f>90 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [58] 



as tbe number of fish caught was at least 27,500,000, including what 

 were used during tne fishing and carried in for use at home. It exceeds 

 the catch of the i>rcceding year by one million, and is only a little over 

 a million less than the catch of the rich year of 1877, when the yield to 

 April 14, was 28,750,000. For individual fishermen, on the contrary, 

 the yield was smaller than in any i)receding year since 1869, if we except 

 1800. The average catch, excluding what was used during the fishing- 

 or at home, was 970 cod for each fisherman, or 100 fish fewer than the 

 average from 1809 to l.s79, both inclusive, while the average price, 20.8 

 ore for a round fish, is smaller than at any time during the period named. 

 In order that the fishermen, at the prices of the year, should have a net 

 profit of 100 crowns ($20.80), the catch sliould have been somewhat over 

 six millions greater, or 33,600,000 in all. 



Table LX shows how the gross expenses of the fishery, 5,500,000 

 «rowns ($1,474,000), were divided among the different items of expense. 



Table LX. 



— ■ j 



Division of expeDses. 



Itfms of expense. 



License ($14.20 per ttsherman) 



Food 



Leather goods 



Wood and lodging 



Bed-clothing 



Expense of laying up 



Boat hire 



Interest and wear and tear 



Per 



cent. 



$385, 920 00 26. 



3*3, 040 00 1 23. 



58, 960 00 4. 



67, 000 00 4. 5 



13, 400 00 i 1. 



72, 360 00 ! 5. 



91,120 00 ! 6.2 



259, 960 00 i 17. 6 



80, 400 00 5. 4 



Bait I 107,200 00 7.3 



1, 479, 360 00 100 



The costs are divided as follows: For implements, 2,010,000 crowns, 

 or 36.5 per cent.; personal expenses of fishermen during the fishery, 

 2,070,000 crowns, or 37.5 per cent.; and only one-fourth part, 1,440,000 

 crowns, or 26 per cent., remains for the support of the family and other 

 expenses at iioiiie, partly during and partly outside of the fishing 

 season. 



The course of the fishery was, in the main, as follows: As early as 

 the beginning of January a considerable number of cod appeared to be 

 ])resent from Vaagen westward, ])arti(;ularly at Stamsund and west- 

 ward from Sund. Fishing was carried on, however, by several resident 

 fishermen. In the middle of January 900 boats had arrived; but bad 

 weather almost totally prevented work for the rest of the month and 

 during the early ])art of February. From the middle of February to 

 the 9th of March was the height of the fishing season from Henningsvaer 

 westward, and the fishing was partly good from February 24 to March 

 4, while it was poor eastward, except at Hoi)en February 27 and 28 and 

 March 1, when it also became to some extent good here, especially with 



