Atlantic catch to determine the estimated total 

 recreational catch by age-class in the Middle 

 Atlantic region. 



Results and Discussion 



Privately owned boats were by far the most 

 numerous type observed using inlets during the 

 survey (Table 2). The mean catch per vessel was 

 lowest for private boats, intermediate for half- 

 day party and charter boats, and highest for full- 

 day party boats (Table 2). Full-day party boats 

 anglers caught the most Atlantic mackerel dur- 

 ing the season followed in decreasing order by 

 anglers aboard private boats, half-day party 

 boats, and charter boats (Table 3). The total 

 estimated number of mackerel caught in the 

 survey area was 6,792,000 ±2,415,000. 



The mean fork length of all Atlantic mackerel 

 measured during the survey was 37.9 cm and 

 the calculated mean weight was 0.515 kg/fish. 

 The total estimated weight caught was 3,498 

 ±l,244t. 



The survey was initiated after Atlantic mack- 

 erel had already progressed north into waters 

 off Delaware and southern New Jersey. There- 

 fore, it was too late to survey catches in the 

 southern portion of the Middle Atlantic region. 

 Maryland has a single inlet at Ocean City with a 

 few party boats, a modest number of charter 

 boats, and facilities for private boats. Virginia 

 has several locations such as Chincoteague, 

 Wachapreague, and Quinby along the coast of 

 the Delmarva Peninsula where some charter 

 and private boats have ocean access, and two 



Table 2. — Average number of trips and catches of Atlantic 

 mackerel by sportfishing vessels during the Middle Atlantic 

 coast survey, 1978. 



inlets (Rudee and Lynnhaveni near the mouth 

 of Chesapeake Bay where a few party boats and a 

 number of charter and private boats have ocean 

 access to fish for Atlantic mackerel. The catch 

 made from Delaware's only two coastal inlets 

 was about 89^ of the Delaware and New Jersey 

 total. Assuming similar levels of effort and catch 

 at the six inlets in Maryland and Virginia, the 

 Maryland and Virginia catches were approx- 

 imately 25*7^ of the New Jersey and Delaware 

 total. The combined catch within the Delaware 

 and New Jersey regions was about 34% of the 

 catch (3,498 t) of the three-State area surveyed 

 or 1,189 t. Thus, the total estimated catch for 

 Virginia-New Jersey was 125% of 1,189 t or 

 1,486 t. 



The number of party and charter boats in New 

 York was found to be approximately equal to the 

 combined fleets in Connecticut through Maine 

 (Fraser et al. 1977). Assuming similar levels of 

 Atlantic mackerel caught by commercial sport- 

 fishing vessels and private vessels in Connecti- 

 cut-Maine, New York catches accounted for 50% 

 of the North Atlantic regional catch (New York- 

 Maine) (Deuel 1973). The New York portion of 

 the Delaware, New Jersey-New York catch was 

 about 66% or 2,309 t of the 3,498 t total catch. 

 Therefore, the Connecticut-Maine catch was as- 

 sumed to also be 2,309 t, giving a New York- 

 Maine total of 4,617 t. The total recreational 

 catch of Atlantic mackerel taken by boat in the 

 Virginia-Maine area was estimated to be 6,103 t 

 of which 3,795 t was caught in the New York- 

 Virginia area. 



A total of 278 Atlantic mackerel were aged 

 from samples collected during the survey. The 

 ages were found to range from 2 to >11 yr with 

 considerable overlap of age-classes at >36 cm 

 FL (Table 4). The range of all fish measured 

 during the survey was 27-44 cm FL (Table 5) 

 and the mean was 37.9 cm. It is apparent from 

 the estimated total catch by ages (Table 5) that 

 fish caught by recreationsl anglers came mainly 

 from the older age-groups. The remnants of the 



Table 3. — Summary of catches of Atlantic mackerel made by sportfishing vessels encountered during the 1978 



survey of the Middle Atlantic coast. 



803 



