rather feed between the bottom and the sur- 

 face, depending on the location of prey. 

 During late fall, silver hake have been 

 observed chasing and feeding on silver- 

 sides ("shiners"), mostly at night, near 

 the surface along the beaches. It is during 

 this time that silver hake are also called 

 "frost fish," a name it shares with the 

 tomcod (Microgadus tomcod). 



The Fishery 



During the early part of this century, 

 silver hake were considered a nuisance 

 when caught in large quantities in the 

 mackerel nets. The silver hake was not 

 considered a food fish at that time because 

 it spoiled readily. There was an abundance 

 of other, more valuable species, also. 

 Limited amounts were landed and shipped 

 to fried-fish shops in and around St. Louis, 

 Missouri, during the middle 1920's. An 

 active fishery did not begin until the 1930' s. 



Figure 5. --Annual New England landings of silver hake, 1932-59. 

 (One 1941 figure is for Boston, Gloucester, and Portland only.) 



Silver hake were used only for human food 

 at first, but, as time went on, markets were 

 developed for animal food and for industrial 

 use. 



Figure 6.--A small New England dragger. 

 4 



