Industrial Bottom- Fish Fishery in the North Central Gulf of Mexico 



WinthropA. Haskell 



Industrial-fish landings in the Pascagoula, Mississippi, area con- 

 tinued to be sampled routinely for species composition and for certain attri- 

 butes of the more important contributing species. During the calendar year 

 I960, 389 samples averaging 2O2 pounds each and collectively representing 

 14. 9 million pounds or 18 percent of that year's total harvest were taken. 

 Sampling was confined to 2 days each week on a rotating schedule when land- 

 ings occurred regularly. In periods of sporadic fishing, sampling proceeded 

 on a judgment basis with every attempt being made to ensure adequate repre- 

 sentation of catches according to when and where they were made. 



Fishery Statistics supplied through the courtesy of the animal food industry 



revealed that slightly more than 82-2 million pounds of industrial- type bottom 

 fishes, taken on the continental shelf in the vicinity of the Mississippi River 

 Delta, were landed and processed in I960. This represented a 22-percent de- 

 cline from the previous year's take and may have signified the beginning of a 

 downward production trend (see accompanying figure). Though certainly not 



r^i 



\ A. . 

 v \/\ 



1 r 



958-1960 



Industrial bottom-fish 

 landings in the north 

 central Gulf of Mexico 

 area, 1958 - I960. 

 Shaded line indicates 

 3-year trend. 



well established, such a trend can be attributed solely to economic factors, 

 particularly to the depression of the I960 fish meal market. Whereas 15 meal 

 and petfood plants operated in 1959, 10 processed industrial fishes in I960, 

 and by June of that year most of the naeal plants had closed down. Had it not 

 been for an appreciable expansion of the petfood market, the decrease in in- 

 dustrial-fish landings would have been considerably greater. 



The total number of fishing trips in I960 dropped 11 percent fronn 

 that made by the commercial fleet in the preceding year. On the other hand, 

 the average catch per trip rose by 11^ percent. Average-length-of-trip data 



27 



