392 



Fishery Bulletin 94(3). 1996 



the lapillus occurred at 77 days in 1991-92 and at 86 

 days in 1992-93 when the fish were respectively 28.9 

 and 29.4 mm SL. Owing to the small number of larger 

 individuals sampled during the 1993-94 season, it was 

 not feasible to determine when inflection took place. 



Discussion 



With the collapse of the herring fishery in the Nan- 

 tucket Shoals-Georges Bank region during the au- 

 tumn of 1976. initial larval abundance dropped from 



an estimated 62.5 x 10 12 larvae in 1975 to 2.8 x 10 12 

 in 1976 ( Lough et al. , 1985 ). This low abundance was 

 further diminished by strong and persistent north- 

 erly winds that occurred during November, January, 

 and February of the 1976-77 season (Wright, 1979; 

 Bolz and Lough, 1984). The computed Ekman trans- 

 port indices (Lough et al., 1979) are indicative of 

 strong southerly transport. These winds with their 

 resultant offshore surface drift would have disrupted 

 the normal spatial distribution of prey (Maillet and 

 Checkley, 1991). 



