FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
23 
A really serious decline during recent years is shown by the records for the 
important commercial species known locally as the gray squeteague and the king- 
fishes. The squeteague was almost stationary from 1908 to 1918. Then occurred 
a sudden decline, which was not overcome during the next four years, or up to the 
end of the period for which statistics are available. The decline lor the entire 
period (1908 to 1922) covered by the 
records, as shown by average yearly 
catches arrived at as in the preceding 
paragraph, was 35 per cent. 
1912 'IS '14. '15 '16 'n '18 '19 '20 '21 '22 
Fig. 16.— Graphic representation of the number of pounds of 
spots ( Leiostomus xanthurus) taken from 1912 to 1922 at the 
Buchanan Bros, fishery, arranged by years. The spot is 
caught in large quantities in seines during the autumn. 
Therefore, the smaller catches since 1918 (the seine was 
used in 1917, which evidently was a very poor year) do not 
necessarily indicate a decline in the abundance of the 
species. The straight, heavy line shows the general trend 
in the quantities caught 
March April May Jane Jaly Aug Sept Oct Nov. 
Fig. 17. — Graphic representation of the number of 
pounds of spots ( Leiostomus xanthurus) taken from 
1912 to 1922 at the Buchanan Bros, fishery, arranged 
by months. The first commercial catches of spots 
usually are made sometime in April. In 1920, how- 
ever, the fish were caught in relatively large quanti- 
ties in March 
Large yearly fluctuations took place in the catch of kingfish from 1908 to 1917, 
the trend being upward until the banner year, 1912. Then followed a very greatly 
reduced catch in 1913 and another large catch in 1914. Thereafter the trend was 
strongly downward, the catch falling so low in 1918 that the species became of 
minor commercial importance in the fishery. The following year the catch was still 
smaller, and no recovery had taken place by the end of the period covered by the 
records (1922). 
