Table 10. --Length frequencies of scup from random Ganipllng of otter trawlers landing at Cape May and Wlldwood, N.J., 1929-33 



[Numberi of fUh) 



Individual anmples weighted to base of 100 fish. 

 Observations discontinued in May 



The dearth of smaller and younger scup in 

 the offshore region cannot be explained by 

 culling, because there was no such practice 

 on the seine boats during the years studied. 

 Moreover, in 1928, 1929, and 1930, when 

 prices were high, 2- to 4-year-old fish would 

 have been marketed had they been present in 

 the offshore catches. It appears, therefore, 

 that there is an inshore to offshore migration 

 of the older fish. In 1931 and subsequent years, 

 when markets were glutted and prices de- 

 pressed, numerous reports were received of 

 the seiners fishing offshore either trying to 

 avoid setting around large schools of good, 

 market-sized scup (mostly 4 years and older) 



or when they did set, often permitting most or 

 all of the school to escape. 



This offshore movement with advancing age 

 suggests that the summer scup population along 

 the southern New Jersey coast may be divided 

 roughly into two main parts: (1) An inshore 

 group, consisting generally of smaller and 

 younger fish (2 to 4 years old, 7 to 9.5 inches 

 long, and weighing one-quarter to five-eighths 

 of a pound) and constituting the bulk of the 

 pound net catch; and (2) an offshore group, 

 consisting generally of larger and older fish 

 (4 to 7 years old, approximately 9.5 to 12 

 inches long, and weighing 5/8 to 1-1/4 pounds) 



23 



