92 U.S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



celluloid disk tags attached at different positions on the fish. Unfor- 

 tunately, only 304 cod were available; 151 were tagged on the caudal 

 peduncle, 153 on the opercle. During the 11 months since release, 

 5.3 percent of the caudal tags and 8.5 percent of the opercle tags have 

 been returned. While this seems to favor the position on the opercle, 

 the numbers are too few to be decisive. 



Returns from previous years' taggings, that came in during 1932, 

 confirm the previous conclusions that the summer stock of Nan- 

 tucket Shoals migrates to New York and to New Jersey waters for 

 the winter, returning in the spring to spend the summer on the Shoals. 

 There was also a slight scattering from the Shoals toward the north 

 and east, mainly of larger sizes. The cod off the coast of Maine con- 

 tinued to provide local returns chiefly, only a few coming in from 

 distant points and these mostly from the eastward. The newly 

 marked fish with the more permanent tags, however, may modify 

 this when the 2- and 3-year-old fish bearing them grow to larger sizes. 



Mr. Schroeder's resignation, in June 1932, to join the staff of the 

 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in capacity of business mana- 

 ger, is a serious loss to the cod-investigating program. It is somewhat 

 offset by his kindness in personally undertaking to continue the anal- 

 ysis of returns from experiments under way and to do such further 

 work as may be possible in his new position. 



FLOUNDERS 



Although shortage of funds prevented further work on the winter 

 flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) the tagging experiment of 

 February to April 1931 continued to produce returns during 1932. 

 Of the 4,179 flounders tagged, 141 were returned during 1931 and 64 

 during 1932. These indicate that the winter spawning population of 

 Waquoit Bay migrates through the sounds in the spring and summer, 

 some going eastward to the Chatham and Nantucket Shoals region 

 and some westward to the Long Island region. In a few instances, 

 surprisingly extensive migrations were indicated : One to the eastward 

 as far as Georges Bank and one to the westward as far as Tuckerton 

 Bay, N.J. Somewhat greater trend toward the west was shown in 

 1932 than in 1931 . In the winter many flounders returned to Waquoit 

 Bay where they were originally tagged. 



SHORE FISHES OF THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES 



Investigation of the causes of fluctuation in yield of shore fishes off 

 the Middle Atlantic States, begun in 1927, was continued under the 

 direction of R. A. Nesbit, with data being obtained at Woods Hole, 

 Mass.; Montauk, N.Y.; and Wildwood, N.J. Because of reduced 

 appropriations the bases maintained in 1931 at Fire Island, N.Y.; 

 Belford, Long Branch, Deal, Seaside Park, and Beach Haven, N.J., 

 were abandoned in 1932. Observation of the winter- trawl fishery for 

 Middle Atlantic shore species was carried out at Portsmouth, Va. 



Squeteague. — This is the most important of the shore fishes of this 

 region. The average annual catch along the Atlantic coast is more 

 than 30,000,000 pounds with a value of more than $1,000,000. Of 

 this total nearly one half is ordinarily taken in the Middle Atlantic 

 States. In addition to its commercial importance, the squeteague is 



