1890 to 1908 inclusive produced an average catch of only 

 about 175 metric tons per year, and although small 

 catches have been reported up to the present time, they 

 have not exceeded 12 metric tons since 1908 (Fig. 

 12). Shortnose sturgeon, A. brevirostrum Lesueur, also 

 may appear in the catch. 



New York landings of sturgeon apparently have never 

 been as large as in New Jersey, probably because the 

 State has only one major coastal river, whereas New Jer- 

 sey borders on two. The greatest New York catch on 

 record was 1897, about 194 metric tons. Subsequent land- 

 ings have been small, about the same magnitude as in 

 New Jersey. The rapid early decline in abundance may 

 have had the same cause as in the Great Lakes (Hark- 

 ness and Dymond 1961), where destruction of the 

 resource was deliberate, as many fishermen killed stur- 

 geon to avoid damage to gill nets set for other species. In 



L' 



New Jersey the decline occurred before 1890 (Fig. 12). It 

 testifies to the remarkable resilience of fishery resources 

 that sturgeon has been able to avoid extinction from at- 

 trition by incidental and probably some illegal catches, 

 water pollution, and other effects of man's activities, and 

 that small catches continue to this day (Table 15). Short- 

 nose sturgeon is fairly abundant in the Hudson River (W. 

 L. Dovel pers. commun.). 



Sea Mussels 



At least two species of sea mussel, belonging to the 

 genera Mytilus and Modiolus, have been harvested com- 

 mercially in the New York Bight region. The major 

 species is the blue or edible mussel, Mytilus edulis Lin- 

 naeus. Landings in New Jersey have never been very 

 large (Fig. 13), nor have they been in New York, except 

 for a catch of almost 4,000 metric tons of meats reported 

 in 1908. The maximum catch in New Jersey was about 

 1,144 metric tons in 1897 (Fig. 1.3), but in most years land- 

 ings have been much smaller than this. During the sec- 





90 1900 10 



1880 90 1900 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 



Figure 13.— Annual commercial landings of sea mussels, probably 

 mostly blue mussel, in New Jersey 1891-1975. 



Figure 12.— Annual commercial landings of Atlantic sturgeon in New 

 York and New Jersey 1880-1975. 



Table 16. — Estimated commercial landings of sea mussels, 

 probably mostly blue mossel, in the north and middle 

 Atlantic regions of the United States coast 1960-1975. 

 Weights of meats in metric tons. 



Table 15 , --Est imated commercial landings of Atlantic sturgeon 

 in the north and middle Atlantic regions of the United States 

 coast 1960-1975. Weights in metric tons. 



No recreational or foreign catches of sturgeon were reported. 



Figures for 1975 in parentheses assume that unavailable landings 

 in N.H., Conn., and Del. equal the average of recent years. 



The national saltwater angling surveys for 1960, 1965, and 

 1970 did not include recreational catches of invertebrates. 



Live weights are given in parentheses for comparability with 

 ICNAF statistics. 



- An unrecorded catch is possible. 



• Less than 0.5 metric ton. 



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