206 "0. S. BUREAU OF FTSHEEIES 



stead of tagging from 50 to 150 cod per day, as was done prior to 



1926, the following results were obtained in 1927 : April 25, in 7 hours 

 35 cod were tagged; July 14, in 1 hour 2 cod were tagged; July 25, 

 in 6 hours 5 cod were tagged ; October 1 and 2, in 9 hours 37 cod were 

 tagged, all caught with 6 lines fishing. An effort will be made to 

 determine the cause for the apparent depletion in the stock of cod in 

 this locality. 



Mount Desert. — A large proportion of the cod have been tagged 

 in this region each year .since 1924, inclusive. Nearly all recaptures 

 were made locally, but enough records have been received to show 

 that a small migration to Nova Scotia occurs each year. Only one 

 cod tagged here was taken as far south as Nantucket Shoals, and 

 only a straggler has been reported recaptured from as far clown as 

 Ipswich Bay. Local fishing is intense, for 36.3 per cent of 308 cod 

 tagged in April, 1925, and 24.4 per cent of 1,303 tagged in May were 

 recaptured. However, the returns from tagging done here at other 

 times are somewhat smaller than these figures. 



Cashes Ledge. — The first fish marking was done here during 



1927, when 321 cod, 128 pollock, and 97 haddock were tagged from 

 September 29 to October 3. 



Georges Bank. — Operations commenced here in August, 1926, when 

 1,014 cod, 23 pollock, and 66 haddock were tagged on the northeast 

 part of the bank. Another cruise to the same vicinity was made in 

 September, 1927, when 477 cod, 42 pollock, and 207 haddock were 

 tagged. The returns from the cod are as follows : Of those tagged in 

 1926, four were recaptured — two on Georges Bank (one on the south- 

 eastern part), one on Browns Bank, and one off Block Island, R. I. 

 Of those tagged in 1927, two were recaptured — one on Georges and 

 one on La Have Bank. Although these returns are small from so 

 many fish tagged, they suggest that Georges Bank cod migrate in 

 all directions. The bank is so large, however, that the results of this 

 experiment, carried out on the northeastern part, may not obtain for 

 the bank as a whole. 



Browns Bank. — The first tagging was done here in August, 1927, 

 when 940 cod, 24 pollock, and 595 haddock were marked. Only one 

 recapture, a cod, had been reported up to the end of December. This 

 fish was taken on the east coast of Nova Scotia off Iron Bound 

 Island, Lunenburg County. 



Information concerning the migration of pollock is not sufficient 

 to permit of definite conclusions. The 90 returns of fish tagged from 

 1923 to 1927 show that 69 were recaptured locally (in many cases a 

 year or more after tagging) , 7 were recaptured about 20 to 30 miles 

 away, and 14 had made long migrations. Of these latter, 11 tagged 

 on Nantucket Shoals migrated as follows : Georges Bank, 2 ; Cashes 

 Ledge, 1 ; vicinity of Cape Ann, 3 ; Penobscot Bay, 1 ; Petit Manan, 

 1 ; and Nova Scotia, 3. Jeffreys Ledge pollock migrated, one each, to 

 Matinicus and Sable Island, and a Portland fish migrated to Mount 

 Desert. 



Of 152 haddock records, a number were incomplete, 23 fish had 

 made long migrations, and the rest were taken locally. From had- 

 dock tagged on Nantucket Shoals, four were taken around Cape Ann, 

 one on Georges Bank, one on Platts Bank, and one off New Bruns- 

 wick. Quite a few were caught in South Channel, these being re- 



