ATLANTIC HERRING

Breeding and Feeding Habits & Habitat
Production and Survival
Environment Conditions

 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
 Has a single short dorsal fin in the middle of the upper margin of
 the body. The head is scaleless, and the slender body is covered within
 thin, cycloid scales which are large and loosely attached, in which rings
 of organic material, rich in guanine are laid down each session of spawning.
 Their mouth is large with no teeth on the upper jaw, teeth on bottom jaw.
 Their back is a bluish or greenish-blue, sides and belly are silvery, gill
 covers sometimes golden or brassy; when fresh from water generally
 iridescent with shades of blue, green and violet. The tail is deeply forked
 and there is a single dorsal fin. They can be distinguished from shad and
 alewives by weak ventral keel scutes, reduced body depth and absence of
 black spots on sides, and by the presence of vomerine teeth. They reach
 sizes of 17 inches and weigh 11/2 pounds.

 COMMON NAMES
 Sea herring, sardines, hareng, bloater or kipper when smoked, digby chick,
 skadin. The herring are the most important group of fish to North America
 and western Europe. The 199 species of the most widespread family include
 the menhaden, pilchard (the young of which are common sardines) and the shad.

 SWIMMING PATTERNS
 Herring swim with a series of muscle contractions along the body and they
 push forward in a snakelike motion.

 GROWTH
 The growth of Atlantic herring has been studied extensively. Age
 determinations were formerly made by scale examination but are now
 usually made by a study of otoliths. Growth rates vary greatly from
 stock to stock. Some herring will mature at age 3, but most will mature
 by age 5. Growth is highly variable and appears to be influenced by
 many factors, including temperature, food availability, and population size.
 During periods of low population levels herring may mature at a smaller size,
 also growth may be accelerated in a larger year-class. In general, there appears
 to be evidence of overall environmental control of growth. There is a
 difference in size between the spring and fall spawners. At age 2, spring
 spawners are 18.8cm in length; fall spawners are 24.4cm in length.
 In one year, both spring and fall spawners will grow an additional 2 to
 3cm in length.

 TIMEFRAME OF FISHERY
 For herring fishing areas 16a to 16g, there are two seasons which
 reflect the two spawning components. The spring season is
 from January 1 to June 30 with actual fishing starting from ice out,
 usually in mid-April. The fall season runs from July 1 to December 31
 with actual fishing traditionally ending in October for the inshore
 and in November for the seiners.

 QUOTAS, SEASONS, LICENSES
 TAC(total allowable catch) set for 1997 for area 16F(4T)was
 16,500t for the spring fishery and 50,000t for the fall fishery.
 Quotas for area 16F(4T) was 12,575 for the spring fishery and
 38,027 for the fall fishery. Licenses for herring roe-on-kelp was
 again issued in 1997 and a quota was set aside as needed for
 that purpose. There were licenses given between 3 divisions for
 St. Georges Bay. Division 1 had 3 licenses, division 2 had 15 licenses,
 and division 3 had 77 licenses. Large Purse Seiner Quotas in 1996 for
 4T were 6,422(fall), 3906(spring). Seasons for area 16F(4T) is
 January 1-May31 for spring spawners, September 1- December 31
 for fall spawners.

 STOCK STATUS
 The stock area for the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence herring is the
 area extending from the north shore of the Gaspe Peninsula to the
 northern tip of Cape Breton Island and includes the Magdalen Islands.
 Adults overwinter off the east coast of Cape Breton in NAFO area 4VN.
 Research survey information on the 4T stock comes from the September
 bottom trawl survey, the September-October acoustic survey, and a
 spawning bed survey on fisherman's bank, PEI. An experimental
 stationary acoustic survey was also conducted in the spring at Escuminac.
 A phone survey of 30% of the active herring gillnetters in 4T was
 conducted as it has since 1985. This survey provided information
 on effort, number of nets used in each area, mesh sizes used, and
 opinions regarding abundance of the stock. Number of nets used in each
 area were similar to recent years. In most areas, it was felt that abundance
 was greater in 1996 than in 1995 for spring and fall spawners.
 Index gillnetters participate in a voluntary logbook program that
 provides more detailed information on catch and effort in the spring
 and fall inshore fisheries. Spring data from this program was used for
 the first time in the assessment to assist in the calibration of population
 size for spring spawners. Fall data from this program was used to investigate
 industry questions regarding catch rate differences between experienced
 and non-experienced gillnetters.

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