666 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



indicate a change in the line of travel of the great herring masses, and 

 it will be of great interest to find the cause of this. I was very anxious 

 to examine various points in the great-herring district, but as my vaca- 

 tion had almost come to an end, 1 could only devote about a week to it. 



Several reasons determined me to select Bodo as my place of obser- 

 vation. Last winter the great herrings had come here in unusually large 

 numbers, and as this was about the southernmost point where any 

 considerable fisheries are carried on, I hoped to obtain here more 

 light regarding the dark problem of the spawning of the great herring, 

 and in case spawning had been going on, to make a thorough investiga- 

 tion of this whole locality. But here, as everywhere else, I was told 

 that the great herring does not spawn at all when near the coast. Only 

 in one solitary case had spawning — a phenomenon which even the most 

 inexperienced fisherman can understand — been observed in a bay near 

 Landegade where a school of herrings had remained an unusually long 

 time, till the end of January. Here the herrings are said to have ac- 

 tually spawned. But at that time the great-herring schools had long 

 since left the coast. The remarkably stormy weather which prevailed 

 during my stay at Bodo unfortunately prevented me from examining 

 that point, and the same cause prevented me from making other obser- 

 vations, as had been my original intention. 



The information regarding the great herring which I gathered during 

 ray journey in connection with observations of the physical conditions of 

 our northern coast, has to a certain extent modified my views regarding 

 the migrations of the herring, and has suggested to me the idea of a 

 more intimate connection between the great-herring fisheries and the 

 spring-herring fisheries on our western coast, than I had formerly con- 

 sidered possible. I shall, however, defer giving my views until, as I 

 hope, I shall have an opportunity to witness the great-herring fisheries 

 in person, and on the spot make those observations which I consider 

 necessary for giving weight to my views. I believe I have found, at 

 least, a partial cause of the remarkable change in the migrations of the 

 great herring which have taken place during the last few years in the 

 peculiar physical conditions of the outer sea. I shall here only draw 

 attention to some points which I consider important. I was there told 

 by members of the Austrian Polar Expedition whom I had the good 

 fortune to meet, that during this and partly during the preceding year 

 the condition of the Northern Polar Sea had been exceedingly favorable, 

 as the sea had been more open than had ever been the case before. 



During my stay at Hasvig I learned to know another circumstance 

 which probably is intimately connected therewith. During this year an 

 unusual quantity of driftwood began to show itself on the west coast of 

 the island of Soro, chiefly composed of a species of spruce which is not 

 found in our country. Such a thing has not occurred for many years ; 

 but some of the oldest inhabitants say that such driftwood had come to 

 this coast a long time ago. This seems to point distinctly to peculiar 



