548 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [24] 



8. — Something concerning the cultivation of the mussel (my- 



tilus* edulis). 



The cultivation of the mussel can be profitably carried on in all the 

 sheltered bays of the western part of the Baltic. The best method is 

 to use trees with all their branches, about 6 meters high. The lower 

 end of the trunk is pointed and rammed deep into the bottom of the 

 sea, so that the waves cannot uproot it. The tops of the trees must not 

 protrude above the surface, even at low water. The latest time to set 

 them is the middle of June, as during the second half of this month 

 the young mussels leave their eggs, swim about in the water, and soon 

 stick to any hard object they find. After three to five years the mussels 

 are large enough for the market. During the winter months the mus- 

 sel-trees are lifted. After the harvest has been gathered in they are 

 set again as long as they last. 



K. MOBIUS. 



C— THE SPA WNIXG PEOCESS OE SALT-WATER FISH, AND 

 ITS IMPORTANCE TO FISHERMEN. 



The object of the coast fishermen is of course to catch as many fish as 

 possible, because the amount of their annual income will chiefly depend 

 on this. This object they have in common with the river fishermen, but 

 their method of reaching this object is different, and is not equal to the 

 one employed by the river fishermen. , 



The river fishermen, like the coast fishermen, endeavor to catch the 

 largest possible number of fish by means of their knowledge of those 

 localities where the fish congregate, and by means of good nets, but 

 they are less dependent on wind and weather than the latter; they can 

 to some degree select the time when they want to have fish for the mar- 

 ket, and can therefore obtain higher prices for their fish. The coast fish- 

 ermen, on the other hand, hare the advantage that their fishing area is 

 larger, but not even taking into account the circumstance that the sea 

 does on the whole not contain as many fish as an equal area of coast 

 water, the fishing on the high seas requires a greater outlay of material 

 and strength than the coast fisherman has at his command. The differ- 

 ence is more important as regards the cultivation of fish. This is car- 

 ried to perfection as far as the carp is concerned, for not only are its egg.^i 

 hatched artificially, but it is nursed and tended like a domestic animal. 

 Even on fish living in a state of liberty a certain amount of care can bo 

 bestowed by protecting the fish during the spawning season, either by 

 voluntary regulations made by the owners of the respective waters or 

 by legislative measures. Every fisherman knows that a twofold harm 

 is done by catching fish during the spawning season by destroying an 

 enormous number of eggs about to be laid, and by catching too large a 

 number, comparatively speaking, of fish, because at no time is it easier 



