458 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



extent in 1931, the 1927 brood began to affect the offshore yield, coin- 

 cident with lessened importance in the inshore catch. 



It thus appears that on reaching commercial size, scup first are 

 taken by the inshore pounds. As they become older and larger they 

 are no longer available to this gear, but are taken by the offshore 

 fishery. 



In view of the complete recovery of the fishery in 1929 and subse- 

 quent maintenance of satisfactory yields it is apparent that the scup 

 is not in need of protection from the fishery as carried on prior to 

 1929, for the offshore fishery was of such small proportions that it 

 took only a small toll from the spawning reserve of large adults 

 which escaped the pound net fishery. 



Since 1929, however, two important changes in the fishery neces- 

 sitate careful reexamination of the capacity of the scup to withstand 

 the strain imposed. The first is a rapid expansion of the offshore 

 otter-trawl fishery during the summer, and the second the rapid 

 growth of a winter-trawl fishery (2,000,000 pounds were landed in 

 1930-31). Although this fishery is conducted in southern waters, 

 there is a possibility that it takes toll of a stock drawn from the 

 summer population of the whole Middle Atlantic region. 



The increased summer-trawl fishery and possibly the winter fishery 

 have increased the toll taken from the stock of older fish previously 

 protected from man and available as a spawning reserve. Just what 

 the minimum size of the scup population need be in order to main- 

 tain an adequate spawning reserve is an open question. Although it 

 has been shown that the 1927 and 1928 broods were the result of a 

 spawning population that certainly was not taken in large com- 

 mercial quantities by the inshore pound nets in these years, there 

 still remains the probability that these broods may have resulted 

 from the spawning activity of the larger offshore fish, the existence 

 of which was not realized prior to the growth of the offshore-trawl 

 fishery. 



Thus the principal threat to the welfare of this fishery is the pos- 

 sibility that the spawning reserve may be reduced beyond safe limits. 

 In order to determine whether this is the case it is planned to : 



(1) Observe rate of decline of important broods as shown by catch 

 records and continued length data. 



(2) Estimate the fishing strain from recapture of scup tagged at 

 appropriate points. The tagging program will also serve to indicate 

 the exteiit to which the winter fishery imposes an additional strain 

 on the scup population of the Middle Atlantic States. This project 

 was begun in 1931 by the tagging of 1,000 scup at Woods Hole, and 

 1,500 at a number of points between Cape May, N. J., and Cape 

 Charles, Va. Additional tagging will be done off the Virginia coast 

 during the winter of 1931-32. 



Utilization of any surplus in excess of spawning needs is desirable, 

 otherwise the more valuable commercial sizes would be wasted; but 

 pending the outcome of the investigation described above, no restric- 

 tion of the fishery is recommended. 



Butter-fish. — In the early years of the Middle Atlantic fisheries the 

 butterfish, like the whiting to-day, was incompletely utilized. At 

 present, however, the demand is ordinarily sufficient to insure profit- 

 able sale of all that are taken. It has become one of the mainstays 



