PROGRESS IN BIOLOGICAL INQUIRIES, 1935 399 



ern fishing, there exists no practical means of accomplisliing such a 

 curtaihnent, for control of the fisheries in territorial Avaters is vested 

 in the several States. Experience has shown that local interests are 

 considered first when conservation measures are proposed. It is not 

 to be expected, therefore, that the individual States will adopt con- 

 servation measures other than those likely to benefit the local 

 fisheries. 



How'ever, all sections can endorse the proposal to seek a practical 

 means of preventing the destruction of squeteague too small to be 

 marketed; but until funds are made available, the necessary obser- 

 vations and experiments cannot be undertaken. 



Scup. — Investigation of this species was continued by W. C. 

 Neville. Catch records of the summer fishery in 1934 were compiled 

 and analyzed, observation of the winter trawl fishery vras continued, 

 and progress was made on a comprehensive report dealing with the 

 life history and the conservation requirements of scup. 



Attention has been focused on observation of the effects of the 

 increased exploitation to which scup has been subjected in recent 

 3'ears. Most of this increase is due to the winter fishery, the scup 

 catch of which has more than doubled since 1931 (rising from ap- 

 proximately 1,686,000 pounds in that year to 3,844.000 pounds in 

 1935). To a large extent the increases are due to the greater num- 

 bers of vessels engaged in the fishery. It is difficult to measure 

 changes in abundance closely, for the catch of each of four species, 

 scup, sea bass, fluke, and croakers, is influenced greatly by variations 

 in availability due to changes in hydrographic conditions, and by 

 varying market preferences. Everything considered, how^ever, it ap- 

 pears that abundance has remained high or even increased somewhat 

 in spite of the increased fishery. 



Nor has there been, thus far, indication of diminution in the aver- 

 age annual increments to the stock. Continued high yields from the 

 New Jersey summer pound-net fishery, in which the younger-age) 

 groups predominate, indicate that most recent spawnings have been 

 very productive. In iho. winter fishery also, the younger age groups 

 have been well represented. Of the year classes since that of 1926, 

 only the 1929 and the 1933 year classes have been below average. 



There is no need to reduce the catch of scup in order to increase 

 the numbers of spawning adults. The annual increments of young 

 are extremely variable, and to a very great extent are independent 

 of the numbers of spawners. For example, the abundant 1927 and 

 1928 year classes were produced in years in which the numbers of 

 spawners were relatively small, but in 1933, when spawners were 

 very abundant, spawning was comparatively unproductive. The 

 results of tagging experiments also suggest that the present catch of 

 adult scup does not cause excessive reduction of scup of spawning; 

 age. In no case has the percentage of tags returned exceeded 3 per- 

 cent. Since returns from squeteague, flounder, cod, and stri]:)ed bass 

 experiments range from 10 to 30 percent, it appears that the scup 

 fishery imposes a much smaller strain on the spawning stock. 



Although the present catch of marketable sizes of scup is not ex- 

 cessive, present methods of fishing cause considerable waste of scup 

 too small to be marketed. This necessarily reduces the abundance 



