AGE AND SIZE COMPOSITION OF THE MENHADEN CATCH ALONG THE 



ATLANTIC COAST OF THE UNITED STATES, 1956 



With a Brief Review of the Commercial Fishery 



by 

 Fred C. June and John W. Reintjes 



U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 Beaufort, North Carolina 



ABSTRACT 



The 1956 catch of Atlantic menhaden ( Brevoortia tyrannus) amounted to 766,000 tons. 

 Apparent abundance, as measured by catch per puise -seine set, was highest in the North Atlan- 

 tic Area and lowest in Chesapeake Bay. Geographical distribution of fishing effort is shown. 



Samples for age, size, and sex determinations were obtained from the purse -seine and 

 pound -net catches landed from Femandina Beach, Florida, to Portland, Maine. Age composi- 

 tion showed that the 1955 years class (age-1 fish) accounted for more than half of the total catch. 

 This year class dominated the summer catches in the South Atlantic and Chesapeake Bay Areas 

 as well as the fall catches in North. Carolina, while the 1954 year class (age -2 fish) dominated 

 in the Middle Atlantic Area, and the 1951 year class {age-5 fish) dominated in the North Atlantic 

 Area. Fish of the dominant year class in each of these areas were smaller in 1956 than in the 

 previous year. 



INTRODUCTION 



From its beginning, in about 1850, 

 the menhaden fishery along the Atlantic 

 coast of the United States has ranked as 

 one of the leading fishing industries in 

 the Western Hemisphere. As in most marine 

 fisheries, there have been tremendous vari- 

 ations in yield. The catch in one area of 

 the coEist has often differed markedly from 

 that in other areas in the same season, and 

 periods of coastwise abundance have been 

 followed by periods of scarcity. Fluctua- 

 tions in the abundcuice of fish have become 

 one of the major problems confronting the 

 menhaden industry. 



In 1955 an investigation of the biol- 

 ogy of the Atltintic menhaden ( Brevoortia 

 tyrannus ) and of the menhaden fishery of 

 the Atlantic coast was undertaken by the 

 Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, U. S. Fish 

 and Wildlife Service, in order to determine 

 the effects both of fishing and of natural 

 factors on the resource eind the extent to 



which fluctuations in the catch may be 

 predicted. V During the 1955-56 the major 

 effort has been concerned with sampling of 

 the commercial catches for the purpose of 

 investigating the relation of size and age 

 composition to fluctuations in the catch. 



The purpose of this series of reports, 

 of which this is the second, is to document 

 the events in the fishery and to place on 

 record the data resulting from the coast- 

 wise catch sampling program. Except to 

 point out certain outstanding features, no 

 attempt has been made to analyze or inter- 

 pret the data. The report summarizes the 

 age, length, weight, and sex composition 

 of samples taken from the purse-seine and 

 pound-net catches of Atlantic menhaden in 



2/ "Age and size composition of th^ menhaden catrh 

 along the Atlantic coast of the United States, 1952- 

 55, with a brief review of tiie commercial fishery, " 

 by Fred C. June and John W. Reintjes. U. S. Fish 

 and Wildlife Service, Special Scientific Report — 

 Fisheries No. 317, August 1959, 65 pp. 



