FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 70, NO. 3 



could have included siofnificant quantities of tile- 

 fish. A deep-sea sport fishery has developed re- 

 cently (Richard H. Schaefer, personal communi- 

 cation). 



COD 



Cod, like many of the species caugfht principal- 

 ly or exclusively in otter trawls, was landed in 

 maximum quantities in New York 30 to 35 years 

 ago (Figure 14). The peak catch was about 

 8.5 million pounds (3,870 metric tons) in 1938, 

 and landings declined sharply thereafter, as the 

 trawl fishery of the State declined. The trend 

 of New York landings of cod prior to 1940 was 

 different from the trend of total U.S. catches of 

 the species, which have declined irregularly since 

 the last decade of the 19th century from 60,000 

 metric tons to less than 12,000 metric tons in 

 1953 (Graham, 1970) . After 1940, cod landings 

 in New York dropped at a fairly steady rate, 

 from about 3 million pounds (1,450 metric tons) 

 to less than half a million (200 metric tons) in 

 1970. 



Edwards (1968) considered that the cod stocks 

 in the areas fished by Americans were overex- 

 ploited. Edwards (1968) estimated that the 

 standing crop in those areas was about 489 mil- 

 lion pounds (222,000 metric tons), of which 

 about 32 9f was being caught annually. Never- 

 theless, according to ICNAF annual reports pres- 

 sure on the cod stocks is heavy, and there is some 

 evidence that yields could be increased by in- 

 creasing the mesh size of the trawls. 



Cod is not the principal species sought by the 

 U.S. fishing fleet but is taken incidental to the 

 haddock fishery. A substantial sport fishery for 

 cod has developed along the north and middle 

 Atlantic coasts of the United States. The recre- 

 ational catch in 1965 was estimated to be nearly 

 30 million pounds (13,580 metric tons). 



I 25 

 a: 20 



15 - 



10 - 



J_ 



1880 1890 



1900 1910 



1920 



1930 



1940 1950 



I960 



1970 



z 

 o 



I- 



o si- 

 ll: 



o 



z 

 < 1 



m 



o 



I 



01 



1880 



1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 I960 1970 



Figure 14. — Annual commercial landings of cod in the 

 State of New York, 1880-1970. 



The cod resource of the North Atlantic Ocean 

 is tremendous, as demonstrated by the dominance 

 of this species in landings from the ICNAF reg- 

 ulatory area. In 1968, for example, the catch 

 of cod in this area was 1.86 million metric tons, 

 about 48^ of the total catch of all species from 

 the area, which included at least 120 species of 

 fish, shellfish, and other marine organisms of 

 commercial value. Neither Graham (1968) nor 



Figure 15. — Annual commercial landings of butterfish 

 in the State of New York, 1889-1970. 



BUTTERFISH 



The trend in landings of butterfish in New 

 York (Figure 15) is not unlike the pattern for 

 cod (Figure 14) and other trawl-caught species. 

 The maximum catch was more than 5 million 

 pounds (2,380 metric tons) in 1939. Thereafter, 

 the catch declined irregularly to a low of about 

 half a million pounds (240 metric tons) in 1970. 

 The pronounced variations in catch were prob- 

 ably caused mainly by variations in success of 

 spawning. The downward trend reflects the de- 

 cline of the trawl fishery. Small panfishes like 

 butterfish, which cannot be filleted and made into 

 fish sticks or portions at reasonable cost, have 

 declined in popularity as the frozen fish industry 

 has developed. Reduced demand for such kinds 

 of fish almost certainly has contributed to the 

 decline of the New York trawl fisheries. 



596 



