﻿NEW 
  ENGLAND 
  FISHERIES 
  

  

  Mass. 
  In 
  addition 
  to 
  the 
  51.6 
  million 
  pounds 
  of 
  unclassified 
  industrial 
  fish 
  reported, 
  about 
  27.2 
  

   million 
  pounds 
  of 
  alewives 
  , 
  menhaden, 
  sea 
  herring, 
  and 
  other 
  species 
  were 
  used 
  for 
  industrial 
  

   purposes. 
  In 
  1970, 
  imports 
  of 
  fish 
  meal 
  were 
  down 
  substantially, 
  with 
  a 
  resulting 
  higher 
  exvessel 
  

   price 
  for 
  raw 
  materials 
  for 
  industrial 
  use. 
  

  

  Whiting. 
  Landings 
  of 
  40 
  . 
  1 
  million 
  pounds 
  increased 
  slightly 
  compared 
  with 
  the 
  39 
  . 
  3 
  million 
  pounds 
  

   taken 
  in 
  1969 
  — 
  the 
  smallest 
  harvest 
  in 
  30 
  years. 
  The 
  value 
  was 
  a 
  record 
  $3.4 
  million 
  — 
  a 
  57-per- 
  

   cent 
  gain 
  compared 
  with 
  1969. 
  Principal 
  reason 
  for 
  the 
  sharp 
  increase 
  was 
  that 
  fishermen 
  were 
  

   paid 
  10 
  cents 
  per 
  pound 
  for 
  their 
  catch 
  at 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  season. 
  The 
  high 
  price 
  was 
  a 
  re- 
  

   sult 
  of 
  the 
  need 
  to 
  replenish 
  inventories 
  depleted 
  by 
  the 
  unusually 
  small 
  landings 
  of 
  the 
  previous 
  

   year. 
  The 
  average 
  price 
  per 
  pound 
  paid 
  to 
  fishermen 
  was 
  8.4 
  cents 
  in 
  1970--compared 
  with 
  5.5 
  

   cents 
  in 
  1969. 
  By 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  year, 
  the 
  industry 
  was 
  becoming 
  concerned 
  about 
  finding 
  a 
  

   ready 
  market 
  for 
  the 
  high-priced 
  inventory. 
  

  

  Lobsters 
  . 
  Landings 
  of 
  30.4 
  million 
  pounds 
  were 
  slightly 
  less 
  than 
  the 
  record 
  30.7 
  million 
  taken 
  

   in 
  1969. 
  The 
  value, 
  however, 
  was 
  a 
  record 
  $29. 
  7 
  million 
  — 
  $3. 
  5 
  million 
  more 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  previous 
  

   year. 
  Compared 
  with 
  1969, 
  Maine 
  landings 
  (18.2 
  million 
  pounds) 
  declined 
  8 
  percent, 
  but 
  Mas- 
  

   sachusetts 
  landings 
  (5.7 
  million) 
  increased 
  15 
  percent 
  and 
  Rhode 
  Island 
  landings 
  (a 
  record 
  5.2 
  

   million 
  pounds) 
  increased 
  22 
  percent. 
  The 
  offshore 
  fishery 
  for 
  lobsters 
  has 
  developed 
  from 
  about 
  

   6 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  total 
  landings 
  in 
  1960 
  to 
  an 
  estimated 
  21 
  percent 
  in 
  1970. 
  Although 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  

   offshore 
  production 
  was 
  taken 
  in 
  otter 
  trawls, 
  a 
  deep-water 
  pot 
  fishery 
  had 
  begun 
  to 
  develop. 
  

   About 
  1.2 
  million 
  pounds 
  of 
  offshore 
  lobsters 
  were 
  taken 
  in 
  pots 
  in 
  1970. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  major 
  prob- 
  

   lems 
  of 
  this 
  expanding 
  fishery 
  is 
  that 
  offshore 
  lobster 
  pots 
  are 
  extremely 
  vulnerable 
  to 
  destruc- 
  

   tion 
  by 
  both 
  domestic 
  and 
  foreign 
  otter 
  trawlers 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  grounds. 
  

