TABLE 8. --Mean fork length (in millimeters) of Atlantic mehaden at each age in samplee from 

 purse seine catches, by area and season, 1955-58 



[Most numerous age group underscored] 



Season, area and year 



Age group 



10 



Weighted 

 mean 



SUMMER FISHERY 



South Atlantic : 



1955 



1956 



1957 



1958 



Chesapeake Bay: 



1955 



1956 



1957 



1958 



Middle Atlantic : 



1955 



1956 



1957 



1958 



North Atlantic : 



1955 



1956 



1957 



1958 



FALL FISHERY 



North Carolina: 



1955 



1956 



1957 



1958 



128 



129 

 132 



152 



158 

 118 



123 

 118 

 129 

 116 



168 

 159 

 167 

 168 



199 

 187 

 180 

 189 



228 

 221 

 200 

 2U 



218 

 223 



209 

 182 

 181 

 202 



195 

 198 

 190 

 190 



236 

 222 

 221 

 213 



259 

 252 

 2-40 

 239 



277 

 277 

 266 

 255 



259 

 262 

 285 

 264 



208 

 2U 

 218 

 202 



244 

 293 

 223 

 230 



279 

 286 

 279 

 253 



287 

 290 

 292 

 292 



282 

 298 

 302 

 304 



212 

 224 



211 



251 



267 

 307 



290 

 302 

 309 

 300 



301 

 307 

 309 

 310 



304 

 308 

 314 

 315 



234 



242 



252 

 311 



300 

 311 

 314 

 313 



316 

 315 

 317 

 321 



317 

 312 

 319 

 324 



314 

 317 

 317 

 323 



323 

 322 

 321 

 328 



321 

 318 

 322 

 328 



333 



321 

 306 



330 

 328 

 322 

 330 



325 

 323 

 330 



310 

 332 

 324 



336 

 336 

 321 

 344 



338 

 334 



327 



347 

 340 

 332 



344 



177 

 160 

 180 

 175 



219 

 191 

 186 

 202 



274 

 264 

 240 

 239 



303 

 306 

 295 

 281 



215 

 253 

 269 

 244 



participate in the migration has been a matter 

 of conjecture. The fish congregate in large 

 schools, just prior to their disappearance from 

 the summer fishing grounds. Such large 

 schools, sometimes a mile or more in diameter, 

 appear off the coast of North Carolina in 

 November, usually in the vicinity of Cape 

 Hatteras, and disappear off Cape Fear in 

 December. 



Comparison of the length frequencies of the 

 major year classes contributing to the catch 

 just prior to the time the schools disappeared 

 from the summer fishing grounds in October 

 (data for the South Atlantic Area include late 

 September, since few fish were caught in 

 October in any year) with those of the same 

 year classes which occurred in the North Caro- 

 lina fall fishery in November and December, 

 reveals a striking pattern (upper five panels 

 of fig. 9 and table 10). In every year, the 



lengths of the major year classes in the end- 

 of- season catches in the areas north of Cape 

 Hatteras were represented in the North 

 C arolina fall fishery. Larger fish in the younger 

 age groups were not represented in the South 

 Atlantic Area prior to the fall fishery. In only 

 one year (1956) were fish in the October 

 catches in the South Atlantic Area identifiable 

 with a major length- age group (age 1) in the 

 fall fishery, and these were caught entirely off 

 Beaufort, prior to the appearance of the large 

 schools in the vicinity of Cape Hatteras (June 

 and Reintjes, 1960). 



There also was good agreement between the 

 relative strengths of major length-age groups 

 in the end-of- season catches in the different 

 areas (a reflection of abundance) and their 

 representation in the fall fishery. In 1955, for 

 example, age-4 (1951 year class) dominated in 

 the Middle and North Atlantic Areas and formed 



17 



