EXPLORATORY FISHING FOR MAINE HERRING 



by 



Keith A. Smith 



Base Director, Exploratory Fishing Base 



Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 



U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 



Gloucester, Massachusetts 



ABSTRACT 



Exploratory herring fishing operations were carried out along the Maine coast 

 during the summers of 1955 and 1956 using the research vessel Theodore N. Gill and 

 the chartered small otter trawler Metacomet. The coastal and Gulf of Maine waters 

 were sounded and fished with a lampara seine, gill nets, midwater trawls, and otter 

 trawls. Inshore explorations located zero-year-class herring in the bays and inlets 

 and traced their development in these areas until they became sardine-sized fish in 

 late fall. Sardine-sized and large herring were found occupying an ocean-bottom 

 habitat during the winter. A scattering of large unschooled herring was found in 

 coastal waters during the summer of 1956. 



INTRODUCTION 



The Maine Herring Exploration and Gear 

 Research Project of the Bureau of Commercial 

 Fisheries began in the spring of 1955 to 

 conduct exploratory fishing for Atlantic herring 

 and to carry on research and developmental 

 work on sardine fishing gear. Original efforts 

 and facilities were directed toward seeking 

 additional herring resources that might be 

 used to augment the rather erratic supply 

 available to fishermen and sardine packers. 

 In 1955 and 1956 herring populations were 

 sought along the Maine coast and in the Gulf 

 of Maine. Otter trawl surveys were made during 

 the winters of 1957, 1958, and 1959 to gain 

 more information on the life history of the 

 herring. This report is concerned with the 

 results of these explorations. 



After 1956, the major efforts of the project 

 were directed toward the development of new 

 fishing equipment and the introduction of 

 modern methods to the sardine fishing industry. 



The project also did considerable work on 

 oceanic collection of planktonic and postlarval 

 herring, data from which were processed and 

 reported on by the Bureau's Atlantic Herring 

 Investigations (Biological). This report was 

 submitted as Chapter 5 of Appendix III (U.S. 

 Biological Studies), Report of the International 

 Passamaquoddy Fisheries Board to the Inter- 

 national Joint Commission. 



INSHORE EXPLORATIONS 



Initial exploratory fishing work was done in 

 the spring and early summer of 1955. The 

 coastal Maine waters were echo sounded inten- 

 sively by the Fish and Wildlife Service research 

 vessel Theodore N. Gill during May 24 through 

 July 8, 1955, and were fished with a 100-fathom 

 lampara seine where echo-sounding recordings 

 indicated the presence of schools of fish. 

 Populations of juvenile herring, fish that were 

 in their first year of life and would be barely 

 large enough to be utilized as sardines during 



