34 U. S. BUEEAU OF FISHERIES 



1918 to 1926, but that the offshore catch shows a greater depression 

 and a quicker recovery during the period. The net result has been 

 a relative gain for the offshore catches, which may be attributed 

 largely to the otter-trawl fishery. 



UNITED STATES 



In the United States the inshore catch is not as' important as in 

 Canada. Reference to Table 1 shows that it has increased, but that 

 the increase in the United States total catch has been largely due 

 to greater landings in the New England and Xew York vessel fish- 

 eries. This has been accompanied by the increased use of the 

 otter trawl, 



OTTER-TRAWL riSHERY 



The increasing importance of the otter-trawl lishery has been one of 

 the most striking developments in the Xorth American haddock 

 fishery in the last 20 j-ears. Otter trawls were first used in the 

 United States for the haddock fishery in 1905, when one steam 

 trawler was operated from Boston. They were introduced later in 

 Canada and have taken an increasingly important part in the fishery 

 in both countries. In 1926 11 steam otter trawlers were fishing on 

 the Canadian Atlantic coast, and their catch was a large proportion 

 of the Canadian offshore catch of haddock. Unfortunately, records 

 of the Canadian catches by otter trawders have not been kept sep- 

 arate from those of the offshore line fishery. In the United States 

 the otter-trawl fishery has assumed larger proportions than in Can- 

 ada. Most of the catchy landed at New York City since 1922 have 

 been made by otter trawlers. Statistics of the New England otter- 

 trawl fishery are given in Table 5. The catches have been landed 

 chiefly at Boston and also at Portland and Gloucester. Haddock 

 have consistently constituted over 80 per cent of the otter trawlers' 

 catches, and this may be considered principally a haddock fishery. 

 Since the first otter trawler operated in 1905 tlie fleet has increased, 

 reaching 12 in number by 1915 and averaging about 80 since 1920. 

 Since 1920 its haddock catch has been about one-half of the total for 

 New England. 



Changes in the fishery are evident in Table 5, both in the figures 

 for the individual years and in the averages for the two periods for 

 which statistics are available— 1908-1915 and 1920-1927. Compar- 

 ing these two periods, we see that the catch per trip has increased 

 over 50 per cent. The number of trips per trawler has decreased, 

 however, and the catch per trawler is lower for the later period and 

 high again in 1927. Before 1915 the otter-trawl fishery was con- 

 fined largely to Georges Bank and the South Channel, while in 

 recent years considerable catches have also been made on Nantucket 

 Shoals, Western Banks, and other grounds. The same changes in 

 the fishery, however, are shown when only Georges Banks and the 

 South Channel are considered. 



