Previous to 1876 the immediate waters teemed with many species of fish which now come only at intervals, and in far less numbers. There can be little doubt that prior to that time, when the Herrings were all landed on the beach, the fishes gathered to feast upon the tons of refuse that from time to time was necessarily thrown overboard. Now that the Herrings are landed two miles up-river, and even the garbage has a monetary value, there is nothing to attract them hither. The same remark applies to such birds as rare Gulls, Skuas, and Petrels, which are no longer commonly seen with us.[1] At that time seine-netting (local, "drawing") afforded remunerative employment, boat-loads of Cod, Codlings, Whitings, Gurnards, and others being taken. Drawing is now carried on in a half-hearted, desultory fashion by a few odd boats in the early summer, just prior to the invasion of the visitors, Salmon-trout being the favourite quest.
The first list of Yarmouth fishes was published by Charles and James (now Sir James) Paget in their 'Sketch of the Natural History of Great Yarmouth'; it enumerates eighty-one species, but so accurate has it been found that I have been compelled to eliminate only two species—the Sordid Dragonet, Callionymus dracunculus, and the Toothed Gilthead, Sparus niger; the former, as is now well known, being either the immature or the female of Callionymus lyra, known at one time as the Gemmeous Dragonet. Dr. Lowe has since published, in the 'Transactions' for 1872–73 of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society, a "List of Norfolk Fishes," with a supplemental list, which appeared in the 'Transactions' for 1893–94 (pp. 634–42).
In the year 1887 I resolved to confirm the Pagets' existing list of Yarmouth Fishes, with the result of not only deducting the above-named species, but nearly doubling it in the ten years which have since elapsed, including several new to the county. These will be noted later on. My own published notes are as follow:—
(1) "List of Yarmouth Fishes," in 'Fish-Hook and Float,' 1888.
(2) 'A List of the Fishes of the Great Yarmouth District,' under nom de plume of "Luberta." 1892.
(3) "Notes" on rare and interesting species and varieties, in
- ↑ See the author's remarks in Stevenson's 'Birds of Norfolk,' vol. iii. page 337.
