species or groups of similar fishes, (3) value 

 of investment and catch, and (4) changes 

 occurring in fishing methods and equipment. 



The geographical area considered in- 

 cluded the ocean waters of the Atlantic 

 coast between Barnegat Lightship and Winter 

 Quarter Lightship, from the shore to the 

 100-fathom curve (fig. 1). The area deline- 

 ates the nornnal fishing range of commercial 

 and sport-fishing vessels operating out of 

 southern New Jersey, Delaware, and Mary- 

 land ports. 



o Tive Fothom Bonk U^itship 



Fsnwich Isle Shool 

 ; Isle of Wight Shool 

 t Oceon City Inlet 

 Greot Gull Bonti 



; Winter Quorler Shool 



o Winter Quarter Lightship 



Chincoteogue Inlet 



Figure l,--Major fishing ports and grounds 



Because recent estimates (1957) of the 

 replacement value of the various fishing 

 fleets closely approximated those given in 

 the previous report (June and Reintjes 

 1957), revised estimates are not given. The 

 value of the catch to the fishermen has not 

 been included in this report, but may be 

 obtained from reports published elsewhere 

 (Anderson and Power, 1956 and 1957; Power, 

 1958 and 1959). 



Many persons contributed to the sur- 

 vey--the hundreds of fishermen who will- 

 ingly kept daily accounts of their fishing 

 activities, the dock owners who made 



available their catch records, the cannery 

 and processing-plant operators who pro- 

 vided catch records and assisted in making 

 the fishing logbook system a success--to 

 all these the authors are grateful. The 

 cooperation of the personnel of the Univer- 

 sity of Delaware Marine Laboratory, the 

 New Jersey Division of Fish and Ganne,and 

 the Maryland Departnnent of Research and 

 Education is acknowledged. 



Robert M. Livingstone, Jr. and Roy N. 

 Vickery assisted in the collection and tabu- 

 lation of catch and logbook data. 



MAJOR COMMERCIAL FISHERIES 



The major commercial fisheries within 

 the survey area are (1) menhaden purse 

 seine, (2) otter trawl, (3) surf clam, and 

 (4) pot. The combined yield of these fish- 

 eries, in pounds or value, accounts for 

 over 99 percent of the fish production 

 within the area. Over 95 percent of the 

 catch, by weight, consists of Atlantic men- 

 haden which is processed into fish meal, 

 oil, and solubles.' Landings of the otter- 

 trawl fishery account for roughly 20 million 

 pounds annually. Most of the species taken 

 by this gear (fluke, porgy, weakfish, and 

 sea bass) are marketed fresh, either in the 

 round, or as fillets. The surf-clam fishery 

 ranks second in the production of fishery 

 products consumed directly by nnan. The 

 commercial production of surf clams for 

 canning purposes began in 1950, and ex- 

 pansion of this fishery has continued 

 through 1957. The pot fishery for sea bass, 

 although least in size among the major 

 fisheries, produces approximately 2 million 

 pounds annually for the fresh-fish market. 

 Excluding menhaden, these major commer- 

 cial fisheries contribute about 40 million 

 pounds of edible fishery products annually; 

 they supply most of the fresh fish mar- 

 keted in the metropolitan areas of the 

 Middle Atlantic States and nearly the entire 

 surf-clam production of the United States. 



OTTER-TRAWL FISHERY 



The otter-trawl fishery is comprised 

 of two resident fleets: (1) an inshore fleet 

 of small and medium- sized vessels, under 

 50 feet in length, which make daily trips to 



lA discussion of the menhaden purse-seine fishery is not 

 included in this report. Information concerning the fishery is 

 available in the published reports of the Menhaden Investiga- 

 tions, Beaufort, N. C. 



