[3] EEt-I'lSHlNG IN THE BALTIC. 41 1 



mediately north of SelsiligOt', bilt at the present time tliey liave ceased 

 fentirely.* Even in the Great and Little Belts, and along a part of the 

 eastern boast of Jutlaiid, "hommor" eel-fisheries are carried on in sev- 

 eral places.t The above iudications as to the extent of the " hommor" 

 iisherifeS also shotv very distinctly the route followed by the eels in their 

 migrations along the coaist. We see therefrom hotv the eels, after hav- 

 Itig passed by certain parts of the Swedish coastj such as the coast of 

 Sodermanl'iudj &C;, finally bross Over towards the Danish cuast from 

 FalsterbO) aud only again make their appearance on the Swedish coast 

 in the narrowest part of the sound, near Helsiugborg4 The reasons 

 why the migratory eels do not approach every portion of the coast, 

 must probably be found in the varying depth of water near the coast, 

 the different currents, and other circumstances as yet not fully ex- 

 plained. It is also possible that favorable lilaces for these fisheries are 

 found on those parts of the coast which, as 1 said above, the eels pass 

 by, although no such fisheries have ever been attempted there. Various 

 circumstances, however, speak against such a supjiosition. It is hardly 

 probable that as easy and remunerative fisheries as the " hommor" eel- 

 fisheries should not have been attempted in these parts of the coast, if 

 there had been any prospect of success ; and as far as I could learn 

 from the fishermen, such attempts have been made in several parts of 

 the coast of Scania, where "hommor" fisheries had so far not been car- 

 ried on, but without success.§ I will not deny, however, that there may 

 be some places where these fisheries have not been carried on, but which 

 may be considered suitable for the purpose. 



From olden times it has been known to the fishermen that the eels 

 migrate along the coast, and even scientists like Kroyer, Nilsson, and 

 others have called attention to this fact, but these migrations of the 

 grown eels have, nevertheless, been less noticed by naturalists than they 

 deserve, and the principal question discussed in works on the fauna has 

 been the ascent of the young of the eel from the sea into the rivers. That 

 a migration takes place along the coast is evident from the position in 

 which the apparatus (the "hommor") has to be placed, if any considerable 

 number of eels are to be caught. Along our entire eastern coast the 

 " hommor" are i)laced so that the eels must enter them from the north, 

 on the south coast of Scania from the east, and up in the Sound from 

 the south. This circumstance can hardly be caused by an accident. 

 On the Danish coasts of the Great and Little Belts, and other coasts, 



'See J. Colliu, '^Xordisk Tidsslcrift for Fishm." vol. i, p. 355. 



t See G. Wintber, " Oni Fiskeriel i Stone Belt" {Nordish Tidsslcrift for Fiskeri, vol. ii) ; 

 also, " Forsog till oversif/t ov<r Fiskei-iet : Davmarh vedrorende celdre og vyere Lorregler" 

 {Nordisk Tidsskrift for F'n^ken, vol. i, p. 240); and also Kroyer, '' Danmarks Fiske." 



t ThoMC parts of the, coast which are visited by the eels during their migrations are 

 marked on the map which accompanied my Treatise in the German language : " Noti- 

 sen iiher die Schrredischen Fiitchercien I," published for the Berlin exposition. 



§ Experiments will, during' tlic present year, be made on the coast of Sodermanland, 

 the results of wliich will (imihtli'ss (brow .some light on this subject. 



H. Mis. G7 27 



