February 9, 1871, whose duties principally concern the preservation and increase throughout the country of fish suitable for food. Rev. St. royal. These were the whale and the sturgeon, which, when thrown ashore or caught near the coast of England, became the property of the king by virtue of his prerogative and in recompense for his protecting the shore from pirates and robbers. Brown; 1 Bl. Comm. . AP nold v. Mundy, 6 N. J. Law, 86, 10 Am. Dec.