188 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



condition, ought to be very careful not to change the nature of the 

 spawning-places by disturbing the vegetation, or by casting refuse and 

 other matter into the water. 



From wliat has been said concerning the herring's nature and mode 

 of living, it will be evident that, in order not to risk its annihilation, 

 destroy the young, and disturb the spawning places, it is best not to 

 catch the fish with nets during the spawning season, but to use the net 

 only during those portions of autumn and winter when the herring seeks 

 the deep water in the inlets ; while one can catch herring in seines with- 

 out danger at every season of the year. This mode of fishing is, in the 

 long run, the most advantageous in every respect. 



If the herring fishery, however, is really to become remunerative, it 

 is necessary not only to find a good market for the fish, but also to pre- 

 pare the fish in the proper manner. 



As it is frequently impossible for fishermen to sell the fish immedi- 

 ately on being caught, it is of the utmost importance for him to have a 

 knowledge of the best method of preparing it for the trade, particularly 

 in our time, when the vast improvements in the means of communica- 

 tion permit the acquisition of the necessaries of life from the most re- 

 mote localities, so that every one is obliged to strive, by a constantly 

 improved preparation of his products, to procure and maintain an ad- 

 vantageous market for them. 



In consequence of more rapid communication, the herring of the Baltic 

 can be sold with profit not only at home, but also in those distant regions 

 to which, in former times, exportation was impossible. The preparation 

 of the herring must, of course, vary accordiug to the place where it 

 finds its market, as there is a demand for different kinds of herring in 

 different localities. The various methods in which the herring is pre- 

 pared, so as to secure the best market, are at present the following : 



1. The common salt Baltic herring, to supply the demand at home, 

 and in the German ports on the Baltic. 



2. The so called "delikatess" or extra-fine herring prepared in the 

 ^Norwegian and Dutch manner for home consumption. 



3. The so-called spiced herring, for home aud foreign consumption. 

 The choice of any one of these three methods is determined partly by 



the fatness aud condition of the fish, partly by the ease or difficulty 

 with which buyers are found for one or the other kind, and partly by 

 other considerations. The fat herring, which is sometimes caught in 

 summer or autumn on certain coasts, is, of course, best suited for the 

 finer kinds of trade-herring, i. c, the extra fine herring or the spiced 

 herring, while the common herring is best suited for the common salt 

 herring, observing, however, in its preparation those rules which are 

 indispensable for obtaining a good article. 



In the preparation of every kind of fish, the most important rule to 

 be observed is, to bring the fish, as soon as possible after caught, in 

 contact with the saltj and special care must be taken that the fish, be- 



