YELLOWTAIL FLOUNDER OFF NEW ENGLAND 



189 



~l 1 1 1 1 r~ 



JANUARY- MARCH 



N * 11,690 



JULY -SEPTEMBER 

 N  10,399 



OCTOBER- DECEMBER 



N  11,998 



22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 



LENGTH -CENTIMETERS 



Figure 8. — Percent length composition, by quarter, of yel- 

 lowtail from the southern New England stock, fourth 

 quarter 1942 through 1947. (N=number of fish.) 



tucket Shoals for which we have adequate sam- 

 ples, the difference in average size (1.12 cm. 

 maximum) was markedly less than the difference 

 among seasons (3.02 cm. maximum). 



The length compositions from 1941 to 1947 are 

 particularly interesting (table 13; fig. 10) because 

 they cover a period that includes the peak catch of 

 63 million pounds in 1942 and much of the subse- 

 quent decline. Only slight changes in the average 

 length occurred during the period 1941-47, and 

 there was no trend toward smaller fish in the 

 catches, as might be expected. 3 



The yellowtail were smallest in 1942 (34.22 cm. ) 

 and largest in 1945 (36.37 cm.). Even this small 

 difference (2.22 cm.) probably was largely the re- 



y 6 



3 



3 Such a trend apparently did develop according to reports, 

 after 1951, when the very small annual catches were largely com- 

 prised of "peewee" yellowtail. 



22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 

 LENGTH -CENTIMETERS 



Figure 9. — Percent length composition, by statistical area, 

 of yellowtail from the southern New England stock, 

 1943 through 1947. (N= number of fish.) 



suit of a change in the habits of the fishermen. 

 The length-composition curve for 1942 (and to a 

 lesser degree for 1941) differs appreciably from 

 the curves for later years by including a mode of 

 smaller fish. Very probably this mode occurred 

 because of failure of the fishermen to cull their 

 catches at sea. At this time the filleting industry 

 in New Bedford was just becoming established 

 and there were no general agreements regarding 

 the size of fish acceptable to the trade. The fish- 



