FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



219 



of Shoals, large pollock are taken in greatest num- 

 ber in late autumn and early winter when the gill- 

 net fishery taps the spawning fish (fig. 220). Few 

 are caught there later in the winter after they 

 finish spawning, showing that the spent fish do 

 not winter on particular grounds, but scatter to 

 and fro in search of food. 



Along this part of the coast they often reappear 

 in abundance at the surface near land during April 

 and May and even into June. In 1951, for ex- 

 ample, we heard of schools of large pollock at 

 various points off the tip of Cape Cod, in the north- 

 ern side of Massachusetts Bay, and off the Merri- 

 mac River during the first week of that month. 

 They tend to move out again, and deeper, as the 

 surface warms with the advance of the season, 

 and very few large ones are taken inshore in the 

 Massachusetts Bay region during July and August. 

 But it is not likely that they travel far, or sink 

 very deep, for good fares of fish 2 to 3 feet long 

 are brought in by fine fishermen from Jeffreys 

 Ledge throughout the summer, most of them 

 caught some distance above bottom. 



North of the Isles of Shoals, pollock are more 

 commonly seen on the surface during the hot 

 months. Thus, we remember one year (1922) 

 when small boats from Cape Porpoise and from 

 neighboring ports were doing well trolling during 

 July and early August; in 1951 schools were re- 

 ported off Baileys Island, Casco Bay, during the 

 first week of July. And great numbers of good 

 sized pollock are caught all summer in the tide 

 rips at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy; in Passa- 

 maquoddy Bay; in Digby Gut on the Nova Sco- 

 tian side of the Bay of Fundy; and along outer 

 Nova Scotia. 18 



No information is available as to the relative 

 frequency with which pollock appear at the surface 

 over Georges Bank and other offshore fishing 

 grounds, though they are caught all through the 

 year at deeper levels, with no greater seasonal 

 fluctuation in the landings than might result from 

 the various vicissitudes of fishermen's luck, the 

 weather, and the market. 



Pollock spawn in great numbers at the mouth of 

 Massachusetts Bay, especially on the broken bot- 



tom southeast of Gloucester and along the seaward 

 (eastern) slope of Stellwagen Bank, where most of 

 the eggs were taken during the years when pollock 

 were hatched in great numbers at the Gloucester 

 hatchery of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries. 20 



In some years many pollock spawn (and large 

 quantities of their eggs have been collected for 

 the hatchery) right up to Boston Lightship in the 

 inner part of Massachusetts Bay, though this is 

 not a regular annual event. And gill-netters also 

 catch an abundance of ripe fish between Cape Ann 

 and the Isles of Shoals, where breeding pollock 

 congregate in such abundance that they have sup- 

 ported a lucrative fishery in some years. 



This in general seems to cover the most produc- 

 tive spawning area so far as the inner parts of the 

 Gulf are concerned. Few spawning pollock are 

 caught in the Gulf south of the Massachusetts 

 Bay region, while we find no report of them as 

 breeding anywhere west of Cape Cod, although fry 

 of the winter's hatch appear at Woods Hole in 

 spring (p. 220). On the other hand only a fewripe 

 fish are seen along the coast of Maine, though the 

 Boothbay hatchery has made diligent search for 

 them east of Casco Bay; neither have we found 

 pollock eggs anywhere north of the Isles of Shoals 

 in our autumn or winter towings. And it seems 

 that very few larvae are hatched at the mouth of 

 the Bay of Fundy on the New Brunswick side, for 

 none of their young fry have been found in the 

 Passamaquoddy-Grand Manan region, though 

 yearlings, half-grown fish, and adults are there in 

 great numbers. Thus it is safe to say that no 

 production of any importance takes place any- 

 where in the Gulf of Maine east of Cape Elizabeth. 



We cannot offer any explanation for this regional 

 contrast in pollock productivity. Temperature 

 seems not the cause, for this differs by only a couple 

 of degrees between Massachusetts Bay and 

 Passamaquoddy Bay at the commencement of the 

 spawning season. And while the coastal water as 

 a whole is slightly cooler east than west of Cape 

 Elizabeth at the height of the season, the differ- 

 ences from station to station have been small; 

 and all the readings we have taken there during 

 late December and early January have fallen well 

 within the range at which pollock spawn freely in 



•• Near Canso good-sized fish are caught on hook and line at the sur- 

 face from June to December, according to Cornish, Contributions Canadian 

 Biology (1902-1905) 1907, p. 189. 



» Information supplied by O. Q. Corliss, former Superintendent of the 

 Gloucester Hatchery. 



