432 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



THE HERRING FISHERY. 



The herring or nishin (Glupea harengus) is economically a very important fish in 

 Japan. From the latter part of spring to the beginning of summer, it comes in large 

 shoals to the adjacent seas and deposits its eggs on stony bottoms overgrown by sea 

 weeds. The most famous-fishing ground is the west coast of Hokkaido; but the fish 

 is found more or less in all parts of our northern seas where there is a cold undercur- 

 rent in winter and spring. 



Herring fishing is carried on only by means of nets. Of these, gill nets, flat nets, 

 and pound nets are used. 



The model of the pouud net shown in the Japanese section represents a fixed net 

 used in Hokkaido. The pound is rectangular in shape and its nettings are made of 

 hemp. The longer side of the pound is about 170 feet long, and its meshes are about 

 3 inches in the front part, while in the greater portion of the back part they are about 

 1 inch. On both sides of the entrance of the pound are the wings made of straw rope 

 with the meshes about 3 inches. The leader is perfectly straight, and is 500 to 1,500 

 feet long. It is also made of straw rope, and the meshes are about 5 inches. 



The most striking feature of this net is the so-called bag-net boat (Jap. waku-ami- 

 bune), that is, a boat with a flat bag shaped net suspended under it from the sides. It 

 is placed at the closed end of the pound, and the bag net is joined to the pound by 

 one of its sides. When a shoal of herring enters the pound, a boat at its entrance 

 takes up the rope and draws up the net, and on its approaching the end of the pound, 

 the fishermen in the bag-net boat allow the joining line of the bag net and the pound 

 to sink somewhat below the surface of the sea, and the fish are passed on into the 

 former. The joining line is then again raised, and when, after repeating this process 

 a number of times, the bag net is filled, the boat leaves its post to be taken by another, 

 and rows for the coast, where the fish are bailed. 



A single herring gill net is about 20 feet by 7 feet, and the meshes are about 2 

 inches. A single boat of 2 or 3 men uses usually twenty-five to fifty nettings, and five 

 nettings are joined into a single group. Between each netting a weight of 4 to 5 pounds 

 is attached, and to each group a float and a weight are tied. A number of these groups 

 are set in a single line parallel to the coast. 



The forms in which herring are put on the market are various. For food purposes 

 the fish are prepared by salting, smoking, and drying. The yearly production of salt 

 herring is increasing. The price per barrel is 1 yen. Smoked herring is put up in 

 Hokkaido and the northern provinces of the main island. The sample exhibited has 

 been prepared by the German method. The current price is 20 sen for ten fish. 1 )ried 

 herring slivers, dried split herring, and dried back-split herring are used for food in 

 retired districts among the mountains. They are all sun-dried. The dried sliver is 

 most largely used. Herring scrap is the substance that remains after boiled herrings 

 have been pressed for oil. It is the best fish fertilizer, and is consequently highly 

 valued and produced in large quantities. In 1889, 1,002,115 yen's worth was produced. 

 Price per 100 pounds, 2.50 yen. 



The dried refuse from slivered herring is used abundantly as fertilizer. Crude 

 and refined oil and wax are produced in large quantities, 17,500,000 pounds of the oil 

 being produced yearly. Both the oil and the wax have a large demand in Japan, and 

 are also exported in large quantities. 



