79 



Age and Maturity. — From the beginning to the end of the 

 season the catches landed at North Shields were subject to frequent 

 examination. The general practice was to examine a number 

 for age from the samples exposed in the sale ring, and afterwards 

 to inspect the landings made by a number of the vessels to ascer- 

 tain if the general quality of the catch was represented correctly 

 by the sale ring samples. As in previous years the fishery com- 

 menced with mixed catches, in which recovering spents were 

 high in number. These mixed catches were taken some distance 

 from the port, and towards the end of April were most plentiful 

 about 60 to 70 miles off the Tyne ; beyond this distance and up 

 to 100 miles the herrings were fewer in number. On the 8th 

 of May a large number of recovering spents were in the vicinity 

 of the Coquet, but it was not until the young summer fish arrived, 

 after the middle of May, that any catch worthy of notice was 

 made on the grounds of the summer shoals. 



The catches from the summer shoals were composed chiefly 

 of fish with two, three and four winter rings, but the fishery was 

 very irregular. Occasionally a vessel would land a good catch, 

 but other vessels which had been fishing in practically the 

 same waters returned to port with a few crans only. Further, 

 there was never throughout the season any time when the vessels 

 landed good catches from the same grounds two nights in succes- 

 sion. This was most noticeable after the stoppage of the fishery 

 from 11th to 21st of June, when it was expected the catches would 

 be heavier. 



In the beginning of July, there was a high number of fish 

 with two winter rings in the samples, and fishermen informed 

 me that fish of this size and quality were more plentiful to the 

 south of the Tyne. Fish of this age were commoner than usual 

 until the end of July, when herrings with three winter rings 

 became more abundant, but even then the catches made were 

 below those of the previous season. Six crans would be the 

 average quantity landed per vessel, and this is about a third 

 only of what one would expect in an average season. 



The grounds were invaded by shoals of larger herring in the 

 first week in August, and large numbers of fish with four winter 

 rings were included in the catches. These fish had gonads at 

 stages III., IV. and V. They remained on the grounds until 



