574 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



CHESAPEAKE BAY INVESTIGATIONS 



During the past year John C. Peai-son has conducted for the bureau 

 several investigations in the Chesapeake Bay region. A study of the 

 seasonal distribution of pelagic marine fish eggs and young fishes at 

 the mouth of the bay was begun in 1929 ancl continued throughout 

 1930, when field work was completed. The results of this study 

 showed the annual occurrence of at least 40 species of pelagic young 

 marine fish and also located the spawning grounds of the squeteague 

 or gray sea trout. A report of this investigation is in course of 

 preparation. 



A recent important development is the winter trawl fishery off* 

 the Virginia and North Carolina coasts. This fishery has now grown 

 to considerable proportions and is conducted from November to early 

 spring by local and northern fishermen. An observer has been 

 stationed at the leading Chesapeake trawling port to obtain records 

 of the composition of the catch, the locations of the fishing grounds, 

 and other data, and a report will be issued after the first season's 

 observations. 



Certain angles of one of the country's leading recreations were 

 described by Mr. Pearson during the jiast year when a survey of 

 sport fishing possibilities in Chesapeake Bay was completed. A 

 concise description of angling, the localities and facilities for sport 

 fishing, and the leading food and game fishes of the region has 

 furnished material for a paper entitled " Sport fishing in Chesapeake 

 Bay." 



INDEPENDENT ACTIVITIES AT THE FISHERIES BIOLOGICAL 

 LABORATORY, WOODS HOLE, MASS. 



The Woods Hole laboratory under the direction of O. E. Sette has 

 continued to afford facilities for the experimental phases of research 

 on commercial fisheries problems. These facilities have been of 

 particular value in the rearing of juvenile squeteague, scup, and sea 

 bass in aquaria under known temperature and food consumption. 

 These observations have verified the conclusions as to the growth rate 

 of wild stock, have indicated the probable temperature of their 

 winter habitat, and have paved the way for further experiments on 

 effects of environment. 



Of equal importance have been the observations on fish marked with 

 various styles of tags. The marking of fish to determine their 

 migrations, the intensity of fishing, etc., is one of the most important 

 ]ihases of fisheries research. Its greater use has been prevented 

 through lack of suitably designed tags. Through the laboratory 

 experiments, causes of failure have been observed and corrected. A 

 type of tag suitable for flounders, scup, and sea bass has been devel- 

 oped; and experiments continue on cod, haddock, and squeteague. 

 This tag consists of an improvement of the Scottish plaice label, 

 used so successfully in European waters. The improvements con- 

 sist of substitution of pure nickel for silver wire, the addition of 

 printed return instructions and of reduction in thickness and diameter 

 of the disks. The value of these improvements is well estaUishcd 

 l)y laboratory experiments. 



