The blackback flounder and its fishery in New England and New York

A decline in the abundance of blackback flounders, together with the withdrawal of vessels from this fishery, has resulted in a lowered catch in recent years compared to the peak period 1928 through 1931. Data obtained from U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Hatchery catch records and from fishermen's log book records show a drop in abundance of 63 per cent from the early 1930's to the present in the Boothbay Harbor region and of 31 to 40 per cent in the area south of Cape Cod. Information on the early life history and distribution of young blackback flounders and the size and age composition and distribution of fish subject to the commercial and sport fisheries indicates that the young are the product of local spawning and that the sport and commercial fisheries draw on a resident stock of primarily adult fish.