30 



On the Size of the Eels in our various waters, and on our 



Eel-Fisheries. 



Everybody wlio lui8 had aiiytliiug to do witli the tvholvsak' tnide in 

 eels, knows that the eels wliicli are tished in our Danish waters are not of the 

 same size; that, for instance, the eels we ma^' buy of the fisliermeu in tlie 

 Lesser Belt are, on an average, mucli larger than those which we get from 

 Roskildefjord. This circurostance is tiie same every year. From the Lesser 

 Belt we can get for instance yellow eels cauglit in seines in great ninubers, 

 of whiih. on an average, 2 — 3 go to 1 Ib.; in Roskildefjord, on the otlier band, 

 6 — 8 go to 1 Ib. — Sometbing like this applies to the silver eels from these 

 two waters; of the silver eels from the Lesser Belt, soutli of Middelfart, there 

 generally go 20 to the »Lispund < ( -^ Ui Danish Djs.), of those from Roskilde 

 and Frederikssund (fi'om the fjord) there go GU— 80. As the si/.e has a great 

 iuHuunee on the value of the eel i)r. Ib., this is a matter with whieh the Ger- 

 mans who buy u[i the eels are very well auquainted, and tliey have indeed a 

 set price per Ib. of silver eels whieh are bougbt, depending on whether they 

 are tished at one plaee or the other. These prices were in IHSS as follows: 

 48 Øre for silver eels from Klakringen (off Vejlefjord). 



45 Øre for silver eels from Fredericia, Middelfart, Assens, Bolden, Horne-Mark, 



Dyreborg, Faaborg, Svendborg, Thurø, and tlie neighbouriug districts. 



43 Øre for silver eels from Ærø, Langeland, and all Islands south of the north- 



most point of Ærø, Nyborg, Kjerteminde, and the interjacent districts. 



For silver eels from Kallundborg, Korsør, Skjelskør, Karrebæksminde, 

 and the interjacent districts: 



in the first dark of tlie nioon 40 Ore. 



in the 2nd and 3rd dark 42 Ore. 



These prices were ott'ered hefore the eels were fished, based on tiic kimw- 

 ledge which the lish-salesmen had of tiie t|ualitv of the take from former ycars, and 

 thcir knowledge is very trustwortby. It will be seen that the whole emporiuni 

 embraces only the Lesser and the Great Belt, as the tråde on tlie nortliern 

 shores of Jutland an<l in the .Sound was on (illicr lunids. Within this said 

 emporiuni it is the Lesser Belt which pniduces the dearest goods, i. e. the 

 largest silver eels. 



Such a dirtereiice in the average size is found also among other species 

 i>\ lish, for instance among plaice and cod, and it can depend on various 

 circumstances; in certain waters, for instance, tberc live chielly fish that are 



