348 t\ S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



A single small experiment was undertaken in 1931 when some 4,000 

 winter flounders from Waquoit Bay were tagged and released. The 

 returns in successive years from 1931 to 1934, inclusive, were 141, 64, 

 33, and 11. Unfortunately, we do not know what proportion of the 

 decline in returns was due to loss of tags and what portions to mor- 

 tality, but the results do not preclude the possibility that the rate, of 

 mortality of flounders is relatively high. The returns indicate that 

 most of the Waquoit Bay stock returns there for spawning each win- 

 ter, but during the summer they wander into the adjacent sounds and 

 into the open sea beyond. During last season there was one return 

 from Massachusetts Bay — the first indication that the flounders from 

 south of Cape Cod may wander to its northern side. Previous dis- 

 tant returns were from Georges Bank to the east and from western 

 Long Island to the west. 



To formulate an effective conservation policy, it will be necessary 

 to institute a series of observations similar to that employed in the 

 case of the haddock and mackerel, whereby statistics are collected in 

 such detail that an index of abundance could be computed in terms 

 of catch per day's trawling. Field data for determining rate of 

 growth and for arriving at the age composition of the catch from each 

 important fishery area would need to be collected and studied, and 

 additional tagging would have to be done to determine to what extent 

 one locality is dependent on another for its stock. The distribution 

 of the flounders is extensive so that observers would be needed at at 

 least four ports. Thus, a staff of four members or more would be 

 required for the field work alone and additional persons would be 

 needed in the laboratory. 



The need for undertaking this work is imperative. The total yield 

 of flounders has already begun to decline (20 percent between 1929 

 and 1932) and several seasons must elapse before results from an 

 investigation can be expected. If this fishery is allowed to retrograde 

 too seriously before corrective measures are applied, either these will 

 be more drastic than if applied earlier or the fishery will be stabilized 

 at a lower level of yield than would otherwise need be the case. 



SPECIES IN NEED OF ATTENTION 



Lobster. — The lobster fishery has declined steadily in productive- 

 ness since the time that earliest statistical evidence is available. The 

 present annual catch is but one-third as large as in 1889, and, in spite 

 of the ever-increasing number of lobster pots in operation, the present 

 rate of decline is 10 percent per annum. Consequently, the annual 

 decrease in abundance must be substantially more than 10 percent. 



The decline has persisted for years in spite of State laws intended 

 to preserve the resource. These laws consist mainly of a limit on the 

 size of lobster which may be sold legally. It is imperative to deter- 

 mine, by a survey of the lobster population, whether such size limits 

 protect a sufficient j^ercentage of the stock. Furthermore, since the 

 regulations on sale of undersized lobsters have been found extremely 

 difficult to enforce, it is further necessary to find some more effective 

 means of securing the necessary protection. It is desirable, therefore, 

 to test lobster pots designed to catch only certain sizes and introduce 

 such modifications as are indicated by the tests. If such pots prove 



