226 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



the middle of the sixteeutli ceutury/' and wliicli continued without inter- 

 ruption till 1590, we possess much more information. The change of 

 these fisheries from iniblic to crown fisheries in Vestergotland, which is 

 actuallj' proved, whilst the same is supposed to have taken place in 

 Bohusliin, has now been fully proved also with regard to this last-men- 

 tioned province. It was carried out in a manner which exercised a great 

 influence on the fishing-trade and on the physical and moral welfare of 

 our coast. On the 19th of April, 15G1, King Fredericlc II sent a letter 

 to the Bohusliin authorities in which he says : "Since we have learned 

 that the fisheries are very much increasing in Marstrand, we ask you to 

 see to it that the royal tax on fishing is regularly collected." ^^ 



Further information concerning this right of the crown we find in 

 the "Rules and Regulations for the Bohuslan herring-fisheries," pub- 

 lished on the 12th of July, 1561, which are said to be the oldest reg- 

 ulations of this kind, and which at that time were generally known 

 by the name of the "Marstrand law-books." We must here give the 

 introduction to these "Rules and Regulations" as showing the claims 

 of the king and the great influence of this fishery on the material 

 welfare of our province. It reads as follows: "We, Frederiek II, make 

 known to all men, that since we have learned how the Almighty God 

 lias extended his favor and blessing to our kingdom of IsTorway by let- 

 ting the herrings come to its coast, we decree for the benefit of all those 

 who are engaged in the fisheries, first, that all foreign merchants aftend- 

 ing the fisheries must stay in Marstrand and nowhere else,^* and there 

 pay to us a tax of 320 herrings per season and one-half dollar for every 

 12 tons of herring exj^orted from the kingdom.^^ Second, that no foreign 

 merchants visiting these fishing-stations shall bring with them any but- 

 ter, skins, tallow, or any other goods, except what they absolutely need 



'- As already in the year 1557 the citizens of Oslo, T6usberg, and Sarpsborg, had 

 obtained the privilege of trading with Marstrand, Kungclf, and Udevalla, in exchange 

 for certain rights granted to the inhabitants of these towns, it seems that even at that 

 time the fisheries had become so extensive as to attract attention ; and the herrings 

 must certainly have come to this coast several years previous to 1557. For it often 

 takes a long time till good herring-fisheries become known, which has been fully proved 

 by our fisheries during the seventeenth century. 



''The extracts from the royal letters and regulations concerning the herring-fisheries 

 of the fifteenth century are taken from Axel Boeck's above-mentioned treatise on the 

 history of the Bohusliin herring-fisheries in "Xordisk Tidsskrift for Fiskeri," I, i>. 5- 

 27, to which we refer those who desire further information regarding this fishing- 

 period. 



'^This regulation was occasionally dispensed with, for instance in 1566 for the Lubeck 

 merchants; but in 1573 and 1580 it was decreed that foreign merchants could only 

 trade in other places by special permit from the Marstrand tax-gatherers. 



15 This tax was finally raised to one dollar for every 12 tons ; the consequence was 

 that many foreign merchants made false entries, giving the names of Swedish mer- 

 chants in other towns as the owners of tlie herrings : or bought the herrings from the 

 fishermen on the outer coast, and thus paid no tax at all. By a Royal Decree of 1580 

 it was strictly forbidden to export any fresh herrings. 



