180 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



nmning crosswise from the great valley direct towards the coast, which 

 doubtless have exercised an influence on the herring-fisheries, are found 

 on that part of the coast of Bohusliin lying south of Soten. On the 

 northern coast it has also been observed that both the herrings and the 

 small herrings follow the deep valley between the outer and inner coast, 



Hans Strom and, recently, Q. 0. Bars in a more scientific form have 

 mentioned that the current is always stronger near the edge of a bank 

 rising from the depth of the sea, and that in such places there is always 

 a greater abundance of fish-food and of fish. It is quite probable, there- 

 fore, that such banks have an influence on the migrations of the herrings, 

 especially if we remember that all the great herring-.fisheries are carried 

 on near such banks, and that the ]S"orth Sea chiefly owes its wealth of 

 fish to such banks. 



Inner coast- waters protected by islands, rocks, or rising ground from 

 the violence of the sea, where the herrings can remain undisturbed for a 

 great length of time (by which, however, they become almost worthless), 

 likewise require our attention. All fishing for those herrings which have 

 come for the purijose of seeking food is carried on in such waters, which, 

 moreover, afford excellent shelter for the young herrings. 



Eegarding the geoguostical character of the bottom, it is well kuown 

 that the herrings when spawning like a hard and firm bottom, and avoid 

 a muddy or clayey bottom, or a sand-bottom whose upper layer is 

 easily stuTed up by the waves. It is also well known that the herrings 

 when spawning prefer a bottom covered with plants. 



30. We must not overlook the importance of the geographieal location 

 of a coast in influencing the herrings, although this influence has cer- 

 tainly been overrated by older authors. In this connection we have to 

 consider the greater or less distance of a coast from the poles, its loca- 

 tion on the eastern or western side of a continent, and its greater or less 

 distance from the open sea. The herrings do not extend their migra- 

 tions, in any considerable number, at least, farther south than those 

 regions where the fauna has a decidedly boreal character, or farther 

 north than that point where the sea is filled with polar ice. The location 

 of a coast on the eastern or western side of the Atlantic Ocean is highly 

 important; and herrings are found in great numbers on the west coast of 

 Europe in degrees of latitude (for example, in Nordland and Finmarken) 

 in which on the east coast of America (as in Greenland) they are compara- 

 tively scarce. The nearness of the Polar Sea, with its enormous wealth of 

 "herring-food," does not only increase the number, size, and the quality 

 of the herrings, but also influences their selection of spawning-places. 

 Sometimes, however, as is the case in Northeastern America, the Polar 

 Sea may jn'ove hurtful in its influence by large masses of floating ice 

 preventing the herrings from coming near the coast. The greater or 

 less distance of coast-waters from the open sea is of great importance, 

 for experience has shown that waters, such as the Baltic, which are far 



