only one season (1955), fishing occurred there 

 in October. In the Middle Atlantic Area, the 

 decrease in fishing usually did not occur until 

 September. In October, the distribution of 

 fishing closely resembled that in May. In 

 Chesapeake Bay, fishing remained intense 

 through September in contrast to a decrease 

 farther northward. This was the only area 

 north of Cape Hatteras, N, C, where fishing 

 occurred in November. 



Entry of fish into North Carolina coastal 

 waters was evident every autumn. The number 

 of sets in November and December approached 

 or exceeded that in any summer month for the 

 South Atlantic Area. In all seasons, fishing 

 occurred farther southward along the North 

 Carolina coast in December than in November. 

 Fishing terminated off Cape Lookout and Cape 

 Fear, which suggests an offshore movement of 

 fish. 



SUMMARY 



1. Compilation and analysis of the number and 

 location of purse seine sets recorded in 

 logbooks by vessel captains or pilots and 

 records of landings at reduction plants 

 during five fishing seasons, 1955-59, fur- 

 nished an estimate of the total number and 

 distribution of sets by purse seine vessels 

 for Atlantic menhaden (Brevoorlia tyrannus). 

 Knowledge of the number and distribution 

 of purse seine sets is essential for calcu- 

 lating measures of abundance and deter- 

 mining the effect of fishing on the popula- 

 tion. 



2. Since Atlantic menhaden occur and are 

 caught in discrete schools during the fish- 

 ing season, the purse seine set provides 

 a basic measure for use in calculating 

 fishing effort. 



3. Catch information was obtained on 42 to 60 

 percent of the total seasonal landings. 

 Recorded sets were tabulated, by month 

 and fishing season, in unit areas of 10 

 minutes of latitude and 10 minutes of longi- 

 tude, and the total number of sets by all 

 vessels was computed. 



Total seasonal number of sets varied from 

 26,522 (1958) to 35,725 (1959). Between 81 

 and 84 percent of the seasonal total was 

 expended from June through September. 

 On the average, 45 percent of the total 

 number of sets during the five seasons 

 occurred in the Middle Atlantic Area; 26 

 percent in the Chesapeake Bay Area; 18 

 percent in the South Atlantic Area; and 11 

 percent in the North Atlantic Area. Grounds 

 heavily fished each season were (1) along 

 the New Jersey and southern Long Island 

 coasts, (2) lower Chesapeake Bay, and 

 (3) off Cape Lookout, N. C. Variations in 

 the number of sets in the different seasons, 

 months, and areas were noted. 



The number and distribution of sets were 

 used to infer movements of Atlantic men- 

 haden. A northward, coastal movement was 

 indicated in spring, followed by an apparent 

 reversal, beginning in August. Fish entered 

 the coastal waters of North Carolina in 

 November and disappeared by January. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENT 



Processing plant operators made their catch 

 records available, and some vessel captains 

 and pilots kept detailed logs of daily fishing 

 activities. 



LITERATURE CITED 



JUNE, FRED C. 



1961. Age and size composition of the 

 menhaden catch along the Atlantic coast 

 of the United States, 1957; with a brief 

 review of the commercial fishery. U.S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service, Special 

 Scientific Report — Fisheries No. 373, 

 39 p. 



JUNE, FRED C, and JOHN W. REINTJES. 

 1957. Survey of the ocean fisheries off 

 Delaware Bay. U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service, Special Scientific Report — 

 Fisheries No. 222, 55 p. 



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