FOOD FISHES 41 



From the north of the North Sea it turns southwards towards 

 Denmark, passes into the Skager Rak, and then back again 

 along the coast of Norway and north of the White Sea towards 

 the Arctic Ocean. The Hebrides and the Orkneys and Shet- 

 lands are contained within it, and, though Iceland and the 

 Faroe Islands are beyond it, and stand out in the deeper 

 ocean, yet for a considerable distance round their shores the 

 water is not deeper than round ours. 



The importance of this large area of shallow water x so 

 near to us can hardly be exaggerated, for it abounds in food 

 fishes of almost every sort and kind, and forms, indeed, one 

 of the richest fishing grounds of the world. 



Fish may be divided into two great classes : those which 

 live on, or near, the bottom of the sea, and those which live 

 in middle waters or near the surface. 



Of this latter class the most important are herrings, and 

 members of the herring family, such as pilchards and sprats. 

 Mackerel, too, are surface swimmers, though they do not 

 belong to the herring family. 



HERRINGS . ' Fowl of the heaven and fish that through the 

 wet Sea-paths in shoals do glide.' MILTON. Herrings abound 

 in all the shallow waters from the White Sea to the Bay of 

 Biscay, but they are most abundant in the North Sea on the 

 coasts of Scotland and England. In these regions countless 

 multitudes of them swim together in great shoals moving 

 rapidly to and from the coasts. The upper surface of their 

 bodies is greenish-blue, like the sea, but the sides and lower 

 parts are silvery- white, and the whole glittering mass of them 

 is so bright that it is often reflected in the sky, and fishermen, 

 by observing this reflection, are enabled to locate a shoal. 

 Gulls, too, and gannets betray them, for they and large 

 numbers of other sea-birds hover over them, diving every 

 now and then to seize their prey. 



As soon as the whereabouts of a shoal is known, the fishing 



1 Of late years the area fished has been extended, and the 200-fathom 

 line now forms the boundary. 



