Chincoteague, Va., in Delaware Bay, and off 

 Cape May, N. J., when hurricane "Daisy" 

 interrupted fishing during the last week in 

 August. Following the hurricane, fishing was 

 productive in the central part of the area 

 through the third week in September. In the 

 following week, schools suddenly vanished from 

 most localities, and relatively few were seen 

 thereafter. From September 26 to the close 

 of the season on October 10, there were only 

 98 vessel landings, or an average of about 2 

 landings per vessel. For the first time in more 

 than 2 decades, large schools of older fish 

 failed to congregate along the southern Long 

 Island coast in late September and October. 

 The last catches of the season were made on 

 scattered schools off the western end of Long 

 Island. 



The catch in the area amounted to 232,000 

 tons, the smallest since 1952 when 184,000 

 tons were landed. In previous seasons, the 

 greatest share of the annual catch was taken in 

 August; in 1958, the peak production occurred 

 in September. Monthly catches were distrib- 

 uted as follows: May, 1 percent; June, 12 per- 

 cent; July, 27 percent; August, 28 percent; 

 September, 32 percent; and October, 1 percent. 

 Catch per set averaged 28 tons compared to 

 22 tons in the previous season. 



North Atlantic Area. — The first catch of the 

 season in the North Atlantic Area was made in 

 Narragansett Bay by a Point Judith, R. I., 

 vessel on June 5. During the ensuing week, a 

 second vessel from Point Judith began fishing 

 in Narragansett Bay, and a fleet of 10 vessels 

 from Amagansett, N. Y., began operating along 

 the southern coast of Long Island. Schools were 

 scarce in all localities, and landings through 

 the month were small and sporadic. Amagansett 

 vessels scouted for fish from western Long 

 Island Sound to Cape Cod, and in early July 

 they were joined by six vessels from Glou- 

 cester, Mass. The combined fleets found only a 

 few schools. There were no landings by the 

 Gloucester fleet until July 9, and only 12 

 landings were recorded at that port during the 

 month. Schools remained scarce throughout the 

 area during most of August. There were no 

 landings at Gloucester after August 20, and 

 later in the month, several of the Amagansett 

 vessels joined the fleet fishing out of Lewes, 



Del. During the first week in September, 

 schools of large, migrating fish appeared in 

 Long Island Sound and off the eastern end of 

 Long Island, and the heaviest catches of the 

 season were taken by the Amagansett fleet dur- 

 ing a 2-week period beginning September 15. 

 Stormy weather and the sporadic appearance of 

 the fish accounted for a small number of 

 landings during the first 2 weeks in October. 

 The last catches in this locality were taken on 

 October 14, while several additional catches 

 were made in Narragansett Bay by Point Judith 

 vessels during the following week. 



A total catch of 34,000 tons was less than 

 half that of the previous season. Ten percent 

 of the catch was taken in June, 22 percent in 

 July, 28 percent in August, 27 percent in 

 September, and 13 percent in October. Catch 

 per unit of effort averaged 21 tons, the smallest 

 in the past 4 seasons. 

 Fall Fishery 



The North Carolina fall fishery began earlier 

 and ended later than in the previous 3 seasons. 

 The first catches were made on an early run 

 of small fish which appeared off Beaufort Inlet 

 on October 28. During the following week, part 

 of the fleet intercepted several schools of large 

 fish which appeared off Ocracoke Inlet. Several 

 additional schools of large fish subsequently 

 appeared in this locality, and during the 2- 

 week period, November 9-22, approximately 

 19,000 tons were caught as the fish moved 

 slowly southward along the coast. Stormy 

 weather interrupted fishing during the follow- 

 ing week, and landings amounted to only 275 

 tons. Fishing resumed on December 1, and 

 landings for the week totaled 28,900 tons, 

 the heaviest of the season. During the ensuing 

 2 weeks, the fleet operated between Drum and 

 Beaufort Inlets, and weekly landings averaged 

 over 10,000 tons. Most of the vessels stopped 

 fishing by December 22. On January 7, five 

 vessels resumed fishing in the vicinity of Cape 

 Lookout, and except for 175 tons of large fish, 

 catches through the remainder c' the season 

 (January 27) consisted of young-of-the-year, 

 or age-O fish. The catch for the season totaled 

 78,000 tons, of which 26 percent was landed in 

 November, 68 percent in December, and 6 per- 

 cent in January. Average catch per set of 32 tons 

 was slightly less than that in the previous year. 



