and Reintjes (1957) found that the species was more im- 

 portant in the offshore trawl fishery off Delaware Bay 

 than inshore. Although butterfish will bite on small 

 hooks, there is no significant recreational catch. 



Butterfish is a semipelagic species not readily 

 available to conventional gears like otter trawls, pound 

 nets, or other gears traditionally used by U.S. fisher- 

 men. Edwards (1968) estimated that only about 3% of 

 the standing crop was being harvested in the period 1963- 

 65. Thus, declines in landings in New Jersey and New 

 York up to that time could not have been caused by over- 

 fishing. From 1964 on, however, foreign catches in 

 ICNAF subareas 5 and 6 have increased (Table 26), and 

 it is possible that the resource is now fully utilized (R. L. 

 Edwards pers. commun). Foreign catches in the early 

 and middle 1960s probably were substantially larger 

 than reported, for it is known that butterfish were dis- 

 carded in some quantities by some vessels. Foreign fleets 

 now take substantially larger quantities than the domes- 

 tic fishery. Like scup, red and silver hake, and other 

 species, butterfish is particularly vulnerable to fishing in 

 winter and early spring at the edge of the continental 

 shelf. 



Blue Crab 



Blue crab, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, was abun- 

 dant in coastal waters of the New York Bight area in the 

 1880s (Earll 1887; Mather 1887). The species supported 

 commercial, subsistence, and recreational fisheries in 

 most bays along the coasts of New Jersey and New York. 

 It apparently was scarce at that time in some bays along 

 the north shore of Long Island, but abundant in others, 

 such as Huntington Bay. Blue crab also was abundant in 

 New York harbor, but even in those days, nearly a cen- 

 tury ago, fishermen described a coating of "coal tar" on 

 the water and complained of oily flavors of blue crab and 

 some fishes. Possibly for this reason, no commercial blue 

 crab fishing was conducted in that area (Mather 1887). 



Blue crab ranges along the east coast of North America 

 from Nova Scotia to Texas in the Gulf of Mexico, and 

 supports or has supported fisheries from southern New 

 England to Texas. Chesapeake Bay has traditionally 

 been the center of commercial production and landings 

 north of Maryland have been relatively small and 

 variable. Maximum commercial landings reported for 

 New Jersey were slightly over 2,000 metric tons in 19.39, 

 but this was unusual, and since 1940 New Jersey land- 

 ings have fluctuated about a level less than 500 metric 

 tons and dropped to a low of less than 100 metric tons 

 in 1968 (Fig. 25). Recently, however, various observers 

 have noted increased abundance of blue crab from 

 Delaware to Connecticut inclusive. This has been 

 reflected in a sharp increase in commercial landings in 

 New Jersey, from a low point of 61 metric tons in 1968 to 

 1,319 metric tons in 1975 (Table 27); this is the second 

 largest commercial catch on record for the State. 



Although it is eagerly sought by recreational crabbers 

 wherever it is abundant, and sport catches probably are 

 substantial, blue crab usually has been ignored in salt- 



yV 



Figure 25. 



-Annual commercial landings of blue crab in New Jersey 



1880-1975. 



Table 27. — Estunated commercial landings of blue crab in the 

 north and middle Atlantic regions of the United States coast 

 1960-1975. Weights in metric tons. 



The national saltwater angling surveys for 1960, 1965, and 

 1970 did not include recreational catches of invertebrates. 



Unrecorded convnercial catches of blue crab were made in New 

 YorX in 1975 (see text). 



Figures for 1975 in parentheses assume that unavailable 

 landings in N.H., Conn., and Del. equal the average of 

 recent years. 



- An unreported catch is possible. 

 • Less than 0.5 metric ton. 



water sport fishing surveys. Levenson (1971) found that 

 blue crab was important in recreational fisheries of 

 Hempstead Bay, Long Island. In numbers caught, blue 

 crab ranked fifth in importance from 1966 to 1968 in- 

 clusive, exceeded only by winter and summer flounder, 

 bluefish, and northern puffer. This was a period of low 

 abundance in the New York Bight area, if commercial 

 landings are a valid criterion (Table 27). 



As already mentioned, Earll (1887) noted the 

 recreational importance of blue crab in New Jersey coEtstal 

 bays. Some idea of the intensive effort directed toward 

 catching this resource is given by the statement that 

 some 600,000 to 700,000 recreational crabbers over 18 yr 

 operate in New Jersey tidal waters (Paul Hamer pets. 

 commun.). Lane and Carlson (1968) observed that blue 

 crab had not been of commercial importance in Connecti- 

 cut waters since the 1930s, and linked the decline and 



28 



