PROGRESS IN BIOLOGICAL INQUIRIES, 19 3 559 



SUEBEB, E. W. 



A quantitative method of studying the food of small fishes and its pos- 

 sibilities. Transactions, American Fisheries Society, Vol. LX, pp. 158- 

 163. Hartford. 



A method of quantitative bottom fauna and facultative plankton study 

 employed in a year's study of slough biology. Transactions, American 

 Fisheries Society, Vol. LX, pp. 187-198. Hartford. 



The utilization of sloughs in the Upper Mississippi Wild Life and Fish 

 Refuge as fish ponds. Transactions, American Fisheries Society, Vol. 

 LIX, pp. 106-113. Hartford. 

 Taft, a. C. 



The growth of salmon. Contributions to Marine Biology, Chapter XXI, pp. 

 253-259. Stanford University Press. 

 Van Oosten, John. 



Some fisheries problems of the Great Lakes. Transactions, American Fish- 

 eries Society, Vol. LIX, pp. 63-85. Hartford. 



The disappearance of the Lake Erie cisco — A preliminary report. Trans- 

 actions, American Fisheries Society, Vol. LX, pp. 204-214. Hartford. 

 WiEJBB, A. H. 



Notes on the exposure of young fishes to varying concentrations of arsenic. 

 Transactions, American Fisheries Society, Vol. LX, pp. 270-278. Hart- 

 ford. 



The effects of various fertilizers on plankton production. Transactions, 

 American Fisheries Society, Vol. LIX, pp. 94-105. Hartford. 



The following progress reports covering the more important in- 

 vestigations conducted by the division during the calendar year 1930 

 were prepared in the main by the investigators in charge of the 

 various projects. 



NORTH AND MIDDLE ATLANTIC FISHERY INVESTIGATIONS 



The provision of additional funds during the past year has made 

 it possible to expand the scientific studies to include practically all 

 of the more important sea fisheries of this region. In order of their 

 commercial importance the fisheries now being investigated are : 

 Haddock, cod, mackerel, flounder, and the group of species (sque- 

 teague, scup, butterfish, etc.), comprising the bulk of the commercial 

 catch alongshore from southern New England to Delaware Bay. The 

 objective is to understand the causes of changes in the fish population, 

 their implications as to the future of the industry, and to be in a 

 position to recommend corrective measures if such should prove 

 necessary. 



So little is known about the biological economy of the sea, and so 

 imperfect are the records of man's inroads on its edible stores that 

 the task becomes a group research problem of almost incredible com- 

 plexity. It involves such diverse inquiries as the determination of 

 the feeding habits of minute newly hatched fish larvae and the 

 appraisal of the efficiency of various types of commercial fishing gear. 

 The main approaches toward a solution are to derive a measure of 

 changes in abundance from the records of commercial catches through 

 a series of years, to examine samples of the fish population for clues 

 given by the age of the individuals as to the rate of replacement in 

 relation to the loss from natural mortality as well as the toll taken 

 by man, to study the drift of eggs and larvae for information on the 

 sources of recruits to the fishing grounds, to mark fish with tags to 

 see whether their movements from one ground to another may be the 

 cause of changes in yield, and to study the effects of oceanic con- 

 ditions on the nurture, movements, and even survival of the species 

 under consideration. 



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