The flounder resource of the North Atlantic yields about 80,000,000 pounds a year and ranks about fourth in volume in the New England catch. Until recent years it was hardly touched, for the small mouths of many of the species saved them from the hooks of line trawls and no considerable market existed for some of the most abundant species. In 1900, for example, only 4,500,000 pounds were landed. The introduction of the otter trawl and development of the filleting industry stimulated growth of the flounder fishery. Today about 97 percent of the catch is taken with otter trawls, the balance chiefly with line trawls. Most of the flounder catch is utilized by the fillet industry. A small amount of flounder is smoked; and some flounder roe is canned. Flounders and their flatfish allies are a unique group of fishes. A newly hatched flounder swims erect like any other fish and has eyes on both sides of its head. As the young fish develops, however, one eye migrates around the head to a location next to the other eye, and the fish begins to swim on its side. The body becomes much flattened, the eyed side develops color, the blind side remains white. Nearly all members of the same species are twisted in the same direction; hence flounders are designated as right-handed or left-handed, depending on which side possesses the eye and color. All species of flounders are carnivorous, but most possess such small mouths that their diet must consist solely of small, bottom-living, invertebrate animals such as shrimps, mollusks, starfish, and worms. They spawn from midwinter to midsummer, but mostly in the spring. Yellowtail is the most important of the North Atlantic flounders. Prior to about 1935 it was considered a trashfish and was landed in small quantities at very low prices. With the decline of the blackback fishery, the small otter trawlers turned to yellowtail fishing and the public learned of the excellent table qualities of this species. This led to the development of a flounder fillet industry at New Bedford and the expansion of the yellowtail fishery. In 1942 the landings of yellowtail were about 65,000,000 pounds, surpassing those of all other flatfishes. Since 1942 this fishery has yielded progressively smaller catches, although the intensity of fishing and the demand for yellowtail have increased. Unfortunately, we do not have enough knowledge about this resource by which to prescribe intelligent conservation measures for the fishery. Preliminary data on the biology, commercial catch, and abundance are being obtained. Much additional information is required on stocks, natural mortality, rate of growth, and effect of fishing on the stock. Yellowtail are found in 10 to 50 fathoms of water. Like most flounders, they spawn in the spring, mostly during May, along the southern New England coast. The eggs drift a short time with the currents and the young fish descend to the bottom when about a half inch long. Yellowtails mature when 10 to 12 inches long and about 3 years old. The adults subsist mostly on small invertebrate animals such as shrimps, mollusks, worms, starfish, etc. Tagging experiments have shown that yellowtail migrate seasonally. The appearance and disappearance of yellowtail schools and changes in the sex ratio and size composition indicate rather complex movements yet to be studied. The blackback or winter flounder is the second most important of the North Atlantic flounders. The catch of this species had been 40 to 50 million pounds in the 1930's, but has since declined steadily to less than 20,000,000 pounds. This change can be attributed to a decline in the size of the blackback population and to a shift of portions of the fleet to the newly developed yellowtail fishery. Blackback spawn in the winter and spring in depths of 1 to 3 fathoms. eggs sink to the bottom and stick together in small clusters. The fish grow rapidly and become sexually mature at 8 to 10 inches and 3 or 4 years of age. The fish are relatively nonmigratory, moving only to cooler waters outside the bays in summer and back to inside waters in winter. The The rapid growth rate helps the blackback to persist under the intensive fishery. The nonmigratory habit, however, means that conservation measures must be more or less localized to fit local units of the blackback populations. To obtain better utilization of the existing supply of this resource, a minimum-size limit of 10 inches has been recommended