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ATLANTIC CROAKER 



ATLANTIC CROAK£R 

 AND SPOT COMBINEO 



IS80 90 1900 



20 30 40 50 



60 ?D 



Figure 23. — Annual commercial landings of Atlantic croaker and 

 spot in New York 1888-1975. 



ginia, where croaker once was extremely abundant, 

 relative abundance was lowest in 1931, highest in 1939 

 and 1943, and had dropped virtually to zero by 1945 

 (McHugh and Bailey 1957). This undoubtedly was a 

 period of unusual abundance of croaker, and a period of 

 heavy exploitation also (Perlmutter 1959), which may ac- 

 count at least partially for the sharp drop in landings 

 after World War II. Croaker also are notoriously variable 

 in abundance, and the magnitude of such fluctuations 

 would be expected to be greatest at the extremes of the 

 geographic range. Recent rising commercial catches in 

 New Jersey and an isolated landing in 1973 in New York, 

 the first reported since 1946, are suggestive of local in- 

 creases in abundance. In Maryland phenomenally suc- 

 cessful croaker spawnings have been reported in 1974 and 

 1975 (Boone 1976), after two decades of virtual spawning 

 failures. This may presage continued improvement in 

 local catches of croaker. 



Atlantic croaker was mentioned neither by Earll (1887) 

 nor by Mather (1887) as a species taken in New Jersey 

 and New York fisheries in the 1880s. The desirability of 

 croaker as a food fish was not recognized widely at that 

 time. Either circumstance, temporary low abundance, or 

 lack of demand could account for the apparent absence 

 of Atlantic croaker from the New York Bight area at that 

 time. 



According to the national saltwater angling surveys 

 the recreational catch of Atlantic croaker now is con- 

 siderably larger than the commercial (Table 24). This 

 catch plus attrition from incidental catches in various 

 commercial gears may be responsible for continued small 

 commercial landings. 



Croaker is essentially a species of shallow coastal 

 waters. June and Reintjes (1957) found that it was the 

 fifth most important species in weight landed in the in- 

 shore otter trawl fishery off Delaware Bay in the period 

 1946-53, but it ranked only 11th in the offshore fishery. 

 The inshore fishery operates within the 15-fathom (28 m) 

 curve, the offshore fishery out to the edge of the con- 

 tinental shelf. The species has not been recorded in 



foreign catches but it is possible that small incidental 

 catches could be made. 



Table 24. — Estimated coimercial and recreational catches 

 of Atlantic croaker in the middle Atlantic region of the 

 United States coast 1960-1975. weights in metric tone. 



The national saltwater angling surveys for 1960, 1965, 

 and 1970 did not give data by individual states. New 

 Yorlt was included with the New E^ngland states and New 

 Jersey with the other middle Atlantic states. 



The only catch of Atlantic croaker reported in New York 

 in this period was a commercial catch of less than one 

 metric ton in 1973, 



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. 



• Leas than 0.5 metric ton. 



Spot 



Spot, Leiostomus xanthurus Lacepede, does not 

 extend as far south as Atlantic croaker. Earll (1887) men- 

 tioned spot as important off the southern part of New 

 Jersey in the 1880s, but not in the north. The species was 

 not mentioned in Mather's (1887) account of New York 

 fisheries. In New Jersey spot went by the quaint name 

 "Cape May Goodies." 



Landings of spot in New Jersey have been much 

 smaller than croaker landings. The maximum recorded 

 catch was about 600 metric tons in 1943 (Fig. 22). The 

 species also is variable in abundance, but the magnitude 

 of fluctuations in landings has been somewhat less than 

 for croaker, and fewer years of no landings have been 

 recorded. A slight increase in commercial landings in 

 New Jersey in 1975 is suggestive of increased abun- 

 dance. 



In New York spot have appeared in commercial land- 

 ings for more years than croaker and maximum land- 

 ings have been somewhat greater, 198 metric tons in 

 1926 and 190 in 1943 (Fig. 23). Spot have not been 

 reported in commercial landings in New York since 1957. 

 Boone (1976) reported that abundance of young-of-the- 

 year spot in Chesapeake Bay in 1975 was the greatest on 



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