§2 



1880 90 1900 10 20 30 « 50 60 70 



Figure 31. —Annual commercial landings of scup in New Jersey 1889- 

 1975. 



secutive years, 1948 to 1970 inclusive. In New York scup 

 was first by weight for 19 yr, from 1948 to 1966 inclusive. 



The recreational catch is substantial, especially along 

 the coasts of New Jersey and Long Island, but the com- 

 mercial catch is larger (Table 33). In the last few years, 

 including 1974, sport fishermen have been reporting scup 

 as abundant in coastal waters, especially off New York. 

 Reported commercial landings seem to support this view. 

 There is evidence that the fish off New York and north- 

 ward belong to a separate stock from those that come 

 seasonally to the New Jersey coast (Neville and Talbot 

 [1964]; Paul Hamer pers. commun.). 



Wide fluctuations in abundance have been typical of 

 the scup resource since the early days of the fishery 

 (Neville and Talbot [1964]). Although no detailed study 

 of the evidence is available for the period since 1933, it is 

 assumed that the sharp drop in New Jersey landings 



Table 33. — Estimated commercial and recreational catches of scup 

 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. 



The national saltwater angling surveys for 1960, 1965, 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. This species is 

 included with the second tier quota for 1976. 



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. 



from 1953 to 1956 and the subsequent rise to a maximum 

 in 1962 was caused by a real decline in abundance, al- 

 though it is possible that variations in oceanographic 

 conditions could have reduced the availability of the 

 resource to fishermen. The appendix figure in Neville 

 and Talbot shows a similar drop in the Chesapeake 

 region. A similar, but much less pronounced, drop shows 

 in the record of commercial scup landings in New York. 

 Foreign catches of scup are relatively small, but the 

 stocks of scup in this region have recently been so small 

 that even incidental foreign catches may place sig- 

 nificant stresses on the resource. The species migrates 

 close inshore in spring and remains in coastal waters and 

 bays until fall, then moves southward along the coast 

 and spends the winter in relatively deep water at the 

 edge of the continental shelf (Neville and Talbot [1964]). 

 Bilateral agreements with the USSR and other nations 

 which prohibit fishing at the edge of the shelf in winter 

 and early spring were designed to protect the remaining 

 scup resource as well as other species. Grosslein et al. 

 (1973, see footnote 7) expressed the view that, since scup 

 is particularly vulnerable to foreign trawling at the edge 

 of the shelf in winter and spring, the existing area closed 

 to fishing in winter and early spring should be main- 

 tained or even expanded. 



Black Sea Bass 



The historic pattern of landings of black sea bass, 

 Centropristis striata (Linnaeus), in New Jersey (Fig. 32) 

 is remarkably similar to New York landings (McHugh 

 1972a). Catches were relatively low until the mid- 1940s, 

 reached a peak early in the 1950s, and dropped sharply 

 and fairly steadily thereafter. On the average. New Jer- 

 sey landings have been three to four times as great as 

 New York landings. Most of the domestic commercial 

 catch is made in pots (inshore) and otter trawls (off- 

 shore). A brief review of the fishery along the Atlantic 

 coast of the United States was published by Frame and 

 Pearce (1973). They concluded that the decline in the 

 1960s was primarily a drop in trawl catches. They drew 

 no conclusions about the reasons for the decline. It is sur- 

 prising that neither Earll (1887) nor Mather (1887) men- 

 tioned black sea bass as an important species in the 

 1880s in the New York Bight area. 



./-■.. A 



leeo 90 1900 lo 20 30 40 so 60 to 



Figure .12. — Annual commercial landings of black sea bass in New 

 Jersey 1S87-I97.^. 



34 



