The fish are caught in the inshore waters 

 principally by means of purse seines. A 

 small proportion of the catch (about 2 per- 

 cent) is taken by pound nets set expressly 

 for capturing migratory food species. Al- 

 though menhaden taken by the latter gear 

 usually are sold for bait, the spring "runs" 

 (in April and May) into the RaritcUi-Lower 

 New York Bay area and in Chesapeake Bay in 

 recent years have provided sufficient quan- 

 tities for reduction by plants located in 

 those areas. 



Vessels employed in the purse-seine 

 fishery range from about 85 to 152 feet in 

 length and from 75 to 358 gross tons. Each 

 vessel carries a purse seine, two 30-foot 

 purse boats, and a striker boat. The seines 

 range from about 175 to 200 fathoms in 

 length from 9 to 15 fathoms in depth, with 

 1 3/4 inch stretched mesh. Most vessels are 

 equipped with a radio telephone cuid echo- 

 sounder. Radar also is becoming standard 

 equipment on many vessels. Recent adoption 

 of a brine cooling system in the holds of 

 several vessels for preservation of the 

 catch has enabled fishing to be conducted 

 at greater distances from the processing 

 plants. 



On the fishing grounds the two purse 

 boats are towed together behind the "car- 

 rier" vessel, with half of the net in each 

 boat. Once the fish are located, a scout 

 in the striker boat maintains contact with 

 the school while the two purse boats ap- 

 proach the school. In setting the net, the 

 two purse boats separate and head in oppo- 

 site directions, each paying out its portion 

 of the net as it quickly completes a half- 

 circle around the school of fish. When the 

 two ends of the net are brought together, 

 the purse lines are run through a heavy lead 

 weight called a "tom" and secured to a 

 winch. The "tom" is dropped overboard and 

 closes off the bottom of the net as it rides 

 down the purse lines. When pursing is com- 

 pleted, the ends and bottom of the net are 

 hauled aboard the purse boats until the fish 

 are confined in the bunt between the two 

 purse boats. The recent introduction of 

 net-handling equipment, mounted in the purse 

 boats (fig. 2, p. 4), has somewhat reduced 

 the labor of the crew in drying up the net. 

 An average purse-seine set yields about 25 

 tons of fish; however, sets capturing up to 

 500 tons have been made. On most menhaden 

 vessels a fish pump is used for transferring 

 the catch from the net into the hold. 



There has been a considerable increase 

 in the efficiency of purse-seine fishing 

 in recent years through the use of airplanes 

 for locating the fish and directing the 

 setting of the net. Planes were first used 

 on a large scale about 1946 and gained an 

 impetus after 1951 when loud speakers, 

 mounted on the bottom of the plane, were 

 used by the pilots to direct the encircling 

 of the fish by the purse boats. Soon after, 

 walkie-talkie radios were installed in the 

 purse boats, thus enabling the pilot to 

 talk directly with the captain. This new 

 method of fishing has greatly reduced scout- 

 ing time and also opened up new fishing 

 areas by showing the presence of sub-surface 

 schools of fish in deep waters. 



Purse seining for menhaden is carried 

 on exclusively during daylight hours. The 

 vessels usually make daily runs to the fish- 

 ing grounds, landing the catches after dark 

 or when the hold has been filled. During 

 the fall months, when catches are running 

 light and loss from decomposition is negli- 

 gible, vessels occasionally may fish for 

 two consecutive days before returning to the 

 processing plants. 



Fishing Seasons in 

 Different Localities 



Menhaden generally are considered to 

 be surface-schooling fish; however, during 

 the late winter and early spring months, 

 they rarely are seen at the surface. During 

 April and May, there is a gradual influx of 

 fish into the inshore waters where they 

 congregate in dense schools. The seasonal 

 appearance of schools at the surface, there- 

 fore, is of fundamental importance in deter- 

 mining the beginning and end of purse-seine 

 fishing. 



The dates of first and last purse-seine 

 landings in each locality from 1952 through 

 1955 are given in tcible 1 (p. 5). Although 

 the dates vsiried slightly from yeeir to year, 

 it is evident that the length of the fishing 

 season in a given area of the coast tends to 

 remain rather constant. The schools usually 

 first appear in April near the southerly 

 end of the range and successively later far- 

 ther northward. By June the fish range from 

 northern Florida to the Gulf of Maine. In 

 September or October the schools begin to 

 disappear from the most northerly areas, and 

 withdrawal proceeds from north to south 

 during October. In November and December 



