CLIMATE AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF MARINE ANIMALS 



329 



it is apparent that temperature, if the significant 

 factor, can increase availahility up to but not 

 beyond the actual abundance. 



FLUCTUATIONS IN WHITING 



Statistics on landings of silver hake, or wliiting 

 {Meduccius bilinearis), prior to 1937 are scattered 

 and the period since 1937 is hardly long enough to 

 attempt to relate in detail fluctuations in catch 

 corresponding to changes in temperature. A com- 

 parisori of landings shows, however, a striking 

 decrease in the catch in areas south of Cape Cod 

 and a corresponding increase in New England 



areas. The trends in whiting landings resemble 

 those observed in lobster landings north and south 

 of Cape Cod. 



The increase in landings of whiting in Massa- 

 chusetts and in Maine is undoubtedly due in part 

 to l)etter market conditions and to increased facil- 

 ities for freezing. Although the price of whiting 

 increased sliarply in 1943, the trend since has been 

 downward. Tlie decrease in landings south of 

 Cape Cod cannot be explained in terms of changes 

 in these factors; indeed, the scarcity of whiting 

 since 1948 has apparently led to a sharp increase in 

 the price (fig. 26). 



1936 



FiriiRE 26. — The New York-\e\v .Ter.sey whiting catch (sohd line) and the price received (broken line). 1937 to 1950. 



