PROGRESS IN BIOLOGICAL INQUIRIES, 1932 87. 



be considerably less due to the mortality suffered by the population 

 since 1932. Growth in average weight of the fish will partly compen- 

 sate for the mortality but probably not sufficiently to maintain the 

 catch at the 1932 level. 



Data collected on trawlers at sea have shown that the 1930 spawn- 

 ing on Georges Bank was practically a failure; therefore, the next 

 recruitment to the commercial fishery cannot take place until the 



1931 year class reaches commercial size. This should be in the fall and 

 winter of 1933-34. Haddock of this class are now taken, sometimes 

 in considerable numbers, on southeastern Georges and some on the 

 Northern Edge, but they do not appear to be as abundant as was the 

 1929 class at the same age. It will not be possible, how^ever, to 

 obtain any adequate measure of their importance until they become 

 large enough to be brought into market with the commercial catch. 

 No adequate measure of the abundance of the fish smaller than mar- 

 ket size is possible until a vessel is available for periodic surveys of 

 the young-fish population. 



On the banks east of the Fundian Channel such as Browns, LaHave 

 and Western, the picture is considerably different. The scrod catch 

 from tliis area during the past year has been very low, but haddock 

 too small to be marketed have at times been taken in great numbers. 

 These small fish were just beginning to be brought in with the com- 

 mercial catch in November and December 1932, as was shown by 

 length-frequency measurements, and by a slight increase in scrod 

 landings for this area. Their contmued growth should bring all of 

 them into scrod size during 1933 and 1934, which will help to coun- 

 terbalance the scarcity of scrod to be expected on Georges Bank in 

 the summer and fall of 1933. 



Early life history. — The observations made on early life history in 



1932 were limited to one trip on the Albatross II, covering the area 

 from west of Nantucket Shoals to Browns Bank. Salinity and tem- 

 perature records were taken at 51 stations and hauls for eggs and 

 larvae made with 1- and 2-meter ring trawds at each station. Seven 

 hundred drift bottles were also released at the different stations. The 

 analysis of this material is providing extensive information on the 

 distribution and drift of the haddock eggs and larvae, which is essen- 

 tial to any understanding of the extent to which one fishing bank is 

 dependent on another for its supply of young. It may also help to 

 determine the causes of the great variations in the success of differ- 

 ent spawning seasons. This work will have to be discontinued in 



1933 as the Albatross //will not be available. 



The analysis of temperature, sahnity, and drift bottle records has 

 provided a consistent general picture of the system of currents on 

 Georges Bank for the spring and early summer of 1931 and 1932. 

 The results are substantiated by measurements of currents furnished 

 us by the Coast and Geodetic Survey for 1- to 8-day periods at vari- 

 ous points on Georges Bank during 1930 and 1931. Conditions in 

 the spring of 1932, although in general similar to 1931, dift'ered in 

 certain details. It will be of interest to learn whether this 

 change in conditions may have affected the abundance of the year 

 class resulting from the corresponding year's spawning. The evidence 

 on this score will not be available until late in 1933, when the haddock 

 of the 1932 class should reach a sufficient size to be captured by the 

 commercial nets. 



