CHAPTER IV 



OTHER aiOUITOFTSH RESOURCES 

 Introduction 



In addition to haddock, the ground- 

 fish industry in New England comprises 

 ocean perch, cod, pollock, cusk, and hake. 

 Of these species, the most important, in 

 terms of demand, landings and value, is 

 ocean perch. This chapter will be devoted 

 to a brief analysis of the past and current 

 status of these species. 



Ocean Perch Resource 



1. History 



Ocean perch (or redfish) are small, 

 slow- growing fish which inhabit the open 

 ocean and the deep coastal waters frcan 

 Cape Cod to the islands north of Norway, 

 They average around one po\jnd in round 

 weight, and require 10 or 11 years to 

 mature, growing at the rate of about two 

 centimeters in length and tv/o ounces in 

 weight per .year. Ocean perch are non- 

 migratory, and some biologists believe 

 that large populations of the fish exist 

 in areas not yet exploited, and that from 

 these areas some ocean perch continually 

 move onto the fishing grounds and replace 

 those removed by the fishing fleet, 

 "However, off New Sngland and eastern Nova 

 Scotia, where prevailing water temperatures 

 restrict the ocean perch to the deep coast- 

 al waters along the inner sides of the 

 fishing banks, the earlier catches of large 

 fish have been replaced mainly by relative- 

 ly small young fish which now predominate 

 in the landings. On the other hand, in 

 the productive ocean perch grounds vrtiich 

 are on the outer sides of the Grand Bank 

 the catches are replaced by ocean perch of 

 all sizes moving in from the open ocean. "22/ 



Until the middle 1930* s, ocean perch 

 was discarded as trash. In 1933> however, 

 it was discovered that ocean perch could 

 be filleted and frozen successfully, V/hen 

 a heavy demand for the fillets sprung up 

 in the Midwest, the impetus was provided 

 for a phenomenal growth in the ocean perch 

 fishery. Chief beneficiary of this new 

 fishery was the port of Gloucester, ^rfiich 

 took principal advantage of the develop- 

 ment of a growing market for ocean perch 

 fillets for a number of reasons. It was 

 closer than Boston to the Gulf of Maine 

 grounds. It had unused buildings, vessels, 

 and manpower which could be quickly con- 

 verted to their exploitation. Its gear 

 and fishermen were traditionally employed 

 for short trips and the daytime operations 

 required in ocean perch fishing operations. 



Landings of ocean perch at Gloucester 

 grew from 262,000 pounds in 1933 to more 

 than 100 million pounds in 19U2, (table 

 IV-1), In the latter year, the Maine ports 

 of Rockland and Portland began landing sub- 

 stantial amounts of ocean perch as they, 

 too, began prosecuting the nearby grounds 

 in the Gulf of Maine, With the exception 

 of negligible amounts landed at Boston, 

 these three ports have accounted for all 

 New England landings of ocean perch down 

 to the present. In 1959, for example, 

 some 13i| million pounds of ocean perch 

 were landed in New England ports, Glouces- 

 ter accounted for 58 million pounds, Port- 

 land for 35 million pounds, and Rockland 

 for 38 million pounds. The remaining 3 

 million pounds were landed at Boston, 2i.' 



2, The Ocean Perch G rounds 



Ihe original grounds for ocean perch 

 were in the Gu3f of Maine, These grounds 

 were close at hand, necessitating only a 

 two-day trip, and the stock was abundant. 

 As the fishery was prosecuted more vigor- 

 ously, however, catch per day levels began 

 to decline, making trips by the larger 

 trawlers longer and less profitable, since 



90/ United States Tariff Commission, GroundfLsht Fishing and Filleting . 

 May, 1957. p. 35. 



91/ New England Fisheries - Annual Sunmary , Bureau of Conmercial Fisheries, 1959, p,3. 



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