Table 8. --Numbers of fish caught by seine and trawl nets at five locations on the Gulf of Mexico coast 



of Florida, January, through May 1968--Continued 



Locations and principal species 



Month 



January 



February 



March 



Grand 



April Ifey total 



Cedar Key 



Anchoa mitchilli (bay anchovy) 



Lagodon rhomboides (pinfish) 



Menidia beryllina (tidewater silverslde) 



Others 



Total 

 St. Marks Lighthouse 



Lagodon rhomboides (pinfish) 



Menidia beryllina (tidewater silverside) 



Others 



Total 



Number 



1,221+ 



867 



Grand total 



1,1+02 



3,308 



2,807 



It, 1*93 i*,639 



16,61+9 



BIOLOGY OF INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLFISHES PROGRAM 



Charles M, Fuss, Jr. , and John A, Kelly, Jr. 



This program was initiated at the beginning 

 of the fiscal year to study the biology of thread 

 herring ( Opisthonema oglinum ) and other 

 potential industrial schoolfishes (excluding 

 menhaden) in coastal waters of the eastern 

 Gulf of Mexico. A preliminary study entitled 

 "Biology of Thread Herring" under the East 

 Gulf Estuarine Program was activated 3 months 

 earlier (April 1, 1967). Recent industrial 

 interest in the use of thread herring as an 

 alternate to diminishing menhaden stocks stim- 

 ulated us to expand our efforts in this area. 



Aerial and surface surveys by the Explora- 

 tory Fishing and Gear Research Base at 

 Pascagoula, Miss., and IRT (aerial infrared 

 temperature) surveys by this Laboratory have 

 shown that thread herring occur in extensive 

 concentrations along the west coast of Florida. 

 Biological information on the species is ex- 

 tremely sketchy, but the present study is 



expected to provide many of the data needed 

 to ensure the orderly development and ex- 

 pansion of the fishery on the basis of sound 

 biological principles. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE FISHERY 



An industrial thread herring fishery in the 

 eastern Gulf began in August 1967 when the 

 Protein Products Corporation opened its pro- 

 cessing plant on Charlotte Harbor near Fort 

 Myers. A locally based, Bureau- financed 

 vessel (fig. 15) began fishing in late August, 

 and a typical menhaden vessel joined the 

 operation fronn October to December 1967 and 

 again in February 1968. In November and 

 December 1967, a number of Louisiana -based 

 menhaden vessels entered the fishery, landing 

 catches at the Ocean Protein, Inc., plant at 



18 



