SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE OF FISHES. 



123 



The annual migration of alewives from the sea to the rivers is for the purpose 

 of spawning. The time of their arrival in a given place is quite regular from 

 season to season. The branch alewife usually precedes the other species by 

 three or four weeks, and also arrives in numbers before the first run of shad. The 

 Albemarle Sound fishermen refer to the "goggle-eye" as the forerunner of the 

 "herring". 



This species ascends the small streams to spawn, often pushing its way far 

 to the headwaters of brooks and branches only a few feet wide and not more than 

 6 inches deep. After spawning very little is known of the fish; it is probable, 

 however, that they gradually drop back to the bays and to salt water, and on the 

 advent of cold weather withdraw from the shore waters and occupy an ocean 

 area off the fresh water in which they spawn, but nothing is definitely known of 

 the winter abode of the fish. 



The alewives are very prolific. In Potomac River, 644 female branch her- 

 ring yielded 66,206,000 eggs, an average of 102,800 per fish; and probably 100,000 

 eggs may be taken as a fair average for the species. The eggs are .05 inch in 

 diameter, and are very glutinous when first laid, adhering to brush, ropes, stones, 

 piling, and other objects. The hatching period is 6 days, in a mean water tem- 

 perature of 60° F. The fry are very active, grow quickly, and by fall have reached 

 a length of 2 to 3 inches; they feed on the fry of shad and alewives, mosquito 

 larvae, minute crustaceans, etc. As cold weather comes on they drop down 

 stream, and pass the winter in salt water. The species attains its full size in 3 

 or 4 years, and then returns to spawn. The size of the mature alewives is quite 

 uniform, averaging .4 of a pound. Examples w^eighing over half a pound are 

 not common. 



The alewives are the most abundant food fishes inhabiting the rivers of the 

 eastern coast of the United States, and, next to the shad, are commercially the 

 most valuable fish of those waters. Their abundance and cheapness make them 

 of almost incalculable importance in many sections, and the annual catch in 14 

 states is 150 million fish, sold for food and bait, besides considerable quantities 

 given away, used for home consumption, or put on the land as fertilizer. 



North Carolina is the leading alewife state and for many years caught more 

 of these fish than any other two states. Of late, however, Maryland has had a 

 somewhat larger catch. Following are the statistics of the yield of both species 

 of alewives in North Carolina for a term of years: 



Year. 



Pounds 

 (fresh and salted). 



Value. 



Average price 

 per pound. 



1880 

 1888 

 1890 

 1896 

 1897 

 1902 

 1904. 



