Table 3. — Catch of lobsters by research vessels, Hudson Canyon, 

 1965-67 



Carapace 

 length 



Females 



Percentage 

 of total 

 lobsters 



Berried 



Number Number Number Percent Number Percent 



4 



1 



1 



2 



50.0 







__, 



5 



24 



9 



33 



72.7 



— 







6 



87 



28 



115 



75.7 



— 







7 



167 



75 



242 



69.0 



— 



-l_ 



8 



158 



72 



230 



68.7 



6 



3.8 



9 



119 



31 



150 



79.3 



49 



41.2 



10 



73 



12 



85 



85.9 



38 



52.1 



11 



16 



7 



23 



69.6 



12 



75.0 



12 



9 



1 



10 



90.0 



3 



33.3 



13 



6 



1 



7 



85.7 



5 



83.3 



M 



1 



1 



2 



50.0 



1 



100.0 



15 



3 







3 



100.0 







0.0 



16 



1 



1 



2 



50.0 







0.0 



17 



1 







1 



100.0 







0.0 



18 







1 



1 



0.0 







0.0 



19 















0.0 







0.0 



20 







1 



1 



0.0 







0.0 



907 



73.4 



lobsters were taken in six tows, averaging 

 30 per 1 -hour tow. Soft or recently shed lob- 

 sters were taken in June but not inOctober. 



The October catch included 189 lobsters with 

 carapace lengths of 8 cm. or larger (i.e., 

 above the legal minimum). Of these, 160 were 

 females and 99 (62 percent) of the females were 

 berried. The females were from 8 to 15 cm. 

 long and the berried individuals averaged 

 9.8 cm. Eggs of the berried lobsters had been 

 extruded recently and were in prenaupliar 

 condition. 



Females dominated the catch in all but the 

 largest size categories and accounted for 70 

 percent of the total, but the ratio of females 

 to males decreased with depth. In a regres- 

 sion analysis in which the ratio of females to 

 males was a dependent variable on depth, 

 there was a significant negative relation 

 (b = -0.298, s b = 0.111; b/s b = 2.685, 

 P = 0.02). Though the sex ratio changed, the 

 mean size of lobsters did not increase sig- 

 nificantly with increasing depth. 



Veatch Canyon 



Veatch Canyon (lat. 40°00' N„ long. 69°35' 

 W.) is 130 km. south of Nantucket Island, 

 Mass. It was fished more frequently during re- 

 search cruises than any other of the off- 

 shore areas. Catches here are usually good, 

 and the area receives considerable effort 

 from commercial fishing vessels. The canyon 

 was sampled in April, June, and October 

 1965; April, June, July, and October 1966; 

 and April, June, and October 1967. Table 4 

 summarizes data obtained from these re- 

 search cruises, and table 5 summarizes the 

 samples taken from catches by commercial 

 vessels from December 1965 through June 

 1967. 



Table 4. — Catch of lobsters by research vessels, Veatch Canyon, 

 1965-67 



Carapace 

 length 



Females 



Total 



PenoXnj 



Percentage 

 of total 

 lobsters 



Berried 



Number Number Number Percent Number Percent 



4 



5 



6 



7 



8 



9 



10 



11 



12 



13 



14 



15 



16 



17 



18 



19 



20 



21 



1 



7 



8 



12.5 



-- 



— 



62 



71 



133 



46.6 



— 



— 



162 



208 



370 



43.8 



— 



— 



286 



351 



637 



44.9 



— 



— 



264 



327 



591 



44.7 







— 



194 



226 



420 



46.2 



25 



12.9 



94 



102 



196 



48.0 



25 



26.6 



47 



62 



109 



43.1 



11 



23.14 



33 



23 



56 



58.9 



8 



24.2 



21 



15 



36 



58.3 



5 



23.8 



7 



6 



13 



53.8 



1 



1/1.3 



14 



5 



19 



73.7 



1 



7.1 



1 



8 



9 



11.1 







0.0 



2 



7 



9 



22.2 



1 



50.0 



1 



5 



6 



16.7 







— 



1 



3 



4 



25.0 







— 















— 



— 



— 







2 



2 



— 



-- 



-- 



1,190 1,428 2,618 



Table 5. — Samples of the commercial catch of 

 lobsters from Veatch Canyon, December 1965 

 to June 1967 



Carapace 

 length 



Females 



Percentage 

 of females 



Cm. 



Number Number Number Percent 



8 



334 



283 



617 



54.1 



9 



825 



620 



1,445 



57.1 



10 



583 



371 



954 



61.1 



11 



364 



243 



607 



60.0 



12 



369 



163 



532 



69.4 



13 



298 



120 



418 



71.3 



14 



177 



95 



272 



65.1 



15 



107 



80 



187 



57.2 



16 



65 



76 



141 



46.1 



17 



41 



59 



100 



41.0 



18 



21 



64 



85 



24.7 



19 



17 



35 



52 



32.7 



20 



6 



29 



35 



17.1 



21 







8 



8 



— 



22 







3 



3 



— 



Total 



3,207 2,249 5,456 



58.8 



During research cruises, more lobsters 

 were caught per hour in shoaler water: 49 per 

 hour in 100 to 182 m. (55-100 fathoms) and 12 

 per hour in depths greater than 182 m. (fig. 2). 

 Greater depths yielded fewer but larger lob- 

 sters; lobsters taken below 182 m. averaged 

 10 cm. in carapace length and 900 g. (2 pounds), 

 and those taken in shallower water averaged 

 8 cm. and 450 g. (fig. 3). Commercial catches 

 generally produced a higher yield in weight of 



