the grounds presently fished. At that time, 

 Canada's proximity to the more northern 

 stocks, which will then be fished, will 

 mean that Canada's share of the catch will 

 be 50 percent rather than the present 22 

 percent. 



The Canadian catch of ocean perch from 

 Subarea U has shown a steady increase since 

 1953, the first year of any significant 

 landings by Canada in the area. Here again, 

 however, it is a condition of removal of 

 accumulated stock, and landings will soon 

 depend on annual recruitment and growth. 

 Since 1953 > Canadian landings have account- 

 ed for 30 percent of total landings from 

 the area, (table VII-6). If the cur- 

 rent rate of fishing continues, it is ex- 

 pected that by 19H0 the stock will fall to 

 350 million pounds, with average landings 

 of about 50 million pounds. Of this, Cana- 

 da will probably take 50 percent, or 25 

 million pounds, 



U. Pollock 



Pollock is common in the southern part 

 of ICNAF Subarea h, and ranges north to the 

 southern Grand Bank and St. Pierre Bank in 

 Subarea 3, The largest catches are made at 

 the mouth of the Bay of Fundy. The stock 

 of pollock was estimated at about 200 mil- 

 lion pounds in 1955. Canada lands 32 mil- 

 lion of the liO million pounds annually 

 caught . 



Spurred by increased marketability, 

 increased utilization will likely increase 

 the pollock catch in the immediate future 

 possibly to 60 or 70 million pounds. If 

 the cooler teirperatures predicted for I98O 

 actually occur, however, there will be some 

 restriction of range and abxindance, so that 

 total production then is estimated as only 

 5U million pounds a year. At that time, 

 the level of stock will be about I6O mil- 

 lion pounds, 



5. Whit lag (Silver Hake) 



Whiting is of no commercial importance 

 to the Canadian fishery, or is it expected 

 to become so in the future. Although it is 

 abundant in the southern part of Subarea h, 

 whiting has not been exploited by Canada or 

 any other nation in these waters since it 

 quickly becomes soft under ice. The re- 

 cently increased landings of whitinp by 

 United States trawlers has been from the 



120/ Productivity figures will pertain only 

 fieaby ICNAF in the l50-500 gross ton group. 



catch in Subarea 5} (cf.page 58, Chapter 

 IV). 



At any rate, the 1955 stock of 100 

 million poxinds in Subarea k was, for all 

 practical purposes, unutilized, and it is 

 expected that the lower water temperatures 

 predicted for the future will reduce this 

 stock to about 60 million pounds by I98O. 

 At that time, total landings from the area 

 might be 10 million pounds annually, and 

 half this amount might be landed ty Canada, 



6. Cask 



Cusk is taken on all fishing banks 

 incidentally to catches of other ground- 

 fish species. It is of some commercial 

 importance in Subarea ii, but is rarely en- 

 countered farther north. Since the species 

 tends to frequent rocky areas where drag- 

 ging is difficult, the rate of exploitation 

 is low, and it is expected that the stock 

 in I98O will be at the same level as in the 

 period 195l-5ii, 30 million pounds. Current 

 landings of about 2 million pounds may in- 

 crease to about h million pounds ty 1980, 

 of which at least 3 million pounds may be 

 expected to be taken by Canada. 



Sunnaaiy 



The current levels of stocks and catch 

 trends, by species, and those of the future 

 are summed up in table VII-7. With one ex- 

 ception, the stocks of the major groundfish 

 species are e::q)ected to decrease. It is 

 anticipated that the stock of cusk will re- 

 main at the current level due to its low 

 level of exploitation. On the other hand, 

 with the major exception of haddock, the 

 probable catch trend of all species will 

 increase. 



Productivity of the Principal 

 Fishing Grounds 



If an intelligent comparison is to be 

 made of the relative efficiencies of the 

 groundfish industries of New England and 

 the Atlantic Provinces, estimates must be 

 made of the productivity of the banks fish- 

 ed by each country. Chapter III attempted 

 such an estimate for Georges Bank, the 

 chief source of New England haddock re- 

 source. It is the purpose of this section 

 to investigate the productivity of the 

 other major banks fished for haddock 



-1 Of)/ 



and ocean perch. ±tz/ 

 to large otter trawlers; i.e., those classi- 



8U 



