REPORTS OF STORAGE HOLDINGS. 43 
HERRING. 
This is ‘‘a very important food fish found in the North Atlantic as 
far south as Sandy Hook. It is never found in brackish or fresh 
water. ‘Sperling’ or ‘brit’ denote the differences in the age of the 
fish. They weigh from one-half to one pound, the average length 
being 10 inches. They are caught in pounds, traps, weirs, and gill 
nets, and by ‘torching.’ As a food fish they are used fresh, salted, 
pickled, smoked, and canned. They are also used extensively for 
bait in the cod, haddock, halibut, and hake fisheries.”’ 
With the herring are included alewives and bluebacks. The ale- 
wives “‘are found in waters adjacent to the sea. They are known 
along the Potomac as ‘branch herring’; on the Albemarle, the ‘big- 
eyed’ and ‘wall-eyed’ herring; in North Carolina, the ‘alewife’; and 
in Connecticut as ‘ellwife’ and ‘ellwhop.’ It appears in the rivers 
three or four weeks earlier than the ‘glut herring’ or the shad. Another 
species known as alewives is found from the Carolinas to the Gulf of 
Mexico. It is known in the Chesapeake Bay and the Albemarle 
Sound as ‘glut herring’; in the Ogeechee River as ‘English herring’; 
in the St. Johns River as ‘herring’; and in Massachusetts and during 
later runs in the Rappahannock as the ‘blueback.’ It is also known as 
‘black-belly,’ ‘saw-belly,’ and ‘kyack.’ It is less abundant than the 
other species and much less valuable as a food fish. Both species 
average about one-half pound in weight and 8 to 10 inches in length. 
They are caught in nets, seines, weirs, etc., and are of very great 
importance as a food fish.” 
The monthly reports from January 1 to April, inclusive, showed 
very small stocks of the frozen herring, varying from almost 6,000,000 
pounds on January 15 to less than 2,000,000 on April 15. The greatest 
increase occurred from April 15 to July 15, amounting to more than 
14,000,000 pounds. By August 15 there were 16,896,289 pounds 
frozen and in cold storage, which amount was almost one and one-half 
times greater than on the same date of the previous year. By Decem- 
ber 15 the holdings had decreased only slightly and amounted to 
almost 16,000,000 pounds. 
Tas LE 34.—Monthly cold storage holdings of frozen herring during 1918, and increase 
or decrease during each month. 
Holdings | Relative ; 
Month. on fifteenth | percent- Increase or decrease 
of month. age. during month. 
Pounds. Per cent. Pounds. Per cent. 
AIA Ty ean agrees gles hoe Ms NIA ALN 8 See Pe, 5,891,359 34.9 — 2,276,179 |— 38.6 
Hie Toru anny eee ea aoe de es a NNN NS 3,615,180 21.4 — 1,430,475 |— 39.6 
AN ea nce nea ria arr cpm NG ee NUM ne the oe Nill Ah 2,184,705 12.9 — 373,622 |— 17.1 
PoNj OV | ig ap ea TOI NS pe ee 1,811,083 10.7 +3,428,890 |+189.3 
IN Tear eee eee INULIN aa ele Bi ee Cd a 5,239,973 31.0 +7,295,186 |+139.2 
Arrays) He Ss eee Be ERI OE anal re ceed 12,535,159 74.2 + 3,640,665 }-+ 29.0 
aViualliy een me ne eae rma eA cS NA a aN 16,175,824 95.7 + 720,465 |+ 4.5 
ACS US Gea pp ts oy me le ge Hs LG Nal ee Sata 16,896,289 100.0 — 560,920 |— 3.3 
September meet ewe Mnniya se nil Ny? al AMES i te 16,335,369 96.7 — 549,432 |— 3.4 
Mctolrer tee sr emee NN ie kee Ne y  h 15,785,937 93.4 — 1,363 |— 0.009 
INGviern bers amare en bulenn Aelia Ne ao ie) Ds ei 15,784,574 93.4 + 145, 177 |+ 0.9 
December eee sete SNR Tae UA Oa 15,929,751 94.3 — 3,129,653 |— 19.6 
