Table 4 : Estimated biomass of herring which spawned at the 

 Little Machias Bay egg bed in September, 1986. 



Shallow Water : 

 Area of egg bed 



Mean egg abundance 



Total # eggs 



Deep Water : 

 Area of egg bed 



Mean egg abundance 



Total # eggs 



Entire Egg Bed : 

 Total # eggs 



Mean length of fish 



Mean weight of fish 



Fecundity (29.6 cm TL) 



# spawning females 



# spawning fish 

 (1:1 sex ratio) 



Biomass of spawning 

 fish (0.24 kg/fish) 



High Estimate 

 0.3 x 10 6 m 2 

 2.5 x 10 6 /m 2 

 0.8 x 10 12 



0.5 x 10 6 m 2 



4.4 x 10 12 /m 2 



2.3 x 10 



3.1 X 10 



12 



12 



2 9.6 cm TL 



0.24 kg 



1 x 10 5 eggs 



3.1 x 10 7 



6.2 x 10 7 



14.9 x 10 3 MT 



Low Estimate 

 0.3 x 106 m2 

 1.2 x 10 6 /m 2 

 0.4 x 10 12 



0.5 x 10 6 m 2 



2.2 x 10 12 /m 



1.2 X 10 



1.6 X 10 



12 



12 



2 9.6 cm TL 

 0.2 4 kg 

 1 x 10 5 eggs 

 1.6 x 10 7 

 3.2 X 10 7 



7.8 X 10 3 MT 



Egg mortality rates were negligible. Percentages of dead 

 eggs estimated from the same sub-samples were all <5%; most of 

 them were 1% or less. Low egg mortality rates prevailed through 

 September in a sample collected the day that the eggs began to 

 hatch. No evidence of egg predation was observed, although cod 

 are known to sometimes congregate in the vicinity of egg beds on 

 this spawning ground and feed actively on herring eggs. In all 

 samples collected prior to October 2, no obvious differences in 

 the stage of egg development were discerned, indicating that all 

 eggs were probably spawned at more or less the same time. In one 

 sample collected on October 2, eggs could be divided into two 

 distinct groups, i.e., eggs with and without black eye pigmenta- 

 tion. Eggs in more and less advanced stages of development in 

 this sample were clustered in distinct groups, but there was no 

 clear relation between the stage of development and position in 

 the egg mass. These preliminary results suggest that, not only 

 is egg mortality low in egg mats 1-3 cm thick deposited along the 



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