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NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



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

 million pounds of alewlves , 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 1975 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 . 



