that he has re-created tho French fisheries, both in the fresh waters and in the sea. He has made several voyages and explorations to I distant places in order to study the best modes of improving the fisheries, and to his enthusiasm is due a great portion of the success which has attended the spread of pisciculture. Bis " Voyage of Exploration" is a most interesting work ; it line been printed \mder the auspices of the French Government, and contains a very detailed account of the eel fishery of Coinacchio, the mussel beds in the Bay of Aiguillon, and the green oyster grounds of j Miirennes. A year or two ago might be seen in the | College of France an apparatus, contained in a marvel- , lously small space —a space about 16ft. square, which was capable of hatching 150,000 salmon eggs. The ponds at Stormontfield for the breeding of salmon are constructed to hold about double that quantity of ova, but even that number cannot be hatched aumially, because there is only one reception pond : and, as is well known, a portion of the salmon in every hatching require to be two years in the pond before being sent to sea. An immense deal, however, can be done in fish hatching in a small space. Ample evidence of this may be bad at the Etabliesement de Pisciculture, near Basle. The boxes containing the eggs are there arranged in pyramidal groups, the water flowing from the one on the top to those beneath it; and, of course, flooding all the eggs, which are nicely disposed on little glass gratings or frames. This establishment does not breed any fish except for the purposes of study or acclimatizing —it is more a depot for the collection and distribution of eggs. Fish eggs when first deposited by the fish will not bear to be much handled or carried to a great distance; carefully packed in wet moss they may be sent a day's journey, hence the necessity for having piscicultural establishment at the boundary of the two countries — i.e., France and Switzerland, the greater proportion of the eggs being obtained from the latter country. They are collected by agents in the lakes and streams of Switzerland, and paid for at so much per thousand by the authorities. The various buildings at Huningue were specially erected by M. Coumes, the chief engineer of the Rhine, for the purpose of pisciculture, and they are adnirably adapted for their work. Tho series of egg boxes are well supplied with a constant stream of water, of which there is a large supply, both from a spring in the grounds and from the Rhine itself. A series of little streams at the back of the buildings contain Rhine salmon and river and lake trout, in various stages of growth— that is. from the age of a few weeks to four years ; and it is interesting to wafcli their habits as they are fed by their keeper. The total cost of erecting the suite of buildings at Huningue was a little over £11,000, and the annual charge is about £2.000. A few figures will show what has been achieved at Huninguo in the distribution of ova during the Inst two years. The winter operations of the season 1860-61. were begun on the 20th of October, 1860, and finished on the 17th March, 1861, thus occupying a period of 142 days. The various species of fish distributed from Huningue were the common great lake and salmon fronts, the Rhine salmon, the Ombre chevalier, and the fera. Of the first five of these speciee the total quantity of ova provided has been estimated at nearly 6,000,000, of which about 34 per cent, perished during the period of incubation. Of the remainder, about 3,500,000 were forwarded to different parts of the continent, and a little more than 500,000 were retained for experiments at the establishment. The quantity of ova despatched from Huningue in the season of 1860-61 was sent in reply to 278 demands from establishments scattered over 70 departments of France, and there were 29 demands from establishments in other parts of Europe, principally in Belgium, Switzerland, Bavaria, nnd Wirtembvrg. The hatching of the fera is carried on separately from that of other species. The operations connected with the distribution of the fera occupied a period of 46 days, commencing on the 14th of November. The quantity of the ova of the fera forwarded far exceeds that of the other five species taken together, and for the season of 1860-61 is estimated at close upon 9,000,000 of eggs, of which 5,573,000, or 62 per cent., were distributed as above, while upwards of 3,000,000, or 38 per cent., were retained for the experiments connected with the establishment. Tho loss of eggs while the operations connected with the distribution of the fera was being conducted was only 22,000 —a mere trifle in such a large quantify. The total number of eges provided for the season 1860-61 was 74,726,100, of which 13£ per cent, were lost, 59£ per cent, distributed, and 27 per cent, retained at head quarters. When we consider the enormous reproductive power of all kinds of fish we have no cause to think this