McHUGH: MARINE FISHERIES OF NEW YORK 



Relatively large quantities of butterfish are 

 taken by foreign fishing fleets in international 

 waters. In 1968 the total reported catch in the 

 ICNAF statistical area was about 4,000 metric 

 tons, somewhat less than half of which was 

 caught by American fishermen. New York's 

 share was only about 10% of the domestic catch. 



Edwards (1968) estimated that the standing 

 crop of butterfish off New England and New 

 York was about 309 million pounds (140,300 met- 

 ric tons) of which only about 3% is taken each 

 year by the commercial fisheries. He considered 

 that the resource is underutilized, mainly be- 

 cause it is a midwater species for which no ef- 

 fective fishing gear has yet been developed. 



Schaefer (1967), sampling with a beach seine 

 in the surf along the south shore of Long Island, 

 found that butterfish were the most abundant 

 species in his catches in 1961. In 1962 and 1963 

 they dropped to third and sixth place respective- 

 ly, which may mean that this species varies 

 widely in abundance from natural causes. 



There is no recorded sport catch of butterfish, 

 although it is known that they will bite on small 

 baited hooks. 



SILVER HAKE 



Silver hake, often called whiting, is the most 

 abundant groundfish on New England banks 

 according to Edwards (1968). Demand for 

 silver hake as a food fish is limited in the United 

 States. Much of the domestic catch is used for 

 animal food, and some as industrial fish. Ed- 

 wards (1968) estimated that the standing crop 

 on American fishing grounds in the middle 1960s 

 was about 2.1 billion pounds (nearly a million 

 metric tons) and that the average annual catch 

 by all commercial fishing fleets was about 31% 

 of the standing crop. Peak landings in New 

 York were about 6 million pounds (2,690 metric 

 tons) in 1943 (Figure 16). The catch declined 

 to an average of less than a million pounds (420 

 metric tons) from 1948 to 1952, then rose and 

 maintained an average annual level of about 2.8 

 million pounds (1,270 metric tons) for 16 years, 

 from 1954 to 1969 inclusive. In 1962 foreign 

 catches began to rise rapidly from previously 



1920 1930 1940 1950 I960 1970 



Figure 16. — Annual commercial landings of silver hake 

 in the State of New York, 1897-1970. 



low levels. The total catch in the ICNAF area 

 reached 373,000 metric tons in 1965, then 

 dropped just as abruptly, but New York landings 

 were not affected very much, nor were U.S. land- 

 ings as a whole. Strong year classes apparently 

 were produced in 1967 and 1968, which augurs 

 well for the fishery in 1970 to 1972 (International 

 Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fish- 

 eries, 1969). The recent decline in New York 

 landings can be attributed only to the decline 

 of the local trawl fleet. 



The sport catch of silver hake in the New 

 England and middle Atlantic areas in 1965 was 

 estimated to be about 6 million pounds (2,720 

 metric tons). 



NORTHERN PUFFER 



The northern puflFer, or swellfish, although it 

 is abundant from Cape Cod southward, was not 

 considered to be an important food fish until 

 meat rationing during the second world war 

 stimulated the coastal fisheries. The greatest 

 catch in New York waters was in 1945, when 

 almost 2.5 million pounds (1,060 metric tons) 

 were landed. Subsequently the catch declined 

 to less than 200,000 pounds or about 70 metric 

 tons (Figure 17) , rose to a secondary maximum 

 in 1963 (nearly a million pounds or 430 metric 



10 - 

 in 



' z 

 , P 



Si 



X 5 



_J_ 



_L 



_L 



1880 



1890 1900 1910 



1920 1930 1940 1950 I960 



1970 



Figure 17. — Annual commercial landings of northern 

 puffer in the State of New York, 1901-1970. 



597 



