EMDEN JOINT-STOCK HERRING-FISHERY ASSOCIATION. 7G5 



evideut that its solution alone is not enough to insure the future of the 

 enterprise. 



The second difficult question is that of the crews, and this cannot be 

 solved by the herring-fisheries alone, as these commence about the mid- 

 dle of June and end during, November, so that vessels and crews only 

 have employment for 4i-5 months. In starting the enterprise, it was 

 positively the intention to keep the vessels and crews occupied the rest 

 of the time by other fisheries on the high seas. But when the berring- 

 fisheries during the very first season had yielded unexpected profits, 

 which justified the managers to expect greater profits in the future, the 

 idea of winter-fisheries was placed in the background. Of the six 

 "loggers" bought in Holland, the three older ones had a so-called 

 "biinne" (well). This is a square space in the center of the vessel, 

 occupying its full breadth at the bottom ; a narrow entrance leads to it, 

 and small holes in the bottom of the vessel admit sea-water. In this 

 space fish may be kept alive for several days, and will, of course, fetch 

 a higher price in the market than dead fish. It has been objected to 

 this mode of preserving fish alive that experience has shown that fish 

 which are kept in this well grow lean and have actually lost 15 per cent, 

 of their former weight, so that it is better to kill and clean the fish on 

 board and keep it fresh on ice. It was well known that the first man- 

 ager of the enterprise who had carried on winter-fisheries on his own 

 account had never made much by them; but even he declared that 

 under favorable circumstances the winter-fisheries might be made profit- 

 able. It would, therefore, have been the proper thing, during the winter 

 following the first herring season to attempt line-fishing on one of the 

 "loggers" having a well, to catch codfish, or in company with another 

 "logger" to beeiu fishing with drag-nets, even at the risk of diminish- 

 ing the yield of the herring-fisheries to some extent. But even those 

 members of the board who took a special interest in the winter-fisheries 

 did not deem it advisable to urge the matter until the whole enterprise 

 had been established on a sound basis. The funds at their command 

 were not sufficient to carry on even the herring-fisheries alone in the 

 most profitable manner. 



As regards line-fishing it was well known that the lamprey {neun 

 auge) is the best bait. This fish has the good quality that it shines 

 longer after death than many other fish. The lampreys are kept alive 

 in small tanks whose lids have holes to admit fresh air; they are cut 

 in oblique pieces and put on the hook. For many years, however, it 

 has been so difficult to obtain lampreys, and their price has risen so 

 much, that to use them as bait would have meant a positive loss. The 

 question was, therefore, likewise discussed whether the example of the 

 Norderney sloops should be followed, which use worms or shrimps as 

 bait. But the entrance to the Norderney channel was not without dan- 

 ger to the "loggers," which go about nine feet deep in the water. The 

 "Yitschbalge" channel, near Borkum, has a still more dangerous en- 



