southerly areas, and large winter herring found near the southwestern coast are in reality fish of 

 different ages from the same shoal of Norwegian herring. Hjort clearly outlined the Importance 

 of young herring migrations in his report devoted to the phenomenon of fluctuations (50) . 



Later on, the pattern of drift of the Norwegian herring fry was exposed in detail by Lea 

 (56). At the time of the publication of this map, the Lofoten spawning grounds for herring were 

 still unknown and the young herring found in the Barents Sea were considered by Norwegian investi- 

 gators as "imported" from the south-western shores of Norway. Averintsev (1), Ryzhenko (23), 

 Yudkin (33) and recently Prof. Rass (21), as well as our own research, showed that the hypotheses 

 concerning so extensive migration of herring larvae are groimdless . 



Now, after the drift of herring fry from Lofoten spawning grounds was studied in detail, 

 the conditions for drift of larvae and fry from the south Norwegian spawning grounds became more 

 clearly outlined. The conditions governing this drift are rather specific and lie in the fact that 

 south Norwegian spawning grounds are located close to the shores and the current runs close to 

 the shores along the entire extent of the Scandinavian coast; the entire coast of Norway consists of 

 fjords cutting deeply into the continent and having a free water exchange with the open sea; the 

 group of south Lofoten Islands with the large offshore slopes protrudes far into the open sea form- 

 ing a large natural trap in the form of Vestfjord, which is on the larvae's migration path. The 

 above peculiarities compel the herring fry drifting from the south-western shores of Norway to 

 settle down along the entire extent of the coast, from Bergen to Finnmark. The majority of fry 

 reach the provinces of Nordland and Troms; further to the east, past North Cape, they form but 

 relatively small concentrations. 



The conditions for drift of herring fry obsjrved in the Barents Sea are quite different. The 

 spawning grounds along the north-western shore of Norway are, as we mentioned above, located 

 along the very slope, at a considerable distance from Lofoten Islands, at the depth of 150 to 225 

 meters . The North Atlantic current passes here at a certain distance from the shores and, before 

 reaching the Barents Sea, divides into several branches . Near And{<y, due to the topography of the 

 ocean floor, part of the waters proceed towards the north forming the so-called Spitsbergen cur- 

 rent. Near Sj<r^y, where a large shelf is located, the waters divide into two streams. The first 

 current proceeds along S^r^y, bends around northern Norway and forms the source of the main 

 branch of the North Cape current . The second current bends around the shelf from the north and 

 proceeds into the northern zone of the Barents Sea . 



The Barents Sea is relatively shallow being located entirely within the borders of the con- 

 tinental shelf. The coast, along which the drift proceeds, is rich in fjords only in Norway, where- 

 as the Murman shores have but two large fjords: Motovka and Kola gulfs, and several small gulfs 

 farther to the east. 



Studies of larval drift carried out by the Polar Institute as far back as 1938 (14), showed 

 that the distribution of these larvae westwards from North Cape is in the direction of the North 

 Cape current . Judging by the number of larvae that were hatched during the year and were foimd 

 in the stomachs of cod, the current of the drifting fry branches anew in the Barents Sea. The fry 

 proceed via the northern branch of North Cape current towards the western slopes of the Central 

 plateau and farther to the north, to Persey Bank. 



The fry drift in the main branch of North Cape current to Goose Bank, dividing into two 

 branches that proceed along the northern and southern slopes at the bank. A portion of fry un- 

 doubtedly settle down in the region of Murman shelf penetrating with the Kanin current to Kanin Nos 

 Peninsula and Kolguyev Island. The southernmost course of the migration of fry to the Barents Sea 

 passes near the Murman shores . The fry drifting along the coast of Murman settle down in Motovka 



15 



