VI.— THE NORWEGIAN HERRING-FISHERIES.* 



Bv A. I. Boeck and A. Feddersex. 



Mr. A. Boeck, who for several years bad conducted scientific re- 

 searches for the Norwegian government in regard to the herring-fish- 

 eries, was invited, on his return from the districts of Nordland and 

 Troinso, in February, 1872, to deliver some lectures in Bergen on the 

 spring-herring fisheries. Although the season was far advanced, the 

 southern herring had not yet made its appearance, and fishermen and 

 salters were in great doubt as to what they should do. Boeck's lectures 

 were therefore received with special attention, and as they contain a 

 great deal of valuable information, we preseut here copious extracts 

 from them, following the account given in the "Bergcns Adrcsseavis, 1 ' 

 (Bergen Advertiser,) and " Bergenposten," (Bergen Post,) for February, 

 referring our readers at the same time to an article by A. Boeck, u Ac- 

 count of the Herring on the Coast of Noricay and Bohusliin,"\ (a province 

 of Sweden,) published in the fifth annual volume of our journal, pp. 123, 

 et. seq. We also refer to A. Boeck's work u On the Herring and the Her- 

 ring -Fisheries, I especially on the Norwegian Spring-Herring." 



The herring is found, in Europe, from &pitzbergen to the west coast 

 of France, and is caught in large numbers on the coasts of Scandinavia, 

 Great Britain, Ireland, Holland, and France. On the other side of the 

 Atlantic, they are caught from Greenland to the eastern coast of Amer- 

 ica. In all those places where herring are found in large quantities, 

 and where people have become rich through these fisheries, the number 

 caught has, at times, been exceedingly small, and for long periods the 

 herring have disappeared entirely. This has not only been the case on 

 the coast of Norwaj 7 , but also in Bohuslan, (western coast of Sweden,) 

 Scotland, Ireland, and France, and people have been reduced to want 

 in consequence of the failure of the fisheries. 



In the present century, when science has made such rapid progress, 

 and has, in manifold ways, become tributary to the comforts of life, and 

 when many of the greatest inventions of modern times have sprung 

 from the quiet and unostentatious researches of scientists, it was be- 



* DetNorske Sildefiske. Efter Referaterne af Stipendiat A. Boecks Foredrag i Bergen 

 red A. Feddersen; in Tidsskrift for Fiskeri. Udgivet af H. V. Fiedler og Arthur Fed- 

 dersen. 7de Aargang. (Kjobenkavn. Jacob Erslers Boghandel. 1872.) pp. 1-40. 

 Translated from the Danish by O. Jacobson. 



t Beretning ora Sildefisket ved den norske ogbohuslensko Kyst. 



{ Oui Silden og Sildefiskerierne, navnlig om dot norsko Voarsildlisko. 

 7 F 



