5. Holland 



I. Short review of Sea-fishing ' 

 a. Principal modes of Fishing 



The three main branches of the Dutch North Sea fisheries industry are: 



1. The herring fishery with driftnets 



2. The cod- and haddoclc fishery with long lines 



3. The trawl fishery. 



1. The Dutch herring-fishing with driftnets is a very old industry. Beaujon (2) says 

 (p. 8) "fishermen von Kampen and Harderwijk, being two small seaports on the Zuidersee, 

 used to fish for herring "off Sconen" i. e. on the shores of the Baltic, before the end of 

 the twelfth century, and the trade must have been carried on for a considerable time 

 before so far developing itself as to be exercised at such a distance from home." The 

 same author ^ values (p. 64) the number of Dutch salt-herring "busses" above 2000, at the 

 time of the fishery's greatest expansion, i. e. in the first half of the 17'" century. It is 

 not certain how long this golden period of the Grand Fishery lasted, but it is well known 

 that the disastrous wars of the second half of that century greatly affected the herring 

 fishery. When, after the peace of Utrecht (April 1713), an era of peace again dawned upon 

 the Dutch Republic, her herring fishery was broken down, it presented at the time but a 

 shadow of its former greatness! In 1736, only 219 herringships and 31 seal-hunters sailed 

 from the Dutch ports: this being the first instance of herring statistics during the trade's 

 decline. For the period 1750—1794, the number of busses which sailed from Dutch ports 

 for the grand or cured-herring industry is known: it went down during those years from 



' North Sea (and North Atlantic) -fishing, no Zuidersee-, Rhinemouth-, Scheldt-fishing. 

 ^ A good deal of the historical information contained in this chapter has been taken, here and there 

 verbally, from Beaujon's precious book. 



Literature: 



1. Verslag van den Staat der Nederlandsche Zeevisschijeren, 1857—1863 in 8", 1864—1903 in 4", (Annually 

 a "Verslag" or Report.) 



2. Beaujon, A., The History of Dutch Sea Fisheries. London, 1883. 



3. HoooENDYK, Jz., A., De Grootvisscherij op de Noordzee. Haarlem, 1893. 



4. Wetgeving betreffende de zee- en zalmvissoherijen, verzamelt en bewerkt door Mr. H. van der Hoeven. 

 Leiden, 1897. 



5. Mededeelingen over Visscherij. Maandblad. Helder, 1894—1904. 



