FISHING NATIONS AND THE FISHERIES 291 



entire production of Europe, and worth from -480,000 

 to -600,000. The herring fishery is divided into three 

 seasons : the Scotch season, the Yarmouth season, and 

 the autumn season. The Scotch is the summer season, 

 and lasts three months : through June, July, and August. 

 The drifters of Boulogne and Fecamp shoot their nets 

 to the east of the Shetlands and the Orkneys, and to the 

 north and east of the Scotch coast. As the temperature 

 falls they work further south. By the middle of Sep- 

 tember they are opposite Spurn' Head ; there the 

 Yarmouth fishery commences. Five weeks later they 

 are in the neighbourhood of the Channel ; this is the 

 autumn or Channel fishery, which is carried on regularly 

 between Dunkirk and Barfleur from the last week in 

 October to the end of February. There is not a bay, 

 cove, or estuary into which the fish are not pursued. 



During the first two seasons, the Scotch and Yarmouth 

 seasons, the fish are salted or frozen. The salted herring 

 is salted in bulk (braille en vrac), or thrown pell-mell, 

 mixed with salt, into the hold ; or it is known as white 

 herring when salted in barrels directly it is caught. It 

 is sold in that state or reserved for smoking. Of the 

 autumn herring a good half is consumed in the ports 

 or despatched as fresh herring. The rest is usually 

 bought by the curers. A last consists of 12,000 herrings; 

 the barrel weighs 220 Ibs. and contains 800 to 1,200 fish. 



The mackerel fishery is, so to speak, the younger sister 

 of the herring fishery. There are two seasons : from 

 April to June the herring boats shoot their nets in the 

 Irish Sea ; then, as the season advances, they double 

 back to the Channel ; in August they are off the French 

 coast. During the month of October there are still large 

 shoals of mackerel at sea off Start Point, and the French 

 trawlers bring back abundant cargoes. Like the herring, 



