"HERRING-FISHERIES ON THE COAST OF SWEDEN. 165 



fisheries. 1 Weak and uncovered boats, and incomplete nets or other 

 implements, used in the open-sea fisheries, show that the fishing is yet 

 in a somewhat primitive condition. 2 It must also be mentioned that, in 

 the Skagerak, during the dark season of the year, there are far greater 

 meteorological and hydrographical impediments to net-fishing than in 

 any other, sea of Northern Europe where, such fisheries are carried on. 

 To make such fishing-methods pay, it is necessary thot, during the 

 milder season, a considerable number of larger herring should be found 

 near the coast, which, however, does not seem to be the case. 3 If the 

 herring are to he caught farther out, no other method seems more prac- 

 ticable than the Dutch method ; but this, as is well known, requires a 

 great outlay of money, special experience, and good nautical knowledge. 



yil. — SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS AND SCIENTIFIC AS WELL AS PRAC- 

 TICAL EXPERIMENTS NECESSARY FOR CONTINUING THE INVESTIGA- 

 TIONS AND BRINGING TIIE3I TO A SATISFACTORY END. 



In order to carry on the investigations which have been begun to the 

 extent mentioned in the " Transactions of the Eoyal Academy of Sci- 

 ences," March 12, 1873, the cooperation of several men* is doubtless 

 required, and has been expressly insisted upon, for one person cannot, with 

 sufficient accuracy, follow the course of the fisheries on the different 

 fishing-stations, much less carry on the necessary hydrographical, mor- 

 phological, physiological, and biological experiments, &c, which must 

 be made. 



The Skagerak and Kattegat are, from a hydrographical point of view, 

 almost unknown, and in order to attain this knowledge, it would be 

 necessary (if it is to be at all exhaustive) in a work of such dimensions 

 and importance, to have a separate investigation by men specially 

 selected for the purpose, and much time in which to do the work. In 

 order to compare the hydrographical and meteorological facts with the 

 course of the herring-fisheries and the migrations of the schools of her- 

 ring, a very complete series of simultaneous observations would be 

 required on these three fields, which a single person constantly traveling 

 from one place to another could not possibly make, even if he had some 

 assistance. 5 



'Thus, some of the larger boats in Scotland realized during the year 1872 an annua 

 income of from £100 to £550 per boat ; -while the smaller, uncovered boats, made only 

 from £60 to £160. 



" The mackerel net-fisheries, 'which at present are carried on in the Skagerak by 

 Swedes and Norwegians, must be considered, as regards the seaworthiness of the boats, 

 the excellence of the nets, and the result of the fisheries, the best in the whole of 

 Scandinavia. 



3 Practical Essay, p. 32. Nilsson has never proposed that any such net-fisheries should 

 be carried on near the coast. See New Report, Stockholm, 1828, p. 31. 



4 New Reports on the Herring-Fisheries, p. 73. 



5 In Norway, the investigations of the herring-fisheries have been very much aided by 

 the overseers of fisheries, and by information given in the journals, while this has not 

 been the case with us. 



