242. The PILCHARD (Clupæa pilcardus) is a fish of the herring tribe, and so nearly resembling the common herring, that the best mode of distinguishing the one from the other appears to be by the situation of the dorsal fin. If the pilchard be held by this fin, the head will dip downward; the herring held in similar manner continues in equilibrio.
The length of the pilchard is from eight to about ten inches.
These fish annually appear in vast shoals off the coast of Cornwall, and some other south-western parts of England. Their utmost range seems to be the Isle of Wight in the British, and Ilfracomb in the Bristol channel.
To the inhabitants of Devonshire and Cornwall the pilchard fishery is of as much importance as that of herrings is to the people on the eastern and northern coasts of Britain. Many hundred families are almost wholly supported by it. The first appearance of the fish is generally about the middle of July, and they usually continue until the latter end of October.
As soon as the pilchards are caught they are conveyed to a warehouse, where they are covered with bay-salt, and suffered to lie for three weeks or a month. After this they are washed in sea-water and dried. As soon as they are dry the fish are closely pressed into barrels to extract the oily particles from them, which drain through holes that are made in the bottom. Thus prepared they become fit for use, and, when properly dressed, they are considered preferable to herrings.
Pilchards are generally caught in nets. These are sometimes 200 fathoms in length, and about eighteen fathoms deep. The approach of the shoals is known by great numbers of sea-birds which accompany and prey upon them; and the progress of the shoals is marked by persons who are stationed on the cliffs to point them out to the fishermen, and who are called huers, from their setting up a hue for this purpose.
The principal towns in the neighbourhood of which pilchards are caught are Fowey, Falmouth, Penzance, and St. Ives; and the average annual quantity that is sent to market is about 30,000 hogsheads.
243. The SHAD (Clupæa alosa) is a species of herring known by the belly being strongly serrated and covered with large transverse scales, the sides being marked with round black spots placed longitudinally, and the under jaw sloping upward.
These fish weigh from half a pound to four or five pounds and upwards.
They are found on the shores of all the temperate and warm countries of Europe, and, at certain seasons of the year, they ascend the rivers, to considerable distances, in order to deposit their spawn.