. Fisheries and Marine Service. Maritimes Region. Resource Development Branch. DATA RECORD SERIES MAR/D 1411 Environment Canada Environnement Canada Fisheries Service des peches and Marine Service et des sciences de la mer

Life History Data on the Alewife and Blueback Herring of the Saint John River, ,1973

by B.M. Jessop

Data Record Series No. MAR/ D-77-2

Freshwater and Anadromous Division Resource Branch Maritimes Region LIFE HISTORY DATA ON THE ALEWIFE AND BLUEBACK HERRING OF THE SAINT JOHN RIVER,

NEW BRUNSWICK, 1973

S.M. JESSOP

FEBRUARY, 1973

DATA RECORD SERIES NO. MAR/D-77-2

FRESHWATER AND ANADROMOUS DIVISION RESOURCE BRANCH. FISHERIES AND MARINE SERVICE DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES AND THE' ENVIRONMENT

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA iii

CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix

INTRODUCTION 1 METHODS 1 RUN TIMING 2 RESULTS 2 DISCUSSION 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 47 REFERENCES 49 V

LIST OF. TABLES

TABLE 1. Mean fork lengths (mm), by sample date and location, for gaspereau from the Saint John River, 1973 5 TABLE 2. Mean fork lengths (mm), by sample date and location, for alewives from the Saint John River, 1973 6 TABLE 3. Length-frequency distributions of mature alewives, by sex and location, Saint John River, 1973 7 TABLE 4. Length-frequency distributions of immature alewives, by location, Saint John River, 1973 8 TABLE 5. Observed length-frequency of alewives, by age-groups, sexes and locations combined, Saint John River, 1973 8 TABLE 6. Mean fork lengths (mm) of alewives, by sex and age, by location, 1973. 1. Washademoak Lake 9 2. Grand Lake 9 3. Indian Lake 9 4. River 10 5. Mactaquac 10 TABLE 7. Summary of mean fork lengths (mm) of alewives, by sex, age and location, Saint John River, 1973 11 TABLE 8. Mean weights (g) of alewives, by sex and age, by location, 1973.

1. Washademoak Lake 12 2. Grand Lake 12 3. Indian Lake 12 4. 13 5. 13 TABLE 9. Summary of mean weights (g) of alewives, by sex, age and location, Saint John River, 1973 14 TABLE 10. Spawning history of alewives, by sex and location, Saint John River, 1973 15

TABLE 11. Mean fork length (mm) and weight (g) of alewives, by sex and age, in relation to spawning history, by location, 1973. vi

1. Washademoak Lake 16 2. Grand Lake 17 3. Indian Lake 18 4. Oromocto River 19 5. Mactaquac Dam 20 TABLE 12. Age at first spawning (maturity) for alewives, by sex and location, Saint John River, 1973. . . 21 TABLE 13. Mean fork lengths (mm), by sample date and location, for blueback herring from the Saint John River, 1973 22 TABLE 14. Length-frequency distributions of mature blueback herring, by sex and location, Saint John River, 1973 23 TABLE 15. Length-frequency distributions of immature blueback herring, by location, Saint John River, 1973 24 TABLE 16. Observed length-frequency of blueback herring, by age groups, sexes and locations combined, Saint John River, 1973 24 TABLE 17. Mean fork lengths (mm) of blueback herring, by sex and age, by location, 1973. 1. Washademoak Lake 25 2. Grand Lake 25 3. Indian Lake 25 4. Oromocto River 26 5. Mactaquac Dam 26 TABLE 18. Summary of mean fork lengths (mm) of blueback herring, by sex, age and location, Saint John River, 1973 28 TABLE 19. Mean weights (g) of blueback herring, by sex and age, by location, 1973. 1. Washademoak Lake 28 2. Grand Lake 28 3. Indian Lake 28 4. Oromocto River 29 5. Mactaquac Dam 29 TABLE 20. Summary of mean weights (g) of blueback herring, by sex, age and location, Saint John River, 1973 30 TABLE 21. Spawning history of blueback herring, by sex and location, Saint John River, 1973 31 vii

TABLE 22. Mean fork length (mm) and weight (g) of blueback herring, by sex and age, in relation to spawning history, by location, 1973.

1. Washademoak Lake 32 2. Grand Lake 33 3. Indian Lake 34 4. Oromocto River 35 5. Mactaquac Dam 36 TABLE 23. Age at first spawning (maturity) for blueback herring, by sex and location, Saint John River, 1973 37 TABLE 24. Summary of age at first spawning (maturity), by sex and species, all sites combined, Saint John River, 1973 38 ix

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIG. 1. Sampling sites on the lower Saint John River basin 39 FIG. 2. Geometric mean estimate of the functional regression of alewife fork length and total

length • • • • 40 FIG. 3. Geometric mean estimate of the functional regression of blueback herring fork length and total length •. . . 41 FIG. 4. Age-composition of alewives, by location, Saint John River, 1973 42 FIG. 5. Age-composition of blueback herring, by location, Saint John River, 1973 . . . 43 FIG. 6. Significance of differences in proportion of alewife repeat spawners, by sex, sexes combined, and location, Saint John River,

1973 • • • 44 FIG. 7. Significance of differences in proportion of blueback herring repeat spawners, by sex, sexes combined and location, Saint John River, 1973 ... 45 INTRODUCTION

A commercial fishery for gaspereau (the term refers to both the alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus, and the blueback herring, A. aestivalis) has been conducted for many years in the Saint John River, New Brunswick (Fig. 1). This fishery provided about 3.6 million kg or 66% of the total 1968-72 New Brunswick gaspereau harvest, for a mean annual value of $298,000.

Little is known of the life history and population dynamics of gaspereau in the Saint John River, and particularly of the effects of the commercial fishery. With this in mind, a study was begun in 1973 with the following objectives: (1) establish- ing whether alewives and blueback herring are homogeneous populations or form distinct local populations within the river system, (2) evaluating the influence of the commercial fishery and hydroelectric development on the populations, and (3) pro- viding a data base for the establishment and evaluation of management practices.

With modifications, this program was conducted for the three years 1973 through 1975. This report will present the tabulated data from the 1973 survey and will be followed by reports on the 1974 and 1975 surveys. A final technical report will evaluate the data with respect to the program objectives.

METHODS

In 1973, the commercial fishery was sampled weekly during the fishing season at seven sites in Fishery Districts 56 and 57: the Oromocto River, and Indian, Grand and Washademoak lakes (Fig. 1). Sites were located at the lower, middle and upper parts of Grand Lake. The lower site was infrequently sampled for logistic reasons. Sites were located at the lower and middle regions of Washademoak Lake. The main stem of the Saint John River, where commercial fishing was not permitted, was sampled at Mactaquac Dam in District 58. At each site, 50 fish were collected in several representative scoopfuls from either the net-brail or barge into which fish were loaded in the commercial fishery, or from the brail-pool of the fishway at Mactaquac Dam.

Fork length, weight, sex, maturity and species were recorded, and a scale sample was obtained from each fish collected. Total length was recorded for a proportion of the fish. All lengths were measured to the nearest millimeter and weights to the nearest gram (by electric balance). Fork lengths were used exclusively in the data analysis. Sex and maturity were estab- lished by dissection, using Nikolsky's (1963) maturity classification; while species identification was based on body conformity and peritoneal color (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953).

Whenever possible, scales were taken from the left side of each fish, just above the lateral line and behind the posterior 2 edge of the dorsal fin. Eight to ten scales were placed on transparent plastic slides (Power 1964), and each sample was independently aged twice without reference to associated length or weight data. If readings differed, a third reading was made and an age assigned on the basis of majority agreement. Very few fish were unageable due either to a lack of scales, scales with regenerate centers or ageing disagreements. Age was determined for adult fish by counting the number of annuli and spawning marks and adding a year for the scale edge (Cating 1953; Marcy 1969). Fish under age four frequently ex- hibited plus (+) growth and judgement based upon capture date was used in deciding whether or not to add a year for the scale edge. Scale analysis included counting the number of transverse grooves per annulus in order to establish a criterion for locating annuli that were difficult to interpret (Cating 1953; Marcy 1969).

