followed this school as the fish moved south- 

 ward, but fishing was interrupted by stormy 

 weather, and the last catches were made on 

 December 8 off Bogue Inlet, N.C. A few catches 

 of young-of-the-year fish were made there- 

 after, but as in 1959 little effort was expended 

 on these smaller fish by vessels from Beaufort 

 and Morehead City, N.C. Vessels from South- 

 port, however, caught, these fish on several 

 days in early January, and while the tonnages 

 landed were relatively small, the number of 

 fish was actually quite large. 



The total catch was 68,000 tons, 23,000 

 tons less than that in the previous year and 

 8,000 less than the 5-year average 1955-59. 

 Bad weather was primarily responsible for the 

 smaller catch. 



Distribution of Purse Seine Sets 



The estimated numbers of purse seine sets 

 within 10-minute unit areas are shown in 

 figure 2, Fishing was distributed over sub- 

 stantially the same range as in previous years, 

 with most sets being made within the 20-fathom 

 contour between latitudes 30° N. and 43° N. 

 The greatest fishing activity occurred, as in 

 previous years, in Chesapeake Bay and in 

 coastal waters northward to Long Island. 



The major changes from previous years 

 included (l)an absence of fishing north of 

 Massachusetts Bay (fishing in this locality has 

 been decreasing since 1956), and (2) fewer sets 

 in waters lying between northern Florida and 

 southern North Carolina (this decrease in part 

 reflected the decrease in the number of ves- 

 sels in the fleet and the catch restrictions im- 

 posed at Fernandina Beach, Fla., but largely 

 resulted from a scarcity of fish from George- 

 town, S.C., to Wrightsville Beach, N.C). 



SAMPLING OF THE CATCH 



Sampling methods in 1960 were the same 

 as those described by June and Reintjes 

 (1959). The number of samples taken at each 

 plant location is given in table 2. No landings 

 were made at Portland, Maine, or Yonges 

 Island, S.C. The number of tons of fish landed 



Table 2. --Number of samples of Atlantic menhaden 

 taken from purse seine catches, 1960 



per sample was 797 for the summer fishery 

 and 1,115 for the North Carolina fall fishery. 



Age Composition 



The age composition (in percent) and the 

 calculated numbers of fish at each age in the 

 purse seine catches from 1955 to 1960 are 

 listed in table 3. 



The catch declined from a record 5.5 billion 

 fish in 1959 to 2.9 billion in 1960, the second 

 smallest in the 6-year period 1955-60. The 

 small number of fish resulted from the dis- 

 proportionate contribution by the unusually 

 strong 1958 year class, which dominated the 

 1960 fishery as 2-year olds, and from the 

 exceptionally poor contribution by the 1959 

 year class (age-1 fish). In 1959, age-1 fish 

 (1958 year class) accounted for 75 percent 

 of the catch and 4.1 billion fish, but in 1960, 

 age-1 fish (1959 year class) accounted for 

 only 24 percent of the catch and 0.7 billion 

 fish. The 1958 year class set a record in 

 1960 for the number of age-2 fish contributed, 

 with 1.9 billion. Age-4 fish (1956 year class) 



