HERRING-FISHERIES ON THE COAST OF SWEDEN. 131 



spawned " out in the sea," whither it went on leaving the coast, 1 while 

 others maintained that it was a small kind of herring which never got 

 any larger 2 and never propagated its race, but was a " direct produc- 

 tion of the water;" 3 views which are still held by some people. 4 Its 

 spawning-places, the parts of the sea whence it comes and whither it 

 goes, are thus not known ; bat if it should really come from another 

 race of herring than that belonging to the Skagerack, it could not come 

 from any other place but the North Sea, the Limfjord, or the Kattegat. 

 The fact discovered by G. 0. Sars that the young herring descended 

 from the Western Norwegian winter-herring stays generally much far- 

 ther toward the north, near the northwestern coast of Norway, 5 fur- 

 nishes an example of a young herring or sea-herring, like that found on 

 the coast of Bohus-Iiin, paying regular visits to a coast where it is not 

 born and where it does not spawn. 



The Swedish word " lottsill" is supposed to be derived from the old 

 fisheries, and originally meant a smaller kind of herring, or one of uneven 

 size, not suitable for an article of trade, 6 in contradistinction to the more 

 even-sized herring, which was sold to the salting-establishments or her- 

 ring traders. " Lottsill " was consequently a collective name, and meant 

 not only half-grown herring, but also larger herring of another kind 

 than the good herring, 7 and therefore, following the example of others, 

 I have used the term to distinguish it from the other races of herring, 

 although it ought in course of time to be exchanged for a better one, 

 since it has not become popular, and is perhaps even based on false 

 premises. Nowadays, since the "old" herring has been forgotten, the 

 term " lottsill" is often used by the fishermen to distinguish a kind of 

 herring different from the spring herring. 8 It is even called halfsill, 

 (half-herring,) 9 and the few large ones found among them " storlodda," 

 (great lott-herriug.) 10 



THE WANDERING-HERRING, (" Strdksill.") 



A large, but thin species of herring, which is found in small numbers 

 late in autumn and in winter, and which is distinguished from the 



1 Handl. ror. Sillf., p. Ill fr. 10. 



* Handl. ror. Sillf., p. 91 fr. 38, p. 92, p. 95, p. 106 fr. 21, p. 107 fr. 26, p. 112 fr. 15. 



3 Handl. ror. Sillf., p. 103 fr. 33.— Nilsson, Handl. ror. Sillf., p. 37.— Wright, W. von, 

 Handl. ror. Sillf., p. 168. 



4 Quite a different opinion, viz, that the "lottsill" "was descended from our coast- 

 herring, seems to have heen quite common on the coast of Bohus-Liin. See Lundbeck, 

 O., Anteckningar rorande Bohusliiuska Fiskerierna, i synnerhet Sillnsket. Gotheb. 

 1822, p. 27. — Eosen, A. von, Anforande i Commerce Collegii underd. Forslag till nyt, 

 Reglemente for Fiskerierne of d. 17 Aug., 1840. — Handl. ror. Sillf., p. 95, 



6 Indberetning for 1873, p. 54. 



6 Xilsson, Handl. ror. Sillf., p. 63. 



* Haudl. ror. Sillf., p. 88 fr. 19, 23, p. 100 fr. 12, p. 119 fr. 9, p. 127 fr. 19, &c. Tho 

 " Lottsill " is still called " lottsill " when it becomes larger than about seven inches, as is 

 erroneously thought. Nilsson, Handl. ror. Sillf., p. 135. Nya Handl. ror. Sillf., p. 65. 



« See Handl. ror. Sillf., p. 107 fr. 24.' 



9 Nilsson, Handl. ror. Sillf., p. 46. 



10 Nilsson, Handl. ror. Sillf., p. 137. 



