THE SALT-WATER FLSIIEKIES OF BOHUSLAN. 175 



duriiig- the latter part of our last great lierring-fislieries the herrings 

 came with those currents that were going toivards the coast, and cur- 

 rents going out to sea were consequently considered unfavorable to the 

 fisheries, especially when they took their direction from a southeasterly 

 wind. Eegarding the coming to our coast of those herrings which occur 

 in the greatest number, and especially of the so-called "old sea-herrings," 

 there is a remarkable agreement between the place where and the order 

 in which they came, and the direction of those currents of the sea which 

 come from the Xorth Sea and the Kattegat along the coast of BohusUiu 

 and in the Skagerack. The current coming from the Korth Sea goes 

 north of Skagen towards the Pater-noster Eocks, near which it is met 

 by the current from the Kattegat going north; thereupon they both 

 follow the coast, and after having passed Lindesniis finally go into the 

 ^orth Sea in a westerly direction. The fishing for the herrings coming 

 from the open sea has generally commenced near Tjorn and the Marstrand 

 Islands, from which point the herrings spread towards the north and 

 south, in the former case following the current ; and as the current north 

 of Soteniis turns away from the coast, the herring-fifjheries on the north- 

 ern coast have generally been less certain and less important than those 

 on the central coast.^^ 



The young herrings often go with the current, and therefore often 

 undertake comparatively long voyages, of which we have a proof, unfor 

 tunately hitherto overlooked, from the coast of Bohuslan, on whose south- 

 ern portion especially the young of those herrings which during autumn 

 spawn in the Kattegat are often seen.^^ 



The herring delights in going with its head against the stream, espe- 

 cially when in search of food, and near the coast it prefers those places 

 where there is a rapid current. The herring is a fish which likes flowing 

 water; but this does not mean that it is driven about by the waves like 

 a piece of wood. According to ancient and modern observations th'e 

 herring goes just as easy with as against the stream, and when pursued 

 flies as rapidly against it as with it. 



During our last great herring-fisheries, and especially towards their 

 end, it was asserted by persons opposed to the boiling of fish-oil that 

 the refuse from the oil-refineries, which was thrown into the sea, pre- 

 vented the herrings from coming near the coast, whither they were only 

 driven by violent storms and currents. This view, however, was strongly 

 opposed by many fishermen; but G. C. Cedersirom seems still to lean 

 towards the view of the great i)ower of the current over the herrings, 



■*' This was probably duriug the last great herring-tislierics also caused by the cir- 

 cumstance that those herrings which spawn in autumn, as far as known, chiefly 

 spawned on the central and southern coast, whilst those herrings which spawn in 

 winter were far more frequent on the northern coast. With the small herring this is 

 entirely different ; for the most extensive small-herring fisheries have always been 

 carried on on the northern coast. 



••^ The coast of Bohuslan offers much better protection to the young fish, and is prob- 

 ably in other respects, too, a much more suitable place of sojourn for them than the 

 open coasts of the Kattegat, which are nearly void of organic life. 



