Fishery bulletin of the Fish and Wildlife Service - NOAA

STUDIES ON THE STRIPED BASS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST 9
the Cuttyhunk Club at Cuttyhunk, Mass. 2 A graph of this material is shown in
figure 3. (For the annual average poundage of the fish caught and the weight of the
largest bass in each year, see table 3.) The most striking fact about this curve is
its rapid decline from fairly large numbers to extremely low numbers in the 43-year
period that it covers. Unfortunately a rod-and-line fishery such as this one cannot
be considered a strictly reliable index of abundance—especially since the members
of the club confined themselves to fishing for large bass. Moreover, there is no
indication of the intensity of fishing, so that the low numbers in the twentieth century
might represent the catch of only a few individuals, while the high numbers before
1880 may be the catch of a much larger group. Therefore, the annual fluctuations
in this graph are perhaps not real indications of varying abundance, and the rate of
decime may be too steep. Nevertheless, it is difficult to imagine from this evidence
that a serious depletion did not take place. Even though such a record, lacking as
it does information on the effort expended, cannot represent changes in abundance
in detail, there can be little doubt that its downward trend indicates the general
decline in abundance over the period it covers.
RECORD OF STRIPED BASS TAKEN BY MEMBERS OF
CUTTYHUNK CLUB, CUTTYHUNK IS., MASS.
1865-1907
FIGURE 3,—Record of the numbers of striped bass taken by the members of the Cuttyhunk Club from 1865 to 1907 (see Table 3).
Another record of considerable interest and significance is that of the numbers
of striped bass taken in pound-net catches from 1884 to 1937 at Fort Pond Bay,
Long Island, N. Y. (see fig. 4 and table 4). From 1884 to 1928 these pound-nets
were owned by members of the Vail family, who kept accurate records of the numbers
of striped bass caught at each haul. 3 They also indicate the number of traps in operation
each year. These varied from 6 to 10, and the catches shown in this graph up to
1928 have been weighted to make them equivalent to a fishing intensity of 10 poundnets
throughout. In 1928 the ownership of these nets changed hands, but the author
has been able to complete the records up to the present.* Unfortunately no record
of the number of pound-nets in operation from 1928 to 1937 had been kept, and although
this number is known to have varied only from 8 to 12, a small error is thus
introduced. The magnitude of the catches is such, however, that this part of the
graph—indicated by the dotted line—may be properly considered a reasonably
accurate continuation of that before 1929. It is of further interest that these poundnets
have occupied essentially the same position each year over the entire period
covered by this record.
It is impossible to test the validity of this record as a method of sampling the
total population, and thus accurately record fluctuations in abundance that occurred.
However, it is probable that it gives a fair indication of the decrease in abundance
from 1884 to 1935, and that the 1936 and 1937 peaks give a correct picture of the
» This record was placed at the author's disposal through the courtesy of Mr. Bruce Crane, Dalton, Mass.
' These records were made available by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Blngham Océanographie Foundation.
4 These records were made available through the cooperation of Capt. Daniel D. Parsons, Montauk, Long Island, N. Y.,
the present owner.