fishing effort was expended in most 

 localities. Notable exceptions oc- 

 curred in Delaware Bay, Long Island 

 Sound, Cape Cod Bay, and the northern 

 Gulf of Maine in 1956. 



SAMPLING OF THE COMMERCIAL 

 CATCHES 



The sampling procedure essen- 

 tially consisted of taking 100-fish 

 samples from randomly selected purse- 

 seine and pound-net catches. The 

 fork lengths of the fish in each sam- 

 ple were measured; in addition every 

 fifth fish was weighed, sexed, and 

 scales were removed for subsequent 

 age determination. Further details 

 concerning the sampling procedure and 

 methods of treating the data are given in 

 the previous report (June and Reintjes, op. 

 cit.). Methods of age determination and 

 analysis follow those given by June and 

 Roithraayr — . The number of samples taken 

 at the various locations during the 1956 

 season is given in table 2, with comparable 



2j "Determining Age of Atlantic Menhaden From Their 

 Scales. " by Fred C. June and Charles M. Roithmayr. 

 U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fish. Bull. 171, vol. 

 60: 323-342. 



Figure 4. — Distribution of purse-seine sets in the 

 North Atlantic Area, 1956. 



Table 2 Number of samples taken from commercial catches 



at various locations In 1956 



(Data for 1955 are given In parentheses) 



Locality 



Pernandina Beach, Fla . . 

 Yonges Island, S. C. . . 



Southport, N. C 



Beaufort, N. C. (Summer) 

 North Carolina (Fall) . 



Reedvllle, Va 



Lewes, Del 



Port Monmouth, N.J. . . 

 New Jersey - southern 



Long Island coasts . . 

 Amagansett, N. Y. ... 

 Gloucester, Mass. . . . 

 Portland, Me 



Total. 



Number of samples 



Purse-seine 



106^ 



29 



71 



68 

 lUo 

 lt3 

 lit? 



129 

 52 



11 



(27) 

 (23) 

 (3l») 

 (67) 

 (65) 

 (139) 

 (U-9) 

 (138) 



(92) 

 (23) 

 (28) 



(755) 



Pound- net . 

 and other"/ 



(12) 



(20) 



(2) 



79 (22) 



loE (56) 



Total 



106 



27) 

 .23) 

 29 (3't) 



71 

 68 



(67) 

 (77) 



169 (159) 

 IU3 (121) 

 II17 (136) 



79 



129 



52 



11 



(22) 

 (92) 

 (23) 

 (25) 



l.ooit (811) 



1/ Includes gill nets and haul seines . 

 2/ No commercial fishery. 



data for 1955 shown in parentheses. 



Age Composition 



The percentage age composition of the 

 commercial catch as estimated from samples 

 (based on number of fish) from the 1956 

 Atlantic coast purse-seine catches, together 

 with the calculated number of fish at each 

 age are summarized in table 3. Conparable 

 data for 1955 also are given. 



The most striking feature of the age 

 composition in 1956 was the dominance of 

 the 1955 year class (age 1) which accounted 

 for well over one-half of the total purse- 

 seine catch. In calculated number of fish, 

 it contributed an estimated 2.07 billion 

 individuals, or about 3 times as many as 

 that of the previous year class at age 1 in 

 1955. The potential size of the 1955 year 

 class was suggested during the closing weeks 

 of the 1955 fall fishing season in North 

 Carolina when, at age 0, it produced a catch 

 of over 30,000 tons, and its estimated con- 

 tribution amounted to over 742 million fish. 

 It appears, therefore, that this is a fairly 

 strong year class. 



It is also noted that the 1954 year 

 class contributed a greater number of fish 

 to the catch at age 2 in 1956 (25.99 mil- 

 lion) than at age 1 in 1955 (20.68 million). 

 If the 1955 year class follows this same 

 pattern, it could be expected to contribute 

 substantially to the catch in 1957. Age-2 

 fish (1954 year class) accounted for one- 

 fourth of the total catch in 1956 whereas 

 in the previous year fish of the same age 



