Table 21. --Species composition in numbers 

 of fish, Delaware surf fishery, 

 1952 



Species 



Bluefish 



Croaker 



Fluke 



King Whiting 



Sand perch 



Sea bass 



Spot 



Weakfish 



Trash* 



All others 



Percent 



2.5 



1.9 



4.5 



17.8 



5.1 



1.3 



3.8 



33.1 



26.7 



3.2 



*Principally skates, sharks, and sea robin. 



Neville (1942), and Buller and Spear (1948). 



The principal party boat fleets of southern 

 New Jersey are located at Atlantic City, Wild- 

 wood, and Cape May. A summary analysis of 

 the fishery for 1952 and 1953 is given in table 22. 

 A marked decrease in fleet size occurred in 1953, 

 accompanied by an apparent decline in the catch 

 per fisherman. Species composition of the catch 

 is summarized in table 23. In 1952, porgy and 

 sea bass accounted for about 96 percent of the 

 landings of this fleet. In 1953, however, fluke 

 contributed substantially to the catch . Whether 

 the decline in porgy landings in that year was 

 associated with an increased effort for fluke was 

 not determined. 



Table 22. --Summary analysis, southern New 

 Jersey party boat fishery, 1952-1953 



1952 



1953 



No survey of the surf fishery was con- 

 ducted during 1953. 



Survey data did not include the area of 

 capture for the party boat fishery in Delaware. 

 Interviews, however, have confirmed the in- 

 formation shown on figure 37. Certain localities 

 are fished more intensively than others. In 

 general, the waters between 2 and 15 miles off- 

 shore, particularly in the vicinity of shoals and 

 wrecks, are most heavily fished. Surf fishing 

 occurs along the beach . 



Southern New Jersey 



An inventory of the New Jersey salt- 

 water sport fishery was undertaken by the New 

 Jersey Division of Fish and Game in 1952 with 

 the objective of determining its biological and 

 economic importance. Data pertinent to the 

 present survey were made available by that agen- 

 cy. The portion of the New Jersey inventories 

 of interest in the present report include the surf, 

 party, and charter boat fisheries of southern 

 New Jersey from New Gretna, just north of At- 

 lantic City, to Cape May. 



Previous reports concerning the charter 

 and party boat fisheries of the region have been 

 published by Moore, etal.(1938), Westman and 



Table 23 . 



Species 



-Species composition in numbers of 

 fish, southern New Jersey party 

 boat fishery, 1952-1953 



Percent 

 1952 



Percent 

 1953 



The charter boat fishery of southern New 

 Jersey is relatively small, employing only 18 

 boats in 1952 and 16 in 1953. The charter boats 

 of southern New Jersey operate much like the 



49 



