COMMON FINBACK WHALE. 201 



In the western Atlantic Ocean the herring ranges as far south as Cape Hatteras, but never 

 occurs in great abundance south of Block Island. The principal fisheries are from Cape Cod 

 to Newfoundland. The small herring and some of the larger ones are found throughout the 

 year on the coast of Maine. During the winter they apparently keep in the deeper water, but 

 catches have occasionally been made in the weirs during February. In spring they approach 

 the shores and the weirs are tended regularly from April 1 till the following January. Com- 

 paratively few are taken in Passamaquoddy Bay till July and August. Strong currents and 

 eddies, such as "the Ripplings" off Grand Manan are much frequented by the herring schools 

 on account of the abundance of food that tends to collect in such places. 



The herring feed chiefly on small copepods (Calanus) called "red seed," and Thysanopoda 

 or "shrimps" {? Thysanoessa) which occur in enormous numbers. During the winter there 

 is a comparative dearth of animal life at the surface, due in part to the winds which at this 

 season cause more sea so that surface life seeks deeper levels. "During the summer these 

 shrimps are extraordinarily abundant in the Passamaquoddy district, but it is said that they are 

 not often seen at the sm-face in winter; l)ut if this be true, they no doubt abound at a distance 

 from the surface where the temperature is more equable." In summer and fall both copepods 

 and thysanopods are found near the surface, often in such dense masses as to impart a distinct 

 reddish tinge to the water. Herrings appear to feed principally at night but in late summer 

 and early fall immense schools of the young may be seen at the surface at all hours of the day. 

 Mackerel are said to feed extensively on young herring. Westward from Grand Manan the 

 spawning ground for herring is almost continuous along the coast to Wood Island, Maine, and 

 thence in places as far southwest as Block Island, Rhode Island. In the vicinity of Machias 

 Bay the herring usually appear after the middle of July and remain until late in September. 

 At Frenchman's Bay the 'net' herring arrive during June and remain till late in October. 



I am indebted to Mr. E. Ralph Haskell of Ipswich, who has had much experience with 

 herring on the New England coast, for the following interesting notes. "In July or August 

 great schools of small herring, the sardine of the Maine coast, arrive off eastern Massachu- 

 setts and remain, appearing at intervals, until the departure of the larger fish. The latter 

 arrive for spawning about the twentieth of September but the exact date may vary a great deal. 

 They are not numerous until the first of November. The spawning season in this vicinity is 

 from October first until November first and scattering schools can usually be found during the 

 first week of December. Some years they have remained until the first part of February. As 

 the herring do not spawn south of Eastport, Maine, in the spring, there is no spring 'run' of 

 them here." 



Mitchell ^ in his monograph on the herring, considers it the most abundant fish in the 



' Mitchell, John M. The herring, its natural history and national importance. Edinburgh, 1804, xii + 372 pp., illus. 



