134 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [8] 
with any degree of certainty in the northernmost portion of this coast, 
viz, at Sindmédre. 
In 1873 the average number of herring per standard barrel near Frét 
Tsland was 540. But few herring were caught near that station, and 
no school of any consequence seemed to have approached the coast. The 
prospects south of Bremanger, which during the preceding year had 
been tolerably good, seem certainly to have been far less favorable. 
At Nordfiord the yield was only about 24,000 barrels, although it must 
be taken into consideration that the: conditions were particulary un- 
favorable; no decided decrease in the number of herring could, how- 
ever, be observed. The indications seemed to be that the herring 
would be smaller in size. At Sdndmdére no change in the size of the her- 
ring could be noticed; the yield at this last-mentioned place was only 
6,000 barrels, owing exclusively, however, to the stormy weather. 
In 1874 there was no fishing south of Bremanger or near this island, 
except at Nordfiord. The yield at the latter place was very insignifi- 
cant, viz: only 5,000 barrels. There was a very marked decrease in the 
number ef herring, and their size was very uneven, but on the whole 
smaller than in former years. Now, at last, there were likewise indica- 
tions that the fisheries would come to an end near Séndmodre. In spite 
of the most favorable weather only 8,000 barrels of fish were caught at 
this station, and the herring were decidedly smaller, the average num- 
ber per ‘“‘standard barrel” being 570 to 580 (against 532 in 1872). ’ 
In 1875 there was no fishing whatever north of Bremanger in the Nord- 
jiord. Near Séndmdre it was reported that 3,000 to 4,000 barrels were 
caught to the northwest of Stat. This year must be considered as the 
closing year of the spring-herring fisheries. 
The above brief review of the decline of the spring-herring fisheries 
shows conclusively that also in the northern district and near Séndmore 
the herring disappeared gradually in the direction from south to north, 
the schools decreasing in size from year to year. In the southern dis- 
trict the herring went in a northerly direction, even before the schools 
began to decrease in size. 
The same regular and gradual decrease could be observed not only in 
each individual fishing-district, but all along the coast where the spring- 
herring fisheries were going on. The herring first disappeared in the 
southern district, then in the northern, and finally at Séndmore. After 
the decrease in the size of the schools had set in, it was slower in the 
northern district and at Séndmére. For a considerable time large num- 
bers of herring continued to come near these coasts, and disappeared 
all of a sudden. The average size of the herring also continued to be 
larger,* and their quality was on the whole better. These phenomenon 
*The fact that the herring in the northern district and at Séndmére were larger than 
those of the southern district, not only during the period when they decreased in num- 
bers, but as a generalrule, is—according to Léberg—caused by the circumstance that in 
the first mentioned districts nets with larger meshes are used (See LOBERG: Norges 
Fiskerier, 1864, p. 47). This assertion, however, needs further examination. 
