498 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



BREEDING HABITS 



The fall inshore migration is for the purpose of spawning. However, the fishermen 

 can give no information as to when the fish actually deposit their eggs. Certainly 

 they spawn in November, for a few males taken at Bay City on October 25, 1917, 

 showed indications of pearls and females were nearly ripe, and the males taken at 

 Cutler on November 11, 1917, were heavily pearled, while the two females were 

 spawning. The herring fishermen say also that the catches are heaviest in November, 

 which indicates that the individuals of the school are more numerous or more easily 

 captured than usual. According to the majority of the reports, gravel or sand are 

 preferred by the spawning fish. 



VALUE AS FOOD 



The flesh of the herring is dry and is considered by some as flavorless. Others find 

 it very palatable. Whatever may or may not be its merits in this respect, the fisher- 

 men until recently received only 2 or 3 cents per pound, or less, for herring, and con- 

 sequently they did not set nets for them when other fish were available. 



ABUNDANCE 



In view of the fact that market conditions have not encouraged the capture of 

 herring, it appears their numbers have not been reduced seriously. At least in 

 Saginaw Bay, where fishing has been most intensive, the fishermen report no decrease 

 in late years. There is no doubt, however, that fish are much scarcer now than they 

 were 25 years ago, and it is certain also that many more and better nets are being 

 used from year to year. There are, of course, "off seasons" when, for various 

 reasons, not many fish are taken in the bay, but on the whole there have always been 

 plenty of herring to be had. This is true in spite of the fact that the fish have not 

 been protected by a closed season and that few plants of fry have been made. There 

 are, it seems, immense areas in the bay that are suitable breeding grounds for the 

 species. 



FOOD 



From the examination (made by Carl L. Hubbs, of the Michigan University 

 Museum) of the stomachs of 78 individuals collected in gill nets at an average depth 

 of 10 fathoms off Alpena, Mich., from September 20 to October 16, 1917, plankton 

 Entomostraca are found to comprise the bulk of the food. Two specimens taken 

 in gill nets off Blind River, Ontario, on October 12, 1917, had eaten only Entomostraca. 

 Thirty specimens collected from pound nets set in 5 fathoms off Bay City, Mich., 

 on October 23, 1917, were feeding chiefly on larval May flies (Hexagenia). Other 

 articles of food ingested in insignificant quantities by the Alpena and Bay City fish 

 include larval Chironomidae, Corixidse, and Trichoptera, Asellus, fish scales, fishes, 

 wood fragments, and algae. Stomachs of 50 specimens taken in the summer of 1921 

 in Douglas Lake, Cheboygan County, Mich., and 50 specimens from Portage Lake, 

 Washtenaw County, Mich., taken from July 1 to 15, 1920, in 7 to 10 fathoms, yield 

 the same findings as in the case of the Alpena fish. F. M. Gaige, of the Michigan 

 University Museum, reports that on September 26, 1910, the stomachs of herring 

 taken by the fishermen off the Charity Islands in Saginaw Bay were full of the winged 

 ants that abounded in swarms at that season. 



