370 On the Herring. 



spawning-ground till they attain a few inches in size, and then 

 they take to the deep water near the shore, where they find 

 abundance of small Crustacea and animalcule on which they feed 

 and become fat maties. They then change into full herrings, 

 and leave the deep sea, approaching the shore where it is suit- 

 able for spawning, and there, in great numbers, one shoal above 

 another, extending for many miles, they begin to shed the 

 spawn, which falls to the bottom, and, being of a sticky nature, 

 clings to the stones, and there remains, unless disturbed by 

 storms or trawls, till the young fry burst the egg. The spent 

 fish then leave the shallow water, and seek rest and food in the 

 deep waters far beyond the reach of the net. 



How long the herring takes in passing through these 

 changes, and becoming an adult fish, is not known. Some think 

 two, and others as many as seven years are required. 



We are not disposed, for various reasons, to agree with 

 these observers, for we consider that all the time required is 

 not more than one year. When we consider that each shoal of 

 fish affects a certain specified part of the sea, never spawning 

 except on the " family ground," we cannot account for the 

 plenty of one year and the scarcity of the next, except by tho 

 theory that they pass from the ova to the adult in one year. If 

 we compare the ages and changes of a herring Avith those 

 of a salmon, we think that the following estimate of the 

 herring's age will be tolerably exact : — two weeks for the pro- 

 duction of the fry from the egg, three months to become a 

 matie, four months to feed and fatten into a full fish, aud two 

 months to devclopc the ova and to shed it, thus making ten 

 months from Leaving the egg till it becomes a shotten herring 

 ready to retire into deep water, there to become again a full 

 herring, and thus for years returning to spawn, if it is lucky 

 enough to escape the enemies which are always ready to devour 

 and destroy it. 



The enemies of the herring arc legion. Codfish, hakes, eels, 

 and porpoises pursue it beneath the waves. Razorbills, gannets, 

 and gulls watch its progress from above, and man, provided with 

 implements, docs his inmost to capture and destroy it. Such 

 havoc is made by the fish among the spawn and fry that only 

 one fish in every six thousand eggs comes to maturity; yet, 



with such a waste, the numbers remain as great as ever, for 

 each full fish deposits about seventy thousand eggs \ so that 

 there is every probability, if the fishing is rightly conducted, of 



plenty cont inning to all t ime. 



The fish are said to be sometimes erratic in their tastes, 

 affecting one spawning ground for many years, and then for- 

 Baking it. Pennant considered they became dissatisfied with 



the beds, and thus left them, but the true reason is the illegal 