RUN TIMING Movement of mature gaspereau into the lower Saint John River, i.e., Kennebecasis and Bellisle bays (Fig. 1), may occur as early as January; but the major upstream spawning migration begins in late April, peaks in late May or early June and is completed by early August. In 1973, the start of commercial fishing varied with location, depending upon ice conditions and water levels. The Oromocto River and Indian (including French) and Washademoak lakes were first fished in late April; while Grand and Maquapit lakes were first fished in late May, follow- ing the unusually severe spring flood. All commercial fishing ceased by June 30, the season's end, but some nets had ceased fishing a week or two earlier. At Mactaquac Dam, the run began on 18 May, peaked in mid-June and ended on 21 July.

RESULTS A total of 2,229 fish was collected from all sites between 8 May and 18 July. Sampling was distributed as follows:

Sample Location Period Number

Washademoak Lake (lower) 11 May-20 Jun 350 (middle) 8 May-29 Jun 400 Grand Lake (lower) 7 Jun 50 (middle) 14 May-18 Jun 200 (upper) 23 May-25 Jun 281 Indian Lake 15 May-12 Jun 199 Oromocto River 14 May-18 Jun 300 Mactaquac Dam 24 May-18 Jul 449 Total 2,229 3

Conversions between fork and total lengths can be made for alewives and blueback herring respectively, by using the following G.M. regressions: (a) Y=0.88193X + 0.00537 and (b) Y= 0.88570X + 1.44126, where Y=fork length and X=total length (Figs. 2 and 3). The data have been tabulated, in various combinations, according to species, location, sex, length, weight; age, maturity and spawning history (Tables 1-24 and Figs. 4-7). Between tables, totals may not always agree due to Lncomplete data, i.e., unageable scales.

DISCUSSION

No analysis has been presented of the data contained in this report; that will be the purpose of a technical report. Rather, this report presents the available data in wider variety of formats than might be used in a technica report. TABLE 1. Mean fork lengths (mm), by sample date and location, for gaspereaus from the Saint John River, 1973.

Washademoak Lake2 Grand Lakes Indian Lake Oromocto River Mactaquac Dam Mean Mean Mean Mean Mean Date n length SD n length SD n length SD n length SD n length SD

May 5-11 100 271.9 20.73 0 - - 0 - - 0 - - 0 - - May 12-18 100 258.3 17.20 50 265.1 18.23 49 259.2 18.53 50 275.6 15.79 0 - - May 19-25 100 254.4 21.55 96 261.0 18.20 50 255.2 19.94 50 259.2 17.13 50 265.6 14.28 May 26-Jun 1 100 241.2 28.59 48 261.5 21.06 50 250.8 18.04 50 264.7 21.86 50 267.8 12.60 Jun 2-8 100 206.0 34.95 100 255.0 19.35 50 243.1 18.21 50 235.6 46.15 50 263.7 13.81 Jun 9-15 100 233.3 25.07 50 245.3 27.31 50 240.3 18.45 50 255.4 28.78 50 252.7 16.60 Jun 16-22. 100 239.7 23.09 100 242.8 14.93 0 - -- 50 206.6 46.79 50 247.1 13.79 Jun 23-29 50 228.5 27.18 37 244.3 18.92 0 - 0 - -- 50 243.5 18.46 Jun 30-Jul 6 0 - -- 0 - - 0 -- - 0 -- - 50 238.8 16.90 Jul 7-13 0 - - 0 - - 0 - - 0 -- - 49 228.6 15.07 Jul 14-20 0 - - 0 - - 0 - - 0 - - 50 228.8 20.73 Totals 750 242.6 32.41 481 253.7 23.26 249 249.7 19.54 300 249.5 39.05 449 248.5 21.25

1 Gaspereau includes both alewives and blueback herring.

2Middle and lower sampling sites combined, where n=100. 'middle and upper sampling sites combined, where n=100, single sample of 50 fish from lower site omitted.

01 TABLE 2. Mean fork lengths (mm), by sample date and location, for alewives from the Saint John River, 1973.

Washademoak Lake' Grand Lake2 Indian Lake Oromocto River Mactaquac Dam Mean Mean Mean Mean Mean Date n length SD n length SD n length SD n length SD n length SD

May 5-11 100 271.9 20.73 0 -- - 0 -- - 0 -- - 0 -- - May 12-18 100 258.3 17.20 50 265.1 18.23 49 259.2 18.53 50 275.6 15.79 0 -- - May 19-25 91 257.4 19.49 96 261.0 18.20 50 255.2 19.94 50 259.2 17.13 50 265.6 14.28 May 26-Jun 1 70 247.5 30.21 48 261.5 21.06 50 250.8 18.04 50 264.7 21.86 50 267.3 12.60 Jun 2-8 55 196.4 39.92 91 257.0 19.94 38 246.0 18.56 39 233.7 51.54 50 263.7 13.81 Jun 9-15 52 245.7 25.63 35 256.0 24.41 28 248.9 18.44 44 260.4 26.56 41 257.3 14.11 Jun 16-22 54 249.4 23.34 53 258.4 15.81 0 - 32 194.4 54.49 37 250.6 11.38 Jun 23-29 25 241.6 30.71 30 250.4 13.72 0 - -- 0 - -- 26 253.2 18.07 Jun 30-Jul 6 0 - -- 0 -- - 0 -- 0 - - 25 248.0 14.27 Jul 7-13 0 0 0 -- 0 -- 10 242.1 12.31 Jul 14-20 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- -- 0 - -- 31 239.6 10.49 Totals 547 250.2 33.02 403 259.4 20.00 215 252.6 19.03 265 252.0 40.56 320 257.1 16.26

'Middle and lower sampling sites combined.

2Middle and upper sampling sites combined; single sample of 40 fish from lower site omitted. TABLE 3. Length-frequency distributions of mature alewives, by sex and location, Saint John River, 1973.

Floik Wadbadaramk Lake Grand Lake Indian Lake Orombcto River Mactaquac Dam Summary length Male Female • Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male • Female 4m4 No. % NO. % No. % No. No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

190-199 1 0.4 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 0.6 0 - 2 0.2 0 - 200-209 1 0.4 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 0.9 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 2 0.2 0 - 210-219 3 1.3 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 0.8 0 - 1 0.6 0 - 5 0.5 0 - 220-229 7 2.9 6 2.3 5 2.3 2 0.9 13 11.4 1 1.0 3 2.5 0 - 5 3.1 2 1.3 33 0.4 11 0.1 230-239 40 16.7 12 4.5 36 16.3 21 9.8 32 28.1 5 5.0 12 10.8 1 0.9 18 11.3 12 7.7 138 16.2 51 0.6 240-249 68 28.3 38 14.3 46 20.8 27 12.6 29 25.4 29 28.7 16 13.5 12 10.9 33 20.6 28 18.0 192 22.5 134 15.8 250-259 66 27.5 60 22.6 58 26.2 28 13.1 16 14.0 26 25.7 30 25.2 14 12.7 36 22.5 29 18.6 206 24.1 157 18.6 260-269 27 11.3 53 20.6 42 19.0 46 21.5 11 9.7 11 10.9 19 16.0 23 20.9 38 23.8 29 18.6 137 16.0 162 19.1 270-279 12 5.0 41 15.5 17 7.7 26 12.2 2 1.8 11 10.9 22 18.5 17 15.5 23 14.7 35 22.4 • 76 8.9 130 15.4 280-289 7 2.9 13 4.9 11 5.0 25 11.7 6 5.3 9 8.9 10 8.4 19 17.3 4 2.5 14 9.0 38 4.4 80 9:5 290-299 7 2.9 21 7.9 4 1.8 31 14.5 4 3.5 6 6.9 5 4.2 15 13.6 1 0.6 7 4.5 21 2.5 80 9.5 300-309 1 0.4 16 6.0 2 0.9 5 2.3 0 - 3 3.0 1 0.8 9 8.2 0 - 0 - 4 0.5 33 3.9 310-319 0 - 4 1.5 0 - 2 0.9 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 6 0.7 320-329 0 - 1 0.4 0 - 1 0.5 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 2 0.2 Totals 240 265 221 214 114 101 119 110 160 156 854 846 8

TABLE 4. Length-frequency distributions of immature alewives, by location, Saint John River, 1973.

