SOURCES OF DATA 



The catch analyses were based on data 

 consisting of records of deliveries to the land- 

 ing docks of wholesale fish dealers and process- 

 ing plants . Except for the offshore otter trawl 

 and scallop dredge, fishing takes place on 

 grounds located within a short distance of the 

 landing dock or plant; each record entry of a 

 vessel's landing, therefore, normally repre- 

 sents a single day's catch. Records of the 

 menhaden purse seine fishery are complete for 

 the period covered. Some of the earlier records 

 of foodfish landings were unavailable due to loss 

 or inaccessibility. Records of otter trawl fish- 

 ing are about 50 percent complete for 1946 and 

 1947. In subsequent years, greater amounts 

 of data were available . About 90 percent of 

 the landing records of the inshore fleet were 

 available by 1950 and 98 percent of the offshore 

 landings by 1951. Complete data were impos- 

 sible to obtain because some docks merely 

 record financial transactions respecting fish 

 landings.. 



In the menhaden purse seine, otter trawl, 

 and surf clam dredge fisheries, data on fishing 

 areas were obtained from logbooks issued to 

 the fishing captains . They were requested to 

 keep a detailed record of the number of sets or 

 tows, location, and estimated catch for each 

 day's fishing. In addition, menhaden captains 

 were asked the location of each set and whether 

 they were searching for fish or not fishing on 

 days when no catch was recorded. Logbook 

 records were available for approximately 70 

 percent of the menhaden fishery in 1952 and 

 over 60 percent in 1953 . Otter trawl logbook 

 records were available for approximately 65 

 percent of the inshore fleet and 50 percent of 

 the resident offshore fleet in 1952 and 1953. 

 Surf clam logbook entries were available for 

 83 percent of the fleet in 1952 and 72 percent 

 in 1953. Data for 1952 cover the period May 

 through December only. 



For the remainder of the commercial 

 fisheries, amounts of gear fished, fishing 

 grounds, and other detailed information not on 

 the landing receipts were obtained from inter- 

 views with individual fishermen. 



Surveys of the sport fishery were con- 

 ducted by three separate agencies. The survey 

 of the Ocean City, Maryland sport fishery was 

 conducted by the authors. The Delaware survey 

 was endorsed by the Fish and Wildlife Service 

 with funds provided by the Dingell -Johnson Act 

 and conducted by staff members of the Marine 

 Laboratory, University of Delaware . The re- 

 sults herein presented have been extracted from 

 published reports of that laboratory (Cronin, 

 et_aL 1952, 1954, and Daiber, 1954). The New 

 Jersey sport fishing survey, similarly was 

 sponsored by Dingell -Johnson funds and conducted 

 by the Division of Fish and Game of that state. 

 The results discussed herein are from that 

 agency's files and published reports (Younger 

 and Hamer, 1953, 1954a, and 1954b) . 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



Many persons have contributed to this 

 report. The hundreds of fishermen who willing- 

 ly kept daily accounts of their fishing activities, 

 the dock owners who went to great lengths to make 

 available their catch records, the cannery and 

 processing plant operators who provided catch 

 records and assisted in making the fishing log- 

 book system a success --to all these the authors 

 gratefully extend their thanks . 



The cooperation of the University of 

 Delaware Marine Laboratory, in providing data 

 respecting the sport and otter trawl fisheries of 

 that state, is acknowledged. The New Jersey 

 Division of Fish and Game furnished data on the 

 sport fishery of that state. The Maryland De- 

 partment of Research and Education provided 

 detailed catch records of the commercial fish- 

 eries of Ocean City, Maryland. 



Mr. Russel Soulen, Market News 

 Specialist of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 furnished certain detailed data which otherwise 

 would have been unavailable to us. 



MENHADEN PURSE SEINE FISHERY 



Within the past decade, the fishery for 

 menhaden in the western Atlantic Ocean and the 

 Gulf of Mexico has become the leading fishing 

 industry of the United States in terms of pro- 

 duction. In 1953, the total yield amounted to 



