a) 
4o 
near its southern limits, and those in the south-east area near its 
western limits. 
In the week ending 9th October one or two of the Dutch 
luggers were sampling the fishery on the grounds off Yarmouth, 
and in the week following the Dutch vessels, for which records 
are to hand, had all moved south. The highest catches in the 
season were made in the week ending 30th October, and in the 
same week the Yarmouth vessels took their greatest catches. 
But whilst the catches made by Dutch luggers were considerably 
smaller in the following week, no such feature marked the catches 
made by the Yarmouth vessels. As a result of many inquiries 
made of fishermen and merchants, there is no doubt that, whilst 
Dutch and British vessels may fish close together, there is a decided 
tendency for the Dutch luggers to fish in more easterly waters 
than do the British vessels. If this be the case then the catches 
made by British vessels point to the shoals off Yarmouth moving 
in a westerly direction. 
The data for catches made by Yarmouth vessels for the three 
years, 1919-1921, indicate the immigration of waves of herring 
shoals into the waters fished. In the early part of September 
many of the vessels landing at Yarmouth have caught their fish 
on Grimsby grounds, and a more detailed knowledge of catches 
from different grounds is necessary. A peculiar feature in the 
Yarmouth catches is the lateness of the season of 1921. It was a 
fortnight later than the two previous seasons. 
Attention has been drawn to the July shoals off the North- 
umberland coast being a fortnight later in 1920 and 1921. The 
years 1920 and 1921 were marked by abnormal activity of Atlantic 
waters. In the first year of this activity the Northumberland 
July shoals were a fortnight late, but no difference in time marked 
the Yarmouth shoals. In the second year not only were the July 
shoals a fortnight late, but the arrival of the shoals fished from 
Yarmouth were postponed for the same interval of time. The 
significance of this will probably be more apparent when hydro- 
graphic data for the years under consideration are available. 
Fivuctvations.—The finding of reliable statistics for a long 
period is one of the greatest difficulties when considering the fluctua- 
tions in the herring fishery, and the difficulty is increased by the 
