INDUSTRIAL FISHERY PROGRAM 

 Joseph H. Kutkuhn, Program Leader 



Gulf of Mexico fisheries for industrial -type fishes have developed 

 rapidly in recent years and probably have not yet reached their full potential. 

 Of the 1961 United States catch of nonfood fish, more than 40 percent was 

 taken in the Gulf region. Practically all of this came from the 300 -mile 

 stretch of coastal waters off Mississippi and Louisiana. The question now 

 being asked is whether or not extension of present fisheries to the east and 

 west of this area would be feasible. It is anticipated that research by the 

 Industrial Fishery Program will provide at least a partial answer. 



Two well-defined fisheries produce the total volume of species 

 harvested in Gulf waters for industrial purposes. The menhaden fishery 

 operates with purse seines and large -capacity vessels in the nearshore shal- 

 lows, its catch being reduced to oil and meal. The bottomfish fishery, which 

 employs otter trawls and smaller vessels, ranges farther offshore and is sup- 

 ported by a wide variety of demersal fishes (mainly sciaenids) heretofore 

 classified as "trash" species. Most of its production is used in the manu- 

 facture of petfood. Research on menhaden populations is currently conducted 

 by the Bureau's laboratory at Beaufort, N. C. , and that concerned with bot- 

 tomfishes is directed from the Laboratory at Galveston and its Field Station 

 in Pascagoula, Miss. 



A project designed to survey the species and size composition of 

 landings made by the "petfood" fleet at Pascagoula has functioned since 1958. 

 Its principal objectives are to observe changes that nnay occur in the fish 

 populations as a result of exploitation and to obtain life history information 

 for the dominant species. 



Work at the Galveston Laboratory is closely coordinated with the 

 offshore studies by the Shrimp Fishery Program described elsewhere in this 

 report. Monthly trawl samples of fish obtained systematically on the con- 

 tinental shelf between the Mississippi Delta and the Rio Grande River are 

 providing information on patterns of seasonal and geographic distribution 

 for the nnajor demersal species. Since a few of these sampling sites are in 

 the area fished by the existing industrial (bottomfish) fishery, comparative 

 analysis of commercial and research statistics will enable us to make a 

 realistic appraisal of the potential that the western Gulf holds for this fish- 

 ery's expansion. 



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