LENGTH AND AGE FREQUENCY SAMPLES COLLECTED 

 FROM GEORGES BANK AND GULF OF 

 MAINE HADDOCK LANDINGS, 1956-1960 



by 



James A. McCann, Fishery Research Biologist 



and 



Frank A. Dreyer, Statistical Assistant 



Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 



U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 



Woods Hole, Massachusetts 



ABSTRACT 



The expansion in 1956 of the North Atlantic haddock investigation is discussed, 

 and 100 tables containing the length and age frequency samples collected from the 

 1956-60 Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine commercial haddock landings are pre- 

 sented. 



INTRODUCTION 



Since 1931, biologists of the Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries have collected sta- 

 tistics of the commercial landings of haddock 

 in the major New England ports. From 1931- 

 55, interviews were conducted, and length 

 and age frequency samples were collected 

 from vessels which fished only the Georges 

 Bank area (fig. 1). 



In 1956 the haddock program was expanded 

 to collect more samples from the Georges 

 Bank landings and to extend the area sampled 

 to the Gulf of Maine. The methods for the 

 collection of data, interviews, and biological 

 sampling were described by Schuck (1951), 

 Rounsefell (1948, 1957), and Clark and Dreyer 

 (1961). 



Schuck (1951) also presented the length 

 frequency, by 3-cm. length groups, of the 



estimated numbers of haddock landed sea- 

 sonally from Georges Bank for 1931-48. Clark 

 and Dreyer (1961) presented the length fre- 

 quency and age distribution (estimated num- 

 bers in the commercial landings) for Georges 

 Bank and the Gulf of Maine fishery for 1956. 

 The increased number of samples from 

 Georges Bank after 1955 made possible the 

 subdivision of this area into east and west 

 statistical subareas and enabled a more com- 

 plete presentation of the data. The Gulf of 

 Maine data were divided into two statistical 

 subareas, north and south, and were presented 

 by season and 1-cm. groups for the length 

 frequency samples and by season and 3-cm. 

 groups for age distribution. 



McCann and Dreyer (1962) have presented 

 the basic sample data from Georges Bank for 

 1931-55. The purpose of this publication is 

 to present all of the basic sample data for 



