10. 



11. 



Atlantic in that ycEir, while successively 

 older age groups contributed to the 

 catch in each more northerly locality. 

 The 1955 year class (age 0) made an 

 outstanding contribution to the fall 

 fishery of the North Carolina coast. 



Length composition of samples taken 

 from the Middle Atljintic pound-net and 

 purse-seine catches from 1952 through 



1954 showed the growth and passage 

 through the fishery of the dominant 1951 

 year class. 



Length data for the entire coast in 



1955 revealed a progressive increase in 

 the size of fish comprising the catches 

 from south to north. Most of the size 

 groups which contributed to the summer 

 fishery north of Cape Hatteras were 

 represented in the fall catches off the 

 North Carolina coast. In addition, 

 young-of-the-year fish were represented 

 in the catches in the latter area. 



A comparison of the average lengths and 

 weights indicated that fish from the 

 northern end of the range were larger 

 and heavier at each cige than those from 

 the southern end. Fish from the central 

 part of the range were intermediate in 

 average length and weight between the 

 northern and southern areas. 



Female Atlantic menhaden were found to 

 be lenget and heavier at older ages than 

 the males, and this difference was 

 greatest in the northern sire as. 



LITERATURE CITED 



ANDERSON, ANDREW W. , AND EDWARD A. POWER 

 1957. Fishery statistics of the United 

 States, 1955. U, S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service, Statistical 

 Digest 41, 446 pp. 



JUNE, FRED C. , AND JOHN W. REINTJES 



1957. Survey of the ocean fisheries off 

 Delawcire Bay, U. S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service, Special Scien- 

 tific Report — Fisheries No. 222, 

 55 pp. 



McHUGH, J. LAURENCE, RAY T. OGLESBY, 

 AND ANTHONY L. PACHECO 

 1959. Length, weight, and age composi- 

 tion of the menhaden catch in 

 Virginia waters. Limnology and 

 Oceanography, vol. 4, No. 2, 

 pp. 145-162. 



ROUNSEFELL, GEORGE A. 



1948. Development of fishery statistics 

 in the North Atlantic. U. S. 



Fish and Wildlife Service, Spe- 

 cial Scientific Report No. 47, 

 27 pp. 



SNEDECOR, GEORGE W. 



1946. Statistical methods. Iowa State 

 College, Ames, Iowa. 422 pp. 



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