no attempt was made to determine the number 

 of drags made during a day. A more precise 

 standard unit of effort would be difficult to 

 obtain because of wide variations in fisher- 

 men's selection between crabs and shrimp. 



STATISTICS OF THE FISHERY, 1961-62 



The catch and effort data in table 1 are 

 presented by month to allow comparison of 

 variations within and between years. Catch 

 is in pounds; effort is in pot-days for the pot 

 fishery and trawl-days for the trawl fishery. 

 \ pot-day represents one pot fished for 1 day. 

 Designation of pounds per pot-day for a month 

 or year represents the average catch of one 

 pot fished for 1 day during the specified period. 

 A trawl-day represents 1 day during which one 

 trawl was operated, regardless of the actual 

 number of tows. Pounds per trawl-day as pre- 

 sented for a specified period represents the 

 average catch of one trawl fished for 1 day. 



The production of blue crabs in the St. Johns 

 River was 1,384,579 pounds in 1961 and 

 3,231,569 pounds in 1962 (an increase of 133 

 percent over 1961). Of the 1961 landings, pots 

 accounted for 95 percent (1,314,243 pounds) 

 and trawls, 5 percent (70,336 pounds); and 

 of the 1962 landings, pots yielded 85 percent 

 (2,746,598 pounds) and trawls, 15 percent 

 (484,971 pounds). The increase in catch in 



1962 over 1961 was 109 percent in pots and 

 590 percent in trawls. 



In 1962, catch per unit of effort increased 

 26 percent in pots and 229 percent in trawls 

 over 1961. Fifty-nine crabbers, in 1961, fished 

 303,781 pot-days and averaged 4.3 pounds per 

 pot-day; in 1962, 109 crabbers fished 511,621 

 pot-days (an increase of 68 percent over 1961) 

 and averaged 5.4 pounds per pot-day. Forty- 

 seven trawlers, in 1961, fished 759 trawl-days 

 and averaged 92.7 pounds per trawl-day; in 

 1962, 52 trawlers fished 1,590 trawl-days (an 

 increase of 109 percent over 1961) and aver- 

 aged 305.0 pounds per trawl-day. 



The percentage of each month's contribu- 

 tion to the annual catch was similar in 1961 

 and 1962. Approximately 81 percent of the total 

 catches in 1961 and 84 percent in 1962 were 

 made in May through November. The monthly 

 catch and effort of fishermen employing pots 

 was lowest in March and highest in August each 

 year. The largest number of pounds per pot- 

 day was in November 1961 (5.3 pounds) and in 

 August 1962 (6.5 pounds); the smallest catch 

 was in March each year (2.8 pounds in 1961 

 and 2.7 pounds in 1962). Monthly catch of 

 trawlers was lowest in January 1961 and in 

 August 1962; catches were highest in June each 

 year. The number of trawl-days was lowest in 

 February 1961 and in August 1962. Trawl 

 effort was highest in April 1961 and in May 

 1962. Catch per trawl-day was highest in June 



Table 1. — Catch and effort statistics for the commercial blue crab fishery in the St. Johns River, Fla., 1961-62 