Fork Washadencak Grand Indian Oromocto Mactaquac length Lake Lake Lake River Dam &mazy (um) No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

130-139 8 20.0 0 — 0 — 3 9.4 0 — 11 15.1 140-149 8 20.0 0 — 0 — 3 9.4 0 — 11 15.1 150-159 17 42.5 0 — 0 — 15 46.9 0 — 32 43.8 160-169 5 12.5 0 — 0 — 7 21.9 0 — 12 16.4 170-179 2 5.0 1 100.0 0 — 4 12.5 0 — 7 9.6 Total 40 1 0 32 0 73

TABLE 5. Observed length-frequency of alewives, by age-groups, sexes and locations combined, Saint John River, 1973.

Fork :length Age - group (mm) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total

130-139 11 11 140-149 11 11 150-159 29 29 160-169 11 11 170-179 5 1 6 180-189 0 0 190-199 1 1 2 200-209 2 0 2 210-219 3 3 6 220-229 2 39 2 43 230-239 1 146 36 1 1 185 240-249 178 133 3 1 315 250-259 128 213 11 0 352 260-269 37 219 27 1 284 270-279 3 125 64 2 194 280-289 0 41 59 12 2 1 115 290-299 1 4 53 24 11 1 94 300-309 2 12 12 7 1 34 310-319 1 3 2 6 320-329 1 1 2 Total 67 10 536 775 231 57 23 3 1,702 Percent 3.9 0.6. 31.5 45.5 13.6 3.4i 1.4 0.2

9

TABLE 6-1. Mean fork lengths (nut) of alewives, by sex and age, Washadenoak Lake, 1973.

Male Female No. of Length No. of Length Age fish Mean Range SD fish Moan Range SD

3 4 207.7 198-219 8.96 0 4 84 240.3 218-257 9.21 69 247.3 222-270 10.83 5 120 252.7 230-280 10.12 129 262.5 235-288 11.66 6 18 275.2 248-300 14.24 30 279.8 250-310 14.84 7 3 295.0 291-298 3.61 25 300.6 282-320 8.30 8 1 294.0 7 305.0 294-315 7.23 9 0 1 303.0

TABLE 6-2. an fork lengths (mm) of alewives, by sex and age, Grand Lake, 1973.

Male Female No. of Length No. of Length Age fish Mean Range SD fish an Range SD

3 1 220.0 - 0 - - 4 55 239.9 224-263 8.57 55 246.1 227-292 12.32 5 119 254.6 231-281 10.75 82 263.1 233-286 11.64 6 28 268.3 238-292 14.14 52 283.2 252-303 11.31 7 7 276.7 233-303 22.61 12 289.0 248-318 15.93 8 4 290.7 282-302 8.38 8 303.4 296-325 10.13 9 1 283.0 - 0 - -

TABLE 6-3. Mean fork lengths (mm) of alewives, by sex and age, Indian Lake, 1973.

Male Female No. of Length No. of Length Age fish Mean Range SD fish Mean Range SD

3 1 204.0 - 0 - - 4 64 237.8 224-261 9.62 44 247.9 235-269 7.02 5 34 250.4 226-280 11.63 36 259.3 222-280 13.72 6 9 283.4 265-298 10.47 15 285.2 266-303 11.01 7 2 283.5 280-287 4.95 3 289.7 278-301 11.51 8 0 - - 0 - - 9 1 294.0 - 0 - -

10

TABLE 6-4. Mean fork lengths (nun of alewives, by sex and age, Cromocto River, 1973.

Male Female No. of Length No. of Length Age fish Mean Range SD fish Mean Range SD

3 1 230.0 - 0 4 33 241.6 216-260 11.21 24 250.7 236-266 8.57 5 56 261.6 234-288 12.09 52 271.9 242-306 12.93 6 19 280.5 268-301 8.22 28 288.8 264-308 9.38 7 1 285.0 - 2 293.5 287-300 9.19 8 3 294.7 290-298 4.19 0

TABLE 6-5. Mean fork lengths (mm) of alewives, by sex and age, Mactaquac Dam, 1973.

Male Female No. of Length No. of Length Age fish Mean Range SD fish Mean Range SD

3 1 220.0 0 - 4 44 240.0 196-265 12.71 64 248.2 225-271 10.01 5 82 257.4 232-273 9.91 65 266.3 239-297 11.87 6 16 271.8 253-287 8.69 16 280.5 253-295 9.69 7 0 2 287.5 20-292 6.36 TABLE 7. Summary of mean fork lengths (mm) of alewives, by sex, age and location, Saint John River, 1973.

Washadexpak Lake Grand Lake Indian Lake Oranocto River Mactaquac Dam Mean No. of Mean No. of Mean No. of Mean No. of Mean No.- of Age length fish length fish length fish length fish length fish

Male 3 207.0 4 220.0 1 204.0 1 230.0 1 220..0 1 4 240.3 84 239.9 55 237.8 64 241.6 33 240.0 44 5 252.7 120 254.6 119 250.4 34 261.6 56 257.4 82 6 275.2 18 268.3 28 283.4 9 280.5 19 271.8 16 7 295.0 3 276.7 7 283.5 2 285.0, 1 0 8 294.0 1 290.7 4 - 0 294.7 3 0 9 0 283.0 1 294.0 1 ..._ 0 0

Female 4 247.3 69 246.1 55 247.9 44 250.7 24 248.2 64 5 262.5 129 263.1 82 259.3 36 271.9 52 266.3 65 6 279.8 30 283.2 52 285.2 15 288.8 28 280.5 16 7 300.6 25 289.0 12 289.7 3 293.5 2 287.5 2 8 305.0 7 303.4 8 - 0 - 0 0 9 303.0 1 - 0 0 - 0 0

12

TABLE 8-1. Mean weights (g) of alewives, by sex and age, Washademoak Lake, 1973.

Male Female No. of Weight No. of Weight Age fish Mean Range SD fish Wan Range SD

3 4 125.5 115-137 9.15 0 - - 4 84 180.2 110-277 24.85 69 195.9 123-278 32.12 5 120 210.3 136-299 31.48 129 247.4 153-372 41.80 6 18 267.4 219-341 35.35 30 292.9 215-422 43.28 7 3 296.0 278-314 18.00 25 335.0 246-467 63.25 8 1 310.0 - 7 341.7 271-393 41.50 9 0 - 1 427.0 -

TABLE 8-2. Mean weights (g) of alewives, by sex and age, Grand Lake, 1973.

Male Female No. of Weight No. of Weight Age fish Mean Range SD fish an Range SD

3 1 126.0 - 0 - - 4 55 174.8 135-248 21.94 55 193.3 128-385 41.71 5 119 211.9 148-325 33.86 82 236.3 162-359 40.65 6 28 245.4 168-346 40.49 52 281.0 196-405 41.27 7 7 264.7 182-301 41.65 12 315.4 243-512 74.11 8 4 300.0 258-376 52.04 8 331.7 264-447 58.19 9 1 286.0 - 0 - -

TABLE 8-3. Mean weights (g) of alewives, by sex and age, Indian Lake, 1973.

Male Female No. of Weight No. of Weight Age fish Mean Range SD fish Mean Range SD

3 1 116.0 --- 0 - - 4 64 162.6 124-215 19.92 44 181.1 147-227 19.19 5 34 187.4 129-248 30.69 36 222.9 134-317 39.57 6 9 269.7 235-318 28.79 15 278.3 234-350 35.18 7 2 251.0 232-270 26.87 3 277.3 235-303 36.94 8 0 - - 0 - - 9 1 244.0 - 0 - -

13

TABLE 8-4. Mean weights (g) of alewives, by sex and age, Oromocto River, 1973.

Male Female ' No. of Weight No. of Weight Age fish Man Range SD fish Mean Rang

3 1 147.0 - 0 - 4 33 173.4 120-244 25.51 24 191.8 150-249 27.56 5 56 233.0 147-301 39.05 52 253.1 157-396 47.87 6 19 262.3 211-360 40.69 28 301.7 224-302 44.64 7 1 263.0 - - 2 296.0 278-314 25.46 8 3 308.0 263-362 50.11 0 - -

TABLE 8-5. Man weights (g) of alewives, by sex and age, Mactaquac Dam, 1973.

