(1953 year class) constituted over one-third 

 of the catch. Also of significance was the 

 continued influence on the catch of the 

 strong 1951 year class (age 5) which fur- 

 nished 151 million fish in 1956, or about 

 half its contribution at age 4 in 1955. For 

 three successive seasons (1952-54) this year 

 class provided the bulk of the Middle At- 

 lantic catch (June andReintjes, op. cit.). 

 In addition to its unknown contributions in 

 other areas prior to 1955, it also supported 

 the North Atlantic fishery in 1954 and 1955 

 and continued to dominate the catch in that 

 area in 1956. This year class was nearly 

 3 times as numerous in the fall catches off 

 the North Carolina coast in 1956 as in 1955, 

 although fishing effort was much greater in 

 1956. The impact of this year class on the 

 1956 catch is perhaps even more evident from 

 the fact that it accounted for over 50 per- 

 cent of the total tonnage landed in the 

 North Atlantic Area and over 40 percent of 

 that landed in the North Carolina fall fish- 

 ery. It appears that this year class has 

 now been reduced to a level where it can no 

 longer be expected to make important contri- 

 butions in the future. 



The percentage age composition of 

 samples (based on number of fish) from the 

 purse-seine catches in each major area 1956 

 is shown in figure 5, and the age conposi- 

 tion as estimated for the commercial catch 

 is given in table 4 for 1955 and 1956. 



Age-1 fish (1955 year class) supported 

 virtually the entire summer fishery in both 

 the South Atlantic and Chesapealce Bay Areas 

 in 1956, whereas in the previous year, age- 

 2 fish (1953 year class) were much more 

 numerous in the catches in both areas, par- 

 ticularly in Chesapeake Bay. Although the 

 1954 year class (age 2) was poorly repre- 

 sented in both areas in 1956, it occurred 

 in abundance in the Middle Atlantic where 



100 



75 





SOUTH ATLANTIC AREA 



50 - 

 25 — 



I 



CHESAPEAKE BAY AREA 



M 



MIDDLE ATLANTIC AREA 



NORTH ATLANTIC AREA 



io 



NORTH CAROLINA 

 FALL Fl SHERY 



9 10 



12 3 4 5 6 7 



AGE 

 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 

 YEAR CLASS 



Figure 5. — Age composition of menhaden samples from 

 purse-seine catches, 1956. 



it accounted for almos 

 catch. The 1953 (age 

 year classes also made 

 t ions to the catches i 

 Area. Older year clas 

 sent from the catches 

 the summer, but in lat 

 tial bodies of large f 

 em Long Island waters 



t two-thirds of the 

 3) and 1955 (age 1) 



i iportant contribu- 

 n the Middle Atlantic 

 ses were largely ab- 

 in this area through 

 e September substan- 

 ish moved into south- 

 , and during the 



Table 3. --Age composition of samples from purse-seine catches, 1955-56 



