ster landings in New England rose, while those in the 

 middle Atlantic states dropped. They inferred a cause- 

 and-effect relationship but did not explain the mecha- 

 nisms. Dow (1969) also has maintained that lobster 

 abundance and distribution along the coast, and hence 

 catches, are a function of water temperature trends. 



Some lobster are taken by recreational fishermen but 

 this catch has not been recorded in the national surveys. 



Lobster is taken incidentally by trawlers fishing 

 primarily for other species. Catches reported by foreign 

 fleets have been relatively small (Table 43), and there is 

 no information at present that fisheries specifically for 

 lobster have been established by other nations in the 

 area, except for the Canadian lobster fishery on 

 southeastern Georges Bank (Grosslein et al. 1973, see 

 footnote 7). Nevertheless, a good deal of concern has 

 arisen in some quarters about the possibility of unan- 

 nounced lobster catches by some nations fishing in the 

 area, and there have been some difficult gear conflicts. 

 Effects of foreign fishing on the lobster fisheries of the 

 New York Bight area probably have been negligible, at 

 least until very recently. In 1974, by Congressional ac- 

 tion, American lobster was declared a creature of the 

 shelf. This action was not consistent with the definition 

 contained in the 1958 Geneva Convention, because lob- 

 ster can swim. Nevertheless, foreign fishing vessels with 

 lobster aboard have been detained and the operators 

 penalized in U.S. courts. Fines have been paid despite 

 the questionable legality of the U.S. declaration. When 

 the United States declared unilateral jurisdistion over 

 resources out to 200 miles from the coast under the 

 provisions of The Fishery Conservation and Manage- 

 ment Act of 1976, this weakness in the regulations was 

 removed. Edwards (1968) estimated that the standing 

 crop of lobster in the region from the Gulf of Maine to 

 Hudson Canyon beyond 12 miles was about 50 million 

 pounds (23,000 metric tons). 



Swordfish 



Fishing for swordfish, Xiphias gladius Linnaeus, off 

 New Jersey was a relatively recent development. Com- 

 mercial landings were insignificant until the 1960s (Fig. 

 39), when a longline fishery developed (LoVerde 1964, 

 1965, 1966, 1967). Landings were made by New Jersey 

 longliners in other states and some vessels from other 

 states in New Jersey ports, but apparently the success of 

 fishing was variable. The decline of this short-lived 

 fishery undoubtedly was hastened by national hysteria 

 about residues of mercury in some large pelagic fishes 

 like swordfish and tunas, and action by the Food and 

 Drug Administration to prohibit transport of swordfish 

 in interstate commerce. 



A commercial swordfish fishery has been underway in 

 New York for much longer. Landings were first recorded 

 in 1904. Except for 1908, landings have been reported for 

 every year except 1972 (Fig. 39). This was at first a har- 

 poon fishery, but beginning in 1963 a shift was made to 

 longlines. By 1967 harpoons were no longer used, and ex- 

 cept for small catches reported on handlines, this had 



-V..K .!\K. 



Figure 39.— Annual commercial landings of swordfish in New York 

 and New Jersey 1901-1975. 



become a longline fishery. The advantage was probably 

 that longlines took other species as well. 



Swordfish has been included with billfishes in the 

 national saltwater sport fish surveys but estimates are 

 not available prior to 1970. In 1970 the total recorded 

 catch of billfishes in this area was 326 metric tons in the 

 middle Atlantic region (Table 44), none in the New 

 England region. Thus, it appears that the recreational 

 catch of swordfish is relatively small. 



Swordfish has not been reported separately in ICNAF 

 landings. Some probably are taken by longline and per- 

 haps other gears by foreign fishermen. 



Table 44.— Estimated commercial landings of swordfish in the nortn 

 and middle Atlantic regions of the united States coast 1960-1975. 

 weights in metric tens. 



Recreational catches were included under the general category 

 "billfishes." The only recorded catch was 326 metric tons in 

 1970 in the middle Atlantic region. No foreign catches have 

 been recorded . 



Figures for 1975 in parentheses assume that unavailable landings 

 In N.H., Conn., and Del. equal the average of recent years. 



- An unreported catch ia possible. 



• Less than 0.5 metric ton. 



42 



