AGE AND SIZE COMPOSITION OF THE MENHADEN CATCH ALCNG THE 

 ATIANTIC COAST OF THE UNITED STATES, 1952-55; WITH 

 A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE COMMERCIAL FISHERY 



by 



Fred C. June and John W. Reintjes 

 U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 Beaufort, North Carolina 



ABSTRACT 



Included are a brief description of menhaden purse-seine fishing gear, methods, and 

 seasons; a summary of the major features of the 1955 Atlantic Coast purse -seine fishery; a 

 description and analysis of the methods of sampling the catches; and tabular data resulting from 

 the catch -sampling program. Measurements of the catch of Atlantic menhaden (Breyoortia 

 tyrannus) , apparent abundance, and total fishing effort showed considerable variation in differ- 

 ent areas of the coast in 1955, with highest apparent abundance encountered on the North Caro- 

 lina fall fishing grounds. Age, length, and weight composition of samples from the catches 

 from 1952 through 1955 revealed the presence of a dominant year class in the fishery and estab- 

 lished that different age and size groups support the catches in different areas along the coast; 

 in summer, younger, smaller fish were found to occur in southern waters, and older, larger 

 fish, farther northward. All age and size groups were shown to be represented in the fall fishery 

 off North Carolina. 



INTRODUCTION 



The menhaden fishery along the Atlantic 

 coast of the United States ranks as one of 

 the leading fisheries in the world. Within 

 the past decade, annual production has near- 

 ly doubled, reaching a peak over 700,000 

 tons in 1955. Despite this phenomenal rise 

 in total yield, there have been marked 

 seasonal variations in the catches in the 

 various areas along the coast, and seasons 

 of increased abundance in certain localities 

 have been followed by several years of poor 

 fishing. Downwcird fluctuations and periods 

 of scarcity have had adverse economic ef- 

 fects in certain localities and generally 

 have been viewed with alarm by the menhaden 

 industry. To investigate and, if possible, 

 to forecast these fluctuations, a program 

 of research was undertaken by the U. S. Fish 

 and Wildlife Service in 1955. The coastwise 

 program was tin expansion of a preliminary 

 study of the biology of the Atlantic menha- 

 den ( Brevoortia tyrsinnus ) initiated in 1952. 



One of the major activities of the 

 research progrzun is concerned with sampling 

 the commercial catches. The immediate 

 objective of this work is to determine the 

 relation between changes in size and age 

 composition and fluctuations in the catch. 

 The data obtained also furnish information 

 on growth, migrations, mortality rates, and 

 sexual development of the fish. 



This report presents the methods and 

 results of sampling the Atlantic menhaden 

 fishery from 1952 through 1955. In addi- 

 tion, information on purse-seine fishing 

 gear, methods, seasons, and locations, 

 together with a summeiry of the salient 

 features of the 1955 purse-seine fishery 

 are given to provide a background for the 

 conduct of the sampling program. Little 

 attempt has been made in this report to 

 offer detailed expljuiations or hypotheses 

 for certain findings, except to point out 

 some of the more outstanding features shown 

 by the data. 



