Spawning 



The spawning season of the silver hake is 

 generally between June and September, 

 with the heaviest spawning in July and 

 August. Silver hake eggs have been found in 

 both inshore and offshore waters, from 

 Cape Cod to the Bay of Fundy. The eggs 

 are buoyant, transparent, and small, about 

 l/32-inch diameter. A newly hatched fish 

 is about l/8 inch long and drifts along with 

 the ocean surface currents. We do not know 

 how long the small fish spend drifting 

 about, but we have caught little silver hake, 

 approximately 1 inch in length, on or near 

 the bottom toward the end of the first 

 summer. 



Tagging 



In order to find out where silver hake 

 go during their lifetime, biologists of the 

 Bureau of Commercial Fisheries have 

 tagged and released many hundreds of fish. 

 The tag is a piece of bright yellow, plastic 

 tubing, aptly called a "spaghetti" tag, 

 attached through the back muscle of the 

 fish. A reward message and serial number 

 are printed on each tag. The results to 

 date show that most of the tagged silver 

 hake were recaptured near where they 

 were originally tagged. A few fish, how- 

 ever, were caught as far as 40 miles 

 away. 



Growth 



— RED OR YELLOW 



Figure 3.- -A silver hake with tag attached. 



The growth rings can be seen by placing 

 an otolith in glycerin against a dark back- 

 ground and examining it under a low power 

 microscope. The spring and summer growth 

 appears as a white band or ring, while the 

 fall and winter growth appears as a dark 

 band or ring. Present information indicates 

 that silver hake grow fairly rapidly for 

 the first 3 years and more slowly there- 

 after. The males usually attain a maximum 

 length of approximately 15 inches, whereas 

 the females grow even larger. The largest 

 females caught measure about 2 feet in 

 length and weigh approximately 5 pounds. 

 In general, the bulk of the silver hake 

 landed in the commercial catch are fish 

 about 12 inches in length and about one- 

 half pound in weight. 



The age of silver hake is determined by 

 counting the number of rings in the otoliths, 

 or ear bones, found in the head of the fish. 

 The otolith of the silver hake is an irregu- 

 lar pear-shaped structure that varies in 

 size depending on the length of the fish. 

 There are usually three pairs of otoliths, 

 but only one pair is large enough to use. 



Feeding 



Silver hake are strong, swift swimmers 

 and at times voracious feeders. They prey 

 largely on shrimp and small fishes, but 

 occasionally a crab or squid will be on the 

 menu. Silver hake are not classed as bottom 

 feeders, such as the haddock or cod, but 



Figure 4.--A typical silver hake otolith. 

 3 



