APPENDIX F: HENKING —4 — 



The same fish ("geep") appears once in the year, at the end of April and in May, 

 on the Dutch coast and it is said there, that "southern winds and warm weather" are 

 the cause of its appearance. 



I may yet mention lastly, that a young herring, in company with the sprat, is 

 accustomed to appear every year, from the middle of November to the end of March, in the 

 mouth of the Elbe, usually in great shoals but also only sparingly (as in the winter of 

 1903 — 04); further, that the plaice and haddock have also their special fishing-period in 

 the German Bight. These examples should be sufficient to illustrate the variations in 

 the quantities of fish, and reference to the species better known as migratory fishes, 

 such as salmon, eel, sturgeon and shad, is hardly necessary. 



Whilst the regular variations in the occurrence of each of the food-fishes, which like 

 the herring, cod and mackerel give rise to special fisheries, have long been known, the 

 same may also be said regarding the smaller fisheries near the coast. In both, the 

 fishermen are accustomed to rely upon the appearance of the fish at certain times, just 

 like the peasant upon the fruit of the land. 



The fishery of the steam-trawlers is different. There is no longer any fishery- 

 season for these, 'any natural pause, as is shown in the above-mentioned fisheries. We 

 might therefore make the supposition, that the stock of fish on which the trawlers depend, 

 would remain at all times approximately the same. 



This is not the case however. The unequal quantities which the various steamers 

 bring to land, the changing of the fishing-grounds and lastly the formation of special 

 tendencies amongst the captains of the steamers, show that it is not so ; there are some 

 who especially search for the "prime" fish, i. e. the most valuable flat-fishes such as 

 soles and turbot, and others who specialise on the cod, haddock etc. 



It is just the increase of specialisation and chiefly of experienced fishermen, who can 

 still here and there make a good catch, where others obtain little or nothing, which should 

 make one careful in drawing conclusions from a negative result. Conclusions from the 

 catches of fishermen alone, regarding the migrations of fishes are especially, extremely 

 risky and in no way trustworthy without the most thorough proof. Who would conclude 

 without further investigation, for example, that we are dealing with a migration between 

 the two following places, because the North Sea herring fishery begins in June not far 

 from the Shetland Isles and is carried on in November at the entrance to the Channel? 

 What was believed by the old Hamburger Andersen 150 years ago, is no longer main- 

 tainable. The catches of the fishermen therefore, raise problems mainly, the solution 

 of which require special investigation. The fishermen ordinarily use only one fixed method 

 and the information derived from this, is often not sufficient for conclusions free of error. 



The trawl-fishery is such a one-sided method. It analyses only a mass of water, 

 which lies 1— I'/zm. over the bottom. It is not easy to know therefore, whether even 

 the true ground-fishes may not rise at times from the bottom-layers, or bury them- 

 selves in the ground, and may really be present, even though the trawl takes them, if at 

 all, in but small quantities. 



If the catches of the fishing-steamers are analysed, accordingly, for the frequency of 

 the various species, the analysis is exclusively of the bottom-layers, which alone are 

 fished by the trawl. The source of error arising from the net passing through the upper 

 water-layers on hauling in, may be neglected here as unimportant. 



