In 1960, when the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife intiated a program of research on migratory marine game fishes, there were no statistics on salt-water fish catches for the Nation as a whole. Without a good measure of resource use it was difficult to pinpoint problem areas and to plan a sound program of research for marine fishes.

The families, genera, and species of all larval fishes are tabulated and the abundance, length frequencies, and distribution of 12 species and 2 families are summarized utilizing data collected on 8 ichthyoplankton surveys of the Gulf of Maine-Georges Bank area. The segregation of coastal and oceanic species north and south of the coastal/slope water boundary during December is evidence in a comparison of the distribution of upper 100-m integrated temperature and Atlantic herring. Myctophidae, and Paralepididae larvae. All larval barracudinas and laternfishes occurred in areas where the integrated temperature was above 11° and 13°C, respectively. Ninety-one percent of positive larval herring tows were in areas where the integrated temperature was below 13°C.