?r n* t?^ 



J 



■»• T4' 



Figure ll.~Concentration of scup based on catch per day's fishing in the southern winter trawl 



fishery from 1931-35. 



winters (1933 and 1932); and scup, sea bass, and fluke 

 were in the more inshore, shoal region, the best 

 catches being made in about the same location as in 

 1933 and 1932. In February, however, the continued 

 severely cold weather resulted in a distinct chilling 

 of the water so that the fish were driven to more off- 

 shore, deeper, and warmer regions beyond the 45- and 

 50-fathom lines. In March, as a result of the continued 

 cold weather throughout the previous month and the 

 first part of March, water temperatures continued to 

 drop; and scup, sea bass, and fluke were found not only 

 farther offshore and instill deeperwater.butalso to the 

 southward. Water temperatures taken in the early part 

 of March indicated that the zone of bottom water 45° F. 

 was confined beyond the 50-fathom line in the more 

 northerly part of the ground (38° latitude), but extended 

 inshore to about the 25-fathom line in the southern 

 part (36° latitude). In the northern area fishing be- 



came poorer either because the scup, sea bass, and 

 fluke were driven so far offshore and to such depths 

 that they were beyond the reach of the gear of the ma- 

 jority of the fleet, or because of migration to the 

 southern area. The fishing shifted to the southern 

 part of the ground, where the zone of relatively warm 

 water was present over a more inshore and shoaler 

 area. In March, both the location of fishing and the zone 

 of bottom water 45° F. approximated the condition 

 existing in the winter of 1931. 



In 1935, water temperatures by the end of 

 the winter (first part of March) were about 

 the same as in the preceding winter. The 

 temperature data for 1935 were mainly from 

 a single trip aboard a dragger fishing the cen- 

 tral portion (easterly of Chesapeake Lightship) 



41 



