VIJ.—REPORT ON THE PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC INVESTI- 
GATIONS OF THE SPRING HERRING FISHERIES DURING 
THE YEAR 1880, SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF THE 
INTERIOR, 
By O. S. JENSEN, 
Curator of the Bergen Museum.* 
Having been commissioned by the Department of the Interior to 
make a practical and scientific investigation of the spring herring fish- 
eries, I left Bergen on the 11th of February for Haugesund, and on the 
13th of February arrived at the fishing station of Udsire. Here I re- 
mained till the 9th of March, when I went to Réver to continue some 
investigations of the spawning of the herring. After a short stay at 
Akrehavn and Skudesnees, where I had an opportunity to gather (from 
some experienced fishermen) further information relative to the occur- 
rence and nature of the spring herring during recent years, I returned 
to Bergen on the 20th of March. 
As [I had occasion to be present during the latter portion only of the 
spring herring fisheries, and as during the greater part of my stay the 
weather was unusually stormy, my investigations had necessarily to be 
more imperfect than they would otherwise have been. ‘The seine fish- 
eries, which have been in operation for some years, and which present 
features of special interest to the investigator of the spring herring 
fisheries, were over when I arrived. No fish whatever were caught in 
seines during my stay at the fishing stations, and fishing was only car- 
ried on with stationary nets. During the last two years these fisheries 
have begun to revive, which is a welcome sign that the spring herring 
will again follow their usual course along our coasts. These old fish- 
eries, therefore, promise again to be of considerable importance in our 
own times. <A historical investigation of the occurrence of the her- 
ring, during the last ten years, also brings to light other phenomena, 
indicating that a new period of spring herring fisheries is about to be 
ushered in. 
Since Dr. A. Boeck published his classic work, Om Silden og Silde-jis- 
kerierne (The herring and herring fisheries), in 1871, no work of import- 
*Indberetning | til | Departementet for det Indre | om de i 1880 udforte, | praktisk videns- 
kabelige Underségelser over Vaarsildfisket | af | O. S. Jensen, | Conservator ved Bergens 
Museum. | Christiania, | 1881.—Translated by HERMAN JACOBSON. 127 
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