McHUGH: MARINE FISHERIES OF NEW YORK 



30 



CO 



t- 



o 

 a: 



tL20 



5 



li. 

 O 



o I 5 



z 



< 



o 



Elo 



J_ 



J_ 



J_ 



1880 I8S0 1900 810 



1920 



1930 1940 1950 



I960 



1970 



Figure 2. — Annual commercial landings of food fish and 

 shellfish in the State of New York, 1880-1970. 



cod {Gadus morhua), hard clam or quahog 

 {Mercenaria mercenaria) , scup {Stenotomus 

 chrysops), butterfish (Peprilus triacanthtis) , 

 and black sea bass (Centropristis striata). 

 The low year, except for 1880, was 1921, 

 with a reported catch of about 31 million 

 pounds (14,000 metric tons) of food fish and 

 shellfish. About 73% of these landings consisted 

 of oyster, flounders, weakfish, scup, bay scallop 

 {Aequipecten irradians) , bluefish, northern lob- 

 ster {Homarus americaniis) , hard clam, cod, and 

 butterfish. The decrease was caused largely by 

 sharp drops in landings of weakfish and mussels, 

 and substantial drops in oyster, cod, and bluefish 

 landings. By 1926 food fish landings had in- 

 creased again to about 49 million pounds. The 

 increase was mostly haddock {Melanograynmus 

 aeglefimis), but landings of flounders and cod 

 increased also. These increases were partially 

 offset by a substantial drop in oyster production, 

 but landings of weakfish, bluefish, and lobster 

 dropped too. 



The second phase was from 1929 to 1951. 

 Landings were reported for almost every year 

 of this period, which was marked by a sharp 

 increase in food fish landings from 1935 to 1938, 

 a 15-year period in which average annual food 

 fish landings were about 58.4 million pounds 

 (26,500 metric tons), and an equally sharp de- 

 cline from 1950 to 1953. Most of the increase 



from 1935 to 1938 was caused by an increase 

 in landings of haddock, cod, flounders, silver hake 

 (Merluccius bilinearis), and butterfish, species 

 caught primarily in trawls. Production of oys- 

 ter meats also increased by nearly 4.5 million 

 pounds (2,000 metric tons) from 1935 to 1938, 

 as the highly mechanized oyster planting indus- 

 try reached its full development. This almost 

 doubled oyster production in the State and in- 

 troduced a period of prosperity in the local oys- 

 tering industry which lasted for more than 15 

 years. 



The years of highest landings of food fishes in 

 New York State, 1938 to 1946 inclusive, were un- 

 usual years for the fishing industry everywhere. 

 Toward the end of this period, especially, demand 

 for fish was high because meat rationing was in 

 effect in the later years of the war. No price 

 controls or rationing were imposed on fishery 

 products. Thus, fish prices were high, and the 

 incentive to go fishing was great. For 11 of the 

 13 years between 1938 and 1950 inclusive New 

 York landings of food fish and shellfish were 

 greater than ever before or since in recorded 

 history, and it is probable that this could be said 

 of 1941 also, a year in which no record of land- 

 ings was made. The abrupt drop in landings 

 which began after 1946 probably was stimulated 

 by three factors, declining prices of fish as meat 

 became more available after the war, increasing 

 costs, and declining abundance of some of the 

 major species. 



Declining abundance of some species was be- 

 coming evident during the war. Although de- 

 mand for fish was high, and prices good, the spe- 

 cies composition of the catch was changing dur- 

 ing this period of maximum landings and in- 

 creased fishing effort. Catches of cod, flounders, 

 haddock, butterfish, and sea scallop dropped sub- 

 stantially, and oyster production was down con- 

 siderably also. The high levels of catch were 

 maintained by increases in landings of hard 

 clam and surf clam, northern puffer or swell- 

 fish (Sphoeroides macidatiis), weakfish, and 

 scup. Thus, the fisheries of the State were shift- 

 ing from resources taken mainly on the high 

 seas to species of the coastal zone. 



The third phase, from 1952 to 1970, was a 

 period of gradually declining landings. In the 



587 



