69 
and spent herrings may be observed in the catches, but the observa- 
tions made in the curing houses at North Shields leave no doubt 
as to the nature of the bulk of the fish caught. At this time the 
herrings have their gonads nearly fully developed, they are firm 
fish, and nearly ready for the act of reproduction. They are in 
the best condition, and it is this fact which accounts for the 
excellency of the East Anglian herring. The herrings disappear 
from the southern waters in early December. No sample of spring 
spawners has been examined which has given growth data com- 
parable with that of the East Anglian shoals, and the location 
of these shoals after early December is a matter of conjecture. 
That some of the November herrings return to Yarmouth waters 
in March as spent fish and remain there until June is evident from 
the data given on page 24. 
When reporting on the samples examined in 1913 * it was 
shown that the growth increment of the year of capture showed 
a change in the composition of the herrings of the Northumberland 
coast in early September. In a later reporty a consideration of 
the first year growth led to the conclusion that our local grounds 
received additions throughout the season. The extended sampling 
undertaken during 1919t yielded data which pointed to other 
grounds receiving waves of immigrants during the progress of the 
fishery. 
It was considered that if the evidence yielded by growth 
data had been read correctly the waves of immigrants would have 
shown an appreciable difference in the catches landed, and to test 
this the data in Table I. have been tabulated. The data relating 
to North Shields landings have been obtained from the officials 
of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries at North Shields ; 
Mr. Beazor, of Yarmouth, has supplied me with particulars of 
the fishery of that port obtained from the Harbour Commissioners ; 
Dr. J. Metzeelaar, of Bloemendaal, Holland, has sent me the catches 
and fishing grounds of Dutch luggers; and the data relating to 
the Scarborough and Grimsby fisheries have been obtained from 
the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. These data have been 

* Report, New Series IL., page 63. + Report, New Serics VIIT, page 37. 
t Report, New Series IX., pp. 25-26. 
