APPENDIX III APPENDIX III 
Fishing shleet 
Until introduction of the otter trawl in the early 1900s, 
U.S. fishermen using hook and line and bottom longlines 
ranged as far as the Grand Banks off Newfoundland, Canada 
fishing for cod. In more recent times, the otter trawl, a 
net towed on or close to the ocean floor, has become the pre- 
dominant gear used. Small amounts of groundfish are caught 
by other gear, including hand and longlines and gill nets. 
TABLE 5 
Commercial Atlantic Groundfish 
Landings (except Florida) by Types of Gear, 1972 (note a) 
Pounds 
(000 omitted) 
Fish otter trawls 259,400 
Gill nets (anchor, set or stake) 6,600 
Hand lines and longlines (or set with 
hooks) 12,900 
Other 2,300 
Total 281,200 
a eene tadies cod, cusk, flounders, haddock, red hake, white 
hake, ocean perch, pollock and silver hake. 
Groundfish vessels operate out of numerous ports along 
the coast. In New England, major ports include Portland and 
Rockland, Maine; Gloucester, Boston, New Bedford and 
Provincetown, Massachusetts; and Point Judith, Rhode Island. 
Typical Atlantic coast otter trawl vessels are aging 
wooden size trawlers and range from about 15 to 150 gross 
tons. These vessels have capacities of from 10,000 to 
160,000 pounds of iced fish. Large trawlers, over 150 gross 
tons, have capacities of up to 400,000 pounds. 
_ Most of the New England groundfish cat i 
medium and large trawlers fishing on Bus cece ds. SpRAG ERY 
of the Continental Shelf which is also heavily fished by 
foreign fleets. Georges Bank is located off the coast of New 
England. While U°S. vessels still journey to the Nova 
Scotia Banks where large amounts of ocean perch as well 
as other groundfish species are caught, higher fuel costs 
generally make it uneconomical to travel as far as the 
Grand Bank off Newfoundland, Canada. Smaller and older U.S 
vessels normally fish close to the coastline because the jare 
less able to survive storms in offshore areas. U.S. sperodis 
83 
