xvi DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVAL SERVICE 



without exception, use gill-nets with a certain fixed size of mesh (2| to 2| inches). 

 The nets are placed along the sea-bottom on the coast or in the bays or inlets along 

 the shore. At no point is fishing carried on far out from the coast in deep water, or 

 on the surface (by drift-nets or by purse-seines). 



As pointed out in a preliminary report of my journey'^ " this particular method 

 of fishing " naturally " has great disadvantages for the study of the life-history of 

 the herring. The big meshes of the fishermen's nets can procure samples of the large 

 mature herring only, and it is further quite uncertain whether the samples are in any 

 way representative of even the mature shoals or not. It may be that the fishermen, 

 through a long experience of fishing in these waters, have been able to adopt a size of 

 mesh which takes practically all the sizes of mature herring visiting the coast, but 

 only by means of experiments, carried out with gear taking all the sizes probably 

 occurring, can this question be satisfactorily answered." 



In the course of the winter 1914-15, I had now occasion to study the samples col- 

 lected, primarily with a view to ascertaining how far it might be possible, with such 

 material, to arrive at an understanding of, at any rate, some points in the natural 

 history of the herring. The biological laboratory at the University of Toronto afforded 

 me excellent facilities for this work, and it was there that I can-ied out the investiga- 

 tions referred to in my preliminary report above referred to.^ 



As will be seen from this, the samples collected distinctly showed that there are 

 on the coasts of Canada types of herring differing widely one from another. The 

 scales were eminently suited for investigation purposes in the case of all samples 

 from the northern parts of the waters concerned, as, for instance, those 

 from Newfoundland and gulf of St. Lawrence (e.g. Magdalen islands), whereas the 

 samples from the west coast of Nova Scotia were far more difficult to deal with. 



It was very interesting, at the outset, to find that samples from so small and 

 restricted an area as the gulf of St. Lawrence should present such clear and definite 

 differences in the manner of growth as those here found. The herring from the west 

 coast of Newfoundland, for instance, were distinguished by a poor growth during the 

 first years, and a long continued later growth, while those from the waters around 

 Prince Edward island and the Magdalen islands showed considerable growth for the 

 first years, followd by a more rapid decline in the annual increment. This difference 

 Avas, moreover, strongly supported by the results arrived at on studying the age com- 

 position of the samples. The Newfoundland saniples, both those from the autumn of 

 1914 and those from the spring of 1915, all showed a distinctly marked abundance of 

 fish from the year-class 1904, whereas in the samples from the southern parts, a very 

 different composition was apparent. 



Some preliminary investigations as to the " racial " characters of the herring 

 (number of vertebrae, keel-scales, etc.) revealed a state of things such as, in European 

 waters, has only been observed in the Baltic and the White seas ; that is, from enclosed 

 waters with a very low winter temperature and low salinities. These racial investiga- 

 tions likewise tended to support the view obtained by growth investigations and study 

 of the age composition, to wit, that real differences were discernible. 



I had now succeeded in making clear, even with the primitive methods here 

 employed, tliat the herring from the coastal waters of Canada differed widely as between 

 one part and another of the region concerned. This result in itself must be regarded 

 as of great importance, since it threw light upon the area of distribution (migration) 

 of the herring, and paved the way for closer investigations in the future. 



It seemed to me, therefore, desirable to endeavour to carry out more comprehen- 

 sive investigations on a larger scale, throughout the whole of the waters in question, 



1 Investigations into the Natural History of the Herring in the Atlantic Waters of Canada, 

 1914. Supplement to the fifth annual Report of the Department of the Naval Service for the 

 fiscal year ending March 31, 1915, Ottawa, 1915. 



2 Loc. cit. 



