332 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



C/) 

 Q 



2 

 Z) 

 O 

 Q. 



U. 

 O 



CO 

 O 



1937 



1949 



943 

 YEAR 



Figure 29. — The catch of whiting by pound nets in Massachusetts, 1937 to 1949. 



1952 



is shown in table 28 for the montlis of January and 

 February 1952. This list includes trips in which 

 whiting predominated in the catch, and the take 

 of many of the trips consisted almost entirely of 

 whiting. This is not to say, however, that 

 whiting were not caught and landed by other 

 vessels fishing in the same area. This fact is 

 important, for the fishing for species other than 

 whiting has been pursued in these areas for many 

 years. 



The maximum depth of water in subarea XXII 

 D is about 120 fathoms and in subarea XXII E 

 about 150 fathoms. The larger part of both 

 subareas is less than 80 fathoms deep. It is 

 unlikely that these boats fished in the deeper 

 waters, not only because no redfish appear in the 

 catches but also because the deeper water, which 

 lies more distant from port, probably could not be 

 profitably fished in a 1-day trip. 



To determine more exactly the depths in which 

 whiting are caught din-ing the winter months, 

 interview slieets for the port of Provincetown were 



examined for January 1953. These sheets are 

 prepared by a port interviewer and show, for each 

 trip, the approximate position and the range of 

 depths in which the vessel fished, as well as the 

 weigh-out. Of 41 trips in which whiting were 

 landed by small otter trawlers, 25 percent of the 

 fishing was in depths of 30 fatlioms or less, 50 

 percent was in depths of between 30 and 55 

 fathoms, and 25 percent was in depths of between 

 55 and 70 fathoms. All of the trips were made to 

 subareas XXII E and XXII G. 



Examination of monthlv landing records in 

 Maine shows that whiting may be landed in any 

 month of the year, although the landings during 

 January, February, and March are small com- 

 pared to the summer lantlings. These whiting 

 probably do not come from the deeper waters of 

 the Gulf of Maine, for these depths are fished only 

 by the redfish boats, and the fisliermen rarely 

 ti'ouble to save whiting when they encounter them. 



Recent data on the abundance of whiting in 

 relation to other species on Georges Bank are 