Male Female No. of Weight No. of Weight Age fish. Mean Range SD fish Mean Range SD

3 1 128.0 - 0 ••■11.1, 4 44 181.8 103-236 28.67 64 205.8 ' 145-206 29.87 5 82 224.9 150-301 30.59 65 264.1 168-369 42.54 6 16 260.3 219-312 28.80 16 304.3 207-308 40.20 7 0 - - 2 286.5 260-313 37.48 TABLE 9. Summary of mean weights (g) of alewives, by sex, age and location, Saint John River, 1973.

Washadenoak Lake Grand Lake Indian Lake Oromocto River Mactaquac Dam Mean No. of Mean No. of Mean No. of Mean No. of Mean No. of Age weight fish weight fish weight fish weight fish weight fish

Male 3 125.5 4 126.0 1 116.0 1 147.0 1 128.0 1 4 180.2 84 174.8 55 162.6 64 173.4 33 181.8 44 5 210.3 120 211.9 119 187.4 34 233.0 56 224.9 82 6 267.4 18 245.4 28 269.7 9 262.3 19 260.3 16 7 296.0 3 264.7 7 251.0 2 263.0 1 -- 0 8 310.0 1 300.0 4 - 0 308.0 3 -- 0 9 - 0 286.0 1 244.0 1 0 -- 0

Female 4 195.9 69 193.3 55 181.1 4 191.8 24 205.8 64 5 247.4 129 236.3 82 222.9 36 253.1 52 264.1 65 6 292.9 30 281.0 52 278.3 15 301.7 28 304.3 16 7 335.0 25 315.4 12 277.3 3 296.0 2 286.5 2 8 341.7 7 331.7 8 - 0 0 -- 0 9 427.0 1 - 0 0 0 - 0 TABLE 10. Spawning history of alewives, by sex and location, Saint John River, 1973.

Washadenoak Lake Grand Lake Indian Lake. Oromocto River Mactaquac Dam No. previous Mean Mean Man Mean Mean spawnings No. % age No. % age No. % age No. % age No. % age

Male 0 117 47.8 4.1 85 39.4 4.5 55 49.5 4.2 69 55.6 4.1 54 37.8 4.5 1 99 40.4 4.8 93 43.1 4.9 45 40.5 4.6 27 21.8 5.0 78 54.5 4.9 2 25 10.2 5.4 22 10.2 5.7 9 8.1 5.9 22 17.7 5.6 11 7.7 5.4 3 4 1.6 7.0 10 4.6 6.5 1 0.9 7.0 3 2.4 6.7 0 - 4 0. - - 4 1.9 7.5 0 - - 3 2.4 7.7 0 5 0 - - 2 0.9 8.5 1 0.9 9.0 0 - - 0 Totals 245 216 111 124 143 % repeat spawners 52.2 60.7 .50.5 44.4 62.2

Female 0 106 37.6 4.0 67 32.1 4.4 45 45.9 4.2 55, 44.4 3.7 69 46.9 4.3 1 116 41.1 4.9 83 39.7 5.0 38 38.8 4.9 45 36.3 5.1 67 45.6 4.9 2 29 10.3 5.9 35 16.7 5.9 11 11.2 5.9 21 16.9 6.0 9 '6.1 5.8 3 21 7.4 6.8 18 8.6 6.9 4 4.1 6.5 3 2.4 6.0 2 1.4 6.5 4 8 2.8 7.6 5 2.4 7.6 0 - - 0 -- - 0 - - 5 2 0.7 8.5 1 0.5 8.0 0 - - 0 - - 0 - - Itkals 282 209 98 124 147 % repeat spawners 62.4 67.9- 54.1 55.6 53.1 Sexes combined % repeat spawners 57.7 64.2 52.2 50.0 57.6 16

TABLE 11-1. Mean fork length (mm) and weight (g) of alewives, by sex and age, in relation to spawning history, Washademoak Lake, 1973.

No. previous Mean Mean Age spawnings No. % length SD weight SD

Male 2 0 15 6.1 147.7 10.85 40.1 8.44 3 0 4 1.6 207.8 8.96 125.5 9.15 4 0 56 22.9 241.3 8.85 182.7 25.50 4 1 27 11.0 237.8 9.49 174.8 23.45 5 0 40 16.3 251.7 8.76 210.2 28.20 5 1 65 26.5 253.9 10.80 210.2 32.19 5 2 15 6.1 250.0 10.29 210.9 38.38 6 0 1 0.4 261.0 - 287.0 - 6 1 7 2.9 273.1 13.78 261.3 42.30 6 2 9 3.7 278.0 15.80 271.1 34.69 6 3 1 0.4 278.0 - 257.0 - 7 2 1 0.4 291.0 296.0 - 7 3 2 0.8 297.0 1.41 296.0 25.46 8 3 1 0.4 294.0 - 310.0 Female 2 0 20 7.1 152.4 8.99 42.8 7.75 3 0 1 0.4 170.0 - 58.0 - 4 0 46 16.3 248.9 10.75 199.7 30.70 4 1 23 8.2 244.0 10.42 188.4 34.22 5 0 36 12.8 262.6 8.49 246.1 36.55 5 1 83 29.4 261.7 12.70 246.4 45.11 5 2 10 3.6 269.4 11.12 260.8 29.92 6 0 3 1.1 270.7 6.66 301.3 31.77 6 1 10 3.6 271.1 8.14 265.2 34.00 6 2 11 3.9 284.0 11.55 299.5 25.87 6 3 6 2.1 291.2 21.85 323.0 65.43 7 2 8 2.8 297.1 8.04. 330.4 56.57 7 3 14 5.0 301.5 8.33 323.9 57.80 7 4 3 1.1 305.7 7.51 398.7 89.77 8 3 1 0.4 308.0 - 352.0 - 8 4 5 1.8 302.4 6.54 334.4 48.13 8 5 1 0.4 315.0 - 368.0 9 5 1 0.4 303.0 - 427.0 17

TABLE 11-2. Mean fork length (mm) and weight (g) of alewives, by sex and age, in relation to spawning history, Grand Lake, 1973.

No. previous Mean Mean Age spawnings No. % length SD weight SD

Male 2 0 1 0.5 170.0 - 57.0 - 3 0 1 0.5 220.0 - 126.0 - 4 0 37 17.1 241.2 8.97 177.2 23.83 4 1 18 8.3 237.3 7.23 169.9 16.95 5 0 46 21.3 253.6 9.08 206.9 28.00 5 1 6.5 30.1 255.5 11.68 216.8 37.77 5 2 8 3.7 252.6 12.35 201.3 26.95 6 1 10 4.6 265.6 8.54 236.1 21.58 6 2 12 5.6 272.8 14.33 259.0 46.31 6 3 6 2.8 263.8 20.23 233.8 50.21 7 2 2 0.9 271.0 8.49 257.Q 5.66 7 3 3 1.4 291.7 11.02 285.3 20.31 7 4 2 0.9 260.0 38.18 241.5 84.15 8 3 1 0.5 291.0 - 258.0 - 8 4 2 0.9 285.0 4.24 283.0 2.83 8 5 1 0.5 302.0 - 376.0 - 9 5 1 0.5 283.0 - 286.0 - Female 4 0 39 18.7 247.1 12.61 195.5 41.86 4 1 16 7.7 243.6 11.60 187.9 42.20 5 0 27 12.9 259.3 10.02 223.0 29.27 5 1 50 23.9 265.5 11.45 241.8 40.70 5 2 5 2.4 260.2 17.54 252.8 75.48 6 0 1 0.5 280.0 302.0 - 6 1 16 7.7 280.4 12.79 279.4 57.22 6 2 29 13.9 285.0 10.66 284.6 33.09 6 3 6 2.9 282.3 11.43 264.0 30.04 7 1 1 0.5 285.0 - 292.0 - 7 2 1 0.5 291.0 - 270.0 - 7 3 8 3.8 289.1 19.48 325.3 86.41 7 4 2 1.0 289.5 10.61 310.5 68.59 8 3 4 1.9 297.8 2.87 295.3 29.50 8 4 3 1.4 303.7 7.02 342.0 32.91 8 5 1 0.5 325.0 - 447.0 - 18

TABLE 11-3. Mean fork length (mm) and weight (g) of alewives, by sex and age, in relation to spawning history, Indian Lake, 1973.

