BUREAU OF FISHERIES VII 



Two important new projects have been undertaken during the past 

 year. These are the investigations of the fisheries of the Great 

 Lakes, with special reference to Lake Erie, and of the fisheries of 

 the middle Atlantic coast from Cape Cod to Delaware Bay. 



FISHERIES or THE NORTH ATLANTIC 



During the past year investigations of the migrations and other 

 factors in the life history of the cod, pollock, and haddock progressed 

 to such a stage that parts of the tagging program are virtually com- 

 pleted. The report on natural history of the Nantucket Shoals cod, 

 which are characterized by rather definite migrations, size, and age 

 composition, is also nearing completion. During the early part of 

 the fiscal year additional studies on Georges Bank were undertaken. 

 A cruise was made by the U. S. F. S. Alhatross II to this locality 

 in August, 1927, when 940 cod, 24 pollock, and 595 haddock were 

 marked, but recaptures have been so few that additional studies will 

 be required. During the spring the Alhatross II again made a cruise 

 to New Jersey waters with extremely disappointing results. Tagging 

 trips also were made with commercial fishermen, but unfavorable 

 weather and the resulting loss of gear caused considerable delay. In 

 addition to experimental fishing off the New Jersey coast, tagging 

 was undertaken on the Cholera Bank off western Long Island ; and 

 although the captures were few, very desirable data were collected 

 in the form of temperatures and salinities of the water, plankton 

 samples, and specimens taken on the bottom with otter trawls. The 

 scanty results of the cod-tagging cruise may be attributed to an 

 unusual migration of the cod during March and April from the 

 deeper water into the shallow estuaries of Sandy Hook, Delaware, 

 and Chesapeake Bays, in all probability in pursuit of shore species 

 of fish, such as sand eels, which also occurred in unusual abundance. 



Observations of the commercial run of mackerel as a part of a 

 comprehensive plan for the investigation of the biology of the mack- 

 erel were continued throughout the commercial season in 1927 and 

 begun again in the spring of 1928. The investigation has been di- 

 i-ected more especially to discover as early as may be the occurrence 

 of successful spawning years through a quantitative determination 

 of the abundance of eggs and larvae in the sea during the spawning 

 period, and to study the factors responsible for such success or failure 

 in survival of the young. For this purpose the steamer Albatross II 

 made two cruises to the spawning areas in Massachusetts Bay and the 

 middle Atlantic region south of Cape Cod, where a series of collection 

 stations was ooccupied for tow netting and the taking of oceano- 

 graphic data concerning temperature, currents, etc. 



An investigation of the smelts of the north Atlantic coast (both 

 salt-water and lake forms) is nearing completion. One report has 

 been published and a second one, embracing the taxonomic history 

 with a discussion of the relationships of the different numerous 

 species, together with the age, growth, and racial peculiarities of the 

 smelts in western North America, is also virtually completed. The 

 smelts of Casco Bay, Me., evidently are greatly depleted, as shown 

 by the dwindling catches in the commercial fishery in this region. 

 The reasons are evident — lack of protection in the breeding season 



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