of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



57 



' unquestionably a young herring.' An examination of the fish referred to 

 showed that it was unquestionably a sprat, every one of the distinguishing 

 marks of the species being present.* 



The Sprat Fishing. — Ever since the sprat fishing originated (about 

 1836), the question of what amount of damage, if any, is done to the 

 herring supply of our coasts by the taking of young and immature 

 herrings has often been discussed. It has been stated and restated, 

 only to be again and again denied, that enormous numbers of young 

 herring are annually destroyed during the period over which the sprat 

 fishing extends, they being mixed with the sprat shoals, and of course 

 netted with them j the supply of adult herring being as a consequence 

 much diminished, not only by the actual numbers thus early destroyed, 

 which is a comparatively small matter, but by robbing the sea of what 

 otherwise might, by living to deposit their spawn, become the progenitors 

 of an always increasing future supply. 



But how far our national herring supply is affected, owing to the take 

 of small herring by the sprat fishers, is a subject which, with our present 

 limited knowledge of the life history of the herring, may receive many 

 interpretations, since it depends altogether on the quantity of these young 

 rish, which would be likely to escape the many risks of their life, and on 

 reaching maturity deposit their spawn. I am not to attempt here a reply 

 to this question, but am simply to state the probable take of young 

 herring during the past winter, as data from which the Fishery Board 

 may draw its conclusions. 



In their Report to the Commissioners for the British White Herring 

 Fisheries, on the Sprat Fishing of the Firth of Forth in 1861, Dr Lyon Play- 

 fair, C.B., and Vice-Admiral Dundas state that the proportion of young 

 herring to sprats was at that time 1 in 100, and they explain that generally 

 the shoals of sprats and young herrings do not intermix (except under cer- 

 tain conditions, such as a heavy tide in conjunction with a gale of wind, or 

 towards the end of February when the sprats go lower down), the young 

 herring preferring deeper water, and keeping to the rear or east of the 

 sprats. What information or observations this opinion is founded on I do 

 not know, but if it is the case, it will readily be understood why great varia- 

 tions occur in the proportions of young herring to sprats after different 

 fishings, even in the same locality and especially in different seasons. 



The weather no doubt influences much the locality of the sprat fishings. 

 In the Report referred to, it is stated that from November to the end of 

 February the sprats come into the shallows of the Firth of Forth, liking 

 brackish water at this season, and that rarely are they fished as low as 

 Aberdour and Burntisland. This year, however, the shoals of sprats for 

 a long period frequented the Firth about Burntisland and lower down. 

 Many of the samples procured for me were taken off Burntisland, and a 

 large proportion of the whole were taken off or below Aberdour, and this 

 occurred during the months of November, December, and January, as 

 well as later. We are, however, in almost entire ignorance of the habits, 

 migrations, food, &c, of the sprat. Whether the shoals of sprats and 

 young herring really do keep in general apart ; the reason for the sprats 

 entering these estuaries (the ill success with which I examined sprats' 

 stomachs for food seems rather to be against the theory that they pass 

 into the brackish waters in search of it, the stomachs being invariably 

 quite empty, except two or three sent from Stonehaven and Wick, 

 which contained Crustacea, principally Temora) ; and their development, 

 are subjects which have yet to be investigated. 



* It may be worth mentioning that while throughout the winter from 1 to 6 per 

 cent, of the sprats in the samples had from one to four of the parasitic Lerneonema 

 fixed to their eyes or fins, not a single case of its presence on a young herring was found. 



