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XXXVII. Of the Herring F'tshery. Translated from the 

 French of il/. Duhamel and others *. 



Of the Spawning iScasons. 



JLt is well known that herrings do not all spawn at the 

 same tiiue^ and it is generally observed that in the years 

 that the air is mild they spawn sooner than when the sea-- 

 son has been very cold. Sometimes, for instance, a great 

 quantity of sholicn herrinos is caught in the beginning ot 

 Decemlier, ^^hcreas in other years great numbers of full 

 ones are found in Januarv. This is a gener;il observation ; 

 and if we inquire more 'particularly into the business, wc 

 shall find that some herrings spawn much sooner than 

 others; so that in October, when almost all the herrings 

 that come into the Channel are full, tliere are some shotten 

 ones found among them, 



Sonui fishermen think that in the English sea the 

 spawning season is in October : this may be the case as to 

 some herrings, but not as to the tfreatest number. How- 

 ever, towards the middle of November they take shotten 

 herrhigs at Yarmouth, though not in as great quantities as 

 in the Channel, where shotten herrings are sometimes found 

 in the middle of October. The common opinion is, that 

 herrings spaw n but once a year, and that they come into 

 our sea^ for that purpose. It is certain that they spawn 

 near our coasts ; and the condition of the eggs of tiip 

 herrings that arc taken at Shetland compared with that of 

 the eggs of those that are taken at Yarmouth and in the 

 Channel, actually seems to prove that they come into our 

 seas on purpose to spawn. Nevertheless, if we consider 

 the immense quantities of them that come from the north, 

 we shall be inclined to think that some of ihem spawn 

 there. They are, perhaps, like the bees, that multiply iu 

 their hives, and send out swarms when they become too 

 numerous. 



Shotten herrings do not constitute a distinct species from 

 the ethers. They are those which have discharged their 

 eggs or milt, and are therefore generally ^yorse than the full 

 «nes, on account of the sickness that they are subject to at 

 the time of spawning, and because the most of them are 

 caught before they are recovered, whereas the greatest part 

 of the kerrings quit the coasts a short time after they have 

 spawned. 



• From Tmrnuclicns of the Dublin Sodclj; vol- i. part a. 



Of 



