230 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



30-inch female, with large roe, trawled off New 

 Jersey (lat. 39°23' N.) by the Albatross II at 88 

 fathoms, on February 27, 1929; Welsh saw a male 

 with milt flowing, near Gloucester on April 22, 

 1913; we saw spent females, but also a male just 

 ripening, trawled by the Albatross III on the 

 southwestern part of Georges Bank on May 15, 

 1950; and Nichols and Breder 41 report a ripe 

 female with ripe eggs at Woods Hole in July. 



The height of the spawning season of the squirrel 

 hake comes at least as early as June south of Cape 

 Cod, and through early summer in the Massa- 

 chusetts Bay region, judging from the size (27 to 

 70 mm.) of the fry mentioned above as found 

 in scallop shells in late summer and autumn (p. 

 224). The extreme limits of the season are not 

 known. But we have towed eggs of this species as 

 early as June 10 in Petit Passage, Nova Scotia, 

 and as late as September 20 in various parts of the 

 Gulf, while captures of fry of 72 mm. as early as 

 the last week in July (in Sbelburne Harbor, Nova 

 Scotia), and others as small as 36 mm. in the west- 

 ern part of the Gulf as late as November 1 (in 

 1916), point to a spawning season lasting from late 

 spring until early autumn. 



Abundance.— There is nothing in the statistical 

 picture to suggest that hake of either species 

 fluctuate very widely in abundance in our Gulf 

 from year to year, for the ups and downs in the 

 amounts caught are not greater than can be 

 charged to market conditions. Neither has any 

 attempt been made to estimate the periodic varia- 

 tions in the relative abundance of different year 

 classes. Earlier characterizations of the numbers 

 of the two hakes in our waters have been in relative 

 terms, ranging from "common" to "in immense 

 numbers." 42 More precise information is that the 

 Atlantis caught an average of about 32 tenuis per 

 hour's trawling with an 82-foot trawl at 65 to 

 125 fathoms (120-228 meters) off Cape Cod, west 

 of Jeffreys Ledge and off Mount Desert, in 

 August 1936, 43 while the Albatross III trawled 

 about 245 chuss and about 18 tenuis per hour's 

 hauling on the southwestern part of Georges Bank 

 and south of Nantucket Shoals in May 1 950. And 

 we find record of 145 tenuis taken per hour's 

 trawling, 44 on Sable Island Bank, off outer Nova 

 Scotia. 



« Zoologies, N. Y. Zool. Soc, vol. 9. 1927, p. 172. 



« Huntsman, Contrib. Canadian Biol., (1921) 1922, p. 68. 



« Bigelow and Schroeder, Biol. Bull., vol. 76, 1939, p. 308. 



« Report, Newfoundland Fish. Res. Comm., vol. 1, No. 4, 1932, p. 109. 



Importance.— The hakes are soft-meated and 

 have rather poor keeping qualities, but both the 

 white and the squirrel hake are readily absorbed 

 by the fish markets if they are large enough, and 

 great numbers of small squirrel hake are now used 

 for mink and poultry feed. A quarter of a cen- 

 tury ago the yearly catch in the Gulf ran between 

 20 and 35 million pounds, and it has been much 

 the same of late years (1941-1946), with yearly 

 landings by Canadian and United States fishermen 

 of between 19 and 30 million pounds. In 1946, 

 which may serve as representative, Canadian 

 fishermen landed about 2,100,000 pounds in outer 

 Nova Scotian ports (Cape Sable to Cape North), 

 about 4,800,000 pounds along the southern shore 

 of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 



At the present time (as represented by 1946 and 

 1947) 4 to 5 times as much hake is marketed in 

 Maine and Massachusetts in the form of fresb and 

 frozen fillets as is marketed there salted, some 

 are used for fish cakes, and a very small part 46 as 

 smoked fillets. Hake sounds (swim bladders), 

 especially of those tbat are caught off Nova Scotia 

 in deep water, are also used to make isinglass, 48 and 

 increasing amounts of small squirrel hake brought 

 in from Nantucket Shoals, are utilized from j^ear to 

 year in the trash-fish industries. 47 



Roughly two-thirds of the poundage of hake 

 that is landed in Maine and Massachusetts are 

 caught in otter trawls nowadays, roughly one-fifth 

 in gill nets, and only a little more than one-eighth 

 on long lines. 48 



The hakes are such dull and inactive fish that 

 they are of no special interest to the angler. But 

 a good many fair-sized ones are caught hand-lining 

 from party boats, for they bite readily, and small 

 hake are caught from small boats in harbors and 

 bays, along the Maine coast especially. 



Spotted hake Urophycis r^ffkrs (Walbaum) 1792 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2553. 



Description. — This species is distinguishable 

 among the hakes of the Gulf of Maine by the fact 



« About 39,000 pounds reported for 1916, none for 1947. 

 ** For further information see Tressler, Marine Products of Commerce, 

 1949, pp. 489-191. 



" Landings of red hake at New Bedford from the Nantucket Shoals region, 

 mostly used in this way, were about 6,600,000 pounds in 1947. 

 " The amounts recorded for 1947 were: Poundt 



Otter trawls -- 10,399,800 



Gill nets 3,380,200 



Long lines.- - 2,097,200 



Hand lines 102,200 



