24 



bas grown large enough to have any scales. In the case of fishj 

 the products of October and November spawners, the formation 

 of a winter ring on the scales at the end of that year is impossible. 

 We have no evidence from herring samples of there being fish 

 having such a small first year growth as would allow us to state 

 that they were born towards the end of the year and came from 

 sjDawning shoals similar to those which occur in October and 

 November. Fish with the largest first year growth are considered 

 therefore as arising from autumn spawning shoals. 



It has been shown, under a consideration of age and maturity, 

 that as an almost general rule fish with thi'ee winter rings are 

 present in greatest abundance in our summer shoals. An examina- 

 tion of the first 3^ear growth made by these fish shows that the shoals 

 contain fish arising from both spring and autumn spawning shoals, 

 and that by the time the fourth summer zone of growth is being 

 made on the scales a considerable amount of mixing has taken place 

 and the shoals not only contain fish born at different seasons of the 

 year, but also fish of varied growth potentiality for the first year 

 and probably also fish which have spent their early life in various 

 localities. Below are given particulars of first year growth from 

 summer shoals from Stornoway (SY) and North Shields (SN). 



NUMBERS AT CE^'TDIETHES. 



It is not advisable to consider in this respect the early sample 

 from Stornoway nor the samples from spa^^Tiing shoals, autumn 

 or spring, for it wiU be seen later that these samples arc influenced 

 by maturity. 



A similar range for first year growth is to be found in the other 

 North Shields, samples and those from Lerwick, Wick, Peter- 

 head, Scarborough and Yarmouth. 



The mixing of the products of different spawning shoals 

 is a general occurrence from the data available, and a considera- 

 tion of the facts given under the heading " Fishing Grounds '* 

 will show that physical conditions, tides and currents do much 

 to bring it about. Whilst it may be argued that the shoaling 

 of the young herrings according to size would tend to separate 



