104 
BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF FISHERIES 
season of the year. Further evidence that the breeding season may vary in different latitudes is 
produced by Bigelow and Welsh (1925, p. 122), for these authors state that in the vicinity of Woods 
Hole, Mass., spawning takes place chiefly in June, and that it continues well into October, and 
they add that the menhaden is equally a summer spawner in the Gulf of Maine, where spent fish 
and others approaching maturity have been reported during July and August. 
The eggs of the menhaden (Kuntz and Radcliffe, 1918, p. 119) are 
highly transparent, spherical in form, and they have a diameter of 1.4 to 
1.6 millimeters. The period of incubation is given as “not over 48 
hours,” and the newly hatched larvae have a length of approximately 4.5 
millimeters. When the young fish reaches a length of about 33 milli- 
meters all of the fins are well formed and scales are beginning to appear, 
but the body remains very slender. Large, black chromatophores are 
present on the head and nape, along the base of the anal, on the base of 
the caudal, and on the caudal peduncle posterior to the dorsal fin. 
Young fish 45 millimeters in length are fully scaled, and they have 
assumed the adult characters to such a degree that anyone familiar with 
the adult fish would recognize the young of this size. At one year of 
age the menhaden has reached a length of about 130 millimeters (5J^ 
inches), and at two years of age it is 215 millimeters (8 inches) long. Sexual maturity probably 
is reached during the third or fourth year. 
The menhaden, as already indicated, is present in Chesapeake Bay throughout the year, 
although much less common during the winter than during the summer. The specimens caught 
during the winter were taken with a beam trawl in the deeper waters of the bay. During March, 
however, the fish again is common in the shallow waters and is taken in pound nets and haul seines. 
Very large schools of the migrating fish do 
not appear, as a rule, to enter Chesapeake 
Bay, and the abundance of menhaden does 
not seem to be affected by spring, summer, 
and fall “runs,” as is the case along the 
outer shores of the middle Atlantic States. 
The menhaden industry 7 in the Chesa- 
peake is of considerable importance. The 
amount of fish utilized in 1920 was 366,- 
379,425 pounds, valued at $2,158,518. It is not known how much of this amount was taken within 
the bay, but a large percentage was caught outside the capes by purse-seine boats and brought in 
to the various factories in Virginia. Pound nets are credited with 6,233,920 pounds, worth $22,114, 
almost the entire catch being confined to Virginia. 
The menhaden is utilized almost entirely for fertilizer (fish scrap) and fish oil. In 1920, 18 
factories were in operation, employing about 900 persons. These factories were supplied by 42 
Fig. 56. — Egg in advanced 
stage of cell division 
Fig. 58. — Larva 23 millimeters long 
steam vessels, on which over 1,500 persons found employment. The industry is confined to Vir- 
ginia, the chief centers being Northumberland and Lancaster Counties. 
In many parts of the bay this fish is not utilized by the pound-net fishermen, but is separated 
from the catch of more valuable species and thrown away. In some localities it is sold to farmers 
at a small price and is used to enrich the soil. Within the vicinity of the factories, the pound-net 
fishermen sometimes dispose of a catch (when sufficiently large) by bringing the menhaden directly 
7 For a detailed account of the menhaden industry see “ The Menhaden Industry of the Atlantic Coast” by Rob Leon Greer. 
Report, U. S. Commissioner of Fisheries, 1914 (1915), Appendix III, 27 pp., Pis. I-VII. Bureau of Fisheries, Document No. 811. 
Washington, 1915. 
