Drift Bottle Records for Gulf of Maine 

 and Georges Bank, I93I-56 



The drift-bottle data tabulated here are the resiolt of 

 extended studies by the United States Bureau of Fisheries and more 

 recently by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in the region 

 of Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine (fig. 1). 



The apparent decline of the cod and haddock in this axea. 

 has demanded attention over a period of years. Fishery biologists 

 and ocetmographers have been making concerted efforts to imderstand 

 better the many ccsaplex, interrelated factors which influence the 

 productivity of these fisheries. 



One aspect of these studies has been an attempt by means 

 of drift bottles to learn the nontidal movement of the waters bearing 

 the planktonic eggs and larvae of ccanmercially important fish which 

 spawn in the region. 



By the end of June 1956, 17 drift-bottle seedings had been 

 made, rspresentiiag the years 1931^ 1932, 1933, 193^ > 1953^ 1955^ and 

 1956. Walford (1938) discussed the bottle returns from the I931 and 

 1932 cruises. Cay (in press) made comparisons on a seasonal and 

 year-to-year basis of all 17 cruises and considered surface -wind 

 values for a period of 60 days following each bottle seeding. 



