11-36 



the Mystic River estuary respectively. Studies conducted at other Long 

 Island Sound electric generating facilities at Port Jefferson, Glenwood, 

 Northport (LILCO, 1977) and Millstone (NUSCO, 1977) have reported com- 

 parable larval densities, but siibstantially higher egg densities than 

 observed in New Haven Harbor. 



Soup (Stenotomus ahvysops) 



Where it is found in abundance, the scup or "porgy" is the 

 marine equivalent of the freshwater sunfish ("bluegill") in that it is a 

 pan fish that readily takes a baited hook (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953) . 

 Populations in the U.S. Middle Atlantic are of sufficient size to sus- 

 tain a large recreational fishery as well as commercial catches which 

 may total in the millions of pounds annually (Finkelstein, 1971) . Scup 

 annually migrate between 1) offshore wintering grounds over the New 

 Jersey to North Carolina continental shelf and 2) inshore summering 

 areas from Monomoy Point, Cape Cod to Chesapeake Bay (Bigelow and 

 Schroeder, 1953) . Most scup populations remain within approximately 9- 

 10 km of the shoreline from April through October; in general, the 

 younger fish remain close to shore (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953) . Like 

 the winter flounder, scup are omnivorous (Richards, 1963) feeding on 

 benthic and epibenthic organisms. 



In New Haven Harbor, otter trawling, considered by Finkelstein 

 (1971) to be the most efficient method for collecting scup, has produced 

 the largest catches during August and September (Figure 11-10) . In 

 August 1971, several thousand young-of-the-year per tow were caught, in 

 the outer harbor (Stations 13, 19 and 20). August 1971 was also the 

 only occasion of moderate scup catches recorded in the inner harbor; 

 after this date they were never captured at Stations 5 or 8. In 1972 

 and 1975, Station 13 yielded September catches in the hundreds; these 

 were also primarily young-of-the-year, with a few yearlings (11 to 16 cm 

 long) present in the 1972 catch. Adults (20 to 50 cm) were caught only 

 occasionally, primarily in gill nets, one or two fish at a time as in 

 August 1975 and September 1974 (Figure 11-11). 



(Text continued on page 11-40) 



