PEOPAGATION AND GROWTH OF HERRING. 653 



age, for some do not seem to get ready for spawning till tliey are four 

 years old. 



Opinions liave been very much divided, both among naturalists and 

 persons engaged in the herring fisheries, as to flie age at which the her- 

 ring spaionsfor the first time. Professor Nilsson^ on the authority of " in- 

 telligent fishermen," su])posed that " no kind of fish spawns in its second 

 year," and that " the herring does not spawn till it is five or six years 

 old." ^^. Wcstrom, on the other hand, thinks that those herring which 

 measure about six inches (" counted from the i^oint of the nose to the 

 caudal fin") are two years old, and that those measuring 10 to 12 inches 

 are about 4 to 5 years old; and also says that the herrings on the coast 

 of Bohusliin do not spawn until they have reached a length 7 to 8 

 inches (total length).'^^ Prof. C. J. Sundevall, who has observed the growth 

 of the herring on the coast of Stockholm Ian, thinks that they are ready 

 to spawn when three or three to four years old, when they have reached 

 a total lengtb of about <S inches or 200 millimeters.™ Axel BoecJc is in- 

 chned to believe that " the youngest herring which spawns can scarcely 

 be less than three, and certainly not more than four years old," although 

 he is not able to give sufficiently strong reasons for his opinion j'^^ he also 

 says that persons who have long been occupied in fishing have informed 

 him that the herring, when spawning must be six or six to eight years 

 old." Prof. 0. 0. Sars seems to have followed Professor Mlsson in 

 trusting the authorities mentioned by him, and at first fixed the age 

 when the herring spawns for the first time at four to five, and more re- 

 cently at five to six years ;'^ although he grants that some favored 

 indi^dduals which have just reached the age of four years (that is, 

 " Ghristiania herring " of the preceding summer) may, in exceptional 

 cases, be ready for spawning whilst of the five-year-old herrings (the 

 " middle-herring" of the preceding summer) a much larger number have 

 reached maturity.''* 



Of foreign naturalists who have given attention to this question we 



^Mandlingar rorande sillfisket, pp. 45, 47, 51, 71. — See, also, the same work, jjp. 59 

 and 60, where it says " when the herring begins to spawn for the first time, it is at 

 least 5 to G years old." 



^FraltisJc a f handling, j)p. 10, 11. — See, also, the same, p. 5. 



■"> StocJcholms luns Egl. Rush. Sallsk. handl., VI, pp. 105, 151, 161, 162. 



^' Om Silden og SildefisTcerierne, pp. 36, 37. — Tidsslcrift for Fisheri, VII, p. 21. 



'''^ Om Silden og SildefisTcerierne, i^p. 36, 37. — Tidsslcrift for Fisheri, VII, pp. 20, 21. — In 

 the " Ghristiania Morgenbladet" of November 5 and November 20, 1872, Boeelc gives a 

 fall account of the six years' development of the herring furnished him by a man by 

 the name of Dahl. According to this authority, herrings are on the west coast of Nor- 

 way called "ITiisse" when 1 year old; " Bladsild" {leaf hevriug), when 2 years old; 

 " Chrisiiania sild" (Ghristiania herring), when 3 years old ; " Middelsild" (medium her- 

 ring), when 4 years old; " Kjohnandsild" (merchant's herring), when 5 years old; and 

 " Vaarsild" (spring herring), when 6 years old ; distinctions which seem to be of very 

 ancient date in Norway. 



''^Indheretningom deiAarene, 1870-73, anstilledepraMisJc-vidensJcabelige Under sogelser, pp. 

 38, 39, 40. — Recently Collett has expressed the same opinion {Norgea Fiske, Ghristiania, 

 1875, pp. 191, 192). 



''^Indberetning, 1870-73, p. 39. 



