METIiODS 



For many years, the Service has stationed a man at the Boston Fish 

 Pier to collect biological information on the haddock landed there. This 

 agent measures the lengths of a sample of each catch, collects scales for 

 age determination,, and interviews the captains of the vessels to obtain 

 J information on the area of capture. Since i9li7 the inter-ziewer has also 

 obtained from the captains their estimates of the pounds of haddock dis- 

 carded on each trip and the area in which the destruction occurred. 



In 195l> a system was inaugurated for obtaining more detailed infor- 

 mation on the fish disr.arded. In this program trained observers are sent 

 to sea on commercial trawlers to count and measure the fish discarded and 

 to collect scale samples for age determination. Similar data are collected 

 from the retained portion of the catch. A trawler,, typical of those on 

 which observations were made^ is shovTi in figure 1. 



In normal fishing operations, the entire catch from a haul is dumped 

 into one or more checkers (fig. 2), From these checkers the marketable 

 fish ai-e selected and separated according to species. The haddock are 

 graded for size, then gutted and tossed into a wash box from which they 

 are pitched below decks for icing. The biologist usually obtains his 

 measurements and scale samples of the marketable fish before the fish are 

 gutted. 



The unmarketable fish remaining in the checkers are washed overboard 

 through the scuppers. The biologist takes a sample of these just before 

 they are discarded (see fig. 3) » Lengths of fish are measured by the 

 punch-strip method (see fig. U) . In this method, each fish is laid on an 

 alumium strip and its length recorded by punching the strip with an ice 

 pick. The actual lengths are measured after return to the laboratory. 

 The lengths of several hundred fish can be rapidly recorded in this way 

 on a single strip by a single observer without use of notebook. 



During 1951, seven trips were made by the sea sampling observers. 

 The trips were made on the following trawlers? Barbara C, Angell, Cres t, 

 ^^^^"^^ji Michigan,, R ed Jacket, and tTfiri Chester . The dates and areas fished 

 on these trips are listed in table 1. Most of the fishing was conducted 

 on the Northern Edge, where a total of 326 sets were made. One hundred 

 and ten sets were made on the Southeast Part, and 36 set-s on the eastern 

 side of South Channel, 



ESTIMATED DESTRUCTION, 19li7-5'l 



The destruction of haddock on Georges Bank by the Boston fleeti' 

 for the years 19li7 to 195l is summarized in table 2„ 



Xf The estimates for the entire New England fleet are almost 50 percent 

 greater than those reported here. 



