HERRING FISHERY OF CANADA 45 



13 to 14), and it is also important to note that the herring on the 

 west eoast of Newfoundland have the highest number of vertebrae, 

 namely 56.83 on the average. 



The samples of Atlantic Coast (Nova Scotia) herring, taken in the 

 autumn of 1914, proved to be young herring 3 to 5 years old, mainly 

 4 years old in the Halifax Harbour specimens, while the larger series 

 taken outside ranged from 5 to 13 years old, most of them 7, 9 and 10 

 years old, fewer 8 and 1 1 years old, a few 5 and 6 years old, and very 

 few (1 per cent) 12 to 13 years old. 



A study of samples of herring from the southern 

 &* He^ng portion of the gulf of St. Lawrence in May, 1914, 

 shows many more year-classes than in the Newfound- 

 land schools. The four- to five-year-old herring are most numerous, 

 though fish occur 6 to 10, and even up to 17 years old. No single 

 year-class, however, prevails, i.e., not one comprising half the individ- 

 uals of the whole series under examination. The ten-year-old 

 herrings, so prominent in the Newfoundland schools, are very uncom- 

 mon amongst the herring from the southern portion of the Gulf. 



On the other hand, there is a marked preponderance of the eleven- 

 year-old herrings amongst these Gulf herring. No similarity exists, 

 with regard to the predominance of certain year-classes, between the 

 Newfoundland and the Magdalen Island herrings, just as there is no 

 correspondence, in this respect, between the herrings of the Norwegian 

 coast and those around the British Isles. These different types live, 

 each of them, under special conditions, not only as regards their growth, 

 but also as regards the renewal of their stock. The Magdalen Island 

 herring have also this in common with the North Sea herring, that the 

 fluctuations in the year-classes are smaller than in the Norwegian and 

 the Newfoundland types. 



Between the two samples, from the Magdalen islands and from 

 Northumberland strait, there is an interesting difference. The 

 Magdalen Islands sample consists of older individuals than that from 

 the inshore Northumberland strait. It will be necessary to investigate 

 this more closely and to ascertain if this difference is due to the method 

 of fishing or to some peculiarity in their life-history. 



Dr. Hjort's material contained no sample of younger, immature 

 herring, from the southern area of the Gulf. It is of interest to note 

 that Mr. J. J. Cowie has drawn attention to the occurrence of schools 

 of younger herring in the Gulf, which he compares with the Scotch 

 ' matjes ' or fat herring. From his investigations of their growth it 

 may be anticipated that the smaller and younger herring of this type 



