to the Maine coast and is carried on primarily 

 along the immediate shore with stop seines 

 and fixed weirs. In past years, purse seining 

 has accounted for only a minor part of the 

 catch but more recently has increased in 

 importance. 



The sardine canning industry, with about 

 32 plants along the Maine coast, is the prin- 

 cipal user of sea herring. It is a seasonal 

 industry, operating by tradition and State law 

 only between April 15 and December 1.- 

 Fluctuations in supply of raw material, as 

 vividly experienced by the failure of the 

 hshery in 1961, are serious and greatly affect 

 the economic condition of the Maine sardine 



THE OYSTER FISHERY 



Oyster landings in Region 3 amount to 

 approximately 8 million bushels, better than 

 half of the total oyster harvest in the United 

 States. The value of these landings to the 

 fisherman is almost $22 million. Oysters rep- 

 resent 50 percent of the total value of all 

 molluscan shellfish harvested in this area. 

 This is about 20 percent of the value of the 

 Region's food fish landings, although only 

 3 percent of the total poundage. This re- 

 source consists of only one species, the east- 

 ern oyster. 



The oyster fishery is more or less continu- 

 ous from Cape Cod through Chesapeake Bay. 

 Region 3's southernmost area, including the 

 waters adjacent to the states of Maryland and 

 Virginia, produces 90 percent of the total 

 oyster harvest. Also of importance is the 

 Middle Atlantic area, including beds in Dela- 

 ware and New Jersey; and the northern area, 

 consisting of waters adjacent to New York, 



industry. 



Processing methods have been changed 

 in recent decades, and the quality of the 

 sardine pack has been improved under an 

 industry-sponsored program. The demand for 

 Maine sardines has remained relatively steady 

 at just under 2 million cases, despite a rapidly 

 expanding national economy and an increased 

 population. Foreign competition has made 

 strong inroads into the sardine market. 



There is a need for more knowledge of 

 the basic factors responsible for fluctuations 

 in the herring populations and for the devel- 

 opment of improved harvesting methods. 



' In an effort to allow the plants to supplement their 

 one-third normal 1961 canned pack, the Maine State Leg- 

 islature passed, in December 1961, special legislation 

 authorizing an extension of the season to permit fishing 

 during the normally closed months of December 1961 and 

 January 1 to April 15, 1962. 



Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode 

 Island. 



Three methods are used in harvesting 

 oysters. Approximately 12,000 people use 

 hand tongs, about 3,000 use various types 

 of dredges, and several hundred people em- 

 ploy hand rakes and other manual methods. 

 An estimated additional 6,000 workers are 

 engaged in shucking and processing oysters 

 for market. 



Over the past 50 years, the production of 

 the oyster industry in this region has declined 

 seriously because of heavy mortalities from 

 predation and blight, some over exploitation 

 of the resource, and the loss of certain 

 grounds through industrial pollution. The 

 Long Island harvest declined over a period 

 of several years from 10 million pounds per 

 year to less than 1 million pounds in I960. 

 Since 1957, serious mortalities have greatly 

 accelerated this rate of decline in the Long 

 Island Sound and Delaware Bay areas. Losses 

 in Long Island Sound arc due to predator 

 action (starfish and oyster drills) and those 

 in Delaware Bay to an unidentified cause 

 presumed to be the result of a parasitic 

 organism. More recently, an unusually high 



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