THE SALT-WATER FISHERIES OF BOIIUSLAN. 157 



a number of stations.^^ This example is now, to some extent, followed 

 by Norway, where the government has, since the year 1861, instituted, 

 at its expense, a series of investigations of the herring and cod fisheries, 

 and where, at the present time (1876), the chiefly zoological investiga- 

 tions have not only been made in that portion of the open sea where, 

 according to Prof. G. 0. Sars, the Norwegian herring has its proper 

 home, but also in more distant portions of the ocean. The meteorolog- 

 ical societies of Utrecht and Edinburgh have, the former from 1856 to 

 1864, the latter since 1873, directed their attention to this subject, although 

 they have, so far, at least, not published any of their results. 



§ 28. In Sweden, this special branch of natural science has till quite 

 recently been somewhat neglected by the great mass of our people, 

 although it cannot be denied that several of our naturalists have, by 

 their self-sacrificiug labors, produced very important and valuable scien- 

 tific works in some very closely related subjects. Thus there are very 

 few parts of the world whose aquatic fauna and flora are so well known 

 (with regard to the different species) as Bohusliin. All these labors, 

 which certainly must aid the investigation of the fisheries, have been 

 made for an entirely different purpose, and, therefore, as a general rule, 

 pass by the most important points for o^ir subject. 



The proposition which has been made several times to institute a more 

 ■or less exhaustive scientific investigation of the fisheries, has, therefore, 

 not yet led to any i^ositive result, the cause of which must chiefly be 

 found in the little importance of our fisheries to the state, an importance 

 which possibly has been somewhat undervalued. The most extensive, 

 and doubtless the most valuable of these older propositions, is the 

 one which Prof. C. J. Sundevall made with regard to the scientific and 

 technical sides of the salt-water fisheries, more than tAventy years ago.^^ 



§ 29. As 1 have endeavored to show in the foregoing, all these investi- 

 gations will be most successful and yield the fullest scientific results by, 

 first, establishing a complete station for scientific investigations of the 

 sea on the coast of Bohuslan ; ^^ and, second, by appointing a sufficient 

 number of observers to gather continuous data regarding the fisheries 

 at the more important fishing-stations ; ^^ and, third, by instituting a spe- 

 cial meteorological and hydrological investigation of the sea.^'' 



■^■* Jahresiei-icht der Comviission zur wissenschaftUchen UntersucJiung der deutschen Meere 

 in Kiel. I-III. Berlin. 1873,1875. 



'^ StocMolm'fi Idns Efjl. Hushallnings-Sdlls'kaps handlingar (Transactionsof the Stock- 

 holm Economical Society), VI, p. 211-212. 



2« PieUmlndr Bcrdltelse, 1873-1874, p. 71'; 1874-1875, p. 18. Sec above, $ 17. Since 

 this was Avritten, such a station for zoological investigations has been established 

 by the liberality of Dr. A. Ecgnell, at the instigation of Prof S. Lov^n, at Christine- 

 berg, in the district of Skaftoland; but we do not know in how far this station will 

 make those investigations, which are of most importance for the fisheries. 



27 Preliminar Bcrdltelse, 1873-1874, p. 74 ; 1874-1875, p. 17-18. 



■^» Frclimindr Berdttelse, 1873-1874, p. 70; 1874-1875, p. 17-19. This last-mentioned 

 wish may be said to have been fulfilled by the establishment of the "Nautical and Me- 

 teorological Bureau," which has been placed under the direct supervision of the Royal 

 Navy Department. 



