114 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE 



111 contrast to the record yield for the calendar year 1936, the 

 catch of the New England vessel fisheries during 1937 declined by 

 G percent and brought the fishermen a monetary return 12 percent 

 below the value of the previous year's catch. With the exception of 

 cod and flounders, the yield of all important species suffered a de- 

 cline, and all species except halibut, mackerel, and redfish decreased 

 sharply in value. 



The outstanding event of the year in this area was the decline of 

 the mackerel catch to an unforeseen low w^hich was about one-third of 

 the previous year's level. It is believed this small yield was the result 

 of unusual oceanographic conditions which affected the movements 

 of the mackerel and made them less available to the fishermen, rather 

 than of an actual decline in abundance of corresponding magnitude. 

 This view is supported by the peculiar distribution of the 1937 catch 

 and by the good early season yield in 1938. Nevertheless, these devel- 

 opments emphasize the need for a more accurate mackerel catch fore- 

 cast. Facilities are lacking for off-shore observations on conditions in 

 the sea which affect migrations, survival of young, and availability of 

 the mackerel to the fishermen. 



Not only did the total catch of the haddock fleet decline in 1937 by 

 5 percent from 1936 level, but also the daily catches of trawlers 

 showed a drop of about 20 percent in both major producing areas. 

 The scrod haddock (the smallest commercial size) continued to be 

 scarce on the Nova Scotian banks, being only about three-fourths as 

 abundant on Georges as in 1936, and it is believed that the decline 

 will continue. Without further information on the numbers and 

 distribution of haddock of precommercial size, however, no definite 

 prediction can be ventured for the 1938 season. Although facilities 

 for such a survey were completely lacking in 1937, one experimental 

 trawling trip was made in the spring of 1938 through the courtesy 

 of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in permitting the use of 

 the vessel Atlantis for this purpose. 



Because of recent sharp changes in the stock of flounders, a survey 

 of the flounder fisheries from New York to Boston was carried to 

 completion during the year, catch data from both sports and recrea- 

 tional fisheries being collected. Highly signifi.cant figures on the 

 relative intensity of these two types of fisheries were obtained from 

 the returns of tagging experiments carried out in cooperation with 

 the States of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York. An average 

 of about 70 percent of the returns have been made by sportsmen. 

 The same experiments have supplied information on the extent and 

 character of flounder migrations which will aid in devising effective 

 conservation measures. 



Middle and South Atlantic fishery investigations. — Headquarters 

 for the investigation of the coastal fisheries from New York to Florida 

 were transferred during the year from Cambridge, Mass., to College 

 Park, Md., permitting a more centralized attack on the urgent 

 problems of fishery management. In this area total production has 

 not only failed to increase, but has actually declined during the 

 present century, despite economic and technological developments 

 which might have been expected to increase the yield of the fisheries. 



Studies of the scup, squeteague, sea bass, and flounders have been 

 designed to discover the size and age at which the greatest yield in 



