8. The recovery to a record high level of 

 abundance in 1929 following a period of un- 

 usually low yields (1926-28) took place when 

 the number of adult fish were not especially 

 numerous and suggests that success of repro- 

 duction of large broods is not wholly dependent 

 on the presence of a large spawning reserve 

 of old fish. 



9. A natural decline in abundance can rea- 

 sonably be expected on the basis of past 



history of the fishery and, when it occurs, 

 will be greatly accelerated as compared with 

 decline in the past because of the greatly 

 Increased fishing activity. 



10. Corrective measures effecting a reduc- 

 tion in the prevailing destruction of under- 

 sized and small, but legally marketable, scup 

 would retard the expected decline in abun- 

 dance and would tend to minimize fluctuations 

 in the commercial catch of the species. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



As in any study of this nature, the attain- 

 ment of results has been possible only through 

 the cooperation, advice, and material as- 

 sistance of many persons. Numerous members 

 of the Bureau of Fisheries staff have assisted 

 the authors greatly with advice on planning the 

 study, collection and analysis of data, and the 

 preparation of this report. Henry B. Bigelow 

 of Harvard University provided helpful criti- 

 cisms, particularly of that phase dealing with 

 the hydrography of the region in which scup 

 occurs; the Woods Hole Oceanographic Insti- 

 tution made available the research vessel 



Atlantis from which many hydrographic data 

 were collected; and Frederic McMurray, offi- 

 cers, and crew of the Atlantis gave us their 

 assistance. Members of the fishing indus- 

 try, dealers, pound net and trap operators, 

 and captains and crews of fishing vessels 

 gave excellent cooperation in field work. They 

 made available their establishments, vessels, 

 and equipment in the collection of data, and 

 provided invaluable information on record of 

 catch, habits of fish, practices of the industry, 

 and much other information without which this 

 report would not have been possible. 



LITERATURE CITED 



BAIRD, SPENCER F. 



1873. Report on the condition of the sea 

 fisheries of the south coast of New 

 England in 1871 and 1872. U.S. Com- 

 mission of Fish and Fisheries, Part 1, 

 Report of the Commissioner, 852 p. 



BIGELOW, HENRY B. 



1933. Studies of the waters on the Conti- 

 nental Shelf, Cape Cod to Chesapeake 

 Bay. I. The cycle of temperature. 

 Papers in Physical Oceanography and 

 Meteorology, vol. 2, no. 4, 135 p. 



BIGELOW, HENRY B., and WILLIAM W. 



WELSH. 



1925. Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. U.S. 



Bureau of Fisheries, Bulletin, vol. 40 



(1924), part 1, p. 259-261, 263-268, 



491-494. 



BLEGVAD, H. 



1935. Transplantations of plaice from the 

 North Sea to the Belt Sea, 1928-1933. 

 Report of the Danish Biological Station 

 to the Ministry of Shipping and Fish- 

 eries, no. 39 (1934), p. 9-84. Copen- 

 hagen. 



DAVIS, F. M. 



1934. A mesh experiment indicating that 

 small fish escape while the trawl is 

 being towed. Conseil Permanent Inter- 

 national pour I'Exploration de la mer. 

 Rapports et Proces-Verbaux des 

 Reunions, vol. 39, July, Appendix C, 

 p. 22-26. 



HERRINGTON, WILLIAM C. 



1935. Modifications in gear to curtail the 

 destruction of undersized fish in otter 

 trawling. [U.S.] Bureau of Fisheries, 



59 