No. previous Mean Mean Age spawnings No. % length SD weight SD

Male 3 0 1 0.9 204.0 - 116.0 - 4 0 42 37.8 238.8 10.09 163.7 21.26 4 1 22 19.8 236.1 8.60 160.6 17.37 5 0 12 10.8 253.0 6.81 193.1 21.55 5 1 20 18.0 247.9 13.43 179.0 31.54 5 2 2 1.8 260.0 11.31 238.0 12.73 6 1 3 2.7 277.0 11.53 265.7 45.54 6 2 6 5.4 286.7 9.20 271.7 21.96 7 2 1 0.9 280.0 - 232.0 - 7 3 1 0.9 287.0 - 270.0 - 9 5 1 0.9 294.0 - 244.0 - Female 4 0 34 34.7 248.1 7.02 180.2 19.53 4 1 10 10.2 247.5 7.38 184.4 18.•60 5 0 11 11.2 256.1 16.42 221.0 40.44 5 1 23 23.5 260.7 12.83 221.7 41.11 5 2 2 2.0 261.0' 9.90 247.0 7.07 6 1 5 5.1 279.0 14.82 270.6 39.85 6 2 8 8.2 286.4 7.39 271.9 26.44 6 3 2 2.0 296.0 ObO 323.0 38.18 7 2 1 1.0 290.0 - 235.0 - 7 3 2 2.0 289.5 16.26 298.5 6.36

19

TABLE 11-4. Mean fork length (mm) and weight (g) ofl alewives, by sex and age, in relation to spawning history, Orolmocto River, 1973.

No. previous Mean Mean Age spawnings No. % length SD weightj . SD

Male 2 9 11 8.9 155.8 8.58 46.2 10.48 3 0 1 0.8 230.0 - 47.0 - 4 0 30 24.2 242.3 10.71 73.7 26.36 4 1 3 2.4 234.7 16.29 70.7 17.93 5 0 27 21.8 257.5 10.02 10.4 32.50 5 1 21 16.9 265.7 13.44 031.4 43.08 5 2 8 6.5 264.6 11.59 243.8 38.00 6 1 3 2.4 283.3 11.85 65.3 24.79 6 2 14 11.3 280.4 7.51 43.70 6 3 2 1.6 276.5 12.02 :3:09 59.40 7 4 1 0.8 285.0 63.0 - 8 3 1 0.8 290.0 - 99.0 8 4 2 1.6 297.0 1.41 12.5' 70.00

Female 2 0 17 13.7 155.2 11.56 45.3 10.83 3 0 1 0.8 213.0 - 19.0 - 4 0 19 15,3 249.8 8.87 84.0 22.79 4 1 5 4.0 254.2 7.01 21.4 25.44 5 • 0 18 14.5 264.9 12.68 225.7 39.13 5 1 32 25.8 275.3 11.60 269.8 46.35 5 2 2 1.6 282.5 12.02 234.0 32.53 6 1 8 6.5 287.9 4.19 309.8 28.78 6 2 17 13.7 290.7 9.02 98.5 45.14 6 3 3 2.4 281.0 18.68 98.3 85.65 7 2 2 1.6 293.5 9.19 ,96.0 25.46 20

TABLE 11-5. Mean fork length (mm) and weight (g) of alewives, by sex and age, in relation to spawning history, Mactaquac Dam, 1973.

No. previous Mean Mean Age spawnings No. length SD weight SD

Male 3 0 1 0.7 220.0 - 128.0 - 4 0 27 18.9 240.9 11.51 182.4 29.36 4 1 17 11.9 238.6 14.66 180.8 28.40 5 0 24 16.8 255:8 10.20 222.4 33.84 5 1 51 35.7 258.1 9.53 224.4 26.81 5 2 7 4.9 258.7 12.41 237.7 45.12 6- 0 2 1.4 263.5 14.85 242.0 32.53 6 1 10 7.0 272.7 8.65 263.9 30.48 6 2 4 2.8 273.8 5.06 260.5 27.20 Female 4 0 49 33.3 247.4 9.69 202.6 27.95 4 1 15 10.2 251.2 10.80 216.1 34.49 5 0 19 12.9 263.8 11.88 256.3 44.45 3 1 43 29.3 267.6 12.21 269.3 42.36 5 2 3 2.0 264.3 2.08 238.3 17.24 6 0 1 0.7 287.0 - 303.0 - 6 1 9 6.1 277.9 10.53 292.1 42.65 6 ' 2 5 3.4 281.0 7.18 309.8 17.25 6 3 1 0.7 295.0 - 388.0 - 7 2 1 0.7 283.0 - 260.0 7 3 1 0.7 292.0 - 313.0 - TABLE 12. Age at first spawning (maturity) for alewives, by sex and location, Saint John River, 1973.

Age at Washademoak Lake Grand Lake Indian Lake Grommto River Mactaquac Dam Suremmy first Male Female Male Mamie Male Ramie Male Beetle Male Female Male Female spawning No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No, % No. % No. % No. % No. RC

2 0 2 0.8 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 2 0.2

3 47 20.4 52 19.7 39 18.1 30 14.4 26 23.4 14 14.3 15 13.3 10 9.4 26 18.2 19 12.9 153 18.8 125 15.2

4 134 58.9 152 57.6 117 54.4 130 62.2 70 63.1 67 68.4 68 60.2 68 64.2 82 57.3 98 66.7 471 58.0 512 62.5

5 48 20.9 55 20.8 59 27.4 47 22.5 15 13.5 17 17.4 30 26.6 28 26.4 33 23.1 29 19.7 185 22.8 176 21.4

6 1 0.4 3 1.1 0 - 2 1.0 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 2 1.4 1 0.7 3 0.4 6 0.7

Totals 230 264 215 209 111 98 113 106 143 147 812 824

Mean age 4.01 4.02 4.09 4.10 3.90 4.03 4.13 4.17 4.08 4.08 4.05 4.07

SD 0.66 0.69 0.67 0.63 0.60 0.56 0.62 0.58 0.68 0.59 0.60 0.56 Between sexes significance (p<0.05) n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s.

ln.s. is non-significant. TABLE 13. Mean fork lengths (mm), by sample date and location, for blueback herring from the Saint John River, 1973.

Washademoak Lake' Grand Lake' Indian Lake Oromocto River Mactaquac Dam Mean Mean Mean Mean Mean Date n length SD n length SD n length SD n length SD n length SD

May 19-25 9 227.4 14.06 ------May 26-Jun 1 30 226.6 12.65 - - ------ - - -- Jun 2-8 45 217.7 22.51 9 234.1 12.58 12 234.2 17.86 11 242.1 16.84 - - Jun 9-15 48 219.7 16.87 15 220.3 14.33 22 229.4 11.55 6 218.5 14.01 9 231.9 9.80 Jun 16-22 46 227.8 16.66 47 225.1 12.79 - 18 228.4 10.47 13 237.2 15.66 Jun 23-29 25 215.4 14.39 7 218.0 15.72 ------ - 24 233.0 12.22 Jun 30-Jul 6 - -- - -- ------25 229.5 14.21 Jul 7-13 - - - - -- - - 39 225.1 13.81 Jul 14-20 ------19 211.4 21.60 Totals 203 221.9 17.92 78 225.0 16.09 34 231.1 13.83 35 231.0 15.42 129 227.1 16.54

'Middle and lower sampling sites combined. 'Middle and upper sampling sites combined; single sample of 10 fish from lower site omitted. TABLE 14. Length-frequency distributions of mature blueback herring, by sex and location, Saint John River, 1973.

