As a result of the effect of these hydro- 

 graphic changes on fishing locations and on 

 availability, the catch of scup per day's fish- 

 ing for the season as a whole showed a marked 

 increase in 1934 compared to 1933; for sea 

 bass, a decrease compared to 1933; and for 

 fluke, little change compared to the previous 

 year. The total catch of scup, sea bass, and 

 fluke landed in Virginia increased in 1934 

 compared to 1933, probably largely as a re- 

 sult of (1) increased fishing effort by additions 

 to the fleet, the number of boats increasing 

 from about 85 in 1933 to about 100 in 1934; 

 and (2) greater availability of scup, espe- 

 cially in March with diversion of much of 

 the fishing effort to this species. In contrast 

 with previous winters, the composition of the 

 total catch was more evenly balanced among 

 the three species, for of approximately 7.8 mil- 

 lion pounds landed in Virginia in 1934, 38 

 percent were sea bass, 32 percent scup, and 

 30 percent fluke (fig. 12). 



In winter of 1935, observations indicated a 

 gradual cooling of the inshore water during 

 January and February, and by March the zone 

 of bottom water warmer than 45° F. was con- 

 fined to about the same offshore region as in 

 the latter part of the preceding winter (fig. 

 10). As in 1934, this continued chilling from 

 inshore to offshore resulted in the movement 

 of scup, sea bass, and fluke to more off- 

 shore regions of warmer water. In January 

 fishing was in about the same inshore shoal 

 area (depths 20 to 50 fathoms) as in 1934 (fig. 

 11) with more sea bass being caught than scup 

 or fluke; in February, with the continued 

 chilling of the water, fish were driven farther 

 offshore to depths of 50 fathoms or more with 

 sea bass farther offshore and less available 

 than the scup, which were somewhat more 

 concentrated inshore of the bass. As a result, 

 the catch per day's fishing of the former 

 declined while that of the latter increased. In 

 addition, good catches of fluke were made in 

 the more northerly part of the offshore area, 

 the catch per day's fishing exceeding that of 

 the scup and of the sea bass. 



In March, fishing continued in the offshore, 

 deeper area (depths of 50 fathoms or more) 

 in the zone of 45° F. water. Sea bass were 

 difficult to catch, probably because of their 



concentration in depths too great to be fished 

 by most of the vessels and because of their 

 preference for a region of hard rocky bottom 

 on which considerable tearing- up of the gear 

 occurred. Consequently, much of the effort 

 was directed to fluke in the more northerly 

 part of the ground where fair catches were 

 made, and to scup concentrated inshore of the 

 sea bass in depths 30 to 55 fathoms, as well 

 as in the southern area in depths 20 to 50 

 fathoms where they could be easily reached 

 by the gear and were in such concentrations 

 that good catches were made (fig. 11). In 

 March the catch per day's fishing for scup 

 was higher than in January or February and 

 exceeded the catches of sea bass and of fluke, 

 both of which showed a decline compared to 

 February. 



In 1935, as a result of the delayed cooling 

 of water and the lesser abundance of the 

 smaller sizes, the catch per day's fishing of 

 scup decreased compared to 1934. Catch per 

 day's fishing of sea bass also declined; fluke, 

 on the other hand, showed an increase over 

 the preceding winter (fig. 12). The total yield 

 of scup, sea bass, and fluke landed in Virginia 

 reached a record high in 1935; and for the first 

 time since 1931, scup accounted for the greater 

 part of the total catch. Of the 9, 683,000 pounds 

 landed, 40 percent were scup, 28 percent sea 

 bass, and 32 percent fluke. This increase in 

 total catch resulted from increased fishing 

 enort by a somewhat larger fleet in 1935 

 (about 120 vessels compared to about 100 in 

 1934). 



The winter of 1935 marked the first appear- 

 ance of a new type of vessel in the southern 

 trawl fishery, the Boston College, which previ- 

 ously had been regularly engaged in year- 

 round fishing principally for haddock and cod 

 on Georges Bank and vicinity in the North 

 Atlantic. She was launched in 1928 and Is one 

 of the larger and more modern trawlers, being 

 114 feet long with a gross tonnage of 241 tons 

 and carrying a crew of about 20. Under the 

 command of Leo Faralora, an experienced 

 southern winter trawl captain, she fished 

 mainly for sea bass. Her heavier gear and. 

 specially rigged nets gave her the advantage 

 over the rest of the fleet of smaller, lighter 

 equipped vessels, because she could fish the 



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