15-25 miles). As the fishery developed, larger 

 and more powerful boats were added to the 

 fleet. Many of these were diesel-powered, 

 capable of fishing farther offshore and of 

 taking large catches on trips of long duration. 

 This summer fleet fished mainly for fluke, 

 so that the occasional good catches of scup 

 were only incidental. Hence, prior to 1929, 

 the summer catch of otter trawls contributed 

 relatively little to the total catch of scup of 

 the Atlantic States (fig. 3). Since 1929, the 

 summer trawl catch of scup has increased 

 mainly because of improved fishing methods 

 and also, as will be shown later, because of 

 increased abundance along the New Jersey 

 coast. 



The activity of this fleet is still directed 

 primarily for fluke, which has a higher market 

 value than scup. Hence, the present summer 

 catch of scup by otter trawls is still rela- 

 tively small. Although complete records are 

 not available, it is estimated that this summer 

 trawl fishery in 1933 accounted for only 27 

 percent of the total yield by this gear (summer 

 and winter) from New Jersey to Massachu- 

 setts and only approximately 8 percent of the 

 total catch by all gear for New Jersey alone. 



The winter trawl fishery for scup is con- 

 fined principally to the general offshore regions 

 in depths from 20 to 100 fathoms from the 

 offing of Cape May, N.J., to Cape Hatteras, 

 N.C. (fig. 2). The development of this fishery 

 is one of the most important features in the 

 history of the industry, principally because 

 it has resulted in the discovery of commercial 

 quantities of scup (as well as fluke, sea bass, 

 and croakers) in a winter habitat, the location 

 of which for years was the subject of much 

 speculation (Baird, 1873; Bigelow and Welsh, 

 1925). Because of increasing activity and 

 amount of catch, this new branch of the indus- 

 try has added much to economic and conserva- 

 tion problems (Pearson, 1932; Ncsbit and 

 Neville. 1935). 



The development of this fishery. Like that 

 of the summer trawl fishery, was an out- 



growth of flounder dragging (Pearson, 1932). 

 About 1920 New Jersey "fluke draggers" 

 were first attracted to the more inshore 

 and southern part of the winter fishery region, 

 especially along the Virginia and North Caro- 

 lina coasts in their search for fluke and 

 croakers. The New Jersey boats went south 

 in the spring to intercept the schools of 

 fish migrating to inshore areas and in the 

 autumn followed the fish south from New 

 Jersey waters when the species began their 

 return migration to more southern regions. 

 The fleet at that time consisted mainly of 

 small, low-powered boats that formed the 

 summer dragger fleet of southern New Jersey. 

 The vessels became so numerous that Virginia 

 and North Carolina, seeking to protect their 

 extensive inshore pound net and haul seine 

 fisheries, passed laws in 1926 and 1930 pro- 

 hibiting all trawling in State-controlled waters 

 Including the lower Chesapeake Bay. 



The Virginia law was changed in 1936 to 

 provide that no trawling should be done in any 

 territorial waters of the State, except from 

 a point about 10 miles south of Cape Henry 

 Lighthouse to the North Carolina State line 

 during the months of February, March, April, 

 and May of any year and only then by holders 

 of a license for which a fee of $25 is required. 

 Only residents of Virginia are eligible to 

 receive these licenses (Virginia, 1936). 



Perhaps as a result of this, the larger 

 and more powerfully equipped vessels grad- 

 ually ventured offshore and finally located 

 commercial quantities of such typical summer 

 fish as scup, sea bass, and fluke in the deeper 

 water 30 to 50 miles off the Virginia coast. 

 This rather startling discovery of at least 

 part of the winter habitat of summer fishes 

 led to the establishment of a new fishery. 



In the winter of 1928-29, several New 

 England vessels equipped for dragging in the 

 deeper water went south and fished regu- 

 larly in the offshore region. They were so 

 successful that in the following winter they 

 were joined by other vessels. As a result, 

 each winter has seen an increasing number 



