The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-03-09
The Herring.

The herring, though small fish, is com
mcrclally attractive enough to often find it's
| own prospects Of peace and longevity scr:-
! ously endangered. It's diminutive size
! causes II to suilcr more from tinny enemies
| tllan either the cod or the .mackerel, and
| its spawning capacity is comparatively fee
| blc--a mere tritlc Of thirty thousand eggs
which the mackcrcl exceeds by fifteen or
twenty times, and The cod by hundred or
more. And yet there seems no limit to the
quantity OF herring. Were the demand
many times as great as il is, il could easily
De supplied from this side Of the ocean
! This IS doubtless due in great measure to
the peculiar security enjoyed by the spawn
| ana the young. Instead Of iioaiing oriiicc
downward, like the eggs of most other ;.Sh.
| herring spawn sinks to the bottom, the oli-
liccs OF the egg being upward, and us il is
| ucpoSllcd III deep water, there are but few
llsli that interfere with il. The Young
finding no loving parent near to guide Their
youthful steps, scnsibly remain close TO
their birthplace, feeding upon dlutons and
smaller crustacca, until they grow old
enough TO venture abroad. Migratory oniy
toa limited extent, il is probable that the
herring changes its base only on account of
annoyance from larger fish. They arc
caught inShorc 10y many varieties of scncs
ana pounds, and the hook has occasionally
pcch lrlcd upon them by self f-Sullicicnt city
youlhS, urged thereto by the sea uhOrc
boys, who wished to remove the coucci,
from their visitors. TO attemp TO hrrr
with hook and line fish which ca,no, bite,
bu, lives wholly by suction, and to spend
long hours at the attempt, under the stimuli
l'ls OF some wonderful story about how
many some other city youth caught in the
same way, is very stimIlativc of ones
memory OF the imprccalory psalms and of
other Scripture as misquotcu by the wicked.
ne herring, like the other fish named, in
l'anlts cold water, the line Of Long Island
SOUND being the southern boundary, while
IL is Tar TO the north that il must be sough,
Ill quantity. he secret OF The selection of
particular localities for fish homes seems
explained by an examination of the course
Oh the great arctic current. This body of
co'd water, starling from the Spitzbergcn
seas i'ows westerly until it strikes the
Greenland coast, when il changes it's course
20 thc southwark, and carries great masses
Oh cold water into localities tho latitude of
which leads one to look for a high temncr-
aturc i'll the water. 1t is Il branch of this
current that enables the cod to live and
multiply about Block Island and Nantuckc,
Shoals, in water at 40 deg, while further
north bathcrs luXuriatc in water at 70 dep.
Inc same current forces its way into the
Gulf OF ST. Lawrence, which is the most
prontnble fishing ground in the world and
probably has sol.lctling to do with the Dhc-
nomenal tides Of the Bay of Fundy. This
current brings not only cold water but food
for the fish. This food consists Of diatoms
and other minute forms of vegetable and
animal life. Coming into existence in n
latitude higher than that OF the fish TINT
dcyour it, this food Is swept southwark by
the great arctic current, and wherever il is
found the waters arc almost alive with fish.
Professor Hind says that although the sea
OH Canada and the United States appears
abundant in life, il is nevertheless amos,
desert compared with the north seas, par
ticularly on the Labrador and Greenland
coasts. There the ocean at times seems to
De thick with fish and to such nm extent
That during II single night the temperature
OF the water will be materially influenced
by animal life.