47 



52 



57 



62 



67 

 YEAR 



72 



77 



82 



87 



Fig. 9. Comparison of annua! winter flounder CPUE for Rhode Island trawlers, NMFS Statistical Area 539, 

 and the URI Narragansett Bay trawl survey from 1947 through 1987. 



1941 ranged from 402 to 853 lb, with largest 

 catches made in the early 1930s when winter 

 flounder were most abundant. In recent years 

 (1979-87), catch-per-trawl-day for all Connecticut- 

 licensed trawlers was calculated (from CT DEP, 

 unpublished data) to have been from 315 to 521 

 lbs (average of 5 hours fished per day). The 

 highest daily rate occurred in 1983, when winter 

 flounder were most available, and lowest rates 

 were in 1986-87. Despite the recent decline in 

 winter flounder abundance and commercial 

 trawler CPUE, landings have remained relatively 

 high in Connecticut (Fig. 10) because of greater 

 effort, with increases seen in mean days fished, 

 mean hours trawled, and mean hours per day of 

 fishing (Table 8). In addition, an increasing pro- 

 portion of the catch was sustained by fish taken 

 in eastern Connecticut waters from the mouth of 

 the Connecticut River to the Rhode Island border 

 (Fig. 11). 



Commercial landings elsewhere in New Eng- 

 land have recently decreased. Despite the declining 



resource, high landings in Massachusetts have 

 been maintained by increasing effort and the num- 

 ber and percentage of small fish landed (MDMF 

 1985). NMFS (1987) reported that in each of 

 the three major stock assessment geographical ar- 

 eas (Southern New England-Middle Atlantic, Gulf 

 of Maine, Georges Bank) winter flounder abun- 

 dance decreased to historical low levels in 1986, 

 with declines in commercial landings generally re- 

 flecting assessment survey CPUE indices. 



In conclusion, the fluctuations in abundance 

 seen for Niantic River winter flounder have oc- 

 curred concurrently with other populations in 

 New England. Examination of long time-series 

 of abundance data showed that winter flounder 

 numbers have fluctuated throughout tliis century, 

 with production of several large year-classes that 

 resulted in periods of peak abundance. These 

 events have been viewed by some as the result of 

 favorable environmental conditions during periods 

 of reproduction and early life history (.lefFries and 

 Johnson 1974; McIIugh 1977; Jeffries and 

 Terceiro 1985). 



168 



