FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



205 



not be greater than can be accounted for by the 

 considerably greater weights of individual cod than 

 of individual haddock. And haddock certainly 

 are far more numerous than cod on Georges Bank 

 as a whole, especially on its western half. 



Haddock, for example, large and small, made up 

 60 to 70 percent by number of all the fish caught 

 on various parts of the bank, spring to autumn, by 

 certain otter trawlers in 1913, cod less than 10 

 percent; similarly, in 1948, 1949, and 1950 

 haddock formed about 21 percent by number, 

 cod less than 1 percent of the fish trawled there 

 by the Albatross III." 



In 1945 (most recent year for which detailed 

 statistics are avadable both for the New England 

 fishery and for the Canadian), the landings were 

 as follows, for different parts of the Gulf, to the 

 nearest 100,000 pounds: western part of Browns 

 Bank, 6,000,000; grounds along the Nova Scotian 

 shore of the open Gulf, 1,000,000; Nova Scotian 

 side of the Bay of Fundy, 3,400,000; New Bruns- 

 wick side of the Bay of Fundy near the mouth, 

 1,100,000; 52 off eastern Maine, 200,000; off 

 central Maine, 2,100,000; off western Maine, 

 900,000; off eastern Massachusetts, 5,400,000; 

 small grounds in the inner central part of the 

 Gulf, 400,000 to 500,000; northern part of the 

 Gulf, not classified, 1,700,000; Cape Cod out to 

 the so-called South Channel, 3,900,000; Nan- 

 tucket Shoals, 2,200,000; Georges Bank as a 

 whole, 53,200,000. If this proportional relation- 

 ship is roughly representative, as seems likely on 

 various grounds, the Georges Bank-South Channel 

 area as a whole harbors perhaps two-thirds to 

 three-fourths of the total haddock population 

 of our Gulf, with an average yearly yield of about 

 94,000,000 pounds, for the period 1931-1948, 

 equivalent to something like 37 million fish. 63 

 This indeed, is perhaps the greatest haddock 

 ground for its size in the world, or has been in 

 the past. 64 



According to the combined landings for the 

 years 1942-1947, the northwestern "-northern 

 parts of the Bank, and its central-southeastern 



11 Information contributed by Clyde C. Taylor of the U. S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service. 



,J Few haddock are landed near the head of the bay on the Nova Scotian 

 side; none there on the New Brunswick side. 



" Estimate by Howard W. Schuck, from Fish. Bull. 66, 1951. 



'< Hen-ington (Fishery Circular No. 23, U. S. Bur. Fish., 1936) so classed it. 



'• During recent years this part of the Bank has been classified as "eastern 

 side South Channel" in the catch statistics published by the U. S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service. 



part, are two to three times as productive each, 

 as is the southwestern part, which agrees with 

 fishermen's reports in general. 66 Browns Bank, 

 much smaller in area than Georges, is perhaps 

 equally densely populated. 



The following table shows the percentages of the 

 total catch of haddock taken on Georges Bank in 

 each of the major statistical areas, in different 

 years: 



Proceeding next to a more detailed survey of the 

 inshore grounds we find that considerable numbers 

 of haddock are caught on German Bank, and on the 

 broken grounds off Lurcher Shoal. And while 

 haddock are less plentiful than other ground fish on 

 Grand Manan Bank at the mouth of the Bay of 

 Fundy, perhaps because of the type of bottom, 

 yearly landings of something like 3 million pounds 

 along Digby Neck, Nova Scotia, 67 reflect a rich 

 center of population at the mouth of the Bay of 

 Fundy on the Nova Scotia side. 68 Haddock, like 

 cod, diminish in numbers inward into the Bay, so 

 much so that the counties at its head (Hants, 

 Colchester, Cumberland, Westmoreland) report 

 a few hundred pounds, at most, in some years, 

 none at all in others. But they are plentiful 

 enough on the New Brunswick side of the Bay 

 near its mouth and within Passamaquoddy Bay 

 to yield yearly catches about one-third as great 

 as on the Nova Scotia side. 



The most productive of the small grounds in the 

 western side of the Gulf 69 are Cashes Ledge, 



" Needler's chart of haddock catches, 1917-1925 (Contrib. Canadian Biol., 

 N. Ser., vol. 6, No. 10, 1930, p. 5 [245], fig. 1) would suggest that haddock 

 were concentrated on the western edge of the Bank chiefly and on the neigh- 

 boring parts of Nantucket Shoals. But it is probable, as he points out, 

 that "an exaggerated impression is given of the abundance on the grounds 

 nearest Boston, which is the most important market center." 



" Classified in Canadian Fisheries statistics as "Digby County, from 

 Sissiboo River to Annapolis County line." 



*' This appears clearly on Needler's (Contrib. Canadian Biol., N. Ser., vol. 

 6, No. 10, 1930, p. 5, fig. 1) chart of the distribution of the haddock catch, 1917- 

 1925. 



» Rich (Rept. U. S. Fish Comm. (1929) 1930, App. 3, pp. 51-117) gives a 

 detailed account of the fishing grounds of the Gulf of Maine. In table 2, pp. 

 85-86, and table 3, p. 96, he lists 130 grounds in the inner parts of the Gull 

 where haddock are taken regularly. 



