June, Fred C, and John W. Reintjes. 1957. 

 Survey of the ocean fisheries off Delaware 

 Bay. U.S. Fish Wildl. Spec. Sci. Rep. Fish. 

 222, 55 pp. 



McHugh, John L. 1969. Comparison of Pacific 

 sardine and Atlantic menhaden fisheries. 

 FiskDir. Skr. Ser. HavUnders. 15(3): 

 456-367. 



Nicholson, William R., and Joseph R. Higham, 

 Jr. 1965. Age and size composition of the 

 menhaden catch along the Atlantic coast of 

 the United States, 1962 with a brief review 

 of the commercial fishery. U.S. Fish Wildl. 

 Serv., Spec. Sci. Rep. Fish. 527, 24 pp. 



Reintjes, John W. 1969. Synopsis of biological 

 data on the Atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia 

 tyranniis. FAO Species Synopsis No. 42 

 (U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Circular 320), 30 pp. 



Ricker, W.E. 1958. Handbook of computations 

 for biological statistics of fish populations. 

 Fish. Res. Bd. Can. Bull. 119, 300 pp. 



Schaefer, M.B. 1967. Dynamics of the fishery 

 for the anchoveta Engraulis ringens, off 

 Peru. Bull. Inst, del Mar del Peru 1(5): 

 189-304. 



Sutherland, Doyle F. 1963. Variation in verte- 

 bral numbers of juvenile Atlantic menhaden. 

 U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Spec. Su. Rep. Fish. 

 435, 21 p. 



In the North Atlantic Area, the increase in 

 the average age from 1962 through 1964 was 

 due to the catch of large numbers of the 1958 

 year class as 4-, 5-, and 6-year-old fish coupled 

 with decreased abundance of younger age 

 groups. The virtual disappearance of this year 

 class from the catch in 1965 is reflected by the 

 sharp drop in average age. In the Middle 

 Atlantic Area, the 1958 year class contributed 

 significantly as 2-year-old fish in 1960, was 

 present in numbers through 1962, and subse- 

 quently was of relatively little importance. The 

 1958 year class contributed in significant 

 numbers as 1-year-old fish in 1959 to the 

 catches of both the Chesapeake Bay and South 

 Atlantic Areas, causing the average age of the 

 fish to decline. The average age fluctuated most 

 in the North Carolina fall fishery. 



The sudden drop in the percentage of the 

 catch less than 3 years old in 1961 (Fig. 7) 

 reflects the large catch of 3-year-old fish from 

 the 1958 year class. The contribution of the 

 1958 year class, which mainly reached maturi- 

 ty in late 1960, not only caused a drop in the 

 percentage catch of immature fish that year 

 but also resulted in an increase in the average 

 age of the catch from 1960-62. The relatively 

 low percentage of immature fish in the catch in 

 1955 (80%) reflects the presence of the strong 

 1951 year class, which was caught in relatively 

 large numbers in 1955 as 4-year-old fish. The 

 low average ages in 1955, 1957, 1964, 1965, 

 and 1966 reflect the relatively large catches of 

 0-age fish in those years. 



APPENDIX 



From 1955 through 1968 the average age of 

 menhaden in the annual catch in the North 

 Atlantic Area varied between 2.9 and 4.8 years 

 with a mean value for the 14 years of 3.7 years: 

 in the Middle Atlantic Area, between 1.5 and 

 3.2 years— mean of 2.3 years; in the Chesa- 

 peake Bay Area, between 1.1 and 1.8 years- 

 mean of 1.4 years; in the South Atlantic Area, 

 between 1.0 and 1.9 years— mean of 1.4 years, 

 and in the North Carolina fall fishery between 

 0.3 and 3.0 years— mean of 1.7 years. 



IVE046E WEIGHT 



E j i I G«»'i'S OUNCES 



Appendix Figure 1.— Weight frequencies of menhaden 

 in July, expressed as percentage deviation from aver- 

 age weight, Chesapeake Bay, 1955-68. 



25 



