100 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



of the herring-fisheries which had been made up to the yearlSGO, when 

 the Storting - , (the Norwegian parliament,) appropriated a sum for similar 

 investigations on the coasts of Norway. Besides these, two investiga- 

 tions of the fisheries have been commenced on a large scale, the one by 

 the imperial German government under the direction of Professor 

 Mobius, for which a very considerable sum has been appropriated, and 

 the other by the Government of the United States under the direction 

 of Prof. Spencer P. Baird, LL.D., who, with several younger scientists, 

 is to examine the fisheries along the entire coast of the United States, 

 for which purpose some Government steamers have been placed at his 

 disposal. 



"When Mr. Boeck was commissioned to examine the Norwegian herring- 

 fisheries, he could, at first, only follow the same plan in his investiga- 

 tions as other scientists before him had done; but he soon found that 

 these investigations ought to be made on a very different scale, and in 

 other directions, because he discovered that there were other natural 

 phenomena which might influence the migrations of the herring. After 

 having made himself acquainted with these natural phenomena, his atten- 

 tion was naturally led to circumstances which had hitherto not been 

 considered of any importance. The essential point in all such investi- 

 gations is to gather as much material as possible in the shape of indis- 

 putable facts. As these facts could not properly be gathered in a hurried 

 manner, and as it was desirable at the same time to secure some result as 

 soon as possible, Boeck proposed to adopt a provisional theory adapted 

 to such facts as could be ascertained. He saw that two plans might be 

 followed : one was to examine the migrations of fish in relation to 

 meteorological changes, by exact historical data regarding the older 

 fisheries from 1807 to 1852, when the government inspection commenced 

 its reports; the other, to gather facts from old and experienced fisher- 

 men. Although the latter plan might seem to be of doubtful value, he 

 soon found that such experience was by no means to be despised. Fish- 

 ermen are more observant than many suppose. They think, see, and 

 hear a great deal, and although their opinions are sometimes very fan- 

 ciful, the true can readily be distinguished from the false, and so be 

 made useful. Both plans, however, require to be corrected by scientific 

 investigation. Boeck has adopted the following mode of procedure, 

 endeavoring to accomplish his purpose both by observations and by 

 historical researches : 



1. To' make observations during the fishing-season on the currents 

 and the temperature of the sea, the nature and form of the bottom, the 

 migrations of the schools of herring, and the influence of these circum- 

 stances on the time of their approaching the spawning-places. 



2. To collect the most accurate information possible on the migration 

 of the herring, and on the meteorological changes which seem to have 

 influenced it from its beginning, in 1807, until the government inspec- 

 tion commenced. 



