FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1931 



209 



Days' absence from port of fishing vessels landing fish at Boston and Gloucester, 

 Mass., and Portland, Me., 1931 — Continued 



MACKEREL FISHERY OF THE ATLANTIC COAST 



That part of the 1931 mackerel catch taken by purse seines and 

 drift gill nets and landed at the principal Atlantic receiving ports 

 amounted to 36,483,472 pounds, a decrease of 16 per cent as compared 

 with similar figures for the previous year. Because of their impor- 

 tance in certain seasons, the catch of fishing boats of less than 5 net 

 tons capacity has been included in so far as data were available. 

 The catch by shore gear, such as pound nets and traps, were omitted. 

 Practically all of the statistics were collected by the bureau's agents 

 at Cape May, N. J.; New York City, N. Y.; Boston, Gloucester, and 

 Woods Hole, Mass.; and Portland, Me. A few of the landings, 

 particularly at ports not having a bureau representative, were secured 

 from unofficial sources and often consisted of estimated rather than 

 "weighed out" fares. The error involved is probably well under 5 

 per cent in the vessel fishery. The figures on the boat fishery are 

 probably less complete. 



Mackerel fishery of the Atlantic coast, 1931 

 CATCH: By ports in 5-dat periods ' 



1 The landings at the ports of Boston, Gloucester, and Portland vary somewhat from those published 

 under "Vessel fisheries at principal New England ports" in the annual reports of the division of fishery 

 industries, due to the inclusion of landings of some small boats in the above data and also to different methods 

 in the collection of the statistics. 



