CHAPTER I 



BACKGROUND AND THE PROBLEM AREAS 



In troduction 



The economic vitality of the New E>ig- 

 land fishing fleet depends primarily on its 

 major product — groundfish. These are fish 

 that live on or near the sea floor, or on 

 the "ground" of the fishing banks. The 

 broad definition of the species includes a 

 wide variety of bottom fishes, rockfishes, 

 and flatfishes. In "this report, however, 

 the term "groundfish" is vised in a narrower 

 sense, for it is restricted to the follow- 

 ing species, upon which the New Eiigland 

 seafishery is principally founded: haddock, 

 ocean perch (redfish), cod, pollock, hake, 

 and cusk. i./ 



The groundfish fleet operates mainly 

 on a 260,000 square mile continental shelf 

 extending for 1,000 miles from Long Island, 

 New York to Newfoundland. £/ The princi- 

 pal fishing method en^sloyed is the otter 

 tarawl. This is a large conical net that 

 is dragged across the fishing banks by 

 large steel trawlers and smaller wooden 

 vessels. 



Historical Importance of the 

 New England Fishery 



Fishing is New England's oldest indus- 

 try and was once its most important one. 

 The region's e3?)ort trade began with the 

 shipment of salted and dried codfish to 

 Europe. This industry later developed 

 into the famous triangular trade of the 

 I8th century, whereby fish was sent to 

 Europe in exchange for Mediterranean prod- 

 ucts which were brought to the West 



Indies for sugar, molasses, and rum which 

 were carried to New England, 



The growing fishery of the 17th and 

 18th centuries laid the base for early Ne>i 

 England's export trade and the manufactur- 

 ing conplex that characterizes raodem-day 

 New England: 



-"With the sugar that was brought 

 back in payment for fish, the refining and 

 distilling industries were started} with 

 cacao, the confectionary industryj with 

 hides, the shoe factoriesj with the gold 

 and silver that occasionally returned, the 

 southern New England jewelry manufacture."^ 



-The brass industry's origin was the 

 market for ship chandlery, 



-Capital accximulated in fishing and 

 shipping was used to establish the textile 

 industry. New England's bellwether manu- 

 facturing industry for decades. 



Ihe growth of manufacturing in New 

 England after the Industrial Revolution 

 resulted in the relative decline of the 

 fishenes in the area's economic base. 

 Commercial fishing, once the region's 

 largest single industry, by I88O employed 

 only 37,000 men out of a labor force of 

 1.5 million, £/ 



"Die Decline of the New England 



Groundfish Industry 



Prior to 1918 cod accounted for the 

 major share of United States groxmdflsh 

 landings. Between 1918 and 19 li? haddock 

 was the leading species, and since 191^7 

 ocean perch has usually been the species 

 landed in greatest quantity. The ocean 

 perch fishery was established in the inld- 

 1930's and showed a marked upward trend in 

 landings until 1952, After 1952 catches 

 declined precipitously, with 195? landings 

 hd> percent below those of 1951, Die ood 

 catch also declined markedly, with 1957 



1/ This definition of "groundfish" is also used by the United States Tariff Commission 

 in its investigations, (Cf. United States Tariff Commission Groundfish: Fishing and 

 Filleting , Washington 25, D. C, 1957) 



.2/ Fishery Resources of the United States . Senate Document No. 51, 79th Congress, 

 IsT Session, March, 19i6. p. liti. 



3/ Ackerman, Edward A., New Bigland Fishing Industry . Chicago: University of Chicago 

 Press, I9U., p, 3. 



h/ Ibid, p. li. See also, Itenth Censvis of the United States, Washington 1885 

 Compendium, pp. 136O-6I, 1366-67, 



