accounted for a larger part of the catch than 

 in any year except 1955. as in previous years, 

 the catch included only a small percentage of 

 fish older than age 4, Age-0 fish (1960 year 

 class) constituted a slightly greater percentage 

 of the catch than in 1959 but generally less 

 than in prior years. 



The percentage age composition of the 

 catches in different areas for 1960 is shown 

 in figure 3 and listed in table 4, and the 

 calculated numbers of fish in the different 

 age groups is listed in table 5. 



The catch in the South Atlantic Area com- 

 prised fish of age through age 2, Age- 2 

 fish (1958 year class) constituted the largest 

 percentage of the catch for the second time 

 in the period 1955-60. The number of fish 

 caught was 399 million, about equal to that 

 in 1955, 1957, and 1958, but much smaller 

 than the 1.1 billion caught in both 1956 and 

 1959. In the latter 2 years, age-1 fish from 

 exceptionally strong year classes (1955 and 

 1958 year classes respectively) accounted for 

 most of the catch. 



In the Chesapeake Bay Area, age-2 fish 

 (1958 year class) constituted the largest per- 

 centage of the catch (82 percent) and age-1 

 fish the smallest percentage (18 percent) in 

 the 6 years beginning with 1955. The number 

 of fish (0.81 billion) was less than 1 billion 

 for the first time since 1956. 



In the Middle Atlantic Area, the catch also 

 was dominated by age-2 fish (1958 year class). 

 The number of age-2 fish (1.28 billion) was 

 the largest contributed by a single year class 

 in the 6-year period, 1955-60, but the numbers 

 of age-1 (13.6 million) and age-3 (16,6 million) 

 fish were the smallest in that period, Age-4 

 fish contributed 24.2 million, and all older 

 age groups 8.5 million. The entire catch of 

 1.3 billion fish was the third largest in the 

 6-year period. 



The trend towards dominance of the catch 

 by age-2 fish (1958 year class) continued in 

 the North Atlantic Area. This age group 



75 



50 



25 



75 



50 



25 



25 



25 



SOUTH ATLANTIC AREA ^ 



CHESAPEAKE BAY AREA _ 



■ 

 ^ ,5 _ ■ MIDDLE ATLANTIC AREA _ 



i I 



I 50 - ■ 



H NORTH > 



_liL 



ATLANTIC AREA 



NORTH CAROLINA 

 FALL FISHERY 



012 3456789 

 AGE 



1960 59 58 57 56 55 54 53 52 51 



YEAR CLASS 



Figure 3.--Age composition of Atlantic menhaden from 

 purse seine catches, 1960, 



