Black sea bass is an important sport fish in the New 

 York Bight area (Table 34). The estimated recreational 

 catch usually has exceeded the domestic commercial 

 catch. Total recreational catches in the north and mid- 

 dle Atlantic regions have declined since 1960, despite an 

 increase in numbers of sport fishermen. 



Black sea bass has not been recorded in foreign catches 

 in the area except for about 1,500 metric tons in 1964 in 

 ICNAF division 5Z. This may have been an error in 

 recording. It is possible that incidental catches are made, 

 especially in winter when the species has moved to 

 deeper water. Grosslein et al. (1973, see footnote 7) 

 believed that the resource is vulnerable to foreign 

 trawlers, especially when the water is unusually warm in 

 winter. 



Table 34 . --Estimated commercial and recreational catches of black 

 sea bass in the north and middle Atlantic regions of the United 

 States coast for the period in which recreational or foreign catch 

 estimates are available, weights in metric tons. 



The national saltwater angling surveys for 1960, 1965, and 197C did 

 not give data by individual states. New York was included with the 

 New England states and New Jersey with the other middle Atlantic states. 



The one record of a fairly large foreign catch is questionable. 

 Incidental catches of black sea bass are suspected, but no other 

 catch has been specifically reported. 



Figures for 1975 in parentheses assume that unavailable landings in 

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



Flounders 



The major species of flounder in New Jersey landings 

 has been summer flounder, Paralichthys dentatus (Lin- 

 naeus). Winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes america- 

 nus (Walbaum), more abundant to the northward, and 

 much more important in the New York fishery, has never 

 contributed much to New Jersey landings (Fig. 33). Yel- 

 lowtail flounder, Limanda ferruginea Storer), was of no 

 great importance in New Jersey until the 1970s, when 

 scarcity of other species and better prices encouraged 

 south New Jersey trawlers to fish heavily for yellowtail 

 (LoVerde 1971, 1972). 



Flounders were among the most important finfishes 

 taken in coastal bays in the 1880s (Mather 1887) but were 



P 

 tr 05 



2 



*05 



o 

 5 



SUMMER FLOUNDER 



WINTER FLOUNDER 



YELLOWTAIL FLOUNDER 

 __1 I I 



Jh. 



FLOUNDERS - ALL SPECIES COMBINED 



..-^^./ 



r" 



1880 90 1900 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 



Figure 33. — Annual commercial landings of flounders in New Jersey 



1887-1975. 



considered to be much less abundant than formerly. The 

 species were not listed separately until the 1930s. Floun- 

 ders apparently were not highly regarded as food fishes in 

 the early days (Mather 1887). 



Summer flounder. — As in New York, flounder land- 

 ings in New Jersey were not listed separately until 1937. 

 However, since landings of other species in New Jersey 

 probably were negligible before that date, historic land- 

 ings of all species combined (Fig. 33) probably were 

 predominantly summer flounder landings. The history of 

 the fishery is similar to that in New York, with peak 

 catches in the 1950s and a sharp decline thereafter. Peak 

 landings were higher in New Jersey than in New York, 

 but the recent decline in New Jersey has been much 

 sharper. A moderate increase has taken place since 1969 

 (Fig. 33). Most of the catch is made in otter trawls. 



Estimated sport catches of summer flounder have been 

 about equivalent to the domestic commercial catch in 

 the mid-Atlantic region, but 5-10 times the domestic 

 commercial catch in the north Atlantic region (Table 

 35). Recreational catches dropped 25-30% from 1965 to 

 1970. 



Catches of summer flounder reported by foreign fleets 

 have been small. The species does, however, migrate off- 

 shore to deeper waters in winter where it concentrates at 

 the edge of the continental shelf from Hudson Canyon to 

 Cape Hatteras (Grosslein et al. 1973, see footnote 7). It 

 could be vulnerable to offshore trawling at that time. 



Winter flounder. — Winter flounder is a minor com- 

 mercial species south of New York. It usually inhabits 

 relatively shallow waters near shore, and the ban on 



35 



