1999 

 OUR LIVING OCEANS 



Landings 

 (X 1,000 t) 



Landings 



Abundance 

 survey index 

 (kg / tow) 



I960 1965 



Figure 1-2 



Landings in metric tons (t) 

 and abundance index of 

 skates and spiny dogfish, 

 1960-97. 



Year 



1 997 and were predicted to decline kirtiier in 1 998 

 in the face oFgenerally poor recruitment and con- 

 tinued restrictions on days at sea and/or reduced 

 target total allowable catches. Landings of cod in 

 1997 were the lowest on record, while those tor 

 haddock and ycllowtail flounder' improved 

 slightly in 1996 and 1997 as a result oF improve- 

 ments in stock biomass and sharp reductions in 

 fishing mortality beginning in 199'> (Northeast 

 Fisheries Science Center, 1997c,d) as a result ol 

 regulatory measures. A more detailed description 

 of these changes is contained in the feature article 

 on the rebuilding of New England groundtish 

 stocks. 



Summer flounder, one of the most valuable 

 groundfish species in the Mid-Atlantic area, is the 

 focus of both commercial and recreational fisher- 

 ies, with about 60% of the landings commercial 

 and 40% recreational. I'rior to the implementa- 

 tion of management measures in 1 988, stock abun- 

 dance had been steadily declining and fishing mor- 

 tality rates had been excessively high. However, 

 spawning stock biomass subsequently increased 

 over threefold from 1989 to 1996 (Northeast Fish- 

 eries Science Center, 1997e,f), and fishing mor- 

 tality has declined, particularly after 1992 when 

 greatly reduced target fishing mortality rates for 



'Two nut of four slocks o) \eiln\vtail flounLlcr .uul one out of 

 rvs'o haddock stocks improved. 



1993 and subsec]uent years were adopted. Land- 

 ings have remained relatively steady at about 

 10,000 t annually during 1990-97, compared with 

 a long-term potential \'icld of 24,500 t (Table 1- 



Dogfish and Skates 



Dogfish and skates are a significant part ot the 

 aggregate groundfish stock biomass in the North- 

 east (Figure 1-2). Of the two dogfishes (spiny and 

 smooth), the spiny dogfish is dominant by far. 

 Seven species of skates, including little, winter, 

 barndoor, clearnose, thorny, rosette, and smooth, 

 occur on the Northeast shelf — winter, little, and 

 thorny skates account for most ot the landings. 



Skate and spiny dogfish landings underwent a 

 marked increase from 2,900 t in 1978 to .51 ,500 t 

 in 1992, increasing further to record high levels 

 of 42,500 t in 1996. Recent annual landings aver- 

 aged 34,600 t (Table 1-1). Discards of both spe- 

 cies in fishing activities directed towards other spe- 

 cies are thought to be equivalent to the amounts 

 landed. Abundance of skates and dogfish increased 

 throLighout the 1970's and 1980's, peaked in 1990, 

 and declined each year since (Figure 1-2). Despite 

 these recent declines, overall abundance of skates 

 and dogfish continues to remain high, although a 

 1997 assessment (Northeast Fisheries Science Cen- 

 ter, 1998a,b) indicated that the biomass of ma- 

 ture female spin\' dogfish had decreased by over 

 50% from a peak in 1989 to 1997 and that the 

 stock is overexploited. 



Other Finfish 



Other groundfish species taken primarily as 

 bycatch in the tlulf of Maine include goosefish, 

 white hake, ocean pout, cusk, wolffish, and At- 

 lantic halibut. In Southern New England, ocean 

 pout are taken as bycatch, while goosefish are pri- 

 marilv taken in directed fisheries. In the Mid-At- 

 lantic, goosefish, scup, weakfish, black sea bass, 

 spot, tilefish, and several others are landed either 

 in directed fisheries or as bycatch. As a group, they 

 can be characterized generally as overexploited, 

 with recent annual landings totaling 47,575 t 

 (Table 1 - 1 ); individually, some have landings well 

 below their lont;-term maximum as a result of be- 



92 



