The discard of fish during this quarter v;as the lowest of any quarter 

 during the period of study. This was due to two circumstances: First, 

 almost all the 19^2 year class had grown to marketable size, and second, 

 the following year class (19^3) which normally would have been caught and 

 discarded in large numbers at this season of the year was entirely absent 

 (compare figure 2, for April to June 19^3, when the dominant 1952 year class 

 was entering the f isherjO . 



The size composition of the population of haddock fished during this 

 quarter was such as to favor the sTnall-mesh vessels. The sizes of the very 

 dominant 19^2 year class lay within the selection range of the large-mesh 

 nets so that many of the smallest marketable sizes escaped through these 

 nets but not through the nets of small mesh. Since large haddock were rela- 

 tively scarce, the greater efficiency of the large mesh in catching larger 

 fish was not sufficiently effective to balance the loss of smaller fish. The 

 landings of haddock by the selected group of small-mesh vessels increased 55 

 percent over that for the same period in the previous year while the landings 

 of the large-mesh vessels increased only 32 percent (table 8) . There was a 

 similar difference in the landings of all groundfish for the two groups of 

 vessels. As the fish in the 1952 year class grow to sizes beyond the selec- 

 tion range of the nets, the large mesh will lose few marketable fish because 

 the following (1953) year class is weak. The large mesh will regain its 

 advantages through its greater efficiency in catching larger sizes. 



CONCLUSIONS 



1. The large-mesh nets are more efficient in capturing larger fish. 

 This factor has been so effective that it more than compensated for the 

 reduced quantities of small fish taken during three of the four quarters 

 of the first year of regulation. 



2. When the haddock fleet converted to large-mesh nets the dominant 

 year class (1950) was composed of 3-year-old fish which were mostly above 

 the selection range of the net. Consequently, few fish were lost to the 

 industry, while the increased efficiency of the net in capturing larger 

 sizes resulted in greater landings than would have been made with small- 

 mesh nets. 



3. This situation prevailed until the last quarter of the year when 

 the next dominant year class (1952) entered the fishery. Since this group 

 was composed of sizes lying within the selection range of the regulation 

 net, and since the fleet concentrated on these small fish, there was 

 during this quarter a loss in landings of regulated vessels as compared 

 with landings of small-mesh vessels set up as a control. 



