388 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



not affect the conclusions previously derived from these experiments. 

 William C. Schroeder, formerly of the staff of the United Slates 

 Bureau of Fisheries but noAv connected with the Woods Hole Oceano- 

 graphic Institution, carried on the cod investigations formerly and 

 still maintains his interest in the subject. To supplement the evi- 

 dence received from tagging, he is making a study of the structure 

 of scales collected from tagged individuals. Results from this 

 research may be expected at a future date. 



HADDOCK 



The total quantity of haddock landed at principal New England 

 ports in 1935 reached nearly 157,000,000 pounds. (This includes all 

 United States' landings except relatively small amounts landed at 

 minor ports.) This was 23 percent greater than the catch of the 

 previous year; in fact, the largest since 1930, and the fourth largest 

 in the history of the fishery. As in 1934, the greater part came from 

 the fishing banks lying off the Nova Scotian coast (Sable Island, 

 Banquereau, Browns, and La Have) ; landinii:s from this area increas- 

 ing from about 82,000,000 pounds in 1934 to 91,000,000 pounds in 1935. 

 Georges Bank continued in a minor role, although the catch increased 

 from about 39,000,000 pounds in 1934 to 63,000,000 pounds in 1935. 

 This was 40 percent of the total haddock catch, whereas in earlier 

 years Georges averaged nearly 80 percent of the total. 



One of the first objectives of the program of investigation laid 

 down in 1930 was to obtain a sound understanding of changes in the 

 haddock catch such as occurred during 1935. From this, the pro- 

 gram was directed toward the determination of the productivity of 

 the fishery at various levels of fishing intensity in order to make 

 possible the development of a plan of rational exploitation that would 

 produce a maximum permanent yield at a reasonable cost of pro- 

 duction. This program was in line with the general theories of 

 fisheries investigations developed by Dr. William F. Thompson, 

 director of investigations. International Fisheries Commission, who 

 has affected materially the trend of the haddock work through earlier 

 association with some of the investigation's personnel. 



Although realization of the above objective requires a longer period 

 of observation and more thorough analysis than has been possible 

 with present personnel and facilities, there has been considerable 

 progress along the lines of study described in previous annual re- 

 ports. This includes particularly the collection and analysis of 

 commercial catch records to obtain a measure of changes in abund- 

 ance; and the study of extensive haddock length-frequency and scale 

 samples to determine growth rate, mass movements, and the age and 

 size composition of the population. The work has continued under 

 the direction of W. C. Herrington assisted by J. R. Webster. Limita- 

 tion of funds and personnel restricted field work mainly to the Boston 

 Fish Pier where vessel interviews regularly provided information as 

 to fishing time, position, and other relevant' data for all haddock trips. 

 Field observations included 2,620 interviews, 66,000 length measure- 

 ments, and 4,200 scale samples. F. E. Firth handled most of the 

 fish-pier work during the winter. Temporary personnel was em- 

 ployed during the summer while Mr. Firth \vas assisting in the 



