402 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [4 



of tbe weatber cau, therefore, be of such a kind that fisheries wit I 

 floatino-uets may commence several weeks sooner tlian the fislieii. 

 near the coast ; but strong west winds may prevent floating-net fishoru 

 of any importance from taking phice before the tisheries begin near tl,. 

 coast^ This uncertaintv, which during the approaching portion ot tiM 

 herrino- period, wlien the herring will come to the coast a little earlier 

 every year, will make itself particularly felt, will certainly render futih 

 all attempts to induce the Bohusla n fishermen to adopt Professor Smitt's | 

 proposition to exchange the common nets for floating-nets. Floating- I 

 nets certainly vield a nuich larger percentage of large herring than our 

 common lierring nets: but this advantage is considerably dimiinslie.l 

 during that portion of the herring period when the herring, mdepeiul 

 ent of^the condition of the weather, approach the coast for the purpose 

 of spawning, and when the fisheries carried on with our common herring j| 

 nets yield a large percentage of so-called maties hcriing. It has been , 

 said that floating-nets would not catch the spent herring nor the smaller 

 so-called "medium herring," but the experience of Scotland utterly dis- 

 proves this assertion; and it maybe said that the floating-net is tlie 

 apparatus best adapted to catch the spent lierring, which, as is w( 11 

 known, can not be caught with our (common herring nets. 



As regards the percentage of inmat herring which may reasonably 

 be expected from the floating-net fisheries conducted on a large scale <'tV 

 the coast of Bohusliin, we may state, by way of illustration and in order 

 to give some basis for an estimate, that in Fraserburgb, tlH> principal 

 fishing station in Scotland, the following number of barrels were stamped 

 with the crown stamp during the year 1881: 54,498^ "fulls," 43,0!^ 

 " nuities," and 15,910 "spents,''or considerably more than half of tlie 

 number of herring of the lower grades, wbich number, of course, would 

 have been larger if the herring which were not stamped could have 

 been taken into account. Tliere is no reason to suppose that there 

 should be on the coast of liohusliin more "maties"than on the east 

 coast of Scotland, particularly i!s the fisheries on the inner coast of Bo- 

 liuslan show that the number of so-called "medium" herring and of | 

 large "speuts" is enormous. These fish come from the sea and enter 

 the fiords, and they certainly might be caught with floating-nets on :i 

 large scale in the Skager Kack just as well as on the east coast of Sf'ot- 

 land. Fishermen using floating-nets should here, as in Scotland, be 

 glad to catch these small herring, which make the fisheries more prof- 

 itable. -The characjter of the fish caught during the same season varies 

 very considerably; one boat will catch only "maties" and another so- 

 called "medium" herriug or "spents." According to the Fish Trades 

 Gazette, No. 5, p. 99, the average prices of these different kinds ol 

 herring, when bearing the stamp, on the east coast of Scotland, arc as 

 follows: "Fulls," 34 shillings; "maties," 24 shillings: and "spents," 25 

 shillings. A barrel of salt " fulls " has, therefore, less value than 2 barrels 

 of the^ lower grades. For smoking or for use while fresh the inwat 



