V. 



r-^^..JV^ — A-Ar> 



A^ 



1680 90 1900 



20 30 40 50 



Figure 19. — Annual commercial landings of white perch in New York 

 and New Jersey 1887-1975. 



area. The northern limit of the species range is about 

 Cape Cod. In the middle Atlantic area, sport catches, 

 like commercial catches, apparently have been in- 

 creasing since 1960 (Table 21). 



No foreign catches of white perch have been reported, 

 although occasional small catches have been reported in 

 the domestic trawl fishery. These catches almost cer- 

 tainly were made close to shore. 



Haddock 



sociated with warming of northwest Atlantic waters in 

 the first half of the present century (Taylor et al . 1957) . It 

 is possible that early landings in New Jersey represented 

 an extreme southward extension of the range of the 

 species when coastal waters were on the average cooler. 

 The brief peak of landings at the turn of the century 

 probably was taken in a handline or setline fishery off- 

 shore in winter, primarily directed at Atlantic cod. Most, 

 if not all, of New York landings probably came from 

 Nantucket Shoals and South Channel. 



Haddock has been a relatively important sport fish in 

 the north Atlantic region, especially in the middle 1960s 

 when the species was particularly abundant (Table 22). 

 It was not sufficiently important from New Jersey south 

 to warrant separate listing in the national surveys of salt- 

 water sport fishing. 



Haddock has been one of the most important species in 

 the New England trawl fishery and ICNAF has paid 

 special attention to this species. Strong year classes of 

 1962 and 1963 on Georges Bank provided initial impetus 

 for movement of foreign fleets to Georges Bank and 

 southward. This quickly led to overfishing of the had- 

 dock resource, and the catch is now stringently regulated 

 by quota. The total allowable catch in ICNAF subareas 5 

 and 6 for 1976 has been set at 6,000 metric tons. 



New Jersey and New York are south of the normal 

 region of major abundance of haddock, Melanogrammus 

 aeglefinus (Linnaeus), although the species does strag- 

 gle as far south as Cape Hatteras in deep water and can 

 be taken off New York and New Jersey in winter. Had- 

 dock was not mentioned by Earll (1887) or Mather (1887) 

 as a component of the fisheries in the 1880s. Maximum 

 landings reported in New Jersey were about 100 metric 

 tons in 1901 and landings have been very small or zero for 

 the last 65 yr (Fig. 20). Landings of haddock have never 

 been high in New York relative to New England land- 

 ings, but have been much higher than New Jersey. The 

 maximum recorded for New York was 7,727 metric tons 

 in 1926. New York landings were relatively high in the 

 1920s, low in the early 1930s, and high from 1938 to 1946 

 (McHugh 1972a). Smith (1915) mentioned South Chan- 

 nel (between Georges Bank and Nantucket Shoals) as an 

 important fishing ground for haddock early in the 20th 

 century. Royce et al. (1959) posulated an abundance of 

 haddock on Nantucket Shoals in the late 1920s, and this 

 coincides with peak haddock landings in New York 

 State. In the early 1930s haddock on Nantucket Shoals 

 retreated to Georges Bank, and this was thought to be as- 



>- so 



- - .'v-.. 



50 60 



Table 22 .--Estimated commercial and recreational catches of haddock 

 in the north and middle Atlantic regions of the United States coast 

 for the period in which recreational or foreign catch estimates are 

 available, weights in metric tons. 



Figure 20.— Annual commercial landings of haddock in New Jersey 



1889-1975. 



The national saltwater anqling surveys for 1960, 196S. and 1970 did 

 not give data by individual states. New York was included with the 

 New England states and New Jersey with the other middle Atlantic states. 



Foreign catches for 1975 are provisional. The total ICNAF 1976 

 quota for haddocX in subareas S and 6 was 6,000 metric tons. 



Figures for 1975 in parentheses assume that unavailable landings in 

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



- An unreported catch is possible. 



* Less than 0.5 metric ton. 



Atlantic Cod 



New .lersev, like New York, is near the southern limit 



24 



