about 172 nun. The curve for Chesapeake Bay 

 shows two prominent modes, one at 202 mm., 

 and the second at roughly 242 mm. In the 

 Middle Atlzmtic the dominant mode appears 

 at 278 mm., while in the North Atlantic, it 

 occurs at roughly 302 mm. The length fre- 

 quency distribution for the North Carolina 

 fall fishery, in general, shows the presence 

 of most of the size groups represented in 

 the summer catches north of Cape Hatteras, 

 thus demonstrating the southward migration 

 of fish in the fall. The appearance of 

 a new mode, at about 115 mm., represents 

 young-of-the-year fish (age 0) which emi- 

 grated from estuarine nursery areas cuid 

 appeared in the catch for the first time in 

 large numbers. 



Comparison of the average lengths and 

 weights of fish in 1955 (Appendix tables 

 31-37) indicates that fish from the northern 

 end of the range were larger and heavier at 

 each atge than those from the southern end 

 of the range. Fish from the central part 

 of the range were intermediate in average 

 length and weight between the northern and 

 southern areas. The data for all years 

 further show that females were larger smd 

 heavier at older ages than the males, while 

 at younger ages the males were slightly 

 larger and heavier, although the difference 

 was slight. Furthermore, the difference in 

 average length and weight between the sexes 

 was much greater in northern waters than in 

 southern waters. 



Comparison of the average length and 

 weight of individual year classes at dif- 

 ferent ages is furnished in the following 

 tiibulation based on samples from the Middle 



Antlantic purse-seine catches from 1952 

 through 1955 (see also Appendix tables 27- 

 29 and 33). The dominant 1951 year class 

 is underscored. The data show rather marked 

 variation in average length euid weight of 

 fish of comparable age in the different 

 years. The most striking feature, however, 

 is that in every year, fish of the 1951 year 

 class averaged lighter than those of adja- 

 cent yecir classes. A similar trend is 

 evident in the North Atlantic Area in 1954 

 (Appendix table 30) and 1955 (Appendix table 

 34) as shown by the following tabulation: 



SUMMARY 



1. A description of the menhaden fishing 

 gear, methods, and seasons, is given. 



2. Grounds most heavily fished along the 

 Atlantic coast in 1955 were (1) off 

 Cape Lookout, (2) Chesapeake Bay, (3) 

 along the coast of Maryland, Delaware, 

 and New Jersey, (4) Delaware Bay, (5) 

 southern Long Island waters, and (6) 

 Massachusetts Bay. 



3. The 1955 catch of Atlantic menhaden 

 ( Brevoortia tyr annus ) junounted to 

 701,000, of which 685,000 tons were 

 taken by purse seines. 



4. Apparent abundance (catch per purse- 

 seine set) was highest on the North 

 Carolina fall fishing grounds (38.7 

 tons) and lowest in South Atlantic 

 waters (18.8 tons) during the summer 

 season. 



5. Methods of sampling the catch are 

 described. 



6. Age composition of samples taken from 

 purse-seine catches showed that the 

 1951 year class dominated the Middle 

 Atlantic Area from 1952 through 1954 

 juid also comprised the bulk of the 

 catch in the North Atlantic in 1954. 



7. In 1955, the 1953 year class (age 2) 

 accounted for over one-third of the 

 entire Atlantic coast catch. The 1954 

 yesir class (age 1) constituted the 

 bulk of the summer catch in the South 



18 



