[7] THE FISHERIES OF SWEDEN. 3G9 



fathoms), while in rough weather it is somewhat louger (6 or 7 fathoms). 

 In the northern part of the sound, between Helsingborg and the ishiud 

 of Hven, the Raa fishermen use sinkers to keep their nets a few fathoms 

 (occasionally as much as 4 or 5) below the surface, which prevents their 

 being disturbed by vessels. A peculiar difference between the method 

 of setting the nets employed in the Baltic by the Blekingeand Skane fish- 

 ermen and the method used in the sound is this, that in the last-men- 

 tioned method the net is paid out by using small sails on the boat, 

 and that the row of nets is set against the current. The stones are 

 previously tied to the ropes, and the nets are laid in a trough, ready to 

 be paid out. All that has to be done, therefore, is to loosen them and let 

 them run out. When the net is to bo hauled in one takes hold of both 

 lines and draws it iuto the boat over a roller fastened to the gunnel. 



When the Blekinge nets, or so-called monsorna, are used, the mast is 

 taken down and the boat is allowed to drift with the current ; the stones 

 are tied to the ropes while the net is set, which is not a very quick pro- 

 cess, as the boat does not go any faster than current and wind will drive 

 it. The row of nets is, therefore, often placed in a position lengthwise 

 the current, which is not an advantage. When the net is hauled in it 

 is drawn over the side of the boat by the cork-line. These nets (the 

 , mansonia) are generally 20 fathoms long and 3 fathoms deep. Barrels 

 j are not used as buoys, but blocks of wood pierced at one end. These 

 I nets are set near the bottom, ofl' the coast, in spring and autumn. No 

 I stones are used, but iron grapnels, one of these to every fourth net. 

 j Each net has a small buoy, and at both ends of the row of nets there 

 j are large buoys. 



I The above will be sufficient to give an idea of the apparatus and 



method employed in the herring fisheries. 



^ The so-called nardingar are, as far as I know, peculiar to the coasts 



, of Skane and Halland, and seem not to be in use anywhere else.^ In 



J the Sound they can still be used as floating nets, but in the Baltic, with 



J Its greater depth, the fishermen consider the mamornaa^ better adapted 



j to their purpose, as it is easier to let them down into deep water. The 



^mansoma are also used in Blekinge and near Bornholm. Among the 



I Swedish herring nets they resemble the Gothland nets, and among for- 



jieign nets those used by the Butch in the North Sea ; although our nets 



are of course not nearly so deep and are not made of as strong twine 



Our Swedish fishermen do not use a hanging-rope to which all the nets 



jare attached, but make the cork-rope do service instead; and the hang- 



[• ait deserves to be mentioned that in the fishing stations near Kullen the nets are 

 iDot colored or tanned, because it is alleged that when used as bottom nets they will 

 .attract the fish less than the light-colored nets. Whether there is any reason for this 

 j|I cannot state, but according to Collin {Nordisk Tidsskrift for Fiskeri, vol. i, p. 353) 

 (the Danish fishermen are of the same opinion. In all other places the nets Ire col- 

 i|ored by being dipped in a decoction of birch bark and soda. Near Raa they count a 

 \\kanna (about 3 quarts) of bark and about 9 pounds of soda to each net, and enough 

 ijlwater to dip the entire net in it. 

 H. Mis. GS 24 



