final weeks of the season, the 1951 year 

 class (age 5) along accounted for nearly 

 one-half of the catch in numbers and over 

 three-fourths of the catch by weight. In 

 the previous year, at age 4, the 1951 year 

 class contributed to the catches in the 

 area through the entire season. 



The North Atlantic catch in 1956 con- 

 sisted primarily of the 1951 (age 5) and 

 1953 (age 3) year classes, with the 1951 

 year class dominating. Age-2 fish (1954 

 year class) were encountered in northern 

 waters in greater numbers than in the previ- 

 ous two seasons; however, the significance 

 of this finding is not yet known. There is 

 a striking similarity between the relative 



proportions of fish of age 3 through 6 in 

 the summer catch in North Atlantic waters 

 and in the fall catch in North Carolina, the 

 contribution of individual age groups in 

 the fall catch being roughly one-half that 

 in the northern summer catch. Among the 

 younger age groups represented in the North 

 Carolina fall fishery, the 1955 year class 

 (age 1) was most important, accounting for 

 about one-fourth of the total catch. The 

 contribution of age-0 fish (1956 year class) 

 was considerably less in 1956 than in the 

 previous year. Furthermore these small fish 

 did not appear on the North Carolina grounds 

 in appreciable numbers until early January. 

 Whether their reduced number in the fall 

 fishery presages a poor year class is not 



TalDle k. — Age composition of samples from purse-seine catches, liy area, 1955-56 

 (Numerically dominant year class underscored) 



