I^ISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1929 853 



Block Island fisJteri/. — This includes the operations ofl" southern 

 New England between longitude 72° W., near Montauk Point on 

 the eastern end of Long Island, and a line drawn 145° from true 

 north from Sankaty Head, Nantucket. 



The seiners shifted from the south to this legion about May 26. 

 Most of th(Mn ])ulled out by fJune 20, though a few continued until a 

 week longer. During this time 32 vessels fished regularly in this 

 area and, together with 30 other vessels, caught 3,004,270, as com- 

 pared with 8,385,400 ])ounds caught by seiners during the previous 

 year. 



During the summer there were occasional trips of mackerel caught 

 in this area by seiners. Altogether, nine such trips, aggregating 

 39,800 jjounds, were landed. 



The netters operated in this area from about May 26 to June 17, 

 catching, 246,860 pounds of mackerel, as compared with 469,119 the 

 previous year. 



GulJ of Maine. — This includes all of the waters from Nantucket 

 Shoals to Nova Scotia. Most of the mackerel fishing was done in 

 the offing of Cape Cod, in Massachusetts Bay, and around Seguin 

 Island, Me. 



Seiners began fishing in this region duiing the early part of June; 

 most of them landed their first trips between June 10 and 30. During 

 June, July, and August most of the fishing was done in the offing of 

 Cape Cod, where large mackerel predominated, particularly on the 

 northwest edge of Georges Bank and the north end of South Channel. 

 In July small mackerel of about one-half pound each began to appear 

 in catches from along the outer shores of Cape Cod, and by the 

 end of August these dominated m the catch. In the early part 

 of September the fishery shifted to Massachusetts Bay and along the 

 coast of Maine in the vicinity of Seguin Island. Except for a few 

 large mackerel which continued to come from northern Georges, 

 practically the entire catch was of small mackerel. During October 

 the catches consisted entirely of small mackerel, most of them from 

 Cape Cod Bay. The season ended earlier than usual; most of the 

 seiners had landed their last trips by October 28. 



All told, there were 103 seiners operating in the Gulf of Maine 

 sector in 1929; 51 of these fished regularly throughout the whole 

 season. The catch consisted of 14,325,209 pounds of large mackerel 

 and 20,746,813 of small mackerel, a total of 35,071,022 pounds as com- 

 pared with 11,924,679 in 1928. 



The netters had a short spring season in the Gulf of Maine, be- 

 tween May 25 and June 20, landing 165,312 pounds. 



The fall netting season was disappointing. Although 91 vessels 

 and boats participated, 38 of them regularly, and fished from October 

 20 to December 11, only 566,712 pounds were landed, as compared 

 with 1,945,929 the previous year. 



Ca'pe Shore fishery . — -Eleven seiners made 15 trips to the offing of 

 Nova Scotia during the early part of June. The total catch from this 

 region was 884,900 pounds, as compared with 313,210 the previous 

 year. 



