12 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



It is rarely that the Coal-fish (Gadus virens) visits local 

 waters nowadays, but two or three small ones had been hooked 

 from the piers late in October and early in November. One 

 brought to me to identify on November 6th weighed about 2£ lb. 



What undoubtedly would have been a record Herring fishing 

 began this year under most inauspicious conditions, owing to the 

 outbreak of war. Very early in the season the German mines 

 flung broadcast with cold, calculating brutality did serious 

 mischief among the boats, and restricted the fishing area, which 

 became still more circumscribed when our own Admiralty was 

 obliged to follow suit. Many of the boats with their crews were 

 taken over by the authorities for mine- sweeping, so that numbers 

 of the boats could not be fished. The Scotch boats putting in 

 were exceedingly few ; the Scotch fisher-girls came in very 

 scanty numbers, as did fish-buyers, and all these left long before 

 the normal ending of the season. Altogether some three hundred 

 English boats and about seventy Scotch boats pursued the fishing. 

 The loss to trade in many respects was enormous; " pickled " fish 

 was forbidden exportation, owing to the possibilities of it being 

 sent to Germany in a roundabout way. The lifelessness charac- 

 terizing the whole fishing was depressing ; quite half a hundred 

 boats could not get crews. 



Herrings this season were of good quality, and in general 

 fetched good prices, in some instances realising record figures. 

 The following examples of newspaper paragraphs (the ' Eastern 

 Daily Press ' issues one for Yarmouth and one for Lowestoft 

 daily) may be taken as fairly typical reports, and should be 

 interesting: — 



" Yarmouth, October 22nd. — There was another busy day on 

 the wharf yesterday, when something like one hundred and fifty 

 boats arrived with from eighty crans [eight last] down, but the 

 average was not quite so high as on Tuesday, and was estimated 

 at thirty crans. Fresh Herrings sold steadily at 18s. 6d. to 15s.; 

 and salted stuff, of which there was not much, made 15s. per 

 cran. Another small party of Scotch girls arrived yesterday, 

 and piles of filled barrels are now rising on the Denes, and in 

 the curing yards." 



" Lowestoft, December 4th. — The majority of the fifty boats 

 arriving yesterday were only lightly fished whilst in many 



