GREAT LAKES COREGONIDS 



497 



ming in the open lake during the summer. They recognize the fish by their blue 

 green color. The fishermen at Tobermory say that they may be caught in numbers 

 in August in 14 to 16 fathoms in the channel between Yeo and Fitz William Islands in 

 Georgian Bay. My own records from off Alpena, Mich., in September, 1917, seem to 

 confirm those of the Tobermory fishermen. On September 8, 1917, I found a few 

 small individuals (of which nine were preserved) in the l^-inch nets at 30 fathoms 

 (record 6). On September 10, 3 and 12 specimens were entangled in 43^-inch nets 

 set at 20 and 15 fathoms, respectively (records 7 and 8). On September 12 one was 

 taken in 15 to 17 fathoms (record 9). On September 14 eight were taken in these 

 nets at 24 fathoms (record 10). On September 17 three were taken at 15 fathoms 

 (record 11). On both September 22 and 26 six were taken in 17 fathoms (records 

 12 and 13). On September 20 and 25 herring were found in the stomachs of trout 

 taken from 10 to 15 fathoms off Alpena. On September 5 they had not yet come as 

 shallow as 3 fathoms (record 5). On September 24 a gang of 2%-inch nets set 

 from the can buoy to Sulphur Island in 8 to 10 fathoms three nights out got about 

 300 pounds of herring (record 14). On September 27, in the same place, 1,200 

 pounds were taken. On October 14, 1917, two herring were taken at 35 fathoms off 

 Rogers, Mich., in a gang of 2%-inch nets (record 3). These two individuals were 

 the only ones taken, and their occurrence at this depth has no significance. It is 

 possible, of course, that these specimens, as well as the occasional specimens previously 

 mentioned, may have become entangled in the nets while the latter were being set or 

 lifted; but in that case it might be expected that they would be found regularly in the 

 chub lifts, also, unless, of course, the schools do not venture offshore as far as the 

 chub grounds. 



The records of the fishermen covering fishing operations for the herring thus 

 show that they begin to come in to 20 to 30 feet of water in numbers sufficient for 

 commercial purposes about the middle of October. They are caught then until the 

 nets are pulled out on account of the weather, the last of November or the first of 

 December. Probably they remain under the ice all winter on these grounds. The fact 

 that a few are taken in the gill nets under the ice off Port Huron and in Saginaw Bay 

 seems to warrant this assumption. In the spring, as soon as navigation opens, the 

 nets take them on the same grounds as in the fall. The length of time during which the 

 schools remain on the shoals varies with the locality. At Cheboygan and Cutler they 

 are gone about June 1 . At Port Huron, Harbor Beach, and Saginaw Bay they remain 

 until about the last of June. At Alpena they may stay until the end of July. Of 

 course, here as elsewhere on the lake an occasional specimen may be taken on the 

 shoals almost all summer. After leaving the shoals the herring probably swim near 

 the surface, as do the trout in June and July, and repair later to deep water. In 

 August they are known at 15 to 16 fathoms between Yeo and Fitz William Islands and 

 at similar depths off Alpena from September 10 to 26. A few records of the fishing 

 tugs show them moving into 8 to 10 fathoms toward the end of September. Thirty- 

 five fathoms is the maximum depth from which the species is known in the lake. Two 

 specimens were taken at this depth from a gang of chub nets off Rogers on Octo- 

 ber 14, 1917. 



