98 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



and Neapeague bays several weeks beyond their usual date of departure by 

 remarkable quantities of bluefish which were present in the ocean. He relates 

 that about October 21 the bluefish disappeared and that "the departure of 

 the menhaden rapidly ensued." By the middle of November the menhaden 

 had largely withdrawn from Chesapeake Bay, and all schools were moving 

 south. On November 16 the "J. W. Hawkins" observed fish swimming rapidly 

 northward. Twenty miles farther south a large school of bluefish was en- 

 countered. For a week the northward migration of menhaden and bluefish 

 was observed. It is assumed that the northbound bluefish intercepted the 

 southbound menhaden causing them to reverse their direction. 



BREEDING HABITS 



EGGS AND SPAWNING. In spite of the appearance of the menhaden every 

 year along the entire Atlantic coast from Florida to Maine, their breeding 

 habits were not well understood until comparatively recently. Various the- 

 ories were advanced from time to time, which had the menhaden spawning 

 from the headwaters of tributaries to the Gulf Stream, on the shoals off 

 Georges Banks, and all the way to the Florida Keys, where it is now known 

 the Atlantic menhaden never appear. Even now, knowledge concerning the 

 spawning of the menhaden south of the Chesapeake Bay region is confused 

 or nonexistent. 



For certain sections of the coast, however, the time, period, and condi- 

 tions of spawning have been well worked out. In general, it may be stated 

 that menhaden spawn all along the Atlantic coast from Florida to Maine, 

 the time of spawning varying with the latitude. Menhaden spawn in the 

 Gulf of Maine in the summer and probably in late spring. In the Vineyard 

 Sound area they spawn in the summer as early as June and through October 

 (Kuntz and Radcliffe, 19 17). In Long Island waters the season extends 

 from late May to October (Perlmutter, 1939). Westman and Bidwell (1948) 

 say that spawning begins in Raritan Bay and lower New York Bay in April, 

 and increases to a maximum in June. In the Chesapeake Bay area Hildebrand 

 and Schroeder (1928) find that spawning occurs in the fall. Hardcastle 

 (1946) concludes that spawning off North Carolina occurs in late winter and 

 in the vicinity of the Gulf Stream. He found fully ripe ova in December but 

 reports that ripe specimens are seldom seen, that when the fish approach 

 maturity, they disappear, and when seen again, are spent. Reporting on the 

 observations of local fishermen, he says that in late winter great schools are 

 occasionally seen in the Gulf Stream area churning the water and making it 

 white with spawn. South of North Carolina no definitive data have been dis- 

 closed as to the time of spawning. Hildebrand and Schroeder, on the basis of 

 larvae varying in size from 27 mm. in January to 46 mm. in May, concluded 

 that menhaden spawned in the Chesapeake in the fall of the year. 