  

  An 
  official 
  of 
  the 
  Maine 
  Department 
  of 
  Sea 
  and 
  Shore 
  Fisheries 
  predicted 
  that 
  in 
  its 
  north- 
  

   ern 
  range 
  the 
  lobster 
  will 
  be 
  less 
  plentiful 
  from 
  about 
  1970 
  to 
  197 
  5 
  because 
  the 
  waters 
  are 
  cooling 
  

   and 
  no 
  longer 
  reach 
  the 
  optimum 
  temperature 
  for 
  the 
  species 
  that 
  prevailed 
  during 
  the 
  1960's. 
  If 
  

   this 
  theory 
  is 
  valid, 
  lobster 
  catches 
  should 
  improve 
  near 
  the 
  southern 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  lobster, 
  but 
  de- 
  

   cline 
  in 
  New 
  England 
  and 
  the 
  Maritime 
  Provinces. 
  

  

  Shrimp. 
  Landings 
  of 
  23.5 
  million 
  pounds 
  worth 
  a 
  record 
  $4.7 
  million 
  declined 
  4.8 
  million 
  pounds 
  

   compared 
  with 
  the 
  record 
  landings 
  of 
  1969, 
  but 
  increased 
  $1.2 
  million 
  in 
  value. 
  Maine 
  landings 
  

   (17.0 
  million 
  pounds) 
  were 
  30 
  percent 
  less 
  than 
  in 
  1969, 
  but 
  the 
  fishery 
  gained 
  in 
  Gloucester, 
  

   Mass. 
  , 
  where 
  landings 
  were 
  a 
  record 
  6.4 
  million 
  pounds 
  — 
  an 
  increase 
  of 
  64 
  percent. 
  Fishermen 
  

   also 
  made 
  small 
  landings 
  in 
  New 
  Hampshire. 
  

  

  The 
  northern 
  shrimp 
  fishery 
  on 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  coast 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  edging 
  southward. 
  Maine's 
  

   commercial 
  fishermen 
  have 
  generally 
  harvested 
  the 
  pink 
  shrimp 
  as 
  an 
  inshore 
  winter 
  crop 
  from 
  Sep- 
  

   tember 
  or 
  October 
  into 
  April 
  or 
  May. 
  Howev^, 
  exploratory 
  fishing 
  work 
  by 
  NMFS 
  has 
  demonstrated 
  

   that 
  during 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  the 
  shrimp 
  are 
  in 
  deeper 
  water 
  and 
  within 
  reach 
  of 
  vessels 
  from 
  

   other 
  coastal 
  States. 
  Thus 
  the 
  traditional 
  shrimping 
  season 
  can 
  be 
  extended 
  to 
  include 
  the 
  sum- 
  

   mer. 
  As 
  a 
  result, 
  vessels 
  from 
  New 
  Hampshire 
  and 
  Massachusetts 
  fished 
  intensively 
  in 
  1970. 
  

  

  Sea 
  scallops 
  . 
  Landings 
  of 
  4.5 
  million 
  pounds 
  of 
  sea 
  scallop 
  meats 
  worth 
  $6.0 
  million 
  declined 
  

   640,000 
  pounds, 
  but 
  increased 
  $400,000 
  compared 
  with 
  1969. 
  The 
  harvest 
  was 
  the 
  smallest 
  since 
  

   1945. 
  As 
  landings 
  declined, 
  marginal 
  scallop 
  vessels 
  turned 
  toother 
  fisheries. 
  Many 
  of 
  the 
  ves- 
  

   sels 
  remaining 
  in 
  the 
  scallop 
  fishery 
  reduced 
  their 
  crews 
  from 
  11 
  to 
  6 
  men. 
  Fishing 
  was 
  poor 
  

   off 
  the 
  Middle 
  Atlantic 
  States 
  — 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  production 
  came 
  from 
  the 
  Georges 
  Bank 
  and 
  Channel 
  

   areas. 
  Because 
  sea 
  scallops 
  were 
  scarce, 
  fishermen 
  continued 
  using 
  small 
  scallops 
  that 
  in 
  former 
  

   years 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  returned 
  to 
  the 
  ocean 
  to 
  grow 
  another 
  season. 
  

  

  New 
  construction. 
  Early 
  in 
  1970, 
  a 
  group 
  of 
  Provincetown, 
  Mass., 
  fishermen, 
  principally 
  small 
  

   boat 
  owners, 
  were 
  legally 
  incorporated 
  as 
  a 
  fishery 
  cooperative. 
  Starting 
  with 
  only 
  30 
  members, 
  

   the 
  cooperative 
  soon 
  had 
  about 
  100. 
  Construction 
  began 
  on 
  a 
  building 
  to 
  be 
  used 
  for 
  handling 
  

   fish--most 
  of 
  them 
  to 
  be 
  trucked 
  to 
  distant 
  markets 
  . 
  

  

  