12 U. S. BUREAU OP FISHERIES 



During 1937 the haddock work continued under the direction of 

 W. C. Herrington, assisted by J. K. Webster and H. M. Bearse. 

 Principal effort was concentrated on the collection of accurate data 

 showing the total amount of haddock taken from each fishing ground, 

 the continuation and improvement in accuracy of the determination 

 of catch per unit of fishing effort, the analysis of catch records going 

 back to 1914, to obtain a similar measure of haddock abundance for 

 comparison with the present trend, analysis of length and scale data 

 to determine growth rates and mass intermigrations, and analysis of 

 material collected on Atlantis trawling trips in 1935 and 1936, to show 

 changes in the composition of the population on Georges Bank, sex 

 ratios, growth rates, and migrations. 



Field work to a large extent was limited to the Boston Fish Pier, 

 where Mr. Bearse continued the collection of data. Information for 

 each boat and trip showing sailing date, landing date, and areas fished 

 was supplied to the Division of Fishery Industries and incorporated 

 in its statistical reports. In addition to the above field work, trips' 

 were made on the trawlers Winchester and Fordham to obtain catch 

 data. 



Although all of the statistics for 1937 are not yet available, it is 

 possible on the basis of 8 months' data to estimate the changes in the 

 haddock population that affected the commercial fishery in 1937. The 

 abundance as indicated by average catch per day in the Georges Bank 

 region decreased about 20 percent, while that on the Nova Scotian 

 banks decreased about 26 percent. As a result of the relatively poorer 

 yield from the latter area, the fleet spent an increasing proportion 

 of its fishing time on Georges Bank, and this together with the 

 increased fishing capacity resulting from the construction of new 

 boats, resulted in an increase in the total catch on Georges Bank from 

 75,500,000 to 83.000,000 pounds, a rise of 10 percent, in spite of the 

 decreased abundance. Apparently the decrease in the proportion of 

 time s]3ent on the Nova Scotian banks about equalled the increase in 

 effort from the addition of new boats, for the decline in catch (25 per- 

 cent) approximated the decline in catch per day (26 percent). 



The downward trend in abundance on Georges Bank followed 

 moderate increases in 1934, 1935, and 1936, while on the Nova Scotian 

 banks the downward trend marked the third year of decline, a total 

 drop in catch per day (by weight) of about 33 percent since 1934. 

 The year 1937 also marked the return of the bulk of fishing activities 

 to Georges Bank. During the 1929 period this area supplied around 

 90 percent of the total haddock catch, but this share had dropped 

 to 30 percent in 1934, as the fleet sought more distant fishing grounds 

 to maintain its catches. Following 1934, the fishery again swung 

 back to Georges as the result of decreasing abundance on the Nova 

 Scotian banks and the relatively better conditions on Georges, with 

 the result that the proportion of the catch supplied by the latter 

 increased from 30 percent in 1934 to 40 percent in 1935, 52 percent in 

 1936. and 61 percent in 1937. 



Analysis of records prior to 1923 to yield catch per day figures 

 comparable to present data has proceeded, but is not yet complete. 



Further analysis of the data collected on Atlfintis trawling trips 

 in 1935 and 1936 in conjunction with data from the commercial catch 



