McHUGH: MARINE FISHERIES OF DELAWARE 



FIGURE 19.— Commercial landings 

 of mullet in Delaware, 1880-1962. 



American Eel 



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80 



90 



1900 



20 30 



YEAR 



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50 



60 



70 



White Perch 



American eel, Anguilla rostrata, fell off to an 

 all-time low in commercial landings in the 1940's, 

 and since has built up slowly (Figure 20). Al- 

 though it may have been affected by deterioration 

 of the rivers, it does not spawn there, thus would 

 not be affected as seriously as sturgeon, shad, or 

 alewife. It is probably underexploited, and the 

 recent modest size in landings in the last 30 yr 

 may have been caused by increased markets in 

 Europe and elsewhere. 



White perch has fallen off rather steadily since 

 the 1880's, with major short rises in production 



in 1930, late 1940's, and 1958 (Figure 21). These 

 fluctuations were probably caused by temporary 



upsurges in abundance caused by unusually good 

 year classes. The decline in weakfish production 

 generally has to be related to the decline in 



commercial fishing. There is no indication that 

 the resource is in poor condition. 



2 r- 



FIGURE 20. — Commercial landings of 

 American eel in Delaware, 1880-1977. 



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I I I I I I V' i I T"°°t^ L 



80 90 1900 10 20 30 40 50 



YEAR 



60 



Figure 21.— Commercial landings 

 of white perch in Delaware, 1880-1977. 



70 



589 



