PACIFIC HERRING 
273 
They come into shallow water at times and feed on the nauplius and cypris larvae of the barna- 
cles and for days at a time they remain in the barnacle zone. This is most noticeable about spawning 
time, hence, although it is usually stated that they come into shallow water to spawn, it is possible 
that the reason of their presence is entirely or largely due to the food supply, the spawning in shallow 
water being merely incidental. 
From San Diego to the Bering Sea the Pacific herring spawn in shallow water, 
and no evidence has ever been adduced to show that they spawn elsewhere. We do 
not believe that this is due to the food supply, since examination of the stomachs of 
herring in Halibut Cove, just previous to and during spawning, showed a complete 
absence of food, whereas soon after spawning the herring were seen actively feeding. 
In the Atlantic there are in many regions two groups or populations of herring 
known as spring spawners and autumn spawners, according to the season of the year 
at which they spawn; but in the Pacific, although the time of spawning may vary from 
December until June according to the locality, there is but one spawning season in 
each area. 
In the Pacific species there seems to be a schooling or migration in the autumn or 
early winter, at which time the herring come quite near the shore and remain in close 
proximity to it throughout the winter months until just after spawning. As the 
herring approach the shore in the fall they often enter small bays and lagoons, many 
of them with extremely narrow, and often very shallow, entrances. Many of these 
places are entered annually, and the herring may stay for weeks or months, often not 
leaving until spawning time. The lagoon at Halibut Cove, described below, is the 
best example of this, but there are many others. For instance, at Seldovia the herring 
enter a lagoon, roughly about 500 yards across and about 1 or 2 fathoms in depth. 
The entrance channel is about a mile long and at low tide runs dry except for a 
small fresh-water stream that enters the channel about midway of its length. Many 
years ago this little lagoon was crowded with herring every fall, and a few stragglers 
still enter it. Other instances can be mentioned, such as the lagoon at the head of 
Kiavik Bay on Kodiak Island, and the lagoon opposite Russian Harbor on the 
southwestern tip of Kodiak Island. 
The small size of many of the lagoons entered and the numbers of herring that 
occasionally crowd into these small bays is indicated by the following quotation from 
Bower and Fassett (1914, p. 127): 
Last January at Klawak on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island there occurred an unusually 
enormous run of herring. So numerous were the fish as they crowded into the bay that hundreds 
of thousands or even millions were stranded and suffocated. When the tide receded they were left 
in a solid mass over the beach to a depth in places of several feet. 
This habit of entering such small bays and lagoons where they are subject to 
easy capture may be one factor that causes the herring of Alaska to be readily 
depleted. 
Some rough idea of the relative abundance of herring would well be gained by 
observing the numbers on the spawning grounds, since at this season all of the mature 
herring come into shallow water to spawn, where they are easily observed. Only in 
a few places, such as Fish Egg Island (near Craig) and Sitka Sound in southeastern 
Alaska, are they known to spawn in any abundance. How, then, as some assert, 
can one believe that farther offshore there are vast schools of herring yet untouched 
by the fishery? 
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