coast of Florida to the southern edge of the 

 Gulf of Maine, with practically all sets being 

 made inside the 100-fathom contour. As in 

 previous years, the greatest fishing activity 

 (200 sets or more) occurred in Chesapeake 

 Bay and waters northward to the southern 

 coast of Long Island. The number of sets in- 

 creased over that in 1958 along the coast of 

 northern Florida, southern Georgia, and Cape 

 Cod. In the latter locality, however, there were 

 fewer sets than in 1955 and 1956 and fishing 

 did not extend as far northward. The number of 

 sets in Delaware Bay was approximately the 

 same as in 1957 and 1958. 



SAMPLING OF THE CATCH 



Sampling methods employed in 1959 followed 

 those described by June and Reintjes (1959). 

 The number of samples taken at the different 

 locations is given in table 2. As in 1958, 



TABLE 2.--N\amber of samples of Atlantic 

 menhaden taken from purse seine catches, 

 1959 



Season and locality 



SUMMER FISHERY 



Femandina, Fla , 



Yonges Island, S.C....... 



Southport, N.C , 



Beaufort, N.C , 



Reedville, Va. .......... , 



Lewes, Del......... , 



Wildwood, N.J...... , 



Port Monmoxith, N.J , 



Amagansett, N.Y 



Samples 



Number 



55 



4 



31 



37 



203 



131 



107 



113 



134 



landings at Portland, Maine, were negligible, 

 and no sample was taken. Fishing was resumed 

 at Yonges Island, S.C., for the first time since 

 1955, but fishing was so sporadic that only 

 four samples were obtained. Thenumber of tons 

 of fish landed per sample taken was 722 for 

 the summer fishery and 1,569 for the North 

 Carolina fall fishery. 



Age Composition 



The percentage age composition and the 

 calculated numbers of fish at each age in the 

 purse seine catches from 1955 to 1959 are 

 listed in table 3. 



The record catch of 5.5 billion fish in 1959 

 was the result of an exceptionally strong year 

 class in 1958. Age-1 fish accounted for 74.7 

 percent of the catch, the highest percentage 

 for age-1 fish in the 5-year period. The 

 calculated number of age-1 fish in the catch 

 (4.1 billion) exceeded by over 2 billion the 

 previous record in 1956 (2.1 billion). The catch 

 of age-2 fish (1957 year class), in percent of 

 catch and total numbers, was the lowest in the 

 5-year period (0.9 billion), while the catch of 

 age-3 fish (1956 year class) was the highest 

 in the 5-year period (0.4 billion). In 1958, the 

 1956 year class, as age-2 fish, set a record 

 catch, both in numbers and percent of total 

 catch. The catch of age-0 fish was the small- 

 est in the 5-year period, due primarily to the 

 abstention of fishing on this age group during 

 the North Carolina fall fishery. 



The percentage age composition of the 

 catches in different areas for 1959 is shown 

 in figure 3 and listed in table 4. The calculated 

 numbers of fish in the different age groups are 

 listed in table 5. 



In the South Atlantic Area, the catch com- 

 prised only three age groups. Age-1 fish (1958 

 year class) ranked first (90.9 percent); age-2 

 fish (1957 year class), second (9.0 percent); 

 and age-3 fish (1956 year class), third (0.2 

 percent). In combined numbers of fish, the 

 catch almost equalled the recent record in 

 1956. 



The catch of 2.28 million fish in Chesapeake 

 Bay was almost twice the record in 1957. 

 Age-1 fish (1958 year class) accounted for 90.1 

 percent, and age-2 fish (1957 year class) for 

 9.0 percent of the catch. 



