otter-trawl fishery was 16.9 million 

 pounds. The greatest annual production 

 occurred in 1954 when 21 million pounds 

 were reported for the area. 



Landings by the inshore fleet (table 1) 

 showed a recent peak in 1954 (9.5 million 

 pounds), while in 1956, in spite of an in- 

 crease in fleet size (due to the shifting of 

 vessels from surf-clam dredging to otter 

 trawling), the catch (5.4 million pounds) 

 reached its lowest level within a decade. 



Offshore otter-trawl landings during 

 the period fluctuated markedly (table 2). 

 The peak catch of 11.5 million pounds in 

 the 1953-54 season was over l\ times 

 that of the 1956-57 season (7.4 million 

 pounds). Partial records for the 1958-59 

 season suggested a record year, with nearly 

 7 million pounds landed through May. 



Offshore otter-trawl landings were 

 sunnmarized by calendar year in table 2 

 to afford a direct comparison with the 

 inshore otter-trawl landings. All other 

 compilations for the offshore fishery are 

 by fishing year, July-June (see tables 4 

 and 7 and fig. 5). 



Examination of tables 1 and 2 shows 

 that fluke, weakfish, and porgy, on the 

 average, accounted for about 69 percent 

 of the annual inshore landings, whereas 

 porgy, fluke, and sea bass constituted 



V-"\ / ^^^^^ 



1946 1947 1946 1949 1950 1951 (952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 



Figure 4.--Total catch, catch per boat-month, and fishing effort, 

 inshore otter-trawl fishery, 1946-57. 



FISHING SEASONS 



Figure 5.--Total catch, catch per boat-month, and fisliing effort, 

 offshore otter-trawl fishery, 194G-58. 



82 percent of the annual offshore catch 

 during the 4-year period. In certain years 

 (1954-55) whiting and croaker contributed 

 substantially to the landings of the inshore 

 otter-trawl fleet. In the offshore landings, 

 butterfish was the most important minor 

 species, averaging just under a million 

 pounds a year. Composition of the inshore 

 and offshore catches also shows the occur- 

 rence of two major species, fluke and 

 porgy. Of the two, fluke was of greater 

 importance, with highest landings made 

 in 1954 (6.5 million pounds) and the 

 smallest in 1957 (4.8 million pounds). 

 Combined landings of porgy also were 

 highest in 1954 (7.3 million pounds), but 

 lowest in 1956 (3.0 million pounds). 



The otter-trawl fishery is governed 

 largely by the apparent seasonal move- 

 ments of the principal species exploited. 

 Fluke, porgy, sea bass, and butterfish 

 are captured in the inshore waters from 

 late spring until early fall and in the 

 offshore waters, near the edge of the 

 Continental Shelf, during the intervening 

 colder months. Weakfish and croaker are 

 caught in greater numbers in middle 

 Atlantic waters in summer, while in early 

 spring and late fall, they appear in great- 

 est catchable concentrations from Dela- 

 ware Bay southward to the Carolinas. 



