Figure l. — Survey regions along the Middle Atlantic coast for recreational catch of Atlantic mackerel. 



tic mackerel arrived or after they departed from a 

 region were omitted from subsequent analysis. 

 Boat counts were made at each inlet to determine 

 the number of vessels sailing through the inlet, 

 and interviews were conducted concurrently at 

 associated marinas, docks, and launching ramps 

 to determine vhe catch per vessel. There were no 

 adequate data available on which to base propor- 

 tions of interviews among different types of fish- 

 ing vessels. Therefore, as many interviews as 

 possible were made with all vessel types as they re- 

 turned to port. 



Inlet vessel counts were made of party, char- 

 ter, and private boats. Charter boats are com- 

 mercial sportfishing vessels which are usually 

 reserved in advance by a group of fishermen for 

 their exclusive use for a negotiated single fee. 



Party boats (head boats) are commercial sport- 

 fishing vessels filled on a first-come, first-served 

 basis at an established fee per person. Party 

 boats were subdivided into full- and half-day 

 categories based on their daily activity sched- 

 ules. Full-day party boats make a single day trip 

 of about 7-9 h duration while half-day party 

 boats make a morning and afternoon trip each 

 of which is usually 4-5 h in duration. Private 

 boats are noncommercial sportfishing vessels. 

 The term sportfishing does not exclude the 

 passengers or crew from selling part or all of 

 their catch. 



Estimation of Fishing Effort 



NEFC and Delaware personnel counted boats 

 either from 0500 to 1300 h or 1300 to 2000 h. 



800 



