346 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



cordingly larger, being about 35,000,000 pounds. The level of 

 abundance has not yet been estimated, there being extended computa- 

 tions required to adjust for the eifects of production control on the 

 measure of abundance. However, it appears that the abundance was 

 practically equal to or slightly above the predicted level. 



During 1934 O. E. Sette served as administration member of the 

 executive committee of the Atlantic Mackerel Fishing Industry Code. 

 The provisions of the code were effective in preventing the dumping 

 and wastage of inackerel such as had occurred during the previous 

 season but were less successful in substantially increasing the income 

 of mackerel fishermen. 



Lack of sufficient personnel has prevented progress during the 

 year on the vital matter of finding out the nature of the two types 

 of mackerel and the means of distinguishing them at a sufficiently 

 early stage to be of use in forecasts, as well as to thrown light on the 

 merits of exploiting yearling mackerel. This work would require 

 large-scale tagging experiments at sea accompanied by examina- 

 tion of large numbers of mackerel from various areas and various 

 portions of the season to discover whether there are reliable racial 

 characters that distinguish the two types. Although it was impos- 

 sible to include these particular items in the program, a small begin- 

 ning was made on examination of mackerel for racial characters, but 

 the numbers of individuals and the distribution of samples were far 

 too limited to provide any conclusions. 



If proper utilization of this important resource is to be attempted,, 

 it will be necessary to provide additional personnel both for field 

 observations and laboratory analysis. 



COD 



Although the total catch of cod has not suffered a decline of the 

 sort to cause concern over the future of this very important resource, 

 there is good reason to suppose that the time may come in the not- 

 too-distant future when heavier fishing intensity may have its effect. 

 Even now the catch in southern New England, New York, and New 

 Jersey waters is undergoing a severe decline, and we are ignorant 

 of its cause or the remedies. Previous work has shown that this 

 population is practically independent of the larger bodies of cod to be 

 found from Georges Bank eastward to the Grand Banks, and it is 

 possible that this southern segment of the species is undergoing a 

 decline that should receive remedial attention. 



For some years in the past the Bureau conducted large-scale tagging 

 experiments on the cod which provided enliglitenment on the rela- 

 tionships of the stock occupying the several grounds, showing that the 

 southern segment was independent of all others, that the Maine coast 

 was also primarily self -contained though acting as a feeder to the 

 coastal waters of Nova Scotia and possibly to offshore grounds such' 

 as Georges Bank. 



With the resignation of William C. Schroeder from the Bureau's 

 service, this work ceased except for the analysis of returns currently 

 received from tagging done during 1981 and 1932 which Mr. Schroeder 

 has kindly continued to study and upon which he reports as follows : 



Of 1,190 00(1 marked during 1931 with celluloid disks attached to the caudal 

 l)eduncle and released off Mount Desert, Maine, 23.4 percent were recaptured 



