Table 3. — Herring landings from Passamaquoddy Project area and adjacent region.^ 



[In pounds] 



'The adjacent region includes area VI in figure 3. 



Figure 12.--Herring catches by months, 1947-58, for 

 Maine, Washington County, and Passamaquoddy 

 Project high and low pools. 



SEASONS 



The fishery for Maine herring is a seasonal 

 operation. There are several reasons why 

 most of the landings occur during the summer 

 and autumn months. First, the fish are not 

 readily available to the present fishery during 

 the winter and spring months. Second, there 

 is a Maine State law that prohibits the canning 

 of sardines between December 1 and April 15, 

 Third, sardine packers often stop canning in 

 the autumn if they have packed enough to fill 

 the anticipated demand. 



The bulk of the herring catches have been 

 made between June and October (table 4, fig, 

 12) when over 90 percent of the herring have 

 been landed. A comparison of the monthly 

 herring catches in all of Maine, in Washington 

 County, and in the low and high pools indi- 

 cates that the peak months have varied within 

 the 5-month period of greatest activity, June 

 and July have been the principal months for 

 the total Maine catch. In Washington County, 

 July, August, and September have been the 

 peak months. In the igw pool, September and 

 October landings have been dominant; while 

 in the high pool, August, September, and Octo- 

 ber catches have been about equally Important. 



12 



