DRIFT-NET FISHING. 121 



is a spawning month. On the Athmtic side, however, 

 the herring fishery is very uncertain, as the coast is 

 too much exposed for regular deep-sea fishing to he 

 carried on at night without considerable risk ; and the 

 fish do not always come far enough into the hays to he 

 caught in large numbers. Gal way Bay, however, has 

 generally been an exception ; and the herring fishery 

 has been carried on there 'regularly with varying, but 

 often considerable success, from the end of June to 

 December. 



We may now turn again to England, in order to 

 notice a special fishery carried on principally by the 

 Lowestoft fishermen. Three distinct fisheries are recog;- 

 nized and worked by these men and by the fishermen 

 from Gorleston, adjoining Grreat Yarmouth. They 

 are known as the spring, the midsummer, and the 

 Michaelmas or autumn fisheries. The spring fishery 

 was not much attended to until about 1850 or 1852, 

 but it soon grew into some importance, and has been 

 continued with varying success in subsequent years. 

 It is commenced about the middle of March in deep 

 water, 50 or 60 miles from the land ; the fish are then 

 small ; there is little to recommend them either in size 

 or quality for the market, and they sell at very low 

 23rices, sometimes not fetching more than a few pence 

 per hundred, to be employed only for manure. The 

 mesh used for catching them is below that of the 

 ordinary herring size, and runs up to thirty-nine or 

 forty to the yard. As the season advances the fish 

 gradually come nearer the land, put on fat, and become 

 more marketable. The spring fishery continues till the 

 first week in May, when the herrings appear to become 

 scarce, and the fishermen then get their nets ready for 

 the summer fishery, which requires a larger mesh. The 



