' BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES EISII COMMISSION. 299 



Kvalevaag and Salvoe. All the lines were thickly covered with spawn, 

 both in deep and in shallow water. On this day the temperature, at a 

 depth of from to 50 meters, varied from 5° to 5°.4 Celsius. The male 

 fish were, on the whole, still full, and only in exceptional cases a few had 

 ejected a small quantity of milt. In three batches of herring received 

 bj r me at different hours during the day, the percentage of males was 

 75, 73, and 72, respectively. 



On February 26 I examined the coast from the Ferkiugstad Islands 

 as far as Akrehavn and Kvalevaag. In nearly all places where the bot- 

 tom was clean (covered with coarse and fine sand) the herring had 

 spawned at a depth varying from 10 to 60 meters. Among the number 

 of herring which I examined the males were invariably in the majority. 

 On the 26th the temperature at a depth of from to 70 meters varied 

 between 4°.6 and 5° Celsius. 



On March 1 the herring had " whitened" the sea near Svserdholm, the 

 most southerly point in the southern district where spawning was ob- 

 served during this year's fishing season. The temperature at Veavaag 

 (1£ Danish miles north of Svaerdholm) varied between 4°.4 and 5° Celsius 

 at a depth of from to 30 meters. 



During the following days I had occasion daily to examine codfish 

 caught between the Ferkingstad Islands and Kvalevaag. As nearly 

 each of these codfish was full, almost to repletion, of herring spawn, 

 and as bottom-scraping invariably brought to the surface a great quan- 

 tity of spawn, I was confirmed in my opinion that the herring had 

 spawned over a vast area, which from the last herring period was known 

 as a good spawning place. That the herring have spawned succes- 

 sively, and have stayed in this place for some time, is also proved by 

 the circumstance that in the stomach of one cod there were found her- 

 ring eggs in all stages of development, from recently impregnated spawn 

 to spawn where the shining metal colored iris of the embryo could be 

 seen with the naked eye. 



About March 6 and 7 the spawning process may be said to have ceased 

 in the southern part of the southern district. Near Stokvigen, Grotle- 

 fiord, aud in the neighborhood of Hisken and Haapollen spawning her- 

 ring were observed as late as the middle of March. Herring caught on 

 March 21 were found to have finished spawning. During tin- period 

 from March 10 to 15, the temperature of the water at a depth of from 

 to 70 meters varied from 3°5 to 4°.7 Celsius between Nokling and 

 Brandesund. 



It will be seen that all the spawning observed in the southern part 

 of the district took place from the surface to a depth of 70 meters, and 

 at a temperature of the water varying from 4°4 to (i° Celsius, while in 

 the northern part of the district, at the same depth, it took place at a 

 temperature varying from 3°.5 to 4°.7 Celsius. 



According to my instructions, I was to place impregnated herring 

 spawn in an inclosed basin. I was fortunate enough to find a suitable 



