REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. CXXXV 



ficial characters the shad from various streams, and biologists have 

 called attention to slight anatomical peculiarities, but the examinations 

 have not been sufficiently extensive to establish the existence of tangi- 

 ble diflerences in shad inhabiting particular waters. 



For the purpose of settling this question, so far as possible, arrange- 

 ments were made to obtain series of specimens of shad from the prin- 

 cipal streams from Florida to Maine, and a personal examination of 

 large numbers of shad in Albemarle Sound and the Potomac River was 

 made by the chief of the division in the spring of 1899. Considerable 

 material for study and much information have already been collected, 

 but more will be required before the matter can be satisfactorily settled. 

 Detailed data for at least 100 shad from each stream are required. 



HERRING OF PASSAMAQUODDY BAY. 



At the extreme northeastern part of the coast of Maine the fisheries 

 for herring ( Clupea harengus) are more extensive than in any other local- 

 ity in the State. The chief fishing-centers are Eastport and Lubec, and 

 the principal fishing-ground is Passamaquoddy Bay and its tributaries, 

 lying partly in Maine and partly in New Brunswick. This fish is 

 caught almost exclusively in brush weirs and is used principally for 

 canning and smoking. It is not only the object of the most important 

 fishery in the Passamaquoddy region, but is of great value as bait in 

 the line fisheries for several members of the cod family, and also fur- 

 nishes food for the fish. In the interests of the fishing industry, it is of 

 great practical consequence to have a better understanding of the gen- 

 eral natural history of the herring, especially the relations and move- 

 ments of the several distinct schools which annually visit those waters. 



In the Report of the Commission for 1890 is a paper * by Dr. H. F. 

 Moore, in which was brought together practically all that was known 

 concerning this subject. Reference to this article will show that in 

 many respects our knowledge of the habits of the herring is meager and 

 unsatisfactory, particularly as regards the migrations of the fish and 

 the relations existing between the spring-spawning and fall-spawning 

 schools, both of which subjects have been largely matters of speculation. 

 It is, of course, known that schools of herring appear on different parts 

 of the shore with more or less regularity each year, sometimes to spawn 

 and sometimes for other purposes, but it is undetermined whence they 

 come or whither they go and whether they are the same or different 

 bodies of fish. To successfully and intelligently deal with several prob- 

 lems presented by the fishery, such as the cause of the disappearance 

 of winter herring, it is essential that these subjects be understood. 



In August and September, 1898, Dr. Moore devoted about a mouth 

 to a general study of the abundance and distribution of the herring 

 in the vicinity of Eastport and Grand Manan as compared with former 

 seasons. Particular attention was given to the critical examination of 



'Observations upon the herring and herring fisheries of the northeast coast, with 

 special reference to the vicinity of Passaiuatiuoddy Bay. Report U. S. Fish Com- 

 mission 1896, XXII, pp. 387-442, "plates G0-(J2. 



