22 



Herring were taken in all but 4 of the 33 

 tows made. However, they were missing in 

 widely separated tows, which substantiates 

 the belief that they are distributed widely on 

 the northern half of Georges Bank. The sex- 

 ual condition of this species differed marked- 

 ly throughout the area: those in the area of 

 heavy foreign fishing were nearly all ripe 

 fish; those on the Northern Edge were from 

 less than 5 to about 30 percent ripe; on Culti- 

 vator Shoal, 10 to 50 percent ripe; west side 

 of Great South Channel, to 10 percent ripe; 

 and the single catch on northern Cape Cod, 

 50 percent ripe. 



Size range of herring did not differ signif- 

 icantly in the catches. Total lengths were 

 generally in the 11.0 to 12.5 inch range. 

 Stomach contents of herring caught on the 

 Winter Fishing Ground were about 50 percent 

 filled with herring eggs and 50 percent empty. 

 Stomachs examined from other catches were 

 usually empty; a few had been feeding on uni- 

 dentified plankton. 



Sea surface temperatures during the cruise 

 ranged from 55 to 58 degrees Fahrenheit. A 

 heavy plankton bloom was observed on the 

 northern edge of Cultivator Shoal, where the 

 water temperature was about 55 .4° F. 



Note: For more information, contact: BCF Exploratory Fishing 

 and Gear Research Base, State Fish Pier, Gloucester, Mass. 

 01930. 



laneous catches included 58 sharks (6 species 

 mostly whitetip) weighing 10,000 pounds, 2 

 bigeye tuna weighing 72 pounds, and 9 speci- 

 men of 6 miscellaneous species (dolphin, 

 blue runner, white marlin, spearfish, esco- 

 lar, and lancetfish). The smallest swordfish 

 taken was I84 pounds and the largest 205 

 pounds. The sharks caused some damage to 

 the swordfish. 



During the bottomfish part of the cruise, 

 the vessel covered 1,067 miles of fish detec- 

 tion transects inside the 10-fathom curve be- 

 tween Jekyll Island, Ga. and Cocoa Beach, 

 Florida. No promising bottomfish concentra- 

 tions were located. The best set made in con- 

 junction with fish tracings on the recording 

 fathometer consisted of 860 pounds of spot, 

 croaker, and whiting. (Chart page 24.) 



Note: For more information, contact: Base Director, Exploratory 

 Fishing and Gear Research Base HQ, Pascagoula, Miss. 39567. 



South Atlantic Fisheries Investigations 

 and Gear Development 



"OREGON" STUDIES AVAILABILITY 

 OF SWORDFISH AND BOTTOMFISH 



The R/V Oregon returned to St. Simons 

 Island, Georgia, on September 26 after a 19- 

 day exploratory fishing cruise off southern 

 Georgia and the Florida east coast (Cruise 

 112). Objectives: to continue seasonal ob- 

 servations on availability of swordfish to long- 

 line gear, and to survey distribution availabil- 

 ity of inshore bottonifish stocks by otter 

 trawl. 



Five nighttime and one daytime 50-60 bas- 

 ket longline (10 hooks to a basket) sets were 

 made between the axis of the Gulf Stream 

 east to the 1,000-fathom curve. Twenty 

 swordfish weighing 1,678 pounds (89-lb. 

 average) were taken in the 6 sets. Miscel- 



^^S^ 



Tropical Atlantic Fisheries 

 Investigations 



R/V "UNDAUNTED" VISITS RECIFE 



The R/V Undaunted, of BCF's Tropical 

 Atlantic Biological Laboratory, recently stop- 

 ped in Recife, Brazil, on a 4 -day visit. The 

 visit followed extensive fishery and oceano- 

 graphic study in the western tropical Atlantic. 

 The staff held open house and later invited 

 local reporters and photographers to witness 

 a demonstration cruise around Recife. The 

 U. S. Information Agency and local press pub- 



licized the visit and the Undaunted' s work. 



California's "Scofield" Samples 

 Coastal Shrimp 



The State of California's N. B. Scofield re- 

 turned to San Pedro September 13 after a 5- 

 week cruise in coastal waters primarily to 

 sample shrimp. (Cruise 66-S-5 Shrimp.) 

 The cruise areas were the coastal waters 

 from Oregon border to Eureka, California, 

 and off Point Rincon, Santa Barbara. 



The 156 tows were randomly distributed 

 over the 270 square-mile survey area between 



