104 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHEPJES. . 



proper depth. Professor Miiuter discovered also that the higher the 

 temperature of the water the deeper the herringkeep during the spawning- 

 time, for which reason the nets on the coasts of Pouierania are set deeper 

 in summer than in spring. Dming his stay on the west coast of Norway, 

 Boeck constantly noticed the temperature, and noted down a large number 

 of observations during different years. In his report for 1SG2 he showed 

 the influence of cold on the herring-fishery. In that year he examined 

 the temperature at different depths. The weather had been calm, but 

 a severe coid had prevailed for some time, by which the temperature of 

 the sea at a depth of 10 fathoms had been brought as low as li° or 2° 

 Reaumur, while at a depth of 30 fathoms it was from 3° to 4°. He no- 

 ticed that same year, while present at the rich herring-fisheries near 

 Rovser and Skaareholmene, that some fishing-implements, which were 

 placed at a depth of about 10 fathoms below the surface, and were held 

 there by means of buoys, caught but few fish ; while others, placed at 

 the bottom in a depth of from 50 to GO fathoms, caught a very large 

 number. Seine-fishing was also very unproductive during that year, 

 although the schools of herring came in in enormous numbers. The 

 same was the case in 18G4, and similar observations might be quoted 

 indefinitely. If we examine these accounts we find frequent references 

 to the fact that the cold prevented the herring from approaching. Thus 

 it was extraordinarily cold in 1855, lilfe wise iu 1800; and in 1853 the 

 eold was so severe that the bays and inlets on the outer coast were 

 frozen over, which happens but very rarely, and presupposes a long pe- 

 riod of very low temperature. The cold was so severe that the fisher- 

 men were obliged, after emptying their nets, to lay them in the water 

 to prevent their freezing quite stiff, and iu order that they might have 

 thern ready for use again in the evening. The herring -fishery was, not- 

 withstanding this, successful, although the herring for quite a longtime 

 remained out in the deep sea and would not approach the coast. A 

 great many instances might also be quoted from observations made in 

 former years and collected by Boeck. It will suffice to mention a few 

 years, such as 1825, 1826, 1828, 1829, 1836, 1840, 1841, and 1844. In sev- 

 eral of these vears the cold was so severe that nearlv all the bavs were 

 covered with ice, and iu some years even the Bay of Bergen was so 

 much obstructed that all communication was interrupted. Still the 

 fisheries were good, and iu some years even unusually so, although the 

 sea had grown cool at a far greater depth and to a greater degree than 

 during the preceding year ; for then the cold was not particularly se- 

 vere, and the temperature, according to the observation of the govern- 

 ment inspector, was 1° at a depth of 10 fathoms. Boeck thinks, there- 

 fore, that the failure of the fisheries the year before cannot at all be 

 ascribed to the cold. He found that in calm weather the herring seldom 

 approaches the coast except iu small numbers when chased by the had- 

 dock, while the chief fishery always commences when a southwesterly or 

 northwesterly wind has stirred up the sea and mingled the lower and 



