THE salt-wati':k fisheries of bohuslan, 153 



coast/^ which, ought to be uuder the supervision of competent 

 zoologists and botanists and fuiuished with all the necessary scientific 

 apparatus. 



It will be self-evident that such an institution woiUd not only further 

 the study of this part of natural science in our country, but would be 

 almost indispensable for such a study ; nor can there be any doubt that 

 its activity can and ought to extend to a much larger field than the 

 mere investigations of the fisheries. 



§ 18. In order to gain a sufQcient knowledge of the mode of life of fish, 

 of their migrations, &c., in a certain given region, it will be necessary to 

 make uninterrupted observations for a number of years with all the 

 means at one's command (especially by fishing at all seasons of the year) ; 

 and in order to make such observations truly valuable they should be 

 carried on simultaneously in different i)arts of the given region ; for local 

 differences in the physical conditions will also produce differences in the 

 appearance, mode of life, &c., of the herrings ; and by observing the 

 herrings only in one place we would just as little gain a general knowl- 

 edge of this fish and its mode of life as we would obtain a knowledge of 

 the meteorological conditions of a large country by observations gath- 

 ered at a single point. In order to gain the true value of phenomena 

 observed in a certain place, a more general knowledge is required, which 

 can only be obtained by comparative studies. 



From the foregoing it will be seen how difiicult it is to arrive at abso- 

 lute certainty, and how necessary, therefore, to base our knowledge on 

 the greatest possible number of systematically gathered facts. It will 

 also be evident that both the time diu-ing which, and the number of 

 places where, these facts are gathered should be increased in proportion 

 as the kinds of fish which are the objects of investigation are in the 

 former case liable to appear at longer intervals, and in the latter case 

 are subject to more local changes. 



§ 19. In order to faciUtate and to accelerate the acquiring of the tie- 

 sired knowledge, it will be necessary to have recourse not only to his- 

 torical researches, but also to the experience of fishermen. Eegarding 

 the value of this last-mentioned source of information, it must be borne 

 in mind that the information furnished by our fishermen on the mode of 

 life and the migrations of fish, &c., are very much on the style of the pre- 

 dictions of our old-fashioned weather prophets. These old signs are fre- 

 quently of just as little value for the fisheries as for agriculture. But 

 although meteorologists have long since shown the worthlessness and 

 faUibihty of such predictions, people continue to believe in them, for un- 

 educated persons are apt to remember the few times when such predic- 



J' See also Prelimindr Berdttelse for 1874-1875, p. 18. The most suitable place for sucli 

 a station would doubtless be the mouth of the Gullmar fiord in the neighborhood of 

 Fiskebiickskil. Farther north the station could not well be, if it should answer its 

 purpose also with regard to the investigations of the expected large periodical herring- 

 fisheries. 