Fork Washadennak Lake Grand Lake Indian Lake Onmmxto River Mactaquac Dam Summary length Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female (mm) No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. 'a No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

170-179 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 1.3 0 - 1 0.4 0 - 180-189 5 5.5 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 1.3 0 - 6 2.4 0 - 190-199 8 8.8 0 - 3 7.5 0 - 2 11.8 1 5.9 1 4.6 0 - 3 3.9 2 3.6 17 6.9 3 1.2 200-209 11 12.1 4 3.6 9 22.5 3 5.7 2 11.8 0 - 1 4.6 0 - 11 14.3 2 3.6 34 13.8 9 3.6 210-219 29 31.9 19 17.3 7 17.5 6 11.3 8 47.1 3 17.7 6 27.3 1 6.3 18 23.4 1 1.8 68 27.5 30 12.0 220-229 20 22.0 36 32.7 12 30.0 14 26.4 4 23.5 7 41.2 10 45.5 1 6.3 16 20.8 10 20.8 62 25.1 68 27.1 230-239 12 13.2 26 23.6 4 10.0 18 34.0 1 5.9 3 17.7 2 9.1 5 31.3 14 18.2 22 40.0 33 13.4 74 29.5 240-249 5 5.5 18 16.4 2 5.0 9 17.0 0 - 1 5.9 1 4.6 8 50.0 12 15.6 13 23.6 20 8.1 49 19.5 250-259 1 1.1 5 4.6 3 7.5 2 3.8 0 - 2 11.8 0 - 0 - 1 1.3 4 7.3 5 2.0 13 5.2 260-269 0 - 2 1.8 0 - 1 1.9 0 - 0 - 1 4.6 0 - 0 - 1 1.8 1 0.4 4 1.6 270-279 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 6.3 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 0.4 Totals 91 110 40 53 17 17 22 16 77 55 247 251 24

TABLE 15. Length-frequency distributions of immature blueback herring, by location, Saint John River, 1973.

Fork Washademoak Grand Indian Oronocto Mactaquac length Lake Lake Lake River Dam Surmnary (mu) No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

130-139 1 25.0 0 — 0 — 0 — 0 — 1 20.0 140-149 1 25.0 0 — 0 — 0 — 0 — 1 20.0 150-159 1 25.0 0 — 0 — 0 — 0 __ 1 20.0 160-169 1 25.0 0 — 0 — 0 — 0 — 1 20.0 170-179 0 — 0 — 0 — 0 — 0 — 0 — 180-189 0 — 0 — 0 — 0 — 1 100.0 1 20.0 Tbtal 4 0 0 0 1 5

TABLE 16. Observed length-frequency of blueback herring, by age- groups, sexes and locations combined, from the Saint John River, 1973.

Fork length Age - group (mm) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total

130-139 1 1 140-149 1 1 150-159 1 1 160-169 1 1 170-179 0 1 1 180-189 1 5 6 190-199 12 4 1 17 200-209 12 28 1 41 210-219 7 58 22 87 220-229 3 75 46 3 127 230-239 1 42 60 7 110 240-249 7 36 20 1 64 250-259 1 9 6 1 17 260-269 2 3 1 1 7 270-279 1 1 Total 5 41 215 177 39 2 2 1 482 Percent 1.0 8.5 44.6 36.7 8.1 0.4 0.4 0.2

25

TABLE 17-1. Mean fork lengths (Ma) of blueback herring, by sex and age, Washademodk Lake, 1973.

Male Female hb. of Length No. of Length Age fish Mean Range SD fish Mean Range SD

2 1 182.0 - 0 - - 3 16 197.9 180-221 9.95 9 217.1 208-232 7.37 4 37 215.1 198-243 9.02 53 223.3 203-249 8.83 5 30 227.6 211-250 9.82 37 235.8 216-253 9.18 6 3 238.0 230-242 6.93 10 247.2 232-261 9.50

TABLE 17-2. Mean fork lengths (mm) of blueback herring, by sex and age, Grand Lake, 1973.

Male Female No. of Length No. of Length Age fish Mean Range SD fish Mean Range SD

3 2 199.0 190-208 12.73 4 211.7 204-218 6.85 4 22 212.1 197-230 9.58 26 226.6 201-252 9.62 5 9 228.1 213-258 12.53 17 235.9 213-263 11.47 6 3 246.7 230-257 14.57 4 250.5 248-256 3.70 7 1 240.0 0

TABLE 17-3. Mean fork lengths (mm) of blueback herring, by sex and age, Indian Lake, 1973.

Male Female No. of Length No. of Length Age fish Mean Range SD fish Mean Range SD

4 5 212.4 204-221 7.64 9 228.6 209-247 10.24 5 10 229.3 224-240 4.57 4 237.5 234-240 2.65 6 2 232.5 228-237 6.36 2 253.5 242-265 16:26 7 0 ------1 257.0 - 8 0 - - 1 266.0 -

26

TABLE 17-4. Mean fork lengths (mm) of blueback herring, by sex and age, Cromocto River, 1973.

Male Female No. of Length No. of Length Age fish Mean Range SD fish Mean Range SD

3 1 197.0 - - 0 - - 4 6 223.5 213-235 7.61 5 228.6 215-238 10.16 5 11 218.9 207-228 6.67 8 240.5 232-245 4.57 6 3 235.0 228-240 6.24 1 246.0 - 7 0 - - 0 - - 8 0 - - 1 278.0 - - 9 1 260.0 - 0 - -

TABLE 17-5. Mean fork lengths (m) of blueback herring, by sex and age, Nectaquac Dam, 1973.

Male Fe mal e No. of Length No. of Length Age fish Mean Range SD fish Mean Range SD

3 6 195.5 179-214 13.59 2 195.0 192-198 4.24 4 36 218.4 198-242 11.51 19 229.3 205-240 8.42 5 26 229.1 197-256 12.74 21 239.9 220-263 9.66 6 3 240.0 231-247 8.18 8 242.6 227-259 10.04 TABLE 18. Summary of mean fork lengths (mm) of blueback herring, by sex, age and location, Saint John River, 1973.

Washademak Lake Grand Lake Indian Lake Oronocto River Ma&taqumaDem Mean No. of Mean- No. of Mean No. of Mean No. of Mean No. of Age length fish length fish length fish length fish length fish

Male 2 182.0 1 - 0 0 - 0 - 0 3 197.9 16 199.0 2 - 0 197.0 1 195.5 6 4 215.1 37 212.1 22 212.4 5 218.9 6 218.4 36 5 227,6 30 228.1 9 229.3 10 223.5 11 229.1 26 6 238.0 3 246.7 3 232.5 2 235.0 3 240.0 3 7 - 0 240.0 1 - 0 - 0 0

8 - 0 0 - 0 0 0

••••••10 9 0 - 0 0 260.0 1 0

Female 3 217.1 9 211.7 4 - 0 . 0 195.0 2 '4 223.3 53 226.6 26 228.6 9 228.6 5 229.3 19 5 235.8 37 235.9 17 237.5 4 240.5 8 239.9 21 6 247.2 10 250.5 4 253.5 2 246.0 1 242.6 8 7 - 0 0 257.0 1 - 0 0 IL 0_ 0L. 26.6-0 1 218-0 1 = 0__

28

TABLE 19-1. an weights (g) of blueback herring, by sex and age, Washademoak Lake, 1973.

Male e m a 1 e No. of Weight Mb. of Weight Age fish Mean Range SD fish Wan Range SD

2 1 66.0 ...-. 0 - - 3 16 99.4 70-139 17.81 9 129.1 110-164 16.27 4 37 124.8 98-173 19.83 53 143.2 99-199 22.38 5 30 153.8 121-196 19.67 37 174.3 130-238 26.87 6 3 180.0 153-198 23.81 10 198.2 171-235 18.81

TABLE 19-2. Mean weights (g) of blueback herring, by sex and age, Grand Lake, 1973.

Male Femal e No. of Weight No. of Weight Age fish Mean Range SD fish Man Range SD:

3 2 90.5 74-107 23.33 4 125.2 109-139 12.39 4 22 129.4 105-230 29.06 26 152.5 112-203 20.45 5 9 150.1 125-212 27.36 17 172.5 136-223 25.17 6 3 208.3 177-239 31.00 4 188.5 153-208 24.45 7 1 191.0 0

'FABLE 19-3. Mean weights (g) of blueback herring, by sex and age, Indian Lake, 1973.

M ale Fe mal e No. of Weight No. of Weight Age fish Mean Range SD fish Mean Range SD

4 5 120.0 107-133 10.00 9 149.9 115-177 18.82 5 10 151.9 132-198 19.54 4 166.7 141-185 18.84 6 2 153.0 138-168 21.21 2 217.0 194-240 32.53 7 0 - - 1 247.0 - 8 0 - - 1 250.0

29

TABLE 19-4. Man weights (g) of blueback herring, by sex and age, Corompebo River, 1973.

