10 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
or else a sort of special bait called gueldre, a mixture of the fry of fish and little crustaceans, especially 
prawn and shrimps, broken and pounded. Forbidden in 1726 by a declaration of the king, the use of 
gueldre was allowed in 1853, then forbidden a second time. Now it is employed again, not only at 
Croisic, and at Turballe, but in Vendee— at Noirmoutiers, for example — where it has procured good 
fishing. There, as well as elsewhere, it. is said to spoil the fish by facilitating decomposition. The 
manufacturers reluctantly buy sardines caught, with this bait. 
A number of artificial rogues have been tried in Vendee. We will point out from memory the 
principal ones which, successively, have been used in commerce: (1) The artificial rogue called “de 
Douarnenez,” prepared by Messrs. Morvan and Delasalle. (2) The same rogue, modified by Mr. 
Morvan in 1876, which contains pickled meal and a small quantity of natural Norwegian rogue; this 
is the “farinaceous mixture of Morvan”; it. is no longer manufactured; in 1877 a barrel of 130 kilo- 
grams of this rogue was worth 25 francs, while a barrel of good natural rogue was worth 40 francs at. 
least. (3) The “ heterogeneous rogue” of Mr. Ispa (of Douarnenez) is composed of cakes formed of 
oleaginous grains (sesame, arachide) diluted with water and a quarter of Norwegian rogue. (4) Caillo, 
senior, about 1818, made a trial of artificial rogue, composed of boned sardines, pounded and reduced 
to a paste; he used the flesh of all fish except of those called fat fish. (5) Caillo, junior, reports that a 
long time ago a pharmacist, of Leon d’ Angers prepared and sold as rogue grains of linseed or rape seed. 
While these artificial rogues may still be occasionally used in Vendee, recourse is usually had to 
the two natural and well-known rogues. At the Sables, on the Isle of Yeu, among others, the rogue 
of Norway or of Bergen is employed (rogue made with the eggs of salted cod, stockfish) to cause the 
fish to come to the surface of the sea at. the beginning of the fishing. The rogue made with the eggs of 
the mackerel serves to keep the fish on the water. This last costs 70 francs a barrel of 130 kilograms; 
the Bergen rogue, very much in use on the Vendeen coast, is not worth more than 55 to 60 francs. 
FISHING SEASON, GROUNDS, AND METHODS. 
Sardines are caught in greater or less numbers throughout the year. On the 
west coast, however, the fishing season opens in February and continues to Novem- 
ber, rarely extending into December. In Brittany the fishing begins rather later and 
continues longer than at points farther south on the Bay of Biscay. Fishing in the 
canning district is continued as late as practicable, usually as long as the fish remain 
in abundance, as their condition at that time is good. In the Mediterranean sardines 
are caught during every month of the year. 
The sardine fishery is emphatically a shore fishery, and most of it is done within 
a very short distance of the home ports. This permits the use of smaller and less 
expensive boats than would otherwise be required, and insures the landing of the fish 
a short time after capture. 
The early fishing for the sardine de derive is mostly within 1 or 2 miles of the 
shore and rarely beyond 5 or 6 miles. In the summer and fall fishing with bait, the 
boats may go 10 miles to sea, but the largest part of the catch is taken within 3 or 1 
miles of shore, and a very considerable proportion close inshore in the bays. 
The fishing in the early part of the season — that is, in March, April, and May — 
is done mostly with old nets and is conducted only at night. About 20 nets are used 
by each boat. These are tied together and submerged about 1 yard, the corks being 
attached in bunches of four or five at intervals of 2 yards. While the boats are lying 
near by under a small aft sail and the men sleeping, the nets are allowed to drift. No 
bait is used. The fish thus caught are not fat and not used for canning, but are salted 
or sold for immediate consumption. 
The regular fishing is carried on only by day. The boats start for the fishing- 
grounds early in the morning (2 to 1 o’clock), so as to be there when day breaks; 
