﻿NEW 
  ENGLAND 
  FISHERIES 
  

  

  The 
  decline 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  England 
  haddock 
  fishery 
  continued. 
  Haddock 
  landings 
  decreased 
  

   from 
  the 
  45.8 
  million 
  pounds 
  taken 
  in 
  1969 
  to 
  26.9 
  million 
  in 
  1970--the 
  smallest 
  production 
  on 
  

   record. 
  The 
  1963 
  year 
  class 
  of 
  haddock, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  largest 
  on 
  record, 
  was 
  overfished 
  by 
  both 
  for- 
  

   eign 
  and 
  domestic 
  fleets 
  in 
  1965 
  and 
  1966. 
  There 
  has 
  been 
  no 
  successful 
  year 
  class 
  since 
  1963. 
  

   A 
  survey 
  by 
  the 
  NMFS 
  research 
  vessel, 
  Albatross 
  IV 
  . 
  showed 
  that 
  the 
  1969 
  year 
  class 
  of 
  haddock 
  

   was 
  poor 
  on 
  Georges 
  Bank 
  — 
  the 
  sixth 
  continuous 
  year 
  of 
  markedly 
  low 
  indexes. 
  As 
  a 
  result, 
  had- 
  

   dock 
  will 
  probably 
  not 
  be 
  plentiful 
  for 
  at 
  least 
  3 
  years 
  on 
  that 
  Bank. 
  The 
  survey 
  also 
  showed 
  that 
  

   the 
  abundance 
  of 
  the 
  1969 
  year 
  class 
  of 
  haddock 
  on 
  Browns 
  Bank 
  had 
  improved 
  substantially, 
  but 
  

   because 
  of 
  previous 
  poor 
  year 
  classes 
  the 
  fish 
  were 
  expected 
  to 
  decrease 
  during 
  the 
  next 
  3 
  to 
  4 
  

   years. 
  As 
  conservation 
  measures, 
  the 
  International 
  Commission 
  for 
  the 
  Northwest 
  Atlantic 
  Fish- 
  

   eries 
  (ICNAF) 
  instituted 
  catch 
  quotas 
  and 
  closed 
  seasons 
  on 
  Georges 
  and 
  Browns 
  Banks. 
  

  

  Imports 
  of 
  groundfish 
  fillets 
  {including 
  blocks) 
  were 
  a 
  record 
  458.8 
  million 
  pounds 
  — 
  32.0 
  

   million 
  (8 
  percent) 
  more 
  than 
  in 
  1969, 
  the 
  former 
  record 
  year. 
  The 
  available 
  supply 
  (U.S. 
  produc- 
  

   tion 
  plus 
  imports) 
  of 
  groundfish 
  fillets 
  and 
  blocks 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  was 
  a 
  record 
  501.7 
  million 
  

   pounds 
  — 
  a 
  gain 
  of 
  27.7 
  million 
  compared 
  with 
  19 
  69. 
  U.S. 
  production 
  of 
  42.9 
  million 
  pounds 
  was 
  

   only 
  about 
  9 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  total 
  amount 
  available 
  for 
  consumption. 
  In 
  1950, 
  U.S. 
  production 
  was 
  

   67 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  total. 
  

  

  Flounders 
  . 
  Landings 
  were 
  103.9 
  million 
  pounds 
  worth$15.4 
  million 
  — 
  a 
  gain 
  of 
  4 
  . 
  2 
  million 
  pounds 
  

   and 
  $2. 
  1 
  million 
  compared 
  with 
  1969 
  . 
  All 
  species 
  increased 
  in 
  volume 
  except 
  dab 
  and 
  fluke 
  . 
  Black- 
  

   back 
  flounder 
  production 
  increased 
  from20.9 
  million 
  pounds 
  in 
  1969 
  to 
  22.3 
  million 
  in 
  1970. 
  Yel- 
  

   lowtail 
  flounder 
  landings 
  of 
  67.3 
  million 
  pounds 
  worth 
  $9. 
  9 
  million 
  increased 
  4 
  percent 
  in 
  quantity 
  

   and 
  16 
  percent 
  in 
  value 
  compared 
  with 
  1969. 
  Yellowtails 
  accounted 
  for 
  65 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  volume 
  

   and 
  64 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  the 
  total 
  flounder 
  production. 
  The 
  yellowtail 
  flounder 
  resource, 
  how- 
  

   ever, 
  has 
  been 
  overfished 
  by 
  both 
  domestic 
  and 
  foreign 
  fleets 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  several 
  years. 
  Ac- 
  

   cordingly, 
  ICNAF 
  has 
  recommended 
  proposed 
  regulations 
  for 
  member 
  nations 
  fishing 
  the 
  resource. 
  

