174 EEPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



7 years ago, and has brought millions of genuine Snekkersteen haddock, 

 plaice, and eels to Copenhagen. From 5 to 6 such boats are continually 

 plying between Snekkersteen and the capital, and their numbers will 

 soon be increased by one or two more. During the winter of 1866-'67, 

 one of these boats made 36 trips, aud brought to Copenhagen 10,142 

 pounds of eel, 49,655 haddock, and 2,995 plaice, which sold for a total 

 sum of 4,264 Danish rigsdalers, (one rigsdaler = about 50 cents, gold.) 



These boats must be good sailers and must be built very solidly, of a 

 tonnage of not more than four tons, and their price, completely rigged, 

 is about 1,000 Danish rigsdalers. 



2, 3. Models ofjishing-boats. — These are models of fishing-boats used by 

 the fishermen of Snekkersteen and Skotterup. The two villages possess, 

 at present, 122 of these boats, and their number is constantly increasing- 

 All these boats were formerly built in Sweden and Norway, but now 

 they are built in the villages themselves, and are even exported from 

 there to Sweden. These boats are constructed for fast sailing, and are 

 of all sizes. One of the largest size, built of oak, costs, with sail and 

 rigging, 300 Danish rigsdalers; while one of the smallest size, but just 

 as fast a sailer, can be bought for 70 rigsdalers. No family has less 

 than two of these boats, while some own as many as six, the use of so 

 many different kinds of nets requiring that large number. 



4. Model of a casting-net. — This is the largest net used by the fisher- 

 men, and the original is from 80 to 200 fathoms long. 



5, 6, 7. Prices of a casting-net. — As such a net must be adapted to the 

 place where it is set, and as it must be placed in such a manner that the 

 upper edge may reach the surface of the water, while the lower touches 

 the bottom, the nets are naturally of different length and depth. The 

 cost of such a net is about 700 rigsdalers. It is tarred yearly, and in 

 spite of this and the solidity of the work, it scarcely ever lasts longer 

 than 4 years, and even then it must frequently be repaired. There are 

 in Snekkersteen and Skotterup, 11 such nets, but they are seldom all 

 used at the same time. The number of fish caught in these nets varies, 

 of course, in different years. Thus, two such nets caught, in the fall of 

 1871, 459£ rigsdalers' worth of fish, while two nets caught, in 1861, 1,544§ 

 rigsdalers' worth. TThe casting-net can be used only near the land, but 

 here all those fish are caught that travel along the coast. The eels 

 often manage to slip through the meshes, but for other fish, such as 

 herring, mackerel, hornfish, haddock, &c, this net proves a sure trap. 



8. An eel-trap or boic-net for catching eel. — Notwithstanding the eel's 

 nimbleness, it is caught in large numbers in this trap, hundreds of which 

 are set, one row alongside of an other, from the shore to an extent of 7 

 fathoms. Every fall an immense school of eels passes through the sound 

 from the south. From the middle of September till November, the eels 

 travel during star-light nights ; when wind and current are favorable, 

 but when there is no moon, and the traps are carefully cleaned of all 

 sea- weed, the fishermen may calculate on a rich booty. Great care is 



