August 1966 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



37 



N^tical chart covering the Block Island Sound and east entrance 



to Long Island Sound (area indicated by the box). 



' A considerable portion of the approximate- 

 ly 150 million tons of waterborne commerce 

 to the Port of New York passes through Long 

 Island Sound and thence through the East Riv- 

 er. 



The new chart will be welcomed by fisher- 

 men of the area from Montauk Point to Block 

 Island Sound, reputedly the best fishing local- 

 ity between New Jersey and Massachusetts. 

 A considerable amount of the 686 million 

 pounds of fish and shellfish landed at New 

 York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massa- 

 chusetts in 1965 was taken from that area. 



North Atlantic Fisheries Explorations 

 and Gear Development 



SURF CLAM SURVEY CONTINUED: 



M/V '' Delaware " Cruise 66-3 (April 29- 

 May 13, 1966): Catches of surf clams ( Spisu - 

 la solidissima) by hydraulic jet dredge var- 

 ied from none to 3.6 bushels per 4 -minute 

 (standard) tow, and from none to 3.8 bushels 

 per 20-minute (simulated commercial) tow 

 during a recent survey of the surf clam pop- 

 ulation off the Virginia, Maryland, and Dela- 

 ware coasts. The exploratory fishing vessel 

 Delaware , operated by the Bureau of Com- 

 mercial Fisheries, U. S. Department of the 

 Interior, completed a preliminary survey in 

 the area off Virginia (Area VI) and continued 

 earlier work off Maryland and Delaware (A- 

 rea IV). 



SURVEY PROCEDURES: The procedure 

 used during previous surf-clam surveys was 



/ EGEND 





E|t:OMM£/?C/-«l TOWIHG 





SECTION. 





• STATIONS PRODUCING 





ONt OR MOne BUSHELS 





PER eOURMlNUTE TOW, 





Shows surf clam Areas IV, V, and VI and producing stations dur- 

 ing M/V Delaware Cruise 66-3 (April 29-May 13, 1966). 



followed during this cruise. Stations were 

 located at 1-mile intervals along 1-mile 

 spaced grid lines. A 48-inch hydraulic jet 

 dredge was towed 4 nainutes at each site with 

 the exception of 64 commercial simulated 

 tows for 20 minutes each in a preselected 

 section of Area VI. 



RESULTS IN AREA VI: Only 2 standard 

 tows, located in the inshore section surveyed 

 in Area VI, yielded catches of one bushel or 

 more. Out of 221 standard tows completed 

 in the Area, 89 yielded less than one bushel 

 and 130 were unproductive. In the offshore 

 section of Area VI only a few clams were 

 taken at shallow water stations. Simulated 

 commercial tows for 20 minutes were made 

 at 64 stations in one section of Area VI; none 

 of these yielded 4 or more bushels. Except 

 for 2 sections (restricted navigation and re- 

 ported unexploded mines), standard survey 

 coverage was completed in Area VI. 



RESULTS IN AREA IV: Surf -clam catches 

 in the section surveyed in Area IV were better 

 than expected, based on previous work in the 



