vessel operators from New Smyrna Beach to 

 Safety Harbor (over 80 percent of the vessels 

 operating in the study area). The charter and 

 party boats fished primarily on offshore reefs 

 and trolled between these reefs and the port. 

 When large numbers of mackerel appear in 

 the area and are easily taken by troll gear 

 some vessels fish for them exclusively. Three 

 of the vessels fished solely for reef fish in 

 1962. The offshore reefs are shown in figure 2. 



Vessel operators indicated that boats were 

 out nearly every day in the sunnmer of 1962 

 and averaged 2 days per week during the 

 winter. We estimate the fleet to average about 

 1 1 trips per month per vessel, or a total of 

 3,168 trips annually. 



The boats fishing from Inlet Harbor are 

 considered typical of the fleet and represent 

 50 percent of the entire fleet in 1962. When 

 the vessels return to port, the catch is hung 

 on racks, and the fishermen and catch are 

 photographed along with the date and the 

 name of the vessel. The number of fishermen 

 and estimates of the number of fish and weight 

 by species were obtained from the photo- 

 graphs. Estimates of numbers and weights are 

 minimums, as the catch beyond the capacity 

 of the fish rack is placed in a large wheel- 

 barrow which sometimes did not show in the 

 photograph, or fish may be hidden behind the 

 backs of the fishermen in the foreground. 

 The large wheelbarrow was said to hold 150 

 pounds and, when observed in a photo, was 

 recorded as one-fourth, one-half, three- 

 fourths, or full for estimates of poundage. 

 No attempt was made to determine the species 

 of fish in the wheelbarrow. 



Photographs of catches from 447 trips by 

 12 boats from Inlet Harbor during February 

 to September 1962 were examined. The catches 

 photographed, by vessel, by month, and num- 

 bers of fishermen by month are given in table 

 57. There were 4,410 fishermen, or anaverage 

 of about 10 per trip. We estimate the 447 

 trips photographed to represent about one- 

 seventh of the trips made by the fleet in the 

 Cape Canaveral Area in 1962, and that about 

 30,870 fishermen participated in the entire 

 fishery. 



The actual counts of fish in the photographs 

 and their estimated weights in pounds and the 

 estimated total numbers and weights for the 

 entire fishery for 1962 are given in table 58. 

 The estimated total catch by species in 1962 

 was arrived at by multiplying the values for the 

 sample by seven. 



There are several reasons why the esti- 

 mated total nunnbers and weights of fish are 

 believed to be minimum. Fish caught trolling, 

 such as jack crevalle, or certain bottom reef 

 fishes may be discarded because of their 

 inferior food quality. Fishes such as black 

 sea bass nnay be kept when bottom fishing 



T^ble 57."bport fishery catch. Cape Canaveral Area; distribution by 



name of vessel and month of ^7 catches, February-September 

 1962, for which photographs were examined for species 

 composition and weight, and numbers of fishermen 



Tfeble 58, — Estimated sport fishery catch. Cape Canaveral Area; charter 

 and party boat catch for 1962 



[Estimation based upon a projection of data obtained frcm 



examination of photographs of Uhj catches from 12 boats 



operating out of Inlet Harbor, February^September] 



/l Wheelbarrows of fish — Fish which were excess to what the 

 display rack would hold. Full wheelbarrow estimated to contain 

 150 pounds of fish. Numbers of fish are conversions of weights 

 at 6.03 pounds per fish. 



is average to poor but discarded when bottom 

 fishing for amberjack and snappers is good. 

 Other fishes, such as filefish, puffers, 

 remoras, sharks, rays, and toadfish may be 

 landed to be photographed for their bizarre 

 appearance. 



72 



