IX.-THE FIRST FIVE YEARS OF THE EMDEN JOINT-STOCK 

 HERRING-FISHERY ASSOCIATION. 



By Senator Dajntziger, of Emdeu. 



The close of last year completed the fifth year of an enterprise "which 

 had been started by prominent citizens of Emden in conjunction with 

 the German Fishery Association, for the purpose of cultivating the her- 

 riug-fisheries which had been carried on in Emdeu frv>m time immemo- 

 rial and of combining with these other fisheries on the high seas. 



An attempt had been made as early as 1857 to start a joint-stock 

 company for fishing herring and codfish with twenty-five vessels, but 

 the buildings of the maritime association, " Harmony," were destroyed 

 by tire that same year, and nothing more was done than to frame a con- 

 stitution. This proved a blessing in disguise, for scarcely ten years 

 later a new kind of herring-vessels, the so-called " logger," w^ere intro- 

 duced in Holland. This brought about other improvements in the her- 

 ing-fisberies, so that the vessels with which the city had intended to 

 carry on the fisheries would certainly have proved useless. Since the 

 introduction of the " logger," in 18G7, the Dutch sea-fisheries have im- 

 proved considerably. The former system of premiums has been abol- 

 ished, and, according to the official annual reports, the Dutch are proud 

 of their " free fisheries," which enjoy the favor of the capitalists. 



If we go back in the interesting history of the Emden herring-fish- 

 eries as far as the beginning of this century, we find that during the first 

 decade they were suffering from those circumstances which at that time 

 depressed commerce and navigation generally. The " buisen" — this was 

 the name of the old-fashioned herring-vessels — do not seem to have 

 gone out every year; the following result is, however, reported : 



In 1801, 43 " buisen " caught 3,528 barrels of herring and codfish. Dur- 

 ing the second half of this decade the fisheries seem to have recovered 

 very rapidly, and the following results are reported : 



1815. ? "buisen". 3, 772 bbls. ^ 



18 L9. 53 '^ buisen " 1 , 848 bbls. (?) i Herring and codfish. 



1820. ? "buisen" 2, 757 bbls. S 



The " buisen " were accompanied by two clippers, of which one had 

 to take the first haul to Hamburg, while the other had to go to Emden. 

 This was necessary, as the connections of Emden with the interior were 



* Herr Senator Dautziger in Emden : Die fiinf ersten Betriebsjabre der Emder Her- 

 ings fiscberei-Actien-gesellscbaft, iu Circular No, 4, Berlin, Mai, 1877, des Deutscben 

 Fiscaerei-Vereina. Translated by H. Jacobson.' 



