SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 393 



inches in length. The lead varies in weight from i^ Ib. to 4 Ibs. 

 There are half a dozen to a dozen booms, each of which is 

 simply attached at its centre by a clove hitch in the line ; they 

 are placed nine or ten inches apart. At the free end of each 

 boom is about three inches of line terminated with a bright 

 tinned hook. This arrangement is lowered to the bottom and 

 then worked with a sink and draw motion. The brightness of 

 the hooks attracts the fish. It is when the herrings are plenti- 

 ful and are keeping near the bottom about or during the 

 spawning season that this apparatus is used, those caught being 

 usually cut up as bait for the cod lines. At night-time herrings 

 will take a bait such as mussels, pieces of fish, &c., offered to 

 them on any modification of the paternoster. 



It is hardly meet I should say much concerning the eco- 

 nomical side of herring fishing, but the figures are simply 

 astounding. It has been said that during each autumn the nets 

 in the North Sea, if joined together, would make a length of 

 from 8,000 to 10,000 miles. On the Scotch coasts alone the 

 annual take is over a million barrels of herrings, each barrel 

 being worth over i/. It is supposed that something like 

 2,000,000,000 are caught in British waters every year. Most 

 fortunately herrings are prolific, for not only do we catch them 

 in such enormous quantities, but all nature seems against them. 

 There is hardly a fish in the sea larger than themselves which 

 does not feed on them ; and, hunted from below, they are 

 harried from above by wildfowl of every description, while 

 porpoises, sharks, seals, all take toll from the shoals. From 

 babyhood to old age the herring swims in constant danger 

 of its life. If this slaughter by billions continues, it will 

 not be surprising if Nature steps in and causes the herring 

 to spawn three times a year instead of twice, to meet the 

 demand. 



In captivity herrings have been known to sacrifice them- 



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