[25] THE SPRING HERRING FISHERIES OF NORWAY. Tot 
T 
rule, not as large as our present spring herring at the time when they 
first made their appearance, and their roe and milt were not as fully de- 
veloped. All the reports from the season 1870-1871 say that the “ new 
herring” were somewhat larger than during the preceding season. 
From the season 1871-1872 it is reported that they were of a more even 
size. During the season 1873-1874 the number of spawners and milters, 
or fish with more fully developed milt and roe, was considerably larger; 
the same observation was, by the way, also made during the season 
1871-1872 regarding the small number of ‘new herring” which were 
caught during that season. The quality of the fish began to be better, 
and they are now spoken of as “ fat and fine new herring.” Many re- 
ports of the same nature come to us from the following years. ‘Such 
a new herring,” it was said, “ can hardly be distinguished from a spring 
herring.” Finally, people did not know whether to call them “new her- 
ring” or spring herring. Just as the “new herring” had developed 
gradually, thus the present spring herring have done the same till this 
year. The present spring herring seem to be nothing else but a con- 
tinuation of the ‘‘new herring,” and there is no doubt in my mind that 
they are the descendants of the latter. After 1870 ‘“‘new herring” were 
but rarely found in our coast waters. The same was also the case with 
our present spring herring, when they first made their appearance, and 
only gradually they became more numerous. ‘ New herring” of an in- 
ferior quality were caught, as has been said above, together with more 
fully developed “new herring,” and they probably have since passed 
through the same stages of development, and at the proper time turned 
into our present spring herring. 
If you ask the fishermen when the present spring herring first began 
to show themselves, they generally say that this took place about four 
or five years ago. Some maintain that it took place as early as 1874, 
and others even say that they saw such herring in 1870. From what 
has been said, this difference in the statements is easily explained by 
the very gradual development of our present spring herring. Some of 
the so-called ‘“ blood herring” which formed part of the “new herring,” 
were, during the season 1869-’70, already so fully developed that they 
strongly resembled our present spring herring. The opinion, very pre- 
valent among fishermen, that the present spring herring came to our 
coast waters four to five years ago is evidently based on the fact that 
they were not till then (1876) recognized as spring herring, and that the 
fisheries proper cannot be said to have commenced till that year. 
In a very interesting treatise on the herring in the Sound and the 
Belts, Georg Winther* speaks of a similar development of the herring as 
that observed in our waters. He says that towards the close of a ‘‘her- 
ring period” a smaller kind of herring make their appearance at the 
time when the former herring disappear, and that these small herring 
soon reach the size of the former herring. Their number increases very 
* “ Tidsskrift for Fiskeri,” new series, iii. 
