Table 2. --Catch of scup landed in 1933^ by States and gear^ 



[In pounds] 



■"■ Latest available complete statistics. 

 ^ Report, Fishery Industries of the United States, 1934. 



■' Includes catch of vessels registered in each respective State but engaged in the winter trawl 

 fishery off the Virginia Capes. 

 * Ijsss than .01 percent. 



general use by 1873, especially in spring 

 fishing for scup. Traps are still operated there 

 almost exclusively for scup. This is probably 

 because scup are available there in large 

 quantities only during 2 months of the year 

 (end of April to end of June) when they ap- 

 proach the Rhode Island shore on their annual 

 spring migration to inshore waters. During 

 this period, large quantities in excess of de- 

 mand are caught. This glut has led the Rhode 

 Island trap operators to hold the excess 

 amounts of scup alive in "pounds" (explained 

 later), which are anchored in some sheltered 

 cove and from which shipments are made 

 throughout the summer. 



With the termination of the main spawning 

 about the end of June (Bigelow and Welsh, 

 1925), scup do not trap readily and the catch 

 declines sharply; consequently, these "spring 

 scup traps" are usually dismantled in early 

 summer and put ashore until next spring. 

 U.S. War Department regulations permit fish- 

 ing in this region only from April 25 to July 25. 

 The restriction after the latter date apparently 

 does not greatly interfere with the scup fishery, 

 since it is probable that the traps would not 

 be operated after that date even if permitted, 

 because the main bodies of market-sized scup 

 usually either disperse from this area after 

 June or at least do not trap readily. Like the 

 pound nets, the floating traps have not under- 

 gone much change in construction, the im- 

 provements being confined to easier and 

 quicker operation by the use of power. The 

 majority of the traps have been set on the same 



locations since the beginning of the fishery 

 about 1850. 



The catch of scup by floating traps in 

 Rhode Island comprises the bulk of the total 

 catch of all gear for that State and is rela- 

 tively important in the general fishery for 

 scup, representing approximately 18 per- 

 cent of the total catch of the species by all 

 commercial gear in the fishery from New 

 Jersey to Massachusetts (table 2). 



PURSE SEINES 



The purse seine fishery for scup is carried 

 on principally by New Jersey vessels fishing 

 from Cape May, N.J., southward to Parramore 

 Banks, Va., and, being mobile, has access 

 to a large area of fishing ground, the extent 

 of which is limited only by State regulations. 

 New Jersey (New Jersey Board of Fish and 

 Game Commissioners, 1936) prohibits the 

 use of seines and trawls from taking or at- 

 tempting to take fish of any kind from waters 

 within the jurisdiction of the State, including 

 waters of the Atlantic Ocean within 3 nautical 

 miles of the coastline, without a license. A 

 license allows fish to be taken in waiers of 

 the Atlantic Ocean within jurisdiction of the 

 State, but at a distance of not less than 2 

 miles from the coast. Virginia (1936) also 

 prohibits the use of purse seines and otter 

 trawls except under special conditions in 

 certain territorial waters of the State. New 

 York (New York Conservation Department, 



