HERRING-FISHERIES ON THE COAST OF SWEDEN. 145 



measuring about 8 inches, are probably four years old. The spring- 

 herring sometimes reach a length of more than 12 inches, but even spec- 

 imens of 9| inches are rare. The Bohuslan herring seems, therefore, 

 to spawn as early as at the age of three, although I do not wish to con- 

 vey the idea that all the herring sprung from the same year's spawn 

 begin to spawn at that age ; but it seems rather as if one portion did not 

 reach their maturity till their fourth year. The circumstances that the 

 herring spawns during three whole nionths, and that therefore there is 

 a considerable difference in the ages of those that are produced first 

 and those produced last, that some have better chances for securing 

 food than others, taken in connection with other more or less accidental 

 circumstances, explain the fact that fish of all possible sizes are fre- 

 quently taken from the same net. 



As to the age at which the herring spawns for the first time, opinions 

 have been much divided, both among Scandinavian naturalists and 

 those persons who have devoted their life to the herring-fisheries. Pro- 

 fessor Nilsson, from information received from " trustworthy fishermen," 

 assumes that u no fish spawns in the second year," and that " the her- 

 ring does not spawn till the fifth or sixth year." 1 Dean EJcstrom con- 

 siders those herring which measure 6 inches (counted from the point of 

 the nose to the anal fin) to be two years old ; those measuring from 10 

 to 13 inches, from four to five years old ; and adds that " the herring 

 found in Bohuslan does not spawn till it measures from 7 to 8 inches, 

 counting the whole length." 2 Prof. G. J. Sundevall, who has made ob- 

 servations on the growth of the herring on the coast near Stockholm, 

 thinks that it becomes capable of spawning when it is from three to 

 four years old. 3 Mr. Widegren, superintendent of fisheries, thinks that 

 the herring is fit to spawn when it is " about three years old." 4 Axel 

 Boeck was inclined to think " that the youngest herring when spawn- 

 ing is scarcely less than three years old, and certainly not more than 

 four," although he could not give any sufficient reason for this view," 5 

 •but at the same time said that persons who had been long employed in 

 fishing had told him that the herring, when able to spawn, must be from 

 six to eight years old. 6 G. 0. Sars, also, seems to have been of the 



1 Report on the Herring-Fisheries, pp. 45, 47, 51, 59, 



2 Practical Essay, pp. 10, 11. 



3 Reports of the Royal Economical Society of the Stockholm District, vol. VI, pp. 105, 

 151. 



4 Some Remarks on the Herring and its proper Preparation for an Article of Com- 

 merce, Stockholm, 1871, p. 4. 



6 On Herring and Herring-Fisheries, pp. 36, 37. Piscicultural Journal, VII, p. 20. 



6 On Herring and Herring-Fisheries, p. 36. Piscicultural Journal, VII, pp. 20, 21. 

 In the Morning Journal, of November, 1872, Boeck gives a fuller account of similar in- 

 formation given him by a professional man, Dahl, regarding the six years' development 

 of the herring. According to this, it is called on the west coast of Norway "musse," 

 when it is one year old; "leaf-herring," when two years; "Christiania-herring," when 

 three years ; " middle herring," when four years ; " merchants' herring," when five 

 years; and "spring-herring," when six years old; all which terms seem to be very old 

 in Norway. 

 10 F 



