Meanwhile, since it had been reported that young pilchards are 

 taken occasionally along the V;ashington coast by fishermen, and appear 

 from time to time in the stomachs of salmon caught there, one of the 

 Service's staff, Mr. Ralph Silliman, was stationed at Seattle to secure 

 any specimens that might be obtainable. By examining a large number 

 of salmon stomachs and by making special seine hauls, Mr. Stilliraan 

 obtained a san^sle of young fish at IVestport in April, 1938, and others 

 at Tokeland, V/illapa Bay, in September and October. (Silliman, unpub- 

 lished manuscript. ) 



Altogether, 175 samples were taken, totaling 71,800 fish. For 

 measuring, the fish were laid on a board especially designed to obviate 

 numerical bias on the part of the operator, (Sette, 19U1) and the body 

 length (i.e., tip of head to end of fleshy part of caudal peduncle) 

 read to the nearest millimeter. For each sample, scales were removed 

 from the first $0 to 75 specimens having any suitable ones still adher- 

 ing. Ordinarily they were taken only in an area of about 1 1/2 centi- 

 meters square centered by the tip of the pectoral fin, or, in a few 

 exceptions, as close to that area as scales were available. They were 

 removed with forceps, dipped in water, wiped with the fingers Y»'hen still 

 fresh to remove adhering slime and tissue, and preserved in envelopes . 

 Otoliths were removed from most of the specimens from which scale samples 

 were taken, 'fhese were washed in water and preserved dry in envelopes. 

 Scales were taken from 11,500 fish; otoliths from over 10,000. Not all 

 these were read; only enough to secure reasonably adequate representation 

 from each month, 



AGE AND GR01,TH OF JUVENILE PILCHARDS AS 

 JUDGED FROM LENGTH FREQUENCY CURVES 



Because the first two year classes are each usually recognizable 

 from older fish by their distinctive size, length frequency curves are 

 useful for identifying the age of young fish up to two years. They there- 

 fore provide a starting point for associating age with number of rings 

 on the scales and otoliths. 



Under simple conditions such an extensive sampling as was carried 

 on should provide a series of frequency curves truly representing the 

 total population of young pilchards in the sea. Unfortunately, for 

 various reasons, conditions are not simple. Judging from the protracted 

 spawning season (Clark-, 193U) and the extensive spawning range (Scofield, 

 193bj Silliman, unpublished manuscript), the year's brood along the coast 

 probably consists of a nvmiber of groups of fish, each representing an in- 

 dividual wave of spavming in a particular locality. Since pilchards, 

 like other species v^rith similar habits, appear to school more or less 

 according to size, it is conceivable that, so long as the several groups 

 differ in size, each will travel more or less independently, entering 

 and leaving the field of the bait fishery at irregular intervals, thus 

 offering the fishermen only a limited availability. This effect, must 

 be enhanced by the fact that bait fisheries do not cover the entire ground 



35 



