The 24,545 purse seine sets' represented a 

 decrease of 22 percent from that in 1957. The 

 22,000 sets in the summer fishery were 27 

 percent less than in 1957 and were the lowest 

 in the past 4 seasons. The North Carolina 

 fall fishery had 2,438 sets, which was 65 per- 

 cent greater than in 1957. Average catch per 

 set was 22 tons in 1958 compared to 20 tons in 

 1957 and 26 tons in both 1956 and 1955. Catch 

 per set decreased in the South and North 

 Atlantic Areas and in the North Carolina fall 

 fishery, but increased in Chesapeake Bay and 

 the Middle Atlantic Areas. 



The purse seine fleet in 1958 was the 

 smallest in 4 years. There were 116 vessels in 

 the summer fishery and 61 in the North Carolina 

 fall fishery. 



Summer Fishery 



South Atlantic Area . — The first catches in 

 Florida waters were made off Fernandina 

 Beach, Fla., on May 5. By the end of the 

 following week, eight vessels were operating 

 in northern Florida waters, and landings during 

 the week of May 12-17, although small (631 

 tons), were the heaviest of the season. Through 

 the remainder of May and early June, fishing 

 by the Fernandina fleet extended from St. 

 Augustine, Fla., to Brunswick, Ga., but schools 

 were scarce and catches small. Four vessels 

 terminated fishing and were transferred to the 

 Gulf of Mexico fishery during the second week 

 in June. The remainder of the fleet continued 

 scouting from Daytona Beach, Fla., to Bruns- 

 wick, but few schools were found. By the end 

 of the month the entire fleet was tied up. 

 There were no landings in July. In August, 

 three Fernandina vessels were transferred to 

 Yonges Island, S. C, but only one landing was 

 made during the month by both the Fernandina 

 and Yonges Island fleets. There were six 

 landings in September and 12 in October. In 

 mid-November, the Fernandina fleet inter- 

 cepted migratory schools which were first 

 sighted in the vicinity of Brunswick. Catches 

 were small, however, and most of these were 



'Each set represents a single cast of the seine 

 around a single school of fish in which the whole or part 

 of the school was caught. 



mixed with yellow fin menhaden (Brewortia smlthi) 

 and Atlantic thread herring (Opisthonema 

 oglinum). Two landings on December 4 marked 

 the end of the poorest season in more than a 

 decade in this locality. 



The first catch in North Carolina waters 

 was taken in Core Sound on May 5 by a vessel 

 from Beaufort. During the following week, five 

 additional vessels began fishing in Core Sound 

 and in the waters west of Cape Lookout, but 

 catches were light. During the same week, 

 schools appeared in abundance off Cape Fear, 

 N. C, and a fleet of seven vessels began 

 operating from Southport, N. C. During the third 

 week in May, schools were numerous from the 

 mouth of the Cape Fear River to New Topsail 

 Inlet, and heavy landings were recorded for 

 the Southport fleet and by four vessels that were 

 added to the Beaufort fleet. Fishing continued 

 in this locality through mid-June, with large 

 catches recorded for all vessels. During the 

 third week in June, however, schools became 

 scarce, and the Southport fleet shifted to 

 South Carolina waters where numerous schools 

 were found from Winyah Bay to Myrtle Beach, 

 S. C. Fishing improved off the South Carolina 

 coast in early July, and landings reached a 

 peak for the season during the week of July 

 21-26 when more than 4,000 tons were caught 

 by the Southport fleet. During the following 

 week few fish could be found, and only 13 

 landings were made by Southport vessels 

 during August. Except for some scattered 

 catches in the vicinity of Cape Fear during 

 the first week in September and again during 

 the third week in October, few schools were 

 sighted in this locality during the remainder of 

 the summer season. Following the disappear- 

 ance of schools in the vicinity of Cape Fear in 

 late June, four of the large vessels in the 

 Beaufort fleet scouted as far northward as 

 Cape Hatteras, N. C, but few catches were 

 made. During this period, smaller vessels 

 operated in Core Sound, and productive fishir.g, 

 continued there through September. Several 

 large schools of migratory fish appeared off 

 Cape Lookout in mid-September, and heavy 

 landings were made as the vessels followed 

 the schools southward to the vicinity of Cape 

 Fear. This was the first time in the past 4 

 seasons that fishing was conducted in the 



