REPORT ON THE OTTER-TRAWL FISHERY.

By A. B. ALEXANDER, H. F. MOORE, and W. C. KENDALL

INTRODUCTION.

Until 1905, American vessels fishing for demersal or bottom fish on the banks adjacent to the coast of the United States or on the more distant banks off the coast of Newfoundland and Canada confined themselves to the use of hand lines and trawl lines, the nature and methods of the use of which will be described later in this report. This fishery was, and is, conducted solely by sailing vessels.

In the year mentioned, the steamer Spray was built at Quincy, Mass., for Boston owners, the Bay State Fishing Co. She was constructed on the general plans of British fishing steamers and was equipped for using the otter trawl, an entirely new method of fishing on the coast of the United States, also described further on in this report. In 1910, two more steam trawlers were built for the same owners, and in each of the years 1911 and 1913 three similar vessels were added to the fleet. In addition, a converted yacht owned in New York began fishing in 1912, and a small vessel owned in Gloucester sometimes uses an otter trawl. In the winter of 1914-15 a menhaden steamer entered the fishery. These, with the Coquet, a Scottish vessel which made several trips into New York, are the only vessels which have used otter trawls out of American ports or which have carried fares taken with otter trawls into such ports. The fishery has always been conducted predominantly out of Boston, and at present is practically confined to that place.

Although the merits and demerits of beam trawling and otter trawling, which are essentially similar, had long been the subject of much controversy and numerous investigations in Europe, there never had been occasion for either in the United States until the rapid augmentation of the Boston steam-trawling fleet after 1910 aroused the line fishermen to apprehension concerning the conservation of the fishing banks and a realization that they were face to face with a possible revolution in the methods of fishing.

As an outcome of this alarm, and in response to the appeal of the line fishermen and related fishery interests, the investigation on which this report is based was made.

THE AMERICAN BANK FISHERIES.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.

In comparatively recent years the fishing fleet of the banks has undergone a great change in both model and rig. The introduction of a new class of vessels, having greater speed and superior seagoing qualities than were possessed by the old type, has made it possible to prosecute the fisheries on a larger scale at all seasons, especially during the winter months. In consequence of the increased size of the modern type of vessels, much more fishing gear is now operated per vessel than was customary 30 or 40 years ago. At that time fewer vessels, in proportion to the size of the fleet, were engaged in the market fishery-that is, landing their catch in a fresh condition and more attention was paid to what is termed salt fishing that is, the dressing and curing of fish on the banks where caught.

As the demand for fresh fish increased, more vessels became engaged in supplying the market, with the result that in a few years a large fleet was permanently employed in fishing for cod, haddock, and other species throughout the entire year. These vessels fish chiefly on Georges, Browns, and Western Banks, and in the South Channel, although at times many of the inshore grounds are visited. Quick trips are usually made, but there are times when a continuance of gales interrupts fishing for a week or more. Fish that are over two weeks old, as a rule, do not command the price that is realized for those more recently caught; in consequence there is an incentive for the fishermen to land their catch in as fresh condition as possible.

In the early years of the haddock fishery only a small portion of the haddock grounds were resorted to, but as more vessels were added to the fleet and competition arose the accessible grounds were more thoroughly exploited and larger catches resulted.

On Grand Bank, Western Bank, Quereau Bank, and other grounds where halibut were at one time very plentiful, there has, in recent years, been a decided falling off in the catch, and in some places where they were formerly found in abundance, it is no longer considered profitable to fish for them. This condition is thought to have been brought about by overfishing. Grounds that have been depleted in this manner require "rest"; and it has been found that localities which have been abandoned for a considerable length of time furnish a fairly good supply of halibut when again visited. Taken as a whole, however, the halibut grounds of the western Atlantic are less productive than they were 15 years ago (1899), when the catch of fresh and salted halibut amounted to 9,025,182

pounds, compared with 3,379,580 pounds in 1914. In 1910 the catch was 4,023,999 pounds; in 1911, 3,501,745 pounds; in 1912, 3,541,539 pounds; in 1914, 3,379,580 pounds; the average annual yield in the past five years being 3,947,003 pounds.

The falling off in the amount of halibut landed in some years since 1899 may in a measure be accounted for by the fewer vessels engaged in the fishery, as it has been found unprofitable to send a large fleet of halibut catchers each season to banks where the results were extremely doubtful, especially in view of the fact that larger and more certain returns might be realized from the cod, haddock, or mackerel fisheries. Aside from changes mentioned in the halibut and haddock fisheries, the general condition of the various banks enumerated, with the exception of Georges and South Channel, remains about the same as it was 30 years ago.

In order to make a clear presentation of the underlying differences between the old line fisheries and the new trawlnet fisheries a full description of the respective apparatus and methods is desirable.

HAND-LINE AND TRAWL-LINE VESSELS.

Line trawls have been extensively used by the fishermen of New England for many years. This method of capture has largely supplanted hand lines, although in recent years, at certain periods, a considerable fleet of hand-liners has fished on Quereau Bank and Western Bank with marked success, fishing being carried on from the deck of some vessels and from the dories of others. The first class are known as deck hand-liners and the second as dory handliners. Each method is still used in the cod fishery, but trawl-line fishermen greatly outnumber those using hand-lines.

In the inshore fisheries, where formerly hand-lines were wholly used, trawl lines are now the principal means of capture, except on the local fishing grounds off Cape Ann, where gill nets have been extensively employed in the last three years for the capture of pollock, cod, and haddock.

Dory hand-line vessels.-A dory hand-line vessel usually carries from twelve to fourteen 13-foot dories. When not in use they are nested on the main deck, an equal number on each side. In this kind of fishing one man goes in a dory and operates two and three lines, the number being regulated by the depth of water, strength of tide, and other conditions.

Size of lines and leads. The lines used by dory fishermen on Quereau and other banks, where this method of fishing is largely carried on at times, are tarred cotton, weighing from 8 to 10 pounds per dozen. The leads weigh from 2 to 3 pounds each. The depth of water in which fishing is carried on varies from 15 to 50 fathoms,