( 290 ) 



NETHERLANDS. 



(For Plan, see p. 176.) 



HERRING FISHERY. THE principal branch of this great fishery of the Netherlands is carried 

 on in the North Sea annually from the month of June to the beginning of November, its 

 special localities being in the vicinity of the coasts of Scotland and England; also, in 

 the latter portion of the season, in a more southerly direction near the Dutch coasts. In this 

 calling there are occupied a great number of smacks, luggers and cutters, nearly all issuing 

 from the ports of South Holland, besides the so-called " bomschuiten " vessels, which, owing 

 to the necessity for their being dragged along the shore, are furnished with a flat bottom 

 instead of a keel. The fleet after a long period of decline has improved since 1857, when 

 Holland abolished the system of premiums, and put an end to all kinds of protection for the 

 fisheries and left them unrestricted. The number of hookers, luggers and cutters was 89 in 

 1867, and in 1881 had increased to 139 ; the number of " bomschuiten " likewise increased 

 from 189 in the former to 269 in the latter year. Besides this the tonnage of the different 

 vessels gradually became larger, so that they now take out to sea more nets than was formerly 

 the case. The tonnage of the luggers gradually increased from 147 to 235 cubic metres, and 

 that of the boats from 90 or 100 to 140 or 150 cubic metres. The luggers and cutters are 

 manned by fourteen or fifteen hands ; the boats by ten or eleven. The whole fleet consisted 

 in 1881 of 408 vessels, measuring 19,800 tons (each of 2 '83 cubic metres), and were manned 

 by 4840 sailors. The captured herrings are for the most part cured almost immediately after 

 they are taken and on board ship, while another portion are first salted prior to being smoked 

 and sold as red herrings to the trade. The production has of late years remained prosperous, 

 consisting in 1880 of about 227 million, and in 1881 of about 197J million of fish, representing 

 a market value of between 3 and 4 million guilders. The principal destination of the salted 

 herrings is Germany, the smoked ones being sent to Belgium. Similarly with the production, 

 the export has also remained steady. The export of cured herrings increased from 80,000 

 barrels in 1872 to 134,600 barrels in 1881 and 139,500 barrels in 1882. The abolition of the 

 official brand to which Holland agreed in 1878, far from hampering the home trade, has given 

 it a remarkable impetus from that period. On the other hand the export of smoked herrings 

 has decreased from about 68 million head in 1872 to 41J million in 1881. This diminution is 

 however solely due to the circumstance that so high a price is now obtained for the cured 

 herring that a smaller part of the whole capture is now consigned to the smoking room than 

 was formerly the case. Besides those caught in the North Sea, Holland obtains considerable 

 quantities of herrings from the Zuider Zee. This fishery, which begins in the month of 

 October, continues to March or April, but is often delayed for months by frost, keeps perhaps a 

 thousand small vessels in employment, each of which is manned by two or three men, who 

 bring their take daily to the shore. The produce is very irregular, but may be set down 

 at from 40 to 50 million fish. These herrings are of much inferior quality to the herrings 

 from the North Sea. They are either smoked singly, though last year high prices were 

 obtained from them fresh, in which state they are largely used by the poorer classes. If the 

 capture is a very large one, large quantities of them are often used for manure. 



SALT COD. The smacks and cutters which in the summer carry on the herring fishery 

 are occupied during the winter in the capture of codfish with hooks and lines in the vicinity 

 of the Dogger Bank, the cod being principally prepared as salt fish. The not very profitable 

 results obtained from this fishery a consequence probably of the high price of the bait is 

 no doubt the cause why many of the ships during winter either lie still or engage in the 

 capture of fresh fish. On the contrary there are in Holland about fifty other vessels, each 

 with a crew of thirteen men, which carry on exclusively the capture of cod and shell-fish, and 

 during a part of the winter, join the fleet which fishes on the Dogger Bank and bring away 

 the salted produce. The returns of this fishing has of late years varied between 20,000 

 and 25,000 barrels, while the export of salted cod amounted in 1881 to 575,000, and in 1882 

 to nearly 894,000, kilogrammes ; Belgium and Germany are almost exclusively the consumers 

 of this article. 



