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58 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
We have no observations upon the exact localities of spawning, but 
the fish are supposed to spawn in open water. They are known to 
spawn in Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, where the fish assemble 
in fairly deep water and spawn on the bottom. The fertilized eggs 
immediately float to the surface and are freely distributed by tidal 
currents. (Welsh and Breder.) It is not known whether con- 
ditions inside Pamlico Sound are favorable for spawning. Some 
slight evidence indicates, however, that the spawning individuals 
leave the inland waters and spawn in the Atlantic Ocean. Thus a 
scarcity of mature specimens was noted in June in experimental 
pound-net catches made in Beaufort Harbor in 1913 to 1916, and the 
early-spring run of large specimens is well recognized by the fisher- 
men 1n the vicinity of Ocracoke Inlet. Figure 14 indicates that only 
ripe individuals were taken in the Portsmouth pound-net fishery 
iis 
100 
90 
80 
70 

60 
50 
40 
| PorTSMOUTH 
30 


DRAN AN 
A PT. oF MARSH 
104 5 Gutu Rock 
6 AVERAGE 


JuLy 
1925 
Fic. 14.—Percentage of spawning gray trout among all mature females occurring in pound-net 
catches in Pamlico Sound, N.C., 1925, computed by weeks during June, July, and August 
until early July, when fishing operations were abandoned at that 
place. The proportion of spawning females is greater here than at. 
any other locality in the sound, and it may be supposed that the 
outward migrating schools are intercepted by the nets at this locality. 
Growth.—We have no knowledge of the early life of the trout in 
Pamlico Sound until they have reached the size large enough to be 
taken in the pound nets—that is, 14 centimeters in length. Some 
collections (Hildebrand) in the vicinity of Beaufort, N. C., however, 
include specimens ranging from 50 to 120 millimeters in length on 
August 1 and from 70 to 135 millimeters by October 15. Welsh and 
Breder also estimate that the length of trout at Cape May, N. J., is 
from 10 to 13 centimeters,during their first winter. The smallest 
sizes taken in the pound nets in Pamlico Sound have a modal size 
of about 18 centimeters in October. We believe, therefore, that 
