The Osceola times., 1879-05-03
fIShES OF THE SEA.
The Her ring, Shsd. God. Hniibut, Blue
naO. Ete

|
The Herring, Sh.a. Cod, Hniibut, Blu.
| hsb, Etc
Thomas J. Bodwitch in Troy Times
The lie of all fishes is one of perpetua
warfare. The carnage of the sea exceed
that which is allowed TO perplex ou
reasons on 1ry land. The herring sat
isfies many stomschs Ia broiled fresl
herring is laxury), and 1t is an unfor
tunsJe fish withal. An old whaler ha
known of hogshead OF herring being il
the belly of whale, and fifteen good
sized herrings have been found in the
stomach OF a cod. Proceeding into
mathematics for moment, II We allow
a goldfish only two herrings per day for
his existence and suppose him to feed on
herrings for one year, we have seven
hundred and thirty herrings as his allow.
ance for twelve months, and fifty Goldfish
| teuai one fisherman in destructive
power. Compared with the enormous
consumption of fish by each other, the
draughts made upon the population Of
the sea by man seems to dwindle into
insignifcsDce. The Solsnd goose can
swallow and digest six full sized herring
per day. II has been calculated that
in the island of St. Kilda, assuming it
TO be inhabited by 1000 of these birds
feeding for seven months in the year and
with the allowance OF five herrings each
per day, the number OF fish for the sum
| mer subsistence OF a single species OF
bird can not be less than 2l4 000, 900.
The herring was unknown To the an.
clients. being rarely, !. ever, found in the
Mediterranean. The Dutch are said to
have engaged in the fishery in 1854 The
invention of picking or sailing herring
is Sscribed TO one Bsnkels or Benkelson,
of Biervliet, neal Sluys, who died in
1897. The Emperor Charles V. visited
his grave and ordered a magnificent
TOMB to be erected to his memory. Since
this early period the Dutch have uni.
formly maintained their ascendancy in
the herring fishery. The fish is highly
appreciated by the Hollsnders them
selves, and the first barrel o. the season
is sent to the king, carried in process sion
with banners and music. A few of the
first catch are also presented to the
mobiles. The mode of fishing for herring
is by drit-nets the fishing is carried on
only in the night, the most favorable
time being when it is quite dark, and
the surface of the water is rufled by a
breeze.
The opinion once entertained that the
proper home of the herring is within the
Arctic circle, and that its vast shoals
Issue thence at certain seasons, migrat-
ing southwark and spreading themselves
along the shores OF Europe, Asia and
America, is now discarded az utterly
without foundation and the herring is
believed TO be an inhsbitant Of deep
water, from which, at certain seasons, 1t
approaches the shores, probably never
migrating to any great distance. The
Immense multitudes OF herring annually
taken causes no apparent diminution OF
their abundance, the destruction being
compensated for by prodigious fecundity;
more than IS 600 eggs have been counted
iu the roe OF single female.
The herring fisheries are extensively
carried on 10y the Norwegisns, English,
French, Scotch, Danes, Irish, Germans,
Russians, Dutch and Swedes. The fi.h
cries Of Norway employ between 20 600
and 80 900 men, and from 5, 900 10 600
vessels those of Great Britain about
| 100 900 men and 5000 vessels. It is
stated the fishermen oi one town, Lowe
stoft, caught 22,000,000 in two days.
| This WAS more than could be cured
before they would spoil, and tons II
them were sold for compost. Toe value
of the herring catch OF Canada in 1876
WAS over SO 900 900. But herring, with
out sby apparent cause, often desert
parts OF the coast where, for time, they
have been remarkably abundant, not
returning in similar numbers till after
the lapse OF number OF years Such
seems 10 be the case on our eastern
coasts, Until the last thirty years ths Y
frequented the hsrbors of Cape CD in
myriads from March till June. Since
that time they have been mpsratively
rare.
Msny years ago the fishermen on the
coast OF Sussex and the opposite coast
OF France often had occasion 70 exchange
civilities. But how could they do 80
not knowing the language lhey goi
over the difficulty by an exceedingly
simple process. They exchanged child
ren. A Sussex man took the son of 4
Frenchman TO board for time in hi,
family, and let the F enchman have hi,
son in return. In this accom- modatine
way French fisher boys learned English
and Eugli'h fi.her.boys learned French
II was q beautiful arrangement, for be-
sides any advantages derived from ling
usl intercemmunication feelings Of gooc
will grew up bet the two nations
The shsd is a delicious edible. II i
rival of salmon, 7 e first ,had il
our market In the season comes from
the Savannah river, and 1t commands
fabulous price. In March the 6sl
makes its appearance in the Hudson
and the fishermen make unusual effort
TO secure it. There are qualities in sha
As there are in almost everything else
The best are caught in the Connection
river. Hudson river shad come next
after which the North Csrolini shsd az
the best Savannah shsd are the pool
est, on the principle that the earlies
fruit is the poorest Shad run from Ii
St. Lawrence to .Charleston. fr.....s.
The Goldfish is sort OF q national fsl
u; ia known throughout the civilixe