SEA-FISIIEEIES OF THE LAN OF GOTEBORG AND BOHUS. 743 

 C— THE WINTER FISHERY. 



The requirement of this fishery being open water, it is obvious that 

 as during the winter of 1877 the "SkUrgard" was ice-bound for three 

 months, the products of that year were materially reduced. The autumn, 

 with constant supply of fresh herring-bait and unusual abundance of 

 fish, esi^ecially cod, gave full comi)ensation as far as quantity is regarded ; 

 but the cheap herring which filled the markets, and could be bought for 

 next to nothing, depressed the price of the greater fish as well as of 

 other victuals, which fell in price by 25 per cent.,' and thus the fishermen 

 earned less than they had calculated. Since the erection of the fish- 

 hall in Goteborg, the price of fish has never been as low as in the fall 

 of 1877. 



The railroad statistics are not at my disposal, but I know from relia- 

 ble sources that the transportation of cod and haddock was many tunes 

 larger during last fall than ever before. 



Two men perished in this fishery. 



Villages in the Southern " Skiirgard," that some years ago adopted 

 fishing with trawl-line in larger decked boats, are energetically increas- 

 ing this business. The same method was last year adopted by the 

 Wrango fishermen too, who now are running three such boats. 



Aspero is the only x^lace where, on account of want of a suitable har- 

 bor, the old method of fishing in open boats must still be continued. 



The Hono fishermen have adopted the Danish flounder-seine, and are 

 succeeding well. This implement is managed from a boat in the open 

 sea, and can be used everywhere where flounders occur. It is a sort of 

 trawl-net, but simpler and smaller, as well less yielding aslessuijuiiuuvs to 

 the fishery. It is lu-ged by some that the trawl-net ought to be pro- 

 hibited. 



D.— THE HERRING AND SPRAT FISHERIES. 



a. The herring fishery. — Since the last herring-period, which ended in 

 the year 1808, this fishery has never been so productive as dming the 

 fall of 1877 and winter of 1878. A great ingress of sea-herring appeared 

 last fall in the northern ijarts of the Liin, and the herring remained there 

 until in the month of March. The first ingress consisted of " lodd-herring,'^ 

 which was obtained in the district of FjeUbacka, in the beginning and 

 middle of November. By the 17th or 18th of November the lodd-herring 

 had expelled the sprats, or mixed with them, so that the hauls contained 

 almost exclusively lodd-herring. Now the schools filled all fjords, and 

 one could literally lock in as much herring as he could sell. The uncount- 

 able swarms of sea-guUs, especially the hyperborean "Rinkja," Lams tri- 

 dactylus, indicated that these schools were something different from the 

 schools of lodd-herring generally visitmg the coast. Also, the Wiideru 

 and Soto Fjords had throughout the autumn presented the spectacle of 

 large schools of herring followed by the common " herring-foUowers," viz, 

 .whales and sea-gulls. 



