148 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



ratus, the preparation of flsli, aud the use of fish in the household. All 

 these points nuist be worked up carefully aud thoroughly so as to give 

 all the necessary hints. But as all this experience cannot be gained by 

 one man engaged in the fishing-trade — ars longa vita hrevis — as much as 

 X)0ssible of it must be gathered both from old documents and from the 

 fishermen themselves, and must then be proved by personal obvserva- 

 tions, which must also be made with the view of developing and increas- 

 ing the material. lu order to make this material as valuable as possible 

 it is of course highly necessary to become acquainted with the more 

 prominent foreign fisheries, especially those which excel ours. 



The technical investigations must therefore relate to the existing con- 

 dition of the fisheries but also to their further development and to any 

 possible improvements. Among the subjects Vhich in this respect 

 deserve special attention, the large periodical Bohuslan herring-fisheries 

 doubtless occupy a prominent place. With regard to these fisheries we 

 need, above everything else, a brief but complete review of all the 

 experience gained in the course of centuries concerning the herring- 

 fisheries, the preparation of herring, and the herring-trade ; for as it is 

 well known that these, our largest fisheries, are periodical, and cease 

 entirely for many years at a time, we cannot exjiect that all the experi- 

 .ence we need is handed down to us by tradition.^ 



The technical investigations ought moreover be S])ecially directed to 

 ^e scientific treatment of everything relating to the different methods 

 of preparing and preserving fish. 



Finally, it would be necessary to carry out according to a well-matured 

 plan all the different experiments required to corroborate our knowledge, 

 to try new fishing-laws, new apparatus, methods, and other improve- 

 ments. In order to make such technical investigations and experiments 

 really valuable and useful, they ought to be committed to persons who 

 can devote their whole time to it; for of the young naturalists who are 

 generally detailed for such investigations, it cannot be expected that 

 they should have that undivided interest, that local knowledge, and that 

 ^)raetieal experience which are absolutely required to make such mvesti- 

 gations truly successful.*' 



§ 12. As it is the object of the fisheries, as well as of agricidture, to 

 utilize the productive powers of nature for human purposes, and this 

 not only with regard to the quantity and quality of nature's productions, 

 but also to their preservation and possible development, the chief con- 

 dition of success will be a complete and reliable knowledge of the nature 

 of these productions, of the causes which create aud sustain them, and of 

 the mechanical or chemical aids and apparatus by which they may be 

 investigated and utilized. By comparing this knowledge with that ex- 

 perienc'e which practical fishing constantly supplies, we obtain the so- 

 ap. BuU, ''Anteclmingar om siUfisket i Bohuslan" (KfjJ. Vetenskaps Akademiens Hand- 

 liHi^ar for ar 1817), p. 3-2, 33. ., rr^ m-. 



6 A. V. Ljangman, ^' Om fiskenlafjsfiftniiujfn for hohus-Jan>ska skargarden,- II (bote- 



borgs-Posten, 1375, mo. 78). 