distribution of ova large. A female salmon yields her esgra by the thousand for every pound of her weight. The carp, the trout, the perch, and all other kinds are equally prolific, and give their eggs in tens of thousands. Another hatching at Huninjrue for the same season began in the spring—viz., on the 16th of March, and lasted for 41 days. The quantity of ova provided of the Danube salmon and the Ombre Commum was 1,071,500, of which more than one-half perished during the incubation, and the remainder was distributed throughout Bavaria and Switzerland, or retained for the purposes of the establishment. The operations in connexion with the Ombre chevalier, it may be stated, are, so far as money value is concerned, the most expensive, as it is [ calculated that each egg costs one penny; all the others are cheap enough, a penny a dozen being about the rule. K The operations of the season 1861 and 1862 began on the 24th of October of the former year, and were carried down till the 7th of March, 1862, thus, being spread over a period of 135 days. The quantity of ova of the five chief fishes already mentioned in connection with the operations of seasons 1860-61 was estimated at 0,382,900, of which quantity more than 2\ millions were lost during the periods of incubation ; 53 per cent, of the eggs were despatched to different places, and about half a million was kept for experimenting with. Operations with the ova of the ferae hegan on the 16th of November, and lasted for 40 days. The ova provided are estimated at 12,000,000 of eggs, 80 per cent, of which were distributed, the rest being retained at Huningue. The percentage of loss on this hatching was exceedingly small. The spring hatching of the ova of the Danube salmon and the Ombre Commun besran on the 30th of March, and lasted for 19 days. The quantity of ova of these fishes was small as compared with the other hatchings, and the results not nearly so satisfactory, about one-half of the eggs having perished during the period of incubation. In the season of 1861 and 1862, 296 demands from establishments in 71 departments of France, and 39 from establishments in other parts of Europe, were received and attended to. The total quantity of ova passed through the hands of the manipulators was 18,377,900, of which 2,614,400, or 15 percent., was lost; 12,879,000, or 70 per cent., was distributed, and 2,884,500, or 15 per cent., retained for experiments at the Etablissement de Pisciculture at Huningue. j

Somo interesting fresh-water rircenta have likewise been conducted in p ß ****" in particular witii the Danube salmon \r f describe these from personal iiKwctiJ 6 . 0311,101 , know, on the autliority o r M Co ... l k* c n-markaWe fish is highly su-vptible of'tl•« ** ! ral prowbs, and might easily be iwclimatiJ!!?^ 5111,11 " British stn-ams as are at present destitute «? ? h «!/«/-. Tt would not be safe, perham on n ° m ° ihe voracious feeding power ~f the Danube TT' ° f to introduce it into streams that arc nl, i on » stored with fish. The l!e,h of tl ,c Damt^> puhte. 11ns fish, we are told, grows quick.v i attains, in a shorter time than many of our fi.l to a gigantic eize. The Danube 'wlmonMS? , bring. Is 3d a lb in the market at individuals of this species have been taken, a* i as «Molbs - Tin, fish could be easily trainS in British waters, as it is not migratory in the of our salmon—that is, it never leaves the waters. We may mention another very fl i fresh-wafer fish that would suit our lakes nmJ 7 very well-viz., the saudre fish, a tl"%£*. pike-perch which 13 found plentifully i n the H spring waters of Germany. Then there is th o tall salre(u,u£ a much-esteemed species of the sahnJn ■jenue. This fish does not attain a W e it*flesh is.exceedingly delicate, and bring* a'jJT price—fully 2s a pound weight. ° Inorder" to.show that it is possible to invade even the domain of ISeptune wo may mention en passant (the subject being big enough for separate that oyster-culture in tho bays of Normandy J d ' Brittany has been largely pursued, and with very great success, many little fortunes haring been made by the oyster farmers of Marennes and other places The oyster farm is a splendid example of that detailed industry so familiar to the French The oyster spat is caught on trusses of branches and the young oysters are grown till they are. of a proper marketable size. The trusses can be easily examined, and only those oysters taken that are fit for sale. The truss being stripped of the»e, is acain let into the water, in order that tho small oysters may tarry till their beard be grown. Our Whitstable men are very industrious, but they do not come up to the French, who grow the dainty animal from the seed and even grow tho seed itself on a systematic plan. Experiments are now being tried by M. Coste on the French crustaceans, and on various kinds of seafish, that gentleman being of opinion that it is v easy, and far more profitable, to cultivate the water as the land.