Male Fe ma 1 e* No. of Weight No. of -Weight . Age. fish Mean Range SD fish Mean Range SD

3 1 78.0 0 4 6 129.0 119-139 9.36 5 132.4 122-150 10.92 5 11 125.4 98-162 '18.50 8 172.7 137-199 20.65 6 3 170.3 126-196 38.55 1 171.0 7 0 - 0 8 0 - 1 276.0 9 1 232.0 0

TABLE 19-5. Mean weights (g) of blueback herring, by sex. and ges Mectaquac Dam, 1973.

Male Female No. of Weight No. o _ Weight Age fish Mean Range SD fish Mean Range SD

3 6 82.5 62-116 19.84 2 77.5 77- 78 0.71 4 36 120.4 80-166 21.62 19 147.9 87-102 20.16 5 26 152•.6 90-245 31.82 21 179.1 132-208 33.57 6 3 173.3 146-190 23.86 8 184.6 149-244 27.58 TABLE 20. Summary of mean weights (g) of blueback herring,by sex, age and location, Saint John River, 1973.

WashadempakLake Grand Lake Indian Lake Onxnocto River Mactaquac Dam Mean No. of Mean No. of Mean No. of Mean No. of Mean No. of Age weight fish weight fish weight fish weight fish weight fish

Male 2 66.0 1 -=.-- 0 - 0 - 0 0 3 99.4 16 90.5 2 0 78.0 . 1 82.5 6 4 124.8 37 129.4 22 120.0 5 129.0 6 120.4 36 5 153.8 30 150.1 9 151.9 10 125.4 11 152.6- 26 6 180.0 3 208.3 3 153.0 2 170.3 3 173.3 3 7 - 0 191.0 1 - 0 - 0 0 8 - 0 0 - 0 - 0 0 9 - 0 0 - 0 232.0 1 0

Female 3 129.1 9 125.2 4 0 - 0 77.5 2 4 143.2 53 152.5 26 149.9 9 132.4 5 147.9 19 5 174.3 37 172.5 17 166.7 4 172.7 8 179.1 21 6 198.2 10 188.5 4 217.0 2 171.0 1 184.6 8 7 0 - 0 247.0 1 - 0 - 0 8 0 0 250.0 1 276.0 1 - 0 TABLE 21. Spawning history of blueback herring, by sex and location, Saint John River, 1973.

Washadennak Lake Grand Lake Indian Lake Oromocto River Mactaquac Dam No. previous Mean Man Mean Mean Mean spawnings No. % age No. % age No. % age No. % age No. % age

Male 0 36 40.9 3.5 15 40.5 3.9 2 11.8 5.0 1 4.5 3.0 26 36.1 3.9 1 37 42.0 4.4 11 29.7 4.1 10 58.8 4.5 7 31.8 4.6 29 40.3 4.3 2 13 14.8 5.0 8 21.6 5.1 4 23.5 5.3 11 50.0 5.1 15 20.8 5.0 3 2 2.3 6.0 3 8.1 6.3 1 5.9 6.0 2 9.1 6.0 2 2.8 6.0 6 0 - - 0 - - 0 - - 1 4.5 9.0 0 - - Totals 88 37 17 22 72 % repeat spawners 59.1 59.5 88.2 95.5 63.9

Female 0 46 41.1 3.8 18 35.3 3.8 6 35.3 4.0 3 20.0 4.0 12 24.0 4.0 1 47 42.0 4.5 24 47.1 4.5 7 41.2 4.7 7 46.7 4.7 27 54.0 4.6 2 17 15.2 5.3 6 11.8 5.2 2' 11.8 5.5 4 26.7 5.3 10 20.0 5.6 3 2 1.8 6.0 3 5.9 6.0 0 - - 0 - - 1 2.0 6.0 4 0 - - 0 - - 2 11.8 7.5 1 6.7 8.0 0 - - Totals 112 51 17 15 50 % repeat spawners 58.9 64.7 64.7 80.0 76.0

Sexes combined % repeat spmaners 59.0 62.5 76.5 89.2 68.9 32

TABLE 22-1. Mean fork length (mm) and weight (g) of blueback herring, by sex and age, in relation to spawning history, Washademoak Lake, 1973.

No. previous Mean Mean Age spawnings No. % length SD weight SD

Male 2 0 2 2.3 156.0 36.77 46.5 27.58 3 0 16 18.2 197.9 9.95 99.4 17.81 4 0 15 17.1 215.7 6.87 129.3 16.43 4 1 22 25.0 214.7 10.38 121.8 21.69 5 0 3 3.4 231.0 14.00 157.7 10.02 5 1 14• 15.9 229.6 9.50 155.4 20.88 5 2 13 14.8 224.7 9.27 151.3 20.82 6 1 1 1.1 242.0 - 198.0 - 6 3 2 2.3 236.0 8.50 171.0 25.46 Female 2 0 3 2.7 152.7 8.33 42.3 4.51 3 0 9 8.0 217.1 7.37 129.1 16.27 4 0 28 25.0 222.9 8.00 141.7 19.42 4 1 25 22.3 223.7 9.83 144.9 25.60 5 0 6 5.4 235.5 5.13 179.8 16.03 5 1 19 17.0 234.5 8.35 171.2 28.81 5 2 12 10.7 237,8 11.92 176.6 29.13 6 1 3 2.7 245.3 6.11 204.0 13.11 6 2 5 4.5 249.6 12.93 198.0 25.36 6 3 2 1.8 244.0 2.83 190.0 5.66 33

TABLE 22-2. Mean fork length (mail and weight (g) of lueback herring, by sex and age, in relation to spawning hist ry, Grand Lake, 1973.

No. previous Mean Mean Age spawnings No. % length SD weight SD

Male 3 0 2 5.4 199.0 12.73 910.5 23.33 4 0 12 32.4 214.4 10.82 130.7 33.72 4 1 10 27.0 209.3 7.42 120.7 20.65 5 0 1 2.7 229.0 - 156.0 5 1 1 2.7 223.0 - 1410.0 5 2 7 18.9 228.7 14.30 15p:7 31.22 6 2 1 2.7 230.0 - 177.0 6 3 2 5.4 255.0 2.83 224.0 21.21 7 3 1 2.7 240.0 - 191..0 Female 3 0 4 7.8 211.8 6.85 '12 .3 12.39 4 0 13 25.5 228.9 10.12 15i .5 20.61 4 1 13 25.5 224.4 8.89 147.5 19.77 5 0 1 2.0 246.0 - 201.0 - 5 1 11 21.6 233.6 8.84 166..2 16.84 5 2 5 9.8 239.2 16.63 180.6 37.82 6 2 1 2.0 249.0 - 1513.0 - 6 3 3 5.9 251.0 4.36 200.3 7.51 34

TABLE 22-3. Mean fork length (mm) and weight (g) of blueback herring, by sex and age, in relation to spawning history, Indian Lake, 1973.

No. previous Mean Mean Age spawnings No. % length SD weight SD

Male 4 1 5 29.4 212.4 7.64 120.0 10.00 5 0 2 11.8 229.5 3.54 146.0 18.38 5 1 5 29.4 229.6 6.54 158.4 25.74 5 2 3 17.7 228.7 1.15 145.0 3.61 6 2 1 5.9 228.0 - 138.0 - 6 3 1 5.9 237.0 - 168.0 Female 4 0 6 35.3 228.5 12.53 146.5 22.73 4 1 3 17.7 228.7 5.13 156.7 4.73 5 1 3 17.7 237.0 3.00 164.0 22.07 5 2 1 5.9 239.0 - 175.0 6 1 1 5.9 242.0 - 194.0 6 2 1 5.9 265.0 - 240.0 7 4 1 5.9 257.0 - 247.0 8 4 1 5.9 266.0 - 250.0 35

TABLE 22-4. Mean fork length (mm) and weight (g) of blueback herring, by sex and age, in relation to spawning history, Oromocto River, 1973.

