﻿THE 
  HERRING 
  FISHERIES 
  OF 
  THE 
  NORTHEAST 
  COAST. 
  431 
  

   WINTER 
  HERRING. 
  

  

  From 
  the 
  early 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  century 
  herring 
  were 
  known 
  to 
  

   fre<iuent 
  i)ortions 
  of 
  the 
  coast 
  between 
  Quoddy 
  Head 
  and 
  Lepreau 
  

   during 
  the 
  winter 
  months. 
  They 
  came 
  in 
  large 
  numbers, 
  and 
  although 
  

   certain 
  localities 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  for 
  a 
  time 
  deserted 
  by 
  them, 
  

   there 
  is 
  no 
  tradition 
  among 
  the 
  fishermen 
  that 
  there 
  was 
  ever 
  a 
  

   period 
  until 
  recently 
  when 
  the 
  winter 
  school 
  of 
  herring 
  did 
  not 
  occur 
  

   in 
  some 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  embraced 
  in 
  this 
  report. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Perley, 
  in 
  a 
  "Eeport 
  upon 
  the 
  Fisheries 
  of 
  New 
  Brunswick 
  and 
  

   Nova 
  Scotia," 
  written 
  in 
  1850, 
  mentions 
  their 
  sudden 
  and 
  unprecedented 
  

   appearance 
  in 
  the 
  neighborhood 
  of 
  Lepreau 
  during 
  the 
  winter 
  of 
  that 
  

   year. 
  In 
  any 
  attempt 
  to 
  account 
  for 
  the 
  disai^pearance 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  winter 
  

   herring" 
  from 
  our 
  coast 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  of 
  the 
  utmost 
  importance 
  to 
  estab- 
  

   lish 
  such 
  a 
  sudden 
  appearance 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  at 
  an 
  unusual 
  season. 
  

   Careful 
  inquiries 
  were 
  therefore 
  made, 
  especially 
  among 
  the 
  older 
  

   fishermen, 
  whose 
  recollections 
  antedated 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  this 
  alleged 
  first 
  

   known 
  run 
  of 
  winter 
  herring. 
  Special 
  attention 
  was 
  (!alled 
  to 
  the 
  

   statements 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Perley, 
  and 
  the 
  fishermen 
  were 
  asked 
  if 
  they 
  could 
  

   verify 
  them. 
  In 
  every 
  case 
  it 
  was 
  stated 
  that 
  the 
  herring 
  were 
  known 
  

   to 
  occur 
  on 
  the 
  coast 
  in 
  winter 
  long 
  before 
  the 
  date 
  mentioned. 
  An 
  

   old 
  and 
  experienced 
  fisherman, 
  who 
  was 
  for 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  years 
  the 
  

   Canadian 
  fisheries 
  overseer 
  at 
  Lepreau, 
  and 
  who 
  in 
  his 
  boyhood 
  lived 
  

   at 
  L'Etang, 
  said 
  that 
  he 
  could 
  remember 
  herring 
  along 
  the 
  coast 
  dur- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  winter 
  months 
  since 
  1829 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  fishermen 
  of 
  that 
  day 
  

   appeared 
  to 
  regard 
  their 
  presence 
  as 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  long 
  established 
  fact. 
  

   These 
  herring 
  were 
  aj)parently 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  character, 
  with 
  reference 
  to 
  

   size 
  and 
  condition, 
  as 
  those 
  which 
  afterwards 
  became 
  the 
  object 
  of 
  

   pursuit 
  in 
  the 
  important 
  frozen-herring 
  trade. 
  

  

  Another 
  fisherman 
  at 
  Campobello, 
  who 
  began 
  fishing 
  seventy 
  years 
  

   ago, 
  says: 
  

  

  I 
  think 
  that 
  until 
  the 
  last 
  six 
  years 
  there 
  never 
  was 
  a 
  time, 
  with 
  occasional 
  excep- 
  

   tional 
  years, 
  when 
  the 
  herring 
  were 
  absent 
  from 
  this 
  coast 
  in 
  winter. 
  Mr. 
  Perley 
  

   was 
  mistaken 
  when 
  he 
  said 
  in 
  his 
  report 
  that 
  the 
  herring 
  were 
  unknown 
  inshore 
  

   in 
  winter 
  prior 
  to 
  1850. 
  There 
  was 
  never 
  much 
  fishing 
  for 
  them 
  before 
  that 
  time, 
  

   but 
  they 
  were 
  here, 
  nevertheless, 
  and 
  I 
  distinctly 
  remember 
  their 
  presence 
  in 
  the 
  

   winter 
  of 
  1840. 
  I 
  can 
  fix 
  that 
  date 
  from 
  the 
  circumstance 
  that 
  I 
  built 
  a 
  vessel 
  

   during 
  that 
  year. 
  

  

  This 
  and 
  similar 
  testimony 
  from 
  others, 
  as 
  .well 
  as 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  even 
  

   the 
  older 
  fishermen 
  know 
  of 
  no 
  traditions 
  of 
  the 
  sudden 
  and 
  unusual 
  

   appearance 
  of 
  herring 
  in 
  winter, 
  point 
  to 
  the 
  probability 
  that 
  these 
  

   winter 
  schools 
  were 
  well-established 
  ])honomena 
  as 
  long 
  ago 
  as 
  the 
  

   beginning 
  of 
  the 
  century, 
  and 
  perhaps 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  settle- 
  

   ments 
  of 
  English-speaking 
  peoples. 
  There 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  single 
  years 
  

   or 
  periods 
  of 
  years 
  when 
  the 
  herring 
  did 
  not 
  come 
  ashore 
  in 
  certain 
  

   rather 
  circumscribed 
  regions, 
  but 
  this 
  is 
  a 
  phenomenon 
  observable 
  in 
  

   almost 
  all 
  fisheries. 
  It 
  is 
  stated 
  traditionally 
  that 
  herring 
  ran 
  into 
  

  

  