Whiting and red hake, on the other hand, 

 are found in the Gulf of Maine and waters 

 off Cape Cod in summer but are captured 

 in the middle Atlantic waters during the 

 colder nnonths. The activities of the in- 

 shore and offshore otter-trawl fisheries 

 thus are dependent upon the apparent 

 seasonal movements or migrations of 

 these principal species. The seasonal 

 nature of the fisheries may be seen from 

 data presented in tables 1-4. 



The bulk of the trawl landings of 

 northern lobster are made during the 

 summer months. Vessels engaged in fish- 

 ing for this species employ a modified 

 otter trawl with heavy shackles, foot-rope 

 of chain (often with rollers), and sturdy 

 chaffing gear. Fishing is conducted along 

 the uneven, rocky slope of the Continental 

 Shelf in depths from 90 to 125 fathoms. 



Certain vessels in the offshore otter- 

 trawl fleet convert to scallop dredging 

 during the summer months when trawling 

 for finfish on the offshore grounds is 

 relatively unproductive. Because of their 

 high market value, scallops contribute an 

 important share of the income of the 

 fishermen and vessel owners. Landings 

 of scallop meats at southern New Jersey 

 ports for the 1954-57 period are shown 

 in table 5. Landings in 1955 reached the 

 highest peak since vessels began exploiting 

 the middle Atlantic beds in 1948. 



Table 5. — Scallop landings 



Year Pounds 



Year Pounds 



1954 130,000 



1955 617,000 



1956 433,000 



1957 267,000 



ANALYSIS OF DATA 



Methods of analyzing the otter -trawl 

 catch data follow those given in the pre- 

 vious report (June and Reintjes, 1957); 

 however, the following corrections and 

 clarification are necessary: (1) The sea- 

 sonal period chosen for the analysis of 

 the inshore trawl fishery was incorrectly 

 stated as "May through October"; it 

 should have read "May through Novem- 

 ber." The seasonal nature of the fishery 

 is obvious from the data given in tables 

 3 and 4. Approximately 90 percent of the 

 landings by each fleet fall within the pre- 

 scribed period. (2) To be included in the 

 "select fleet" used in the analysis, (a) an 

 inshore vessel had to fish 3 nnonths and an 

 offshore vessel had to fish 4 months during 

 the season, and (b) the months during which 

 landings were made had to be the same 

 between adjacent years. Sumnnary data for 

 the analyses are given in tables 6 and 7. 



In figures 4 and 5 are plotted meas- 

 urements of total catch, catch per unit 

 of effort (boat-month), and total fishing 

 effort for the inshore and offshore otter- 

 trawl fleets. To permit comparison, data 

 for the earlier period, 1946-53, are shown 

 by dashed lines. Catch per unit of effort 

 in the inshore fleet (fig. 4) shows a marked 

 downward trend which had its beginning 

 in 1953. Increased fishing effort, in part, 

 was responsible for the slight increase 

 in total catch in 1957. Catch per unit of 

 effort in the offshore fleet, on the other 

 hand (fig. 5), shows only the slightest 

 downward trend over the 12-year period, 

 varying between roughly 42,000 and 72,000 

 pounds per boat-month. The effect of eco- 

 nomic factors upon total catch and the cal- 

 culated measures of abundance and total 

 fishing effort within the otter-trawl fish- 

 eries are beyond the scope of this report. 



Table 6. — Summary data, inshore otter-trawl fishery 



