THE MENHADEN FISHERY 147 



and other herrings by the fact that the exposed margin of the scales is 

 nearly vertical and edged with comb-like teeth instead of being rounded 

 and smooth. Menhaden are dark blue to blue-brown above and silvery 

 along the sides, although freshly caught specimens show a brassy luster. 

 There is a conspicuous dark shoulder spot on both sides of the body, 

 just behind the head. A single fin is located about midlength on the 

 back, and a row of sharp-edged bony plates occurs along the midline of 

 the belly. Adult fish may range up to 18 inches in length and over 3 

 pounds in weight, but most of them are less than 12 inches long and 

 under a pound in weight. 



Four species of menhaden, genus Brevoortia, occur along the Atlantic 

 Coast of North America, but only two, the Atlantic menhaden (B. 

 tyrannus) and the Gulf menhaden {B. patronus), are of importance to 

 the United States reduction industry^^ These species are known by no 

 less than 30 common names, but most often are called bunker, pogy, 

 mossbunker, or shad. The Atlantic menhaden is a temperate species 

 which occurs from Nova Scotia to the central east coast of Florida. The 

 Gulf menhaden is a subtropical species which is distributed in the Gulf 

 of Mexico from southern Florida to the Yucatan Peninsula '^•^l 



Habits. Menhaden are migratory fishes which appear in dense schools 

 in the open waters of larger bays and along the shore sometime in April 

 or May. Along the Atlantic Coast, the schools appear earlier in southern 

 waters than further northward. Through the summer, they generally 

 occur in depths of less than 20 fathoms and are found in greatest con- 

 centrations in localities with extensive estuarine drainage systems, such 

 as the Mississippi Delta area and Chesapeake Bay. The schools disappear 

 from the surface, coastal waters sometime in September or October. 

 Along the Atlantic Coast, however, large, migratory schools reappear 

 off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina in November and disappear off Cape 

 Fear, North Carolina in December. The fish seldom are seen in the inshore 

 waters until the following April or May^. 



Menhaden fluctuate greatly in both abundance and availability. Often 

 the catch in one locality differs markedly from that in adjacent localities, 

 and seasons of abundance in certain parts of the range may be followed 

 by several years of scarcity. 



Variations in abundance seem to be due largely to varying survival 

 of individual year broods of young menhaden. An unusually abundant 

 or ''dominant'' year brood may result in excessive abundance of fish for 

 a year or two in a particular locality, but as their numbers become reduced 

 by fishing, migration, and natural factors, the catch declines. A succes- 

 sion of poor year broods means that recruitment to the populations will 

 be below normal and reflected in the catch accordingly. These circum- 



