[3] THE FISHERIES OF SWEDEN. 365 



likewise found herriug as large as the largest Norwegian herring, which 

 they resemble very much, and that these large Baltic herring are found 

 not only here and there, but along the entire Swedish coast of the Bal- 

 tic, though in comparatively small numbers, so that in many places 

 they do not form the object of special lisheries, and consequently arc not 

 often seen in the market. These large herriug cannot be anything else 

 than old, fnll-grown specimens of the common Baltic herring. To con- 

 sider these large herring, when found in the Baltic, as a separate, larger 

 race of the stromming (as .has sometimes been done) does not seem to be 

 a satisfactory explanation. With the same reason pike weighing a 

 number of pounds would have to be considered as a different race 

 from those of light weight. These large herring are caught on our 

 coasts early in the spring as soon as the ice begins to break, and in cer- 

 tain localities even in the middle ol" summer, when, at least in the 

 northern portion of the Stockholm coast, they have been observed 

 to spawn. It is stated that they are also caught late in autumn on the 

 outer coast. On the Baltic coast of Skane these herring do not form 

 the object of special fisheries, but, as an old and experienced Ystad 

 fisherman told me, unusually large herriug are frequently caught* there 

 in autumn after a storm, and such herring are also caught in early spring 

 during the salmon fisheries at Sandhammar. In answering the question 

 of size of the herring caught on different coasts, the method of fishing 

 and the size of the meshes of the nets should be taken into considera- 

 tion, for it largefy depends on these things as to what size of herring 

 will be caught. In net fisheries the herring caught are of a tolerably 

 even size, as fish of a larger size will not stick in the meshes because 

 they cannot get their heads in far enough, while smaller fish will slip 

 through the meshes. In seine fisheries, where also fish are caught 

 which do not stick in the meshes, the case is different, and the fish 

 caught will vary very much in size. In endeavoring to soive the ques- 

 tion simply on the basis of the average size of the herring caught on 

 a certain coast, there is great chance of arriving at an erroneous con- 

 clusion. Fishermen try to arrange their apparatus in such a manner 

 as to obtain the greatest possible quantity of fish, but the majority of 

 the fish caught are not large, but young and small ones, because most 

 of them never reach a very great age. If large herring are not as a 

 general rule caught on a certain coast, this does not therefore prove 

 that no such herriug are found near that coast, or that the herring of 

 , that region never grow any larger.^ The actual facts show that the 



' * They are caught in special nets, having 20 meshes to the yard. 

 ' *The objection may be made to what has been said above, that, as a general rule, 

 I none of the very large herriug referred to are caught iu the seine fisheries on the 

 I Baltic coast. This, however, is caused by the circumstance that the old herriug do 

 I not spawn at the same time as the youugor oui^s, aiul gouL-rally during spring au<l 

 ( summer keep in deep water where they cannot easily be caught with seines. In 

 I winter some are occasionally caught in seines, because the old herring keeji near the 

 coast at that time, and in spring again go into deep water. 



