Fishes of the IVestern North Atlantic 591 



the mouth of the Great Fish River, tributary to Bathurst Inlet, where Richardson 

 found them present "in multitudes" [88: 187). For records of the Capelin farther 

 westward along the Arctic coast of America, see Walters {116). 



Southward from Saglek, Labrador, Capelin have been reported by fishermen for 

 so many points as to show that they visit every suitable spawning beach in greater or 

 lesser numbers all along the outer coast; they have been taken even as far inland as 

 Lake Melville above the head of Hamilton Inlet.*" They are reported to be widespread 

 along the coast of eastern Newfoundland and along the eastern part of the south 

 coast; and it was known that Capelin swarm about the islands of St. Pierre and 

 Miquelon long before Duhamel, writing in 1769, called their abundance on the Grand 

 Bank to scientific attention. It seems that the waters along the western part of the 

 southern coast of Newfoundland and along the southern part of the western coast have 

 become too warm for regular spawning by the time the Capelin are sexually ready to 

 spawn {lio: 54-57). But they do spawn yearly along the northern part of Newfound- 

 land's west coast as well as in the Strait of Belle Isle, though perhaps not as abun- 

 dantly in the Strait as on the east coast of Newfoundland; this, it seems, applies also 

 to the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in general. 



In good Capelin years, considerable numbers of them appear on the south shore 

 of the St. Lawrence River estuary and at the entrance to the St. Lawrence River; for 

 instance, the reported catch for the Gaspe region (Gaspe and Bonaventure counties) 

 and for Rimouski County, Quebec, in 1919 was 3,635 barrels whereas in 1929 it was 

 only 240 barrels; Capelin have been reported to occur as far up the St. Lawrence River 

 estuary as Trois Pistoles, about opposite the Saguenay River (JJ5: 79). They are well 

 known around Anticosti Island {qJ: 285; see also Study Material^ p. 576). But we find 

 no definite evidence that Capelin visit the southern part of the Gulf in any numbers, 

 or with any regularity, if they occur there at all.*^ 



To the south of Cabot Strait, Capelin occur only sporadically*^ and in limited 

 areas. "The southeastern corner of Cape Breton is the center of such an area, where 

 large quantities were taken in 19 17. Halifax is the center of another area" where 

 Capelin were reported for about 1853 (Hardy, j5: 5, ftn.) and were abundant in 191 9. 

 On rare occasions they appear for a year or two in the Bay of Fundy in great num- 

 bers; Perley, for example, writing in 1852, reported them for a number of localities 

 near St. John, New Brunswick; they were next reported in the Bay in 1903 ; a few were 

 taken in 191 5; in the autumn of 19 16 they were so plentiful that a catch of 3,000 

 pounds of fish in the Passamaquoddy region included 2,000 pounds of Capelin. They 

 have also been reported for various other Fundian localities. In the spring of 19 17 

 they reappeared on the Nova Scotian side of the Bay, and in 1919 they were taken 



40. Backus (3: 295) has reported Capelin found in the stomachs of cod taken there in winter. And one has been 

 reported for Northwest River, at the head of Lake Melville (54: 210). 



41. The late A. H. Leim informed us, from his personal observations, that the fish reported in the commercial 

 statistics for 1930 and preceding years as Capelin from Prince Edward Island "doubtless were silversides {Menidid) 

 which are known there as 'capelin.'" 



42. Letter from A. G. Huntsman. 



