coastal strip not over 10 nautical nniles 

 (18.5 km.) wide, but most of the ocean fishery- 

 was between the shoreline and about 6 nautical 

 miles (11.1 km.) offshore. Trawling was largely 

 limited to this strip in South Carolina and 

 Florida, but in Georgia the work was extended 

 to inside grounds --salt-water rivers, creeks, 

 and sounds. Anderson, Lindner, and King (1949) 

 gave a detailed account of the fishery. 



The data for the region were organized 

 under four basic areas: South Carolina Out- 

 side; Georgia Outside; Georgia Inside; and 

 Florida Outside. In addition, the following com- 

 binations were made: Georgia Combined; South 

 Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, Outside Com- 

 bined; andAUAreas Combined--the last repre- 

 senting the entire work area or region as a unit. 

 Fishing localities for each area were as pre- 

 viously listed. Table 1 gives, by month, the 

 nunnber of hours of trawling in the basic areas 

 and connbinations thereof. 



Monthly data for all years were combinedto 

 give average figures. Tables 2 to 8 give for 

 each area and combination of areas, by species 

 and month: the average number of fish captured 

 per hour of trawling, the percentage of the 

 total catch for the month, and the actual number 

 of fish captured. A yearly average number of 

 fish per hour of trawling and percentage of 

 total catch are provided for each species in 

 the right-hand column, and a total, by months, 

 for all species combined is given at the end of 

 each table. 



Data for 10 families that each represented 

 1 percent or more of the yearly average catch 

 for the region are summarized in table 9, by 

 areas, for yearly average number per hour of 

 trawling and yearly average percentage of the 

 total catch. Data for 17 species that each 

 represented 1 percent or more of the yearly 

 average catch for the region are summarized 

 in table 10. 



In table 11 are shown for the 10 most 

 important families, by areas and bymonth, the 

 average number of fish per hour of trawling, 

 and percentage of the total catch. A yearly 

 average number per hour of trawling and 

 percentage of the total catch are provided for 

 each family and each area. Similar data for 

 the 17 most important species are summarized 

 in table 12. 



Table 13 provides a list of the species 

 taken, by family, and their common names. 



S g 1.000 



z « 



500 

 



J J 



MONTHS 



Figure 3. — Numbers of fish taken per hour of trawling 

 during shrimp fishing, all areas combined, all species 

 by months for all years combined (see table 8). Family 

 Sciaenidae shown for comparison. Broken lines are 

 yearly averages. 



fish per hour of trawling; and declined abruptly 

 in January toward the seasonal low in February 

 and March. 



The croaker family (Sciaenidae) is the most 

 abundant and important group of fish taken with 

 shrimp on the fishing grounds. To emphasize 

 the importance, the monthly average number of 

 sciaenids per hour of trawling is shown in 

 figure 3 (also in figures 4 and 5, which cover 

 the individual areas). 



In every month of the year the sciaenids 

 were taken in greater numbers than were all 

 other families of fish combined. The yearly 

 average for all species combined was about 

 1,600 fish per hour of trawling, of which nearly 

 1,200 were Sciaenidae--or 3 of every 4 fish 

 taken. 



Families 



Ten families of fish each represented 1 

 percent or more of the yearly average catch 

 for the region and together contributed almost 

 98 percent of all fish taken- -ranging from 

 about 97 to 99 percent in the separate areas 

 (table 9). 



Four of these families (Sciaenidae, 

 Carangidae, Ariidae, and Bothidae) each re- 

 presented 3 percent or more of the yearly 

 average catch for the region and the greatest 

 numbers of fish per hour of trawling. Together, 

 fishes of these four families contributed 1,420 

 of the 1,633 yearly average number per hour 

 of trawling, or almost 87 percent of the yearly 

 average catch for the region. 



REGION (ALL AREAS COMBINED) 



For all species combined, the monthly 

 average number of fish per hour of trawling 

 had a large seasonal variation (fig. 3). From 

 a low of just over 900 fishper hour in February 

 and March, the number rose to 1,000 to 1,200 

 during April, May, and June; increased rapidly 

 during summer and early fall to a peak in 

 November and December at 2,700 to 2,800 



Sciaenidae . --The yearly average catch of 

 croakers for the region was 1,191 per hour of 

 trawling, representing 73.0 percent of the total 

 catch. They were most abundant in Florida 

 Outside at 1,962 per hour of trawling and 72 

 percent of the catch; next in South Carolina 

 Outside, 1,730 per hour of trawling and 83 

 percent of the catch; then Georgia Inside, 

 1,096 per hour of trawling and 73 percent of 

 the catch; and least abundant in Georgia 



