THE HERRING FISHERIES. 41 



question of regaining their strength after spawning as to 

 when they shall spawn again ; and it is not improbable 

 that the fecundity of the herring is much greater than it is 

 commonly supposed. When accurate knowledge is esta- 

 blished on such important points as these, then our 

 dominion over the fish of the sea will have attained its 

 highest degree, "for knowledge is power." There is also 

 good reason for believing that what is generally called a 

 white sea by fishermen is really produced by the innu- 

 merable presence of herring spawn and herring fry, as such 

 are actually found upon the surface of the waters in 

 thousands, and many think, despite the fact that herring 

 eggs are found at the bottom of the waters, that they are 

 really produced and vivified at the surface. Indeed, some 

 fishermen think that it is owing to the non-impregnation of 

 milt and roe that eggs are found at the bottom at all, and 

 that only those eggs float which have been so impregnated ; 

 if so, this places the herring on the same footing with our 

 other white fish in regard to its breeding points. 



The report of the Fishery Commissioners for 1878 states 

 that 2,400,000,000 of herrings are annually caught in the 

 North Sea by the British, French, Dutch, and Norwegian 

 fishermen, and it is estimated that Scotland alone possesses 

 no fewer than 14500 herring-boats, with a total for men 

 and boys of about, or more than 50,000, and statistics show 

 that these numbers are increasing every year as yet. 



Surface fishing is an improvement on the old method, 

 and proves that the herring are nearer the surface of the 

 water than was usually supposed. This method is con- 

 ducted with great success, and consists in letting the back 

 ropes be lowermost, so that the bottom of nettage may 

 float towards the surface ; but this plan is open to great 

 risk from passing vessels. 



