THE SEA FISHERIES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 189 
them, and I don’t think it would be expedient to prohibit them. I think a certain 
amount of regulation, such as I have recommended, would be a great deal better for 
the fish and the fishermen. The disadvantage of the pounds is that they glut the 
market at times, so that there is no sale for the fish and fish are wasted, and by the 
adoption of a close time not only will it secure proper spawning of the fish, but also 
equalize consumption. 
Q. There were some matters with regard to herring, in regard to which idid not 
ask you fully yesterday. Will you state to the Commission about the spawning- 
grounds of herring especially? I do not care for anything outside of the American 
coast. — A. The herring spawn along the whole coast of the United States, from 
the Bay of Fundy to No Man’s Land, which is a small island between Block Island 
and Martha’s Vineyard. I have specimens of spawn from almost all the localities be- 
tween those two points, and I am informed they also spawn around Block Island; 
but I have never seen any evidence myself. 
Q. But you know as to the fact 7/—A. I know it is so from testimony and reports. 
Q. Do the eggs of the herring lodge on the bottom ?—A. The herring is almost the 
one—is, I think, the only one—of our important sea fish the eggs of which are adher- 
ent; that is to say, when discharged, it falls to the bottom and adheres to the sea- 
woud, gravel, and rock. Generally it is scattered; but not unfrequently a great part 
of me spawn of the fish will be aggregated nie amass of the size of a walnut or 
hickory nut, but more generally they are scattered and attached singly or by twos 
and threes'to sea-weed. I have here specimens of the eggs in the adherent form, some 
of which I dragged up at the southern end of Grand Manan. 
Q. Are the spawning-grounds extended along the coast all the way?—A. Yes; all 
the way. 
Q. And are very numerous?—A. There is no reason to suppose there is any part of 
the coast at which they are wanting. They are specially abundant about Cutler, in 
Maine, and about some of the islands off Penobscot Bay, about Cape Elizabeth, Ports- 
mouth, off Newburyport, and particularly along the edge of the coast from north and 
east of the entrance of Massachusetts Bay. They also spawn inside of Cape Cod Bay, 
and all along the south coast of this region to No Man’s Land, as I have already men- 
tioned. The spawning season is later and lateras you go south. On the coast of the 
United States the herring spawns on the fall of the temperature, just as the salmon, 
cod, and trout do—unlike the shad and mackerel, which spawn at a rising tempera- 
ture. The moment the water along our coast gets to a certain degree of temperature, 
then the herring is incited to the act of spawning. I might say in completion of this 
point that herring spawns in the spring in Bay St. Lawrence and Newfoundland. It 
spawns in early summer at Grand Manan in July, August, and September. It spawns 
at the end of September in Eastern Maine, and it spawns in October off Boston, and 
does not spawn until November and sometimes December at No Man’s Land. 
. Q. Making a difference of many months %—A. Yes; a diiference of from six to eight 
months. 
Q. Describe the modes by which herring are caught on ‘ihe coast of the United 
States.—A. They are caught principally by weirs, pounds, and gill-nets on our coast. 
They are caught with seines largely in Bay St. Lawrence and Newfoundland; but 
the large, full-grown, spawning herring are usually taken in gill-nets on or near the 
spawning-ground., A very large number are taken on the whole coast of Maine and 
in the Bay of Fundy in weirs; but the great body of these are smaller herring, and 
are not used as fresh fish. 
Q. How is it with weir-fishing ?—A. The weir-fishing is generally conducted in 
Maine, and to,some extent inside of Cape Cod to the north. South of Cape ou they 
are more generally taken in pounds, but also in gill-nets. 
Q. How are they taken along the Massachusetts coast ?—A. They are taken, gen- 
erally, in gill-nets m the fall. The regular pounds are usually not down as late as 
_ the herring season, but in spring large numbers are taken in the pounds. 
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