McHUGH: MARINE FISHERIES OF NEW YORK 



Even if a constituency receptive to rational man- 

 agement of tlie fisheries could be created, only 

 a few of these resources are subject to control 

 unilaterally by the State of New York. Most 

 would require cooperative effort by all States 

 through the waters of which the living resources 

 migrate. Such cooperation has not been pos- 

 sible, although a mechanism exists in the At- 

 lantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to 

 provide cooperative management, if cooperation 

 is really desired. To date, the Commission has 

 demonstrated neither the desire nor the capa- 

 bility for joint management of coastal fishery 

 resources. 



In New York it can be expected that the situ- 

 uation may deteriorate further. Since 1962 the 

 total weight of fish and shellfish landed in the 

 State has dropped from more than 112,000 met- 

 ric tons to about 14,500 metric tons, a decline 

 of about 86 % in 8 years. Most of this decline 

 has been in the industrial fisheries, principally 

 menhaden, but food fish landings have dropped 

 also. Over the same period food fish and shell- 

 fish landings have dropped from about 18,000 

 metric tons to about 14,500 metric tons, a decline 

 of about 21%. Indeed, the trend in seafood pro- 

 duction has been downward for more than 30 

 years. Since 1938 New York seafood landings 

 have dropped about 54% from 31,100 metric 

 tons. 



The species have been discussed approximately 

 in chronological order of maximum commercial 

 catch. This sequence was chosen because it il- 

 lustrates rather nicely some of the reasons for 

 the fluctuations observed. The sequence of rise 

 and decline is typical of the evolution of coastal 

 fisheries. Note that the first eight species of 

 food fish and shellfish discussed, with two excep- 

 tions, are either molluscan shellfish or relatively 

 nonmigratory species of shallow coastal waters, 

 or anadromous. The two exceptions, bluefish 

 and weakfish, although highly migratory, crowd 

 into coastal bays and estuaries seasonally, where 

 they are highly vulnerable to fishing. These are 

 the kinds of fish and shellfish that support the 

 early fisheries everywhere. They can be taken 

 easily with primitive gear, sometimes without 



even the aid of a boat, and thus they are extreme- 

 ly vulnerable. To this group can be added men- 

 haden and river herrings. 



The next 12 species or groups of species, with 

 only one exception, can be placed in two general 

 categories: fish which come into coastal waters 

 in abundance at times, but which also are abund- 

 ant offshore; and those which seldom, if ever, 

 come into coastal waters. Among these are de- 

 mersal species like haddock and tilefish, densely 

 schooling and highly migratory pelagic fishes 

 like mackerel, or mollusks of relatively deep 

 waters like sea scallop or surf clam. Many of 

 these are taken by trawls, dredges, or purse 

 seines, which require relatively large, powered 

 vessels. This requires more capital investment 

 and more manpower, hence calls for more organ- 

 ization and planning. These are the kinds of 

 fish and shellfish to which coastal fishermen turn 

 when the strictly coastal resources no longer can 

 meet market demands. This is the typical evo- 

 lutionary pattern of coastal fisheries, in which 

 the fleets expand, increase in efficiency, and 

 range out into the ocean and farther from their 

 home bases. Almost all of these fisheries now 

 are declining. 



The one exception noted above is the northern 

 puffer or swellfish, which as far as we know is 

 very much a species of the coastal zone, living in 

 shallow waters near shore. As such, it might 

 be expected that the northern pufl'er fishery 

 would have developed and declined much earlier 

 than it did. The reason probably is that puffers 

 have been regarded as repulsive, and their value 

 as a first-class food fish was not recognized until 

 recently. The well-known toxicity of tropical 

 puflFers also may have been a contributing factor. 



The last three species discussed — northern 

 lobster, striped bass, and hard clam — interest- 

 ingly enough, are essentially resources of the 

 coastal zone, which, like the puffer, would be ex- 

 pected to be subject to heavy fishing early, hence 

 produce maximum landings early and then de- 

 cline. Under most circumstances this might have 

 been so, but special circumstances apply to each. 

 With the lobster it is a matter of increasing 

 availability in New York coastal waters in re- 



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