1 8 THE HERRING FISHERIES. 



fish, and, of course, inferior in quality. The season lasts to 

 October, when, between the early takes of large herring, 

 the celebrated Nova Scotia sprats form the closing hauls. 

 Herrings of superior quality are found in the numerous 

 bays of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland during summer 

 and autumn, but, as we find on our own coasts, and, indeed, 

 more or less everywhere, the herring shoals will disappear 

 for a season, or seasons, invariably returning again to their 

 old haunts. The sprats or herrings are cured by smoking, 

 and one speciality in this class of cured fish is to remove 

 the bones before drying them. 



The herring species are extremely large in the North 

 Atlantic waters. The Clupea elongata measures 15 inches 

 in length and over 5 inches at its broadest part, and these, 

 perhaps, are the extreme limits. They are very abundant 

 during the season, and the smelts (Osmerus viridescens) are 

 so abundant during the winter that they are invariably 

 used for manuring purposes, notwithstanding their delicious 

 flavour and edible qualities. Splendid specimens of the 

 genus Alosa tyrannus are found here, and, if possible, they 

 are even more extensively used to enrich the earth. The 

 best specimens of our white fish are found here, and, con- 

 sidering the quality of their food so largely represented by 

 the herring species, we need not search further for reasons. 

 It is recorded that in the year 1796 a vast quantity of 

 herring was frozen into a solid mass in one of the weirs of 

 Nova Scotia. 



As we have stated, the smallest herrings are those 

 caught off the Norfolk coast, known as " long-shorers," and 

 the largest specimens are found along and off the coasts of 

 Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador, and vicinity of 

 North America. The herring is widely distributed, abound- 

 ing in the White Sea, Baltic, Zuider Zee, and in the Black 