No. previous Mean Mean Age spawnings No. % length SD weight SD

Male 3 0 1 4.6 197.0 - 78.0 4 1 3 13.6 218.3 4.73 127.3 10.41 5 1 4 18.2 228.5 5.32 134.5 11.27 5 2 10 45.5 218.0 6.27 123.4 18.13 6 2 1 4.6 237.0 - 189.0 - 6 3 2 9.1 234.0 8.49 161.0 49.50 9 6 1 4.6 260.0 - 232.0 Female 4 0 3 20.0 228.3 11.93 126.0 4.58 4 1 2 13.3 229.0 11.31 142.0 11.31 5 1 5 33.3 240.8 3.42 175.2 24.29 5 2 3 20.0 240.0 7.00 168.7 16.50 6 2 1 6.7 246.0 - 171.0 8 4 1 6.7 278.0 - 276.0 36

TABLE 22-5. Mean fork length (mm) and weight (g) of blueback herring, by sex and age, in relation to spawning history, Mactaquac Dam, 1973.

No. previous Mean Mean Age spawnings No. % length SD weight SD

Male 3 0 7 9.7 193.9 13.15 80.4 18.92 4 0 15 20.8 221.0 10.22 123.7 19.02 4 1 20 27.8 216.9 12.47 118.0 24.07 4 2 1 1.4 210.0 - 118.0 - 5 0 4 5.6 228.5 24.20 147.8 48.96 5 1 9 12.5 234.9 10.08 157.1 20.59 5 2 13 18.1 225.3 9.11 150.9 34.65 6 2 1 1.4 242.0 - 184.0 - 6 3 2 2.8 239.0 11.31 168.0 31.11 Female 3 0 2 4.0 195.0 4.24 77.5 0.71 4 0 8 16.0 227.3 11.30 138.9 25.44 4 1 11 22.0 230.7 5.73 154.6 12.82 5 0 2 4.0 240.0 1.41 169.0 11.31 5 1 15 30-.0 240.3 11.14 177.5 31.07 5 2 4 8.0 238.8 6.29 190.3 52.17 6 1 1 2.0 244.0 - 162.0 - 6 2 6 12.0 242.2 11.84 184.0 28.68 6 3 1' 2.0 244.0 - 211.0 - TABLE 23. Age at first spawning (maturity) for blueback herring, by sex and location, Saint John River, 1973.

Age at Waahademoak Lake Grand Lake Indian Lake Cmonocto River Mactaquac Dam Summary first Male Fenale Male Female Male Female - Male Female Male Female Male Female spawning No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

2 1 1.2 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 1.4 0 - 2 0.9 0 - 3 53 60.9 49 45.0 22 59.5 25 49.0 9 52.9 6 35.3 17 77.3 5 33.3 41 57.8 21 42.0 143 61.1 106 43.8 4 29 33.3 51 46.8 14 37.8 25. 49.0 6 35.3 11 64.7 5 22.7 10 66.7 25 35.2 26 52.0 78 33.3 123 50.8 5 4 4.6 9 8.3 1 2.7 • 1 2.0 2 11.8 0 - 0 - 0 - 4 5:6 3 6.0 11 4.7 13 5.4 Totals 87 109 37 51 17 17 22 15 71 50 234 242 Mean age 3.41 3.63 3.43 3.53 3.59 3.65 3.23 3.67 3.45 3.64 3.42 3.62 SD 0.60 0.63 0.55 0.54 0.71 0.49 0.39 0.49 0.63 0.60 0.71 0.49 Between sexes significance (p<0.05) n.s.1 n.s. n.s.

ln.s. is non-significant. 38

TABLE 24. Summary of age at first spawning (maturity), by sex and species, all sites combined, Saint John River, 1973.

Alewives Bluebacks Age at first Males resales Males Females spawning No. No. No. No.

2 0 -- 2 0.24 - 2 0.85 0 3 153 18.84 125 15.17 143 61.11 106 43.80 4 471 58.00 515 62:50 78 33.33 123 50.83 5 185 22.78 176 21.36 11 4.70 13 5.37 6 3 0.37 6 0.73 0 -- 0 7 0 0 0 -- 0 Total 812 100.00 824 100.00 234 100.00 242 100.00 Man age 4.05 4.07 3.42 3.62 SD 0.60 0.56 0.71 0.49 .-----F.1Nashwaak River

i. Grand ,Headpond Lake edericton • Mactaquac Dam ashademoak Lake

0 10 20 ial) Westfield* Saint John A Sampling site a Indian Lake b French Lake c Maquapit Lake

FIG. 1. Sampling sites on the lower Saint John River Basin.

, 6/' . sp. / 0 / / 26 / / / / / / z 30/ / /

3%

30/

30/ 250 30// / 30/ /' / r 30i/ / / / / 15/ / c / / co / / 4/ / / G.M. Regression •8 200 / / LL / / I'm 0.88193X + 0.00537 // / / n:302 / / / / re 0.999 / / / 95% C.I. m V ±0.0214 3/ / / / / , / qi / / / / / // 17 / 150 / / 8/ / / / / / // / /8 130 / 150 200 250 300 350 400 Total length (mm)

FIG. 2. Geometric mean estimate of the functional regression of alewife fork length and total length. (Numbers accompanying the regression line represent the number of data pairs for each 1.0-cm interval of fork length.) / / V / / , / / $/ / / / / / / 25 / // / , 30/ / / 39/ / z 30 / , 30, // / / / 30/ '/ / / / / / 15/ / o / / / 4/ / 0 / / 1/ / / G.M. Regression / / 1/ / Y. 0.88570X + 1.44126 / n:198 1/ r :0.996 150 95% C.I. v ±0.0106

100 150 200 250 300 350 Total length (mm)

FIG. 3. Geometric mean estimate of the functional regression of blueback herring fork length and total length. (Numbers accompanying the regression line represent the number of data pairs for each 1.0-cm interval of fork length.) •

42

Combined sites Washademoak Lake no1702 n=527 60-

20.

I

Grand Lake Indian Lake n=425 n=209 60.

o 40_

o a. 20,.

Oromocto River Mactaquac Dam n o 251 n o 290

20-

8 2 4 6 8 Age in years

FIG. 4. Age-composition of alewives, by location, Saint John River, 1973. 43

Combined sites Washademoak Lake na482 no 200 60.

20-

Grand Lake Indian Lake no88 no34 c o i 40- 6 c a 2 if 20.

Oromocto River Mactaquac Dam n•37 no123

20-

II I I 2 4 8 . 4 Age in years

FIG. 5. Age-composition of blueback herring, by loc tion, Saint John River, 1973. 44 'repeat spawners, bysex, sexescombined, andlocation,Saint Grand Lake Oromocto River Mactaquac Dam Washademoak Lake Washademoak Lake Oromocto River Indian Lake Mactaquac Dam Grand Lake FIG. 6. Significance of differences inproportion ofalewife Indian Lake John River, 1973.

WashademoakLa ke

GrandLa ke Female

Indian Lake * Oromocto River * Mactaquac Dam CD 2 45

Washademoak Lake

Grand Lake

Indian Lake

Oromocto River

Mactaquac Dam

Q

C5

Washademoak Lake

Grand Lake

Indian Lake a 2"

Oromocto River

Mactaquac Darn

Female

FIG. 7. Significance of differences in proportion of blueback 'herring repeat spawners, by sex, sexes combined and location, Saint John River, 1973. 47

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I gratefully acknowledge the considerable assistance provided by G. Fox, S. Chase and B. Dubee in the field, and by D. Swetnam in_data analysis. 49

REFERENCES Bigelow, H.B. and W.C. Schroeder. 1953. Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. U.S. Fish and Wildlife,Serv., Fish. Bull., 53(74), 577 p. Cating, J.P. 1953. Determining age of Atlantic shad from their scales. U.S. Fish and Wildl. Serv. Bull, 54:187-199.

Marcy, B.C. 1969. Age determinations from scales of Alosa pseudoharengus (.Wilson) and Alosa aestivalis (Mitchill) in Connecticut waters. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 98(4):622-630. Nikolsky, G.V. 1963. The ecology of fishes,a Academic Press, London and New York, 352 p. Power, G. 1964. A technique for preparing scale smears. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 93:201-202.