34 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
likely that a larger percentage of the fish tagged on the wintering grounds would 
have been taken to the eastward the following spring and summer. 
It is probable that a small part of the cod are returning to New England waters 
throughout the winter, not necessarily waiting until the spring. This is indicated by 
the November tagged Cholera Bank cod which was recaptured off Easthampton in 
December, already mentioned. Perhaps this straggling eastward throughout the 
winter, together with the depletion in the number of fish due to the fishery, etc., may 
explain why the fishing during the return migration in the spring is notably poorer, 
with the exception of off Rhode Island, than during the westward migration in the fall. 
Figure 12. — The location of the Chatham-South Channel region with respect to the tagging grounds 
on Nantucket Shoals 
SUMMARY 
Each year, beginning about October 15, some of the cod migrate from the grounds 
off southern Massachusetts into the region extending from Rhode Island to Delaware 
and even as far south as Cape Hatteras, N. C. This migration continues until 
December, after which only straggling fish go westward. Cod from north and east 
of Cape Cod also join in the fall migration to the westward of Nantucket Shoals, but 
they appear to form a minority of the stock of fish on the wintering grounds. The 
total number of cod which enter the Rhode Island-North Carolina region each winter 
