en 
so generally known, that certain designations have been applied to the classes thus di- 
stinguished, as “Merchant’s fish” or “Mark I”, “Medium fish” or “Mark 2” etc. During 
the fat herring fishery, the telegrams reporting on the “quality” of the fish indicate 
this in terms such as “mainly Mark 2 fish” and similar expressions. It is thus 
very natural that a great deal of experience has in course of time been obtained as to 
the fluctuations in the occurrence of these different “marks”, and it is a well known fact 
in the Norwegian fishing industry, that the fat herring fishery may in one year be di- 
stinguished by Mark 2 fish, in another by Mark 5, etc. These facts agree so thoroughly 
Small herring and fat herring, North Coast. 
| | 
| 
ee Length Weight | No. pr. No. pr. | No. pr. Cases 
seine hauls| 12 em. | in gr. | kg 4 kg. | 100 kg. 
8 3.6 | 280 1120 28000 
First 9 3.7 270 1080 27000 iy: 7 
year of life 10 44 223 672 | 22300 | m 
11 6.0 166 564 16600 
12 || 18 534 13300 | 
3 10.0 100 400 10000 Small 
14 12.5 80 320 8000 |‘ Bladsild herring 
Second 15 18 55 220 5500 | 
year of life 16 3 en 160 4000 
17 29) NS 136 3400 | 
IE 18 SON 29 116 2900 |, Skjeresild 
19 41 24 96 2400 I 
Fa | D 51 20 80 2000 . Mk. 7 
| ai 58 17 68 1700 ae Mk. 6 
| 2 71 14 56 1400 | M. Mk.5 
32/5 23 Sl | 12 48 1200 EN 
24 1D 10 | AO 1000 } MK. Mi ne 
25 110 9 | 88 | où | IK, Mike 5 
45 | 26 125 SAME ee | KG Mik 2 
52]s 97 162 | 6 | 2 | 600 | KKK. Mk 1 
Gp | OS 192 5 | 2 500 | KKKK. 
| 29 206 | A | 16 400 | KKKKK. 
| 
\ | 
with our data previously noted as to the fluctuations in composition of the stock with 
regard to age and size, that it may well be worth while to more closely consider the rela- 
tion between the age of the herring, their length, weight, and position in the scale of the 
old sorting method. The table above gives a comparison on these lines as regards the small 
herring and fat herring, and we may here find a good deal of useful positive information. 
It will be noticed that the “kril”; one year old fish, of 8—11 cm. in length, weigh from 
3.6 to 6 gr. and run thus from about 150 to 300 per kg. according to size, or 15,000 to 
30,000 per barrel (100 kg.). 
The “bladsild” increase very rapidly in weight; the larger specimens already weigh 
25 gr. or only 40 per kg., the “skjeeresild” average only 25—30 to the kg. 
