Graphs of mean weight and number per tow (Figures 11.4-11.7) show a sharp 

 increase during autumn 1978 and 1979 surveys. These increases may indicate a 

 rebuilding of the Mid-Atlantic population. 



Length frequencies for six strata sets, arranged by season, are shown in 

 Figures 11.8-11.9. Smaller YOY and one-year-old fish dominated the inshore 

 catches in the north in autumn (Figure 11.14); this is the only area where 

 this pattern occurred. The lack of offshore YOY catches in southern areas 

 during the autumn (Figures 11.18-11.19), may have been because the small fish 

 were still in shallow coastal waters or the estuaries. The very small 

 butterfish in inshore areas during the spring (Figures 11.9-11.10) may have 

 been spawned early and were caught in the same season. 



Figures 11.20 and 11.21 show the percentage occurrence by stratum of YOY; 

 cutoff size was 13 cm. Two size groups of YOY can be seen in these figures. 

 In the spring (Figure 11.20) the northern areas contained YOY from last 

 summer's spawning, these fish were approaching 13 cm; in the south the fish 

 were around 5 cm and were products of a late winter-early spring spawn which 

 were captured during the same year. 



:54 



