UNIT 10 



SOUTHEAST MENHADEN AND BUTTERFISH FISHERIES 



49 



INTRODUCTION 



Menhaden, important commercial fishes, 

 are found in both coastal and estuarine 

 Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico waters. Menha- 



den are food for many other fishes and sea 

 birds. The butterfish fishery remains small 

 and undeveloped. 



SPECIES AND STATUS 



The Atlantic and the Gulf menhaden form 

 large surface schools that support a huge 

 "industrial" fishery which produces fish 

 meal, oil, and soluble proteins. The indus- 

 try is vertically integrated, generally with 

 company-owned vessels, spotter aircraft, 

 and processing plants. An active baitfish 



fishery along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts 

 harvests about 5% of the amount landed 

 by the industrial fishery. These fisheries are 

 managed by individual states through the 

 Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commis- 

 sion (ASMFC) and the Gulf States Marine 

 Fisheries Commission (GSMFC). 



Atlantic Menhaden 



Atlantic menhaden are found from Nova 

 Scotia, Canada, to West Palm Beach, Fla. 

 As coastal waters warm in April and May, 

 large surface schools form along the 

 coasts of Florida, Georgia, and the Caroli- 

 nas. The schools move slowly northward, 

 stratifying by age and size during the sum- 

 mer, with the older and larger fish generally 

 moving farther north. The southern migra- 

 tion begins in early fall with surface schools 

 disappearing in late December or early 

 January off the Carolinas. Atlantic menha- 

 den may live 10 years, but most fish caught 

 are 3 years of age or younger. 



Menhaden landings rose during the 

 1940's and early 1950's and peaked at 



7 1 2, 1 00 1 in 1 956. Landings remained high 

 during the late 1950's and early 1960's, 

 dropped precipitously during the middle 

 1960's, and remained low, bottoming out 

 at 161,600 t in 1969 (Fig. 10-1). Since 

 1970, landings have improved but not to 

 the levels of the late 1950's. A recent peak 

 of 4 1 8,600 1 occurred in 1 983, even though 

 recruitment to age 1 is comparable with the 

 1950's. The commercial value of Atlantic 

 menhaden for 1985-89 averaged $31.9 

 million/year. 



In 1990, just a few menhaden "reduc- 

 tion," or processing, plants were in opera- 

 tion, located in Beaufort, N.C.; Reedville, 

 Va.; coastal Maine (one Russian factory 



Figure 10-1.— U.S. menhaden 

 landings from the Gulf of Mexico 

 and southeastern Atlantic coast, 

 1950-90, and stock biomass 

 estimates. 



