Figure 9."Underwater television camera and holding cage used for 

 herring behavior experiments. 



the northern edge of Georges Bank and 

 the southwest Nova Scotia coast. Catches 

 of newly hatched larvae indicated small 

 spawnings in Penobscot Bay, on Stellwagen 

 Bank, on Nantucket Shoals and south of 

 Grand Manan. There was no evidence of 

 spawning inside Passamaquoddy or Cobs- 

 cook Bays. Large numbers of herring 

 larvae were fotind on Georges Bank and in 

 the Bay of Fundy in September and October 

 each year. Catches decreased sharply in 

 November and were very small in Decem- 

 ber, January, and February except for 

 one large catch in December 1956. Only 

 occasional specimens were taken in other 

 months. 



The drift of larvae, as indicated by 

 distribution of larger larvae and by non- 

 tidal surface currents in the Bay of Fundy 

 and Gulf of Maine, suggested that south- 

 west Nova Scotia spawnings are major 

 contributors to commercial stocks of 



herring in inshore areas of southern New 

 Brunswick and eastern Maine. Other 

 spawnings, particularly those on Georges 

 Bank, may also supply some herring to 

 the area. 



Plankton and food studies .- -Data from 

 2,537 plankton tows in the Quoddy Region 

 and data from herring stomach analyses 

 were used to obtain information on food 

 and feeding habits, and to test for a 

 possible relation between plankton abun- 

 dance and commercial catches of herring. 



Studies of the composition, abundance, 

 and distribution of zooplankton communi- 

 ties in the Passamaquoddy area showed 

 that copepods dominate except at a few 

 localities where occasionally the larvae 

 of barnacles or other groups were abun- 

 dant. Volumes of plankton in all tows 

 were usually found to be four to five 



14 



