25 



. . . Principal Groundfish 

 and Flounders 



stocks were the lowest ever recorded. 



Groundfish partly recovered during the 

 late 1970's because overall fishing efforts 

 were reduced by restrictive management 

 under the International Commission for the 

 Northwest Atlantic Fisheries (ICNAF) and 

 by the advent of the Magnuson Fishery 

 Conservation and Management Act 

 (MFCMA) in 1976. Cod and haddock num- 

 bers increased markedly; pollock and sev- 

 eral flounder stocks also grew. Overall, the 

 groundfish stock index peaked in 1978, 

 then began to decline again and fell in 1 987 



and 1988 to extremely low values. The 

 1989 and 1990 index values were slightly 

 higher than the previous two years, primar- 

 ily owing to recruitment of moderate 1987 

 year classes of Atlantic cod and yellowtail 

 flounder. 



Domestic fishing for northeast demersal 

 fishes increased rapidly after the MFCMA 

 took effect in 1 977 and more than doubled 

 during the first 10 years. Effort has re- 

 mained at near-peak levels, despite large 

 declines in overall catch. 



Skates and 

 Dogfish Sharks 



Dogfish and skates are a significant and 

 growing part of overall northeast ground- 

 fish stocks (Fig. 1-2). Of the two dogfishes 

 (spiny and smooth), the spiny dogfish is 

 dominant by far. Seven species of skates 

 (little, winter, barndoor, brier, thorny, leop- 

 ard, and smooth-tailed) occur on the north- 

 east shelf, but three (winter, little, and 

 thorny skates) produce most of the land- 

 ings. 



Skate and spiny dogfish landings have 

 increased in recent years (spiny dogfish 

 landings in 1990 were 14,300 t, up from 

 4,500 t in 1989; total skate landings were 



11,300 tin 1990, up from 6,600 tin 1989). 

 Nevertheless, these landings levels remain 

 well below the long-term potential landings 

 and the current potential yields for these 

 fish. This is due to a steady increase in the 

 stocks throughout the 1970's and 1980's 

 (Fig. 1-2). Survey catches of both dogfish 

 and skates since 1986 have been the high- 

 est observed. These dogfish and skate in- 

 creases, coupled with groundfish and 

 flounder declines, indicate that the propor- 

 tion of dogfish and skates in the Georges 

 Bank surveys has risen from roughly 25% 

 in 1963 to nearly 75% in recent years. 



Figure 1-2.— U.S. commercial 

 landings and abundance indices 

 for skates and dogfish off the 

 northeastern U.S. coast, 1960-90. 

 Abundance indices are mean 

 weight (kg) per tow taken in 

 NEFSC spring bottom trawl 

 surveys. Species include little, 

 winter, barndoor, brier, thorny, 

 leopard, and smooth-tailed 

 skates, and spiny and smooth 

 dogfish. 



