September 1966 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



27 



Sheepscot Bay (depth 10 fathoms, night)- - 

 traces of herring, mixed catch of brit, and 

 sardine -size herring were found. 



Inshore and thoroughfare waters from 

 Muscongus Bay to Machias Bay (depth 5-10 

 fathoms, daytime) --continuous traces were 

 identified as brit herring. 



Southwest Harbor to Petit Manan Island 

 (depth 5-30 fathoms, daytLme)--no herring 

 were found. 



Machias River (depth less than 5 fathoms, 

 night) --there was a school of sardine her- 

 ring. 



Offshore waters frona Cutler to Schoodic 

 Pt, (depth 20-50 fathoms, night)- -there were 

 no traces. Schoodic to Southwest Harbor 

 (depth 5-20 fathoms, daytime)--there were 

 scattered traces, not identified. 



Boothbay Harbor (depth 5-15 fathoms, 

 night) --there were traces of what apparently 

 were brit herring. 



Surface salinity and temperature data 

 were collected. The thermograph was run 

 continuously. 



* >\i >|! >|; >|c 



LOBSTER AND SEA HERRING 

 POPULATION STUDIES CONTINUED: 



Rly Albatross IV Cruise 66-8 (June 15- 

 25, 1966): To sample populations of lobsters 

 and sea herring and obtain related environ- 

 mental data was the main objective of this 

 cruise by the Bureau of Commercial Fish- 

 eries research vessel Albatross IV. Other 

 objectives were to obtain blood samples 

 from lobster and sea herring and make plank- 

 ton tows for lobster and herring larvae. The 

 canyons along the Continental Shelf from 

 Veatch Canyon east to Corsair Canyon, gen- 

 eral area of Georges Bank, and Cashes 

 Ledge were the areas of operations. 



FISHING OPERATIONS: Lobster: A total 

 of 38 trawl sets was made at the 4 major lob- 

 ster stations. The sets made in waters of 68 

 to 160 fathoms yielded 580 lobsters (59 per- 

 cent females and 41 percent males). A total 

 of 73 of the females were berried. The aver- 

 age weight of the lobsters was 3.4 pounds, 

 the range in weight 0.1 to 25 pounds. Seven 

 lobster pots set on Cashes Ledge were hauled 

 4 days later and contained 27 lobsters (10 fe- 

 males and 17 males). The average weight 



■of the lobsters was 1 pound ranging in weight 

 from 0.4 to 6 pounds. Large lobsters were 

 prevalent in the catches from Lydonia, Ocea- 

 nographer, and Corsair Canyons, while short 

 lobsters were prevalent in the catches from 

 Veatch Canyon. A total of 278 lobster blood 

 samples was obtained for analysis. 



Herring: Six herring trawl sets were 

 made at 6 stations. The sets (1-hour dura- 

 tion) made in waters of 30 to 40 fathoms 

 yielded a total of 29 bushels; the herring 

 were from 25.4 to 34.6 centimeters (about 

 10.0 to 13.6 inches) long. The majority of 

 herring in the samples were from the 1960 

 and 1961 year-classes. A total of 50 blood 

 samples were obtained for analysis. Species 

 of fish, other than herring, collected during 

 the cruise were haddock (30 bushels), cod 

 (3 bushels), yellowtaildl^ bushels), ocean 

 perch, (11 1 bushels), gray sole (3 bushels), 

 white hake (2 bushels), alewives (1 bushel), 

 dogfish (3|- bushels), skates (3 bushels), 

 silver hake (2 bushels), mackerel (1 bushel), 

 sculpin (4 bushels), goosefish (4 bushels), 

 pollock (1 bushel), and eel pout (2 bushels). 

 One bushel of squid and i bushel of shrimp 

 also were obtained in the_ catches. 



PLANKTON OPERATIONS: During the 

 cruise 26 one-meter net planktorl tows of 15 

 minutes each were made (5 nninutes-at 20 

 meters, 5 minutes at 10 meters, and 5 min- 

 utes at the surface). No larval hearing were 

 obtained. 



HYDROGRAPHIC OBSERVATIONS: Sea- 

 bed drifters and drift bottle's were released 

 at selected stations along the Continental 

 Shelf. At each trawl station bathythermo- 

 graph (BT) casts were made, salinities col- 

 lected, and weather ob servations recorded. 



Note: See Commercial Fisheries Review , July 1966 p. 37, 



North Pacific Fisheries Explorations 

 and Gear Development 



PELAGIC FISHING GEAR RESEARCH : 



M/V " Commando " Cruise 13 (June 5-21. 

 1966): The exploratory fishing vessel M/V 

 Commando , chartered by the U, S. Depart- 

 ment of the Interior' s Bureau of Commercial 

 Fisheries, returned to Seattle, Wash., on 

 June 21, 1966, after completing a 16-day 



