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Pollock Fishery 



Pollock are generally harvested by mobile otter trawl 

 gear, by gillnets, and by line trawls. In 1977, some 600 

 vessels landing fish in New England ports reported using 

 otter trawls. Sixty-three vessels reported using gillnets 

 while 23 reported using line trawls. The average vessel in 

 the current otter trawl fleet was built 26 years ago, has 

 an average of 66 gross registered tons, and carries a crew 

 of four. The average gillnetter and line trawler are con- 

 siderably smaller (45 and 23 GRT respectively) and younger 

 (18 and 19 yeras old respectively) and carry smaller crews 

 (usually 3). In 1977 pollock landings accounted for 3.2 

 percent of the total revenues to otter trawlers in New 

 England. By port, only in Gloucester and Boston did landings 

 of pollock by otter trawlers exceed 3 percent of total 

 revenues (6.5 percent in Gloucester; 10.2 percent in Boston). 



In comparison, 1977 pollock landings accounted for 34.4 

 percent of total revenues to gillnetters in New England. 

 Three- fourths of the gillnetters active in 1977 landed their 

 catches in Maine ports. In York County and in Portland and 

 Portland County pollock landings accounted for about 30 

 percent of total revenues in 1977. In Massachusetts, in 

 Gloucester and on the South Shore pollock landings accounted 

 for 20.2 percent and 12.5 percent of total revenues to 

 gillnetters in 1977. 