for certain waters of Long Island, N. Y. Allowing the fish to grow before catching them will in itself increase fishermen's tonnages and also increase the number of spawning adults. Lemon sole or Georges Bank flounder is a fish closely related to the winter flounder; indeed, it may be only a race of blackback flounder rather than a distinct species, though this is a matter of dispute. In any event, the trade uses the name lemon sole for individuals of both kinds which weigh over 21⁄2 or 3 pounds. This size limit varies among dealers and among cities. About 3,000,000 pounds sold under this name are caught annually. True lemon sole seem to be limited in their distribution to Georges Bank. The North Atlantic halibut resource was fairly important 50 to 60 years ago, when it yielded around 13,000,000 pounds annually. At present less than a half million pounds are landed in a year. This is the result of reduced stocks caused by intensive fishing. Some halibut are picked up incidentally by otter trawlers fishing for groundfish, but a greater part of the catch has been taken by a few line trawlers which specialize in halibut fishing on the edge of the continental shelf of the Nova Scotian banks in 100 to 200 fathoms of water. Atlantic halibut is marketed almost entirely as fresh and frozen fish. Some is smoked and put up in 5-ounce glass tumblers. Salted halibut was marketed on a fairly extensive scale at Gloucester in the Nineteenth century, but is rarely prepared today since the abandonment of the halibut fishery on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland. The halibut is the largest of our flat fishes. Present-day specimens run from 20 to 200 pounds, but in former years individuals of over 700 pounds were taken. These huge fish are exceedingly voracious, and their diet consists of various kinds of market and other fishes. If halibut are ever to be restored to the New England waters in anything like the numbers present in colonial days, it seems inevitable that a sizable share of the cod, haddock, whiting, and hake which now support important fisheries will be required to feed them. Gray sole is one of the deeper-water flounders found principally on soft, muddy, and clay bottoms in 25 to 120 fathoms of water. About 3,000,000 pounds are caught annually, most of it by the large otter trawlers incidentally with their catches of haddock and cod. It is marketed almost entirely as fillet of sole. Practically nothing is known about this resource on which to base an opinion as to the possibility of increasing production. Sea dab is a deep-water flounder taken mostly on sandy bottoms in 15 to 60 fathoms by large otter trawlers as an incidental catch while fishing for cod and haddock. About 5,000,000 pounds are landed annually. It is mostly filleted and marketed as fillet of sole. Virtually nothing is known of the biology of this fish, or of the production possibilities. TABLE 1.-Catches of United States fishing vessels in selected areas of the North Atlantic, landed at the principal ports [Production expressed in thousands of pounds; that is, 000 omitted] TABLE 1.-Catches of United States fishing vessels in selected areas of the North Atlantic, landed at the principal ports-Continued [Production expressed in thousands of pounds; that is, 000 omitted] Source: New England Landings, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Area XXI (un assigned) 2, 380 11,023 15, 576 374 29, 353 363, 666 513 5, 470 44, 953 24, 482 248 75, 153 354, 853 48, 203 77, 114 69, 834 410 195, 561 328, 286 2,406 53 8, 502 86, 932 43, 556 137 139, 127 372, 009 2, 410 TABLE 1.-Catches of United States fishing vessels in selected areas of the North Atlantic, landed at the principal ports-Continued 93, 677, 200 1,972, 000 1, 217, 400 1, 147, 500 2,022,000 2, 126, 100 5,076, 700 4, 229, 300 3,337, 100 3, 255, 000 (4) 44, 051, 700 (4) (4) 128, 935, 300 25, 095, 000 20, 215, 400 14,963,000 8,785, 500 8, 942, 300 10, 310, 300 9, 468, 400 10, 133, 400 23,984, 500 12, 634, 500 8, 204, 800 8,503, 700 5, 290, 500 7,762, 900 5,084, 900 5, 231, 600 7, 639, 600 5,478, 700 7, 124, 900 15,469, 300 13, 440, 700 14, 130, 200 22,796, 300 16, 450, 200 18, 990, 800 (4) (4) 14, 257, 000 5, 417, 900 11, 039, 000 6, 469, 100 (4) 3, 505, 000 8, 641, 600 14, 554, 400 16, 225, 000 14, 234, 700 4 No statistical canvass made in the New England States in this year. |
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