HERRING, GASPEREAU, SHAD AND OTHER CLUPEOIDS 



97 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a 



total extermination, but the onslaught made by man and by the natural enemies of the 

 finny tribes cannot destroy utterly all these local schools, to which reference has been 

 made, and the recuperation of even depleted areas from more populous areas is no 

 doubt Nature's method of constant restoration. 



On the shores of Britain, excepting perhaps the southern shore, there are two 

 spawning seasons annually for herring. Professor Huxley, in 1862, distinguished the 

 spring and autumn spawning schools. Their periods of spawning are January to 

 March, and from the end of August to the end of September,* the earlier spawning 

 schools vastly surpassing in numbers the later or autumn schools. The . migration in- 

 shore of the fish about to spawn reveals a remarkable serial succession as the fishermen 

 move from their northern fishing grounds to the south with the progress of the season. 

 The following table shows the dates, from May to December, at which the herring fleet 

 operates on the coasts of the British isles: — 



BRITISH HERRING FISHERIES STATIONS. 



Scotland — 



Stornaway 



Shetland 



Orkneys 



Wick 



Lybster 



Helmsdale 



Banff , 



Fraserburgh 



Peterhead . 



Aberdeen 



Stonehaven 



Montrose, . . 



Anstruther - 



Leith , 



Eyemouth , . . . . . . 



J^ngland — 



Berwick . . 



Sunderland North 



Shields 



Sunderland South 



Hartlepool . . . , 



Whitby 



Flamboro' Head 



Dimhngton and Spurn 



Cromer 



Yarmouth 



Lowestoft 



South would 



Ramsgate . , . . . 



Dover , 



Dungeness 



Hastings to Beachy Head . 



Plymouth , . . . 



Ireland — 



Kinsale „ 



Fastnet Rock.. . 



Grailey Head 



Queenstown 



Isle of Man 



Miles Distance 



FROM 



IjANI ). 



r rom 



io 



15 



20 



2 



10 



3 



IG 



25 



GO 



10 



40 



15 



30 



40 



£ir\ 

 dU 



5 



65 



15 



60 



30 



70 



30 



70 



5 



50 



15 



60 



15 



20 



3 



35 



10 



70 



5 



70 



10 



70 



10 



60 



10 



50 



4 



30 



8 



50 



L2 



35 



10 



30 



7 



40 



7 



40 



f) 



40 



8 



30 



G 



15 



5 



15 



5 



15 



4 



10 



6 



20 



10 



20 



6 



20 



12 



60 



6 



30 



Months. 



From 



To 



12.. 



J vine 



21 



15. . 



July 



15 



15. . 



Sept. 



6 



h'! 





30 



1. . 





15 



io . '. 





3 



10. . 





13 



12". 



July 



30 



July 



August . 



Sept. 



October. 



Nov. 



Dec. 

 April 



August 

 II 



II 



Oct. 

 II 



Dec. 



Jan. 



June 



♦ This is clearly shown by the Scottish Fishery Board's Reports, as the * Crown ' brand 

 for ' full ' herrings Is aflaxed during the two periods, viz., February and March and again in 

 July and August. 



