164 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [2] 
the net. As bait codfish roe is used, which mostly comes from Norway, 
and is salted down in barrels. Norway annually exports about 35,000 
tons of codfish roe, at an average price of 36 crowns ($9.64) per ton. 
When the roe is to be used as bait it is soaked and stirred in water and 
mixed with sand, so as to make it sink quicker when thrown into the 
sea. 
Various signs indicate the approach of the sardines. Floating bunches 
of algw are a good indication. The experienced fishermen can also rec- 
ognize the approach of the sardines by the peculiar odor caused by the 
oil flowing from the sardines when they are devoured by fish of prey. 
But birds are a particularly certain indication of the approach of the 
sardines. When the cormorant scarcely touches the water with its bill 
it is a sign that the sardines are near the surface of the water, and when 
the terns descend straight, with their wings close to the body, the sar- 
dines are deeper in the water. 
The sails are now taken in and the nets are set, whilst the roe is 
thrown into the sea by the first mate. If he is successful in making the 
sardines rise (move from the deep water toward the surface), a greenish 
shimmer is noticed in the furrows of the waves. The roe is then cast 
out more plentifully, and numberless schools of fish may be seen near 
the nets. The sardines move rapidly backwards and forwards and make 
a rush at the bait, fighting for it among themselves, and are thus caught 
by the treacherous net, which gradually grows heavy from the weight 
of the fish. The nets are now hauled in, the fish are taken out of the 
meshes and thrown into the hold, and the boat returns to the shore. 
In former times it was no rare occurrence for a boat to catch’ in a 
single trip 12, 15, and even 20,000 sardines. Nowadays they rarely 
catch more than 5,000 to 6,000 sardines in a single trip. The yield of 
the fisheries varies not only from one year to the other, but also be- 
tween different points of the coast, even if close together. No special 
reason can be assigned for this. People have endeavored to explain 
this phenomenon by accidental changes in the current of warm water 
which comes from the equator and runs all along the northwest coast 
of France. Migratory fish like this warm current and follow it in all 
its changes of direction. It is not astonishing that the fish do not ap- 
proach the coast in large numbers when strong winds continue to blow 
from one direction for any length of time and force the current to as- 
sume another course, thus making the water near the coast cold instead 
of warm. 
The sardine-fishers generally return between six and ten o’clock in 
the morning. The scene at that time is very animated. When the 
time approaches for the fishermen’s return, people hasten towards the 
coast from all directions, and whilst the crowd gathers on the shore 
the sardine fleet appears on the horizon like a swarm of giant birds, 
whose white and brown wings glide along the surface of the waters. 
