By the fifteenth century many of the 

 merchants of Hamburg, one of the Hanseatic 

 towns, had grown rich on the herring industry. 

 The mass movement of herrings has deter- 

 mined the siting of viiiages and towns in 

 Scotiand, England, Newfoundland, Alasl<a, 

 Japan, and Siberia. 



Fish symbols have long been important In 

 religion. This one, carved of wood, is 

 used by the Melaneslans of New Ireland. 



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Gulf Stream moves across the Atlantic during the summer, and as 

 it reaches the coasts of France, the British Isles, and the Low Coun- 

 tries, Scandinavia, and Iceland, the herring are forced to retire to 

 the deep waters of the continental slope. Later in the year, as the 

 water of the Gulf Stream withdraws, leaving colder and less salty 

 water at the surface, the herrings come up and spawn. This happens 

 first in the north off Iceland, which is where the fishing begins, and 

 it is not until January that the withdrawal of the Gulf Stream is felt 

 on the coasts of Brittany. So although the fishing fleets follow the 

 shoals from north to south, they do not follow the same shoal. In 

 one area after another the local populations of herring come to the 

 surface, thus giving a false impression of a north-south movement. 



The Chinese and Japanese have devised 

 many ingenious ways of catching fish, includ- 

 ing nets that scoop fish out of the water. They 

 also train cormorants to fish for them. 

 Each bird wears a ring around its neck so 

 that It cannot swallow its catch. 



lOI 



