HERRING-FISHERIES ON THE COAST OF SWEDEN. 129 



to lose some of its scales, and appear of a more greenish-color, and be- 

 come inferior in quality, at which time ft is called grass-herring, (Gras- 

 sill.) -This name was generally understood by the fishermen at the in- 

 quest'of 1833 ; l this is still the case, as they always understand thereby 

 a herring which frequents and is caught on grassy bottoms, although at 

 present this name is perhaps more generally used in another sense. On 

 the northern coast of Sweden, as well as in the neighboring portions of 

 Norway, the young of more than one year of the coast-herring are 

 called by this name. By May-herring we understand smaller, but often 

 very fat specimens of the spring-herring, which toward the end of 

 spring are caught in the same places where formerly the great spring- 

 herring was caught. It is often filled with insects, and therefore be- 

 comes easily damaged, which circumstance no doubt accounts for Nils- 

 son's report as to its poor quality. 2 It is called summer -herring when 

 caught toward the end of summer. 3 By autumn-herring 4, they under- 

 stand on the northern coast the same herring, if caught during the be- 

 ginning of autumn. Some see in this herring a different race from the 

 spring-herring, although they can mention no other difference than that 

 the autumn-herring is somewhat larger and probably spawns somewhat 

 earlier (in February.) Autumn-herring seems to be only a more recent 

 name, which has replaced that of "summer herring." By u ganesill V5 

 the same fish as the summer or autumn herring is understood. The 

 name "Istersill " 6 — lard-herring — is synonymous with "summer-herring," 

 although other herring are sometimes called by that name. u Knub- 

 sill" — plump-herring — is a name given to the coast-herring, on account 

 of the short and plump form of its body. u FetsiW'' — fat-herring — the 

 coast-herring is called when it has fully-developed sexual organs, 7 a 

 reminiscence of the old fisheries, when the full-grown herring was fat- 

 test and most valuable, on which account it also, toward the end of the 

 fishing period, got the name "YaljesilV — select herring. 8 "AJUngssiW' 9 

 means the same as " fat- herring." ii Holjesill, ,,l ° or, as the Norwegians 

 call it, "Fiordstoing" 11 — fiord-herring — is another name given to the 

 coast-herring, because it sometimes frequents the deep fiords. By the 



1 Handl. ror. Sillf., p. 119 fr. 9, 10, 16, p. 126 fr. 16, 17, 18, 22, 23. 



2 Handl. ror. Sillf., pp. 131, 136. 



3 Handl. ror. Sillf., p. 107 fr. 25, p. 127 fr. 19. Ekstrom, Ofvers. af Kgl. Vet. 

 Akad:s Forhandl. f. 1846, p. 20. 



4 It seems that formerly the sea-herring or so-called "old-herring" was sold under 

 this name. See Diibb, Kgl. Vet. Akad:s Handl. f. 1817, pp. 35, 44. 



6 Handl. ror. Sillf., p. 89 fr. 30, p. 119 fr. 9, pp. 45, 136. 

 e Handl. ror. Sillf., p. 127 fr. 19, pp. 131, 136. 



7 Ekstrom, Praktisk af handling, p. 11. 



8 Handl. ror. Sillf., p. 98 fr. 5, p. 112 fr. 17. There seems, therefore, not to have been 

 any fishing of " May-herrings " — so-called " maatjes " — during the old fishery, and the 

 word "fat-herring" has therefore in Bohus-Liin got quite a different meaning than in 

 Norway and other countries. Ekstrom, Praktisk afhandling, pp. 10, 11. 



*Xilsson, Handl. ror. Sillf., pp. 16, 45, 46, 62, 70, 134. 



10 Thlen, G. von, Goteb. o. Boh. liins Hush. Siillsk. Qvartalsskr., July, 1867, p. 51 ; 1873, 

 p. 205. 



u Ldberg, Norges Fiskerier, p. 89. 

 <J F 



