LJUNGMAN HERRING'S MODE OF LIFE. 507 



by tlie waves. 5 This very circumstance was mentioned in the dispute 

 regarding our fishery laws, when it was used as proof of the assertion 

 that the sea-herring had been driven away from the coast of Bohus Ian. 

 This faintness has doubtless been much exaggerated, but cannot be 

 denied entirely, although it has not been observed in all places where 

 herrings are found. It may possibly be ascribed to the diminution of 

 vital strength produced by spawning or by a long period of scanty food, 

 or (according to Gisler), by long and violent storms and otherwise un- 

 favorable weather. It is likewise supposed that the herrings, like other 

 fish, occasionally suffer from destructive epidemics. 



Both the herring and the small-herring are troubled with several kinds 

 of parasites, among which, doubtless, those are the most dangerous 

 which attack the floating roe or the young fry. 



In connection with the sicknesses of the herring, we must here men- 

 tion its tenacity of life even when outside of its native element and its 

 power of endurance, which has been viewed and described so differently 

 from time immemorial. It has been said that the herring breathed its 

 last immediately when taken out of the water, and as the cause of this 

 its wide gill-openings were assigned. Neucrantz already opposed this 

 view, and more recent authors have proved conclusively that the her- 

 ring can live out of the water for several hours, if it is not exposed 

 to the heat, pressure, or any violence. Herrings caught in nets are gen- 

 erally dead when the net is hauled in, and this circumstance has proba- 

 bly given rise to the opinion that the herring dies as soon as taken out 

 of the water. Herrings caught in large seines live longer, and those 

 caught in bottom-nets or fish-pots live longest. The herring cannot 

 stand any strong pressure, and in seine-fishing care should be taken to 

 avoid it, as it may cause the death of many herrings and by increasing 

 the weight may make the hauling in of the seine difficult or impossible. 

 On the whole the herring must be counted among the least hardy fish, 

 and this applies in a still higher degree to the small herring. Under 

 favorable circumstances, however, even the small herring may live for 

 half an hour after it is taken out of the water. Other fish of the herring 

 species seem to be still more tender. 



There are few animals which are more defenseless and more perse- 

 cuted by numerous and dangerous enemies than the herring ; and if it 

 was not so extraordinarily prolific it would surely have died out, or 

 would, at any rate, have ceased to appear in such large numbers as to 

 form the object of fisheries of a vast economical importance. The prin- 

 cipal enemies of the herring are, among fish, the cuttle-fish, the cod, the 

 salmon, and the shark ; among birds, the puffin, the sea-gull ; finally the 

 whale, the seal, and above everything man, who, on account of the great 

 variety of means by which he can pursue the herring, is by many consid- 

 ered its most dangerous enemy. Great dangers, however, threaten not 

 only the grown herring, but also the roe and young fish. Among the 



S F Bvckland., familiar history of British fishes. London, 1873, \>. 102. 



