350 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [10] 



of merely floating near the surface, as was the case formerly. It was 

 another great step forward when a method of setting nets was discov- 

 ered in Norway whereby herring could be caught at any depth. It is 

 also true, if a fishery must be carried on with nets, that it is better to 

 have several ways of using the nets than merely one, and to use the 

 nets both floating and stationary, as the migrations of the fish require. 

 The same applies to seine fishing. It was thus a great step forward, in 

 an economic sense, when a seine was invented which could be set at 

 any required depth. 



Formerly it was customary for the seine to follow the bottom or else 

 the surface. It was another great step forward when the Americans 

 invented a seine which could also be used in the open sea. It is also 

 evident that the longer the period during which an apparatus can be 

 used, the better it will be. The longer a fisherman can use his appa- 

 ratus and hope to catch enough fish to make it pay, the greater will be 

 the chance for him to pay the interest of the capital and the capital in- 

 vested in the apparatus. It is, in this respect, of special importance 

 that, if there are fish which visit the coast at different times, the same 

 material can be used to the greatest possible extent all the time. This 

 is the case with the herring-fisheries on the coasts of Great Britain, 

 and also in the Sound, where there are fisheries during the greater por- 

 tion of the year, although the principal herring-fisheries take place in 

 autumn. It is also evident that the safer an apparatus, the better it 

 will be. Even if a fisherman is ever so courageous, he will always con- 

 sider it a special advantage if he need not risk the loss of his apparatus. 

 The fear of losing their apparatus is always great among the fishermen, 

 especially when a considerable capital has been invested in them. This 

 shows itself particularly in Scotland when the fishermen go out to sea. 

 As soon as it looks as if a storm was approaching they immediately 

 make for home, and do not venture to expose their apparatus to the 

 dangers of the open sea. Even the danger of losing their lives plays a 

 more important part, both as regards the fisheries and the method em- 

 ployed, than is generally believed. It is also clear that the richer the 

 catch, when compared with the amount of capital invested in the appa- 

 ratus, the better it will be. In this respect there is considerable difler- 

 ence between different localities. Much depends on the place where 

 the fish are sold, for their value varies greatly in different places. 



With regard to the floating-net fisheries near Scotland, during the 

 last ten or twenty years the peculiarity has shown itself that the quan- 

 tity of nets was increased without a corresponding increase in the aver- 

 age quantity of fish caught by each beat. This caused a Mr. Oleghorn, 

 in 1864, to make a calculation when the Scotch fisheries would come to 

 an end. He prepared a diagram showing the gradual decrease of the 

 number of fish caught, and thereon based his calculation of the time the 

 fisheries would probably last. He arrived at the result that the time 

 was not far distant when these fisheries would no longer yield an in- 



