136 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



the industry in this region we have only the numbers of operating units 

 (i.e., boats and the different kinds of gear) without any data on the extent 

 to which they are used. The catch of all fish, food and non-food, per fisher- 

 man in North Carolina has increased during the 50 years to 1940 (see Part 

 III, Table 24), but the menhaden industry is wholly, or at least in large 

 part, responsible for this increase. Fishermen believe that the last few years 

 have witnessed a decrease in other finfish. Such may be the case, inasmuch 

 as the State's Commercial Fisheries Division reports a 33 per cent decrease 

 in production during the 1946- 1948 biennium, as compared with the 1944- 

 1946 biennium. It is not definitely known whether this decrease is the result 

 of weather conditions, decreased effort, or decrease in available fish. This 

 situation points to a need for a statistical study of production such as can 

 only be made by obtaining better records of fishing effort and production. 



Are such fluctuations in production the result of changes in abundance of 

 fish, or other factors? Are fluctuations in abundance due to natural or man- 

 made factors, or both? In addition to the well known fluctuations of species 

 are there also fluctuations of the whole fisheries of the region collectively? 

 What, if anything, can be done to insure a continuous and adequate supply 

 of fish? Or should we fish intensively while prices are high and let the 

 population, if decreased, be restored while prices are low? — i.e., to what 

 extent should we substitute efforts of deliberate control for the natural self- 

 regulatory forces of supply and demand? These are questions which apply 

 to the fundamental philosophy of fisheries management and should be con- 

 sidered with the economic interests of the industry in mind. 



FISHING METHODS. Perhaps this is not a strictly biological problem. But 

 we should try to develop more efficient methods of finding and catching 

 fish. The industry has made few advances in fishing methods since the devel- 

 opment of the otter trawl; we are either setting or dragging nets, hoping 

 that fish will be caught. Could we use the reactions of fish to light, sounds, 

 odors, or chemicals in attracting them to nets or other enclosures? In order 

 to answer this, we must first know how fish react to these various stimuli. 

 Such a study might also throw light on diurnal and seasonal migrations. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Bean, Tarleton H. 



1884. On the occurrence of the striped bass in the lower Mississippi Valley. 

 Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. 7, 1884, p. 242-244. 

 Bigelow, Henry B., and William W. Welsh. 



1925. Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Bufl. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XL, Pt. I, 

 1924 (1925), 567 p., 278 figs., extensive bibliog. (Doc. 965, 1925). 



