CONTENTS 



Page 



Foreword ii 



Introduction 1 



Range 3 



Description of the fisheries 4 



Pound nets 4 



Floating traps 6 



Purse seines 7 



Otter trawls 8 



Handlines 11 



Fluctuations in yield and their causes 11 



Summer fishery 12 



Statistics of the fishery. New Jersey 12 



Changes in total yield 12 



Measurement of fluctuations 12 



Causes of changes in yield 13 



Transition from pound nets to offshore vessels 20 



Statistics of the fishery. New York and southern New England 24 



Changes in total yield 24 



Measurement of fluctuations 27 



Causes of changes in yield 27 



Summary of summer fishei^ 31 



Winter trawl fishery 31 



Statistics of the fishery 31 



Changes in total yield 31 



Measurement of fluctuations 32 



Causes of changes in yield 33 



Hydrography 37 



Summary of winter fishery 46 



Tagging studies 47 



Discussion 56 



Summary 58 



Acknowledgments 59 



Literature cited 59 



Af^endix 61 



iii 



