[31] THE SPRING HERRING FISHERIES OF NORWAY. 157 
present fisheries would not be of any great importance, and at any 
rate, there would have been a much longer interval between the last 
and the present “herring period.” Jjungman already remarks, that a 
glance at the fishing-apparatus in use, which is only suitable for our 
rocky and broken coast, will explain the fact that our “herring periods” 
are so well defined, whilst in other countries, such as Scotland and in 
North America, where fishing is carried on with purse-nets or floating 
nets, their beginning and their end can hardly be noticed. It is also a 
well-known fact, that during the long interval (1787-1807) between the 
two preceding ‘“ herring periods,” herring were found near our coast. 
. Thus Boeck reports that in 1803 they showed themselves in large num- 
bers near the coast of Bergen; but few, if any were caught, as they 
came so unexpectedly. The Udsire fishermen say that the year 1808 
was by no means the first year when herring came to their coast, but 
that they were noticed out at sea during several of the preceding years; 
but people at that time did not think of going to sea even that short 
distance, to catch herring. 
As regards the time of arrival, there has so far at least, been an actual 
and. marked difference between the present and the former spring-her- 
ring fisheries. 
It must also be borne in mind that the time during which the pres- 
ent fisheries have been going on, very probably does not correspond 
with the time which is designated as the beginning of the former her- 
ring period, but rather with certain years of the interval, when there 
was no fishing.* 
Below I have given a list of different degrees of temperature of the 
water near the surface and at different depths. As I only had occasion 
to make observations of the temperature towards the end of the fishing 
season, and as the fisheries were unfortunately disturbed a great deal 
by stormy weather, it was impossible for me, this year, to observe the 
influence of the temperature on the daily course of the herring. These 
observations, however, will prove of interest even as they are. 
Boeck took the following observations of the temperature during the 
spring-herring fisheries: While at the surface the temperature varied 
from 0°.5 to 5° C., according to the state of the wind, the difference at 
a depth of 10 fathoms (almost 19 meters) was only 1° C., that is, the tem- 
perature varied from 3° to 4° C., and at a depth of 30 fathoms (565 me- 
ters) the temperature remained stationary at 4° C., no matter how much 
the meteorological conditions varied. 
*The fisheries even now do not commence till February, about the same time when 
they commenced in the beginning of the former “ herring period.” Iam not at pres- 
ent prepared to say whether this circumstance has any weight in explaining the dif- 
ference in the time of arrival of the herring. (See BoEcK, Om Silden og Sildefiskerierne, 
p. 109; it is certain that in the beginning of the former ‘herring period” the herring 
arrived near the coast some time before the fisheries commenced. Thus Boeck says 
that in 1814, 1815, and 1816 the whales arrived on the 23d January, which, however, 
is a late date.) . 
