Fecundity of Atlantic Herring ( Clupea harengus ) from three Spawning Areas in the Western Gulf of Maine, 1969 and 1982

Abstract

Length-specific fecundities of mature Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus L.) were estimated from samples which were collected at three spawning areas along the Maine coast in 1969 and 1982. Fecundities were different between central and eastern Maine and between central and western Maine in 1969 but not between eastern and western Maine. Discrete spawning groups could not be distinguished on the basis of fecundity in 1982. Fecundity was, for all areas combined, significantly higher in 1982 than in 1969 for fish >29 cm in length, with increasing divergence of the length-specific fecundity curves for larger fish, Predicted fecundities for 1982 were similar to published 1980 estimates for the same stock, and the 1969 fecundities were similar to published data for 1963-64. The lower fecundities in the 1960's prevailed at a time when the Gulf of Maine herring stock was more than twice as large as it was in the early 1980's.