124 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF TISH AND FISHERIES. 



Gottenburg, where I had au excellent opportunity for observing the her. 

 ring-fishermen assembled together from all the neighboring coast. On 

 the 24th of January, I went to Stockholm to consult with the committee, 

 and to inform myself of the financial arrangements made for the obser- 

 vations. From the end of February till the beginning of June, I visited 

 various localities on the coast of Bohus-liin, to make observations and 

 gather whatever information I could. 



I went to Stockholm again on the 7th of June, at the express desire of 

 the committee, to report on the progress and result of my observations. 



Although I had some knowledge of the coast of Bohuslan and its 

 fisheries, much time was, nevertheless, lost by my being unacquainted 

 with many peculiar circumstances of importance for carrying on obser- 

 vations in the easiest and quickest manner. This knowledge can be 

 acquired only by several years' intercourse with the fishermen. All the 

 investigations, which were chiefly of a practical character, were on that 

 very account entirely new to me, and, therefore, necessarily retarded my 

 progress. My investigations were, moreover, impeded by the unusually 

 stormy weather during the autumn and winter, by sickness, and by want 

 of funds and apparatus. 1 Much time has also been consumed in col- 

 lecting all that has been said on the subject in the very rich herring- 

 literature, which, as far as possible, I endeavored to obtain. 



I need scarcely say that the distrust and opposition with which the 

 investigations were met, not only by nearly the whole population en- 

 gaged in fishing, but even by those from whom assistance might reason- 

 ably have been expected, exercised a depressing influence, and will 

 continue to do so in the future, though not, perhaps, to so great an 

 extent. The rigid observance of section 22 of the fishing-law, and the 

 milder ordinance of July 19, 1872, regarding the use of nets with narrow 

 meshes, 2 increased the excited feelings of the coast-population, especially 

 in the beginning of the year, when the herring came in in great numbers. 



The almost uninterrupted journeys, which were especially troublesome 

 in winter, on account of the apparatus which had to be carried along, 

 and the brief stay made in each place, did not permit any thorough 

 anatomical or microscopical observations, since these require a quieter 

 sojourn in a suitable place, where all the necessary apparatus may easily 

 be brought. As I did not consider it desirable and of practical use 

 for the advancement of science to report on the special investigations 

 which have been begun, but have not yet led to any definite result, the 

 cause of the incompleteness of this first report will easily be understood ; 

 while this incompleteness was still further enhanced by the fact that the 

 investigations were carried on uninterruptedly till the end of the year, 

 thus leaving but little time for putting my notes into suitable shape. 



In conclusion, I must draw attention to the fact that, as the investi- 

 gations continue and more information is collected, much in this report, 



1 See Chapter VIII. 



■ New Reports on the Herring- Fisheries, p. 3, 58, 59. 