   Beginning 
  in 
  1971, 
  the 
  fishery 
  will 
  be 
  regulated 
  by 
  closed 
  seasons, 
  catch 
  quotas, 
  and 
  trawl 
  mesh 
  

   size 
  regulation. 
  

  

  Sea 
  herring 
  . 
  The 
  herring 
  industry 
  had 
  a 
  poor 
  year. 
  Landings 
  of 
  66.3 
  million 
  pounds 
  declined 
  3 
  

   percent 
  compared 
  with 
  1969. 
  In 
  Maine, 
  where 
  sea 
  herring 
  are 
  used 
  principally 
  to 
  pack 
  canned 
  

   sardines, 
  landings 
  declined 
  sharply 
  from 
  54.2 
  million 
  pounds 
  in 
  1969 
  to 
  36.6 
  million 
  in 
  1970. 
  It 
  

   was 
  the 
  smallest 
  harvest 
  since 
  1938 
  , 
  and 
  far 
  below 
  the 
  record 
  185 
  . 
  5 
  million 
  pounds 
  landed 
  in 
  Maine 
  

   in 
  1950. 
  Fishing 
  was 
  poor 
  in 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  Maine, 
  and 
  canneries 
  did 
  not 
  operate 
  at 
  full 
  capacity 
  

   during 
  the 
  year. 
  The 
  pack 
  of 
  Maine 
  sardines 
  was 
  806,500 
  standard 
  cases 
  worth 
  $11.2 
  million- 
  

   compared 
  with 
  1,042, 
  800 
  cases 
  worth 
  $11 
  . 
  5 
  million 
  in 
  1969. 
  The 
  pack 
  was 
  the 
  smallest 
  since 
  19 
  38. 
  

   Twenty-one 
  canneries 
  packed 
  sardines 
  in 
  1970 
  — 
  the 
  same 
  number 
  as 
  in 
  1969. 
  Imports 
  of 
  sea 
  her- 
  

   ring 
  from 
  Canada 
  into 
  Maine 
  ports 
  were 
  78.5 
  million 
  pounds--compared 
  with 
  94.5 
  million 
  in 
  1969 
  

   and 
  165.8 
  million 
  in 
  1968. 
  

  

  In 
  1970, 
  the 
  Maine 
  Sardine 
  Council 
  made 
  a 
  grant 
  to 
  The 
  Research 
  Institute 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  

   Maine 
  (TRIGOM) 
  for 
  a 
  joint 
  study 
  with 
  the 
  Maine 
  Medical 
  Center 
  on 
  the 
  effect 
  of 
  environmental 
  

   conditions 
  on 
  the 
  habits, 
  supply, 
  and 
  movement 
  of 
  herring 
  along 
  the 
  Maine 
  coast. 
  The 
  study 
  will 
  

   supplement 
  the 
  biological 
  research 
  carried 
  on 
  by 
  State 
  and 
  Federal 
  agencies 
  during 
  the 
  past 
  25 
  years 
  . 
  

  

  Sea 
  herring 
  landings 
  in 
  Massachusetts 
  increased 
  from 
  9 
  . 
  9 
  million 
  pounds 
  in 
  1969 
  to 
  a 
  near- 
  

   record 
  27.4 
  million 
  in 
  1970. 
  Most 
  of 
  the 
  catch 
  was 
  taken 
  from 
  Jefferys 
  Ledge. 
  About 
  one-third 
  

   of 
  the 
  catch 
  was 
  cut 
  into 
  butterfly 
  fillets 
  and 
  exported 
  frozen 
  to 
  Europe. 
  The 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  catch 
  was 
  

   made 
  into 
  meal 
  and 
  oil. 
  In 
  addition 
  to 
  the 
  domestic 
  landings, 
  about 
  23.4 
  million 
  pounds 
  were 
  taken 
  

   by 
  foreign 
  vessels 
  outside 
  the 
  U.S. 
  12-mile 
  limit 
  and 
  transferred 
  to 
  U.S. 
  carrier 
  vessels 
  for 
  de- 
  

   livery 
  to 
  domestic 
  fish 
  meal 
  plants 
  . 
  Such 
  shipments 
  are 
  treated 
  as 
  duty-free 
  imports 
  by 
  Bureau 
  

   of 
  Customs 
  regulations 
  . 
  

  

  Unclassified 
  industrial 
  fish. 
  Landings 
  of 
  unclassified 
  species 
  of 
  fish 
  for 
  processing 
  into 
  fish 
  meal 
  

   and 
  oil 
  were 
  51.6 
  million 
  pounds 
  — 
  compared 
  with 
  72.8 
  million 
  in 
  1969. 
  Nearly 
  58 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  

   landings 
  were 
  made 
  at 
  Point 
  Judith, 
  R.I., 
  and 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  remainder 
  at 
  New 
  Bedford 
  and 
  Gloucester, 
  

  

  526-460 
  O 
  - 
  73 
  • 
  

  

  