(irimiuate slaughter of the spawners now seri- 

 ously threatens certain inland fishing interests. 

 Many waters have been re-stocked with herring 

 as a source of food for more valuable fish. 



August comes, and the youngsters, now about 

 the length of your finger, grown tired of the fresh 

 water and the close margins of the pond, find 

 their way to the Run, and follow their parents 

 down its rough bed to a larger life in the sea. 

 Here again hungry enemies await them. In 

 untold numbers they fall a prey to sharks, cod, 

 and swordfish. Yet immense schools survive, 

 and thousands will escape even the fearful steam 

 nets of the menhaden-fishermen and see Herring 

 Run again. 



If only we could conjure one of them to talk ! 

 What a deep-sea story he could tell ! What 

 sights, what wanderings, what adventures ! But 

 the sea keeps all her tales. We do not know 

 even if the herring from Whitman's Pond live 

 together as an individual clan or school during 

 their ocean life. There are certain indications 

 that they do. There is not much about a Whit- 

 man's Pond herring to distinguish it from a 

 Taunton Rivei' or a Mystic Pond herring,— the 

 [;«4] 



