372 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [2] 



over, were low, owing to the small size of the fish. Bait was unusually 

 scarce. Without herring for bait the Faroe and Iceland fishermen 

 seem to lose confidence, and all desire to row about and seek the most 

 favorable fishing-places, but they will set their lines at random, which, 

 of course is not generally j)roductive of favorable results. The herring 

 fisheries with nets were so poor during August and September, at any 

 rate in the Eeyder and ISTord fiords, that people were actually surprised 

 if twenty or thirty herring had, during the night, found their way into 

 a net. In some cases the fishermen had to row several miles to neigh- 

 boring fiords to buy fish from the Norwegians, who occasionally had 

 caught some during the night, but it happened frequently that not a 

 herring could be got, even for its weight in gold". 



The general results were not very encouraging, and if some vessels 

 succeeded in bringing home a considerable number of fish this only 

 goes to prove that even in a poor fishing year the Iceland cod fisheries 

 will repay the capital invested if they are managed systematically and 

 economically, for it is a mistake to think that the fisheries consist in 

 nothing but to draw the fish from the water, and expressions such as 

 " the inexhaustible wealth of the sea " should never be understood lit- 

 erally. 



As regards the results obtained by my vessel Alma in 1883, they 

 cannot yet be stated accurately. The fish caught on the eastern coast 

 are salted and laid to dry during the winter, and are not brought into the 

 market till the following spring; but in reporting the course of our fish- 

 eries I intend to give all the data which can possibly be of interest, 

 viz., the number and weight of the fish caught, the shrinking of the fish 

 in salt and during the drying process, &c., from my own personal ob- 

 servations. 



The Alma left Stavanger, ISTorway, on March 21, 1883, with a crew of 

 6 men, a supply of food sufficient for 18 men for about seven months, 

 250 tons of salt, a number of herring-kegs, &c., and fully equipped in 

 every respect to take part in the Iceland fisheries. After having 

 weathered a few severe storms from the north, the Alma reached the 

 Faroe Islands on March 29, where we remained till April 12, in order 

 to engage some more fishermen. Twill not dwell on the difiiculties con- 

 nected with obtaining the necessary number of men for the Alma and 

 the three fishing-smacks which weretoaccompanj^her, as I have described 

 all this at full length in a- former report ; and I will confine myself merely 

 to mentioning the fact that it was exceedingly difficult to induce the 

 Faroe men to go to Iceland. These difficulties will prolbably increase 

 from year to year as the Faroe people get more vessels of their own and 

 engage more than formerly in deep-sea fisheries. With a total crew of 

 16, which in May was increased to 17, we left the Faroe Islands on April 

 12, and reached Cape Reikianses on April 17. In Orebacks Bay we 

 noticed some French schooners. These French vessels leave France as 

 early as February, and in the beginning fish along the south of Iceland, 



