INTRODUCTION 



One of the principal outdoor recreations offered by the New 

 York City area is "deep sea fishing." This excellent sport draws 

 many of the residents of the city time and again all season, while 

 visitors from the inland areas are justly eager to try fishing in 

 the ocean* 



The popularity of this marine sport fishing has come about 

 suddenly. Twenty years ago there were practically no facilities 

 for ocean sport fishing, but since that time a fleet of nearly 

 1,000 charter and party fishing boats has sprung up. Accordingly, 

 fishermen of small income can avail themselves of this sport. 



Problems have appeared in this new fishery. One of the prob- 

 lems concerns the competition exeraised between the sports fisher- 

 men and the long-established commercial industries for the same 

 fishing grovmds. Another very important problem of an industrial 

 nature that conflicts with the growth of this marine sport fishery 

 off the New York and New Jersey coast is the practice of disposing 

 factory-waste at sea. The sport fishery and the practice of dis- 

 posing waste at sea have expanded to the point where facts and 

 figures are required to evaluate the degree of conflict. 



TW-fl report, which is based on a survey of the sports 

 fisheries in the vicinity of New York City during 1948, has been 

 prepared to* (1) describe the value of the sports fisheries as a 

 basis for comparing it with the industries with which it conflicts; 

 (2) present data on fishing localities and seasons which can be 

 used to decide means of reducing the area of conflict between the 

 fisheries and the pollutants; and (3) bring together factual data 

 on the abundance of fish in the catch which will supplant the con- 

 flicting claims of fishermen. 



Many captains, boat owners, and other people have made the 

 present work possible through their cooperation and interest. 

 The authors of this report are particularly indebted to Mr. Harry 

 C» Stille, President, New Jersey Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs } 

 Captain Sam Goode, President, Manasquan River Charter Boatmen's 

 Assooiationj Captain Ed. Keefe, President, Brielle Party Boatmen's 

 Association} Captain Robert Pierpont, President, Wildwood and Cape 

 May Party Boatmen's Association; and Captain Carl Forsberg and Mr. 

 Frank Dormen of the Viking Fleet, Freeport, Long Island, 



Early in the 1948 sports fishing season, because no catoh 

 records had heretofore been collected, pilot-house logs were dis- 

 tributed to all party and charter boat operators who expressed a 

 desire and willingness to keep a daily account of their fishing 

 locality, number of fishermen, time fished, and catch by species in 

 numbers of fish. Approximately 150 of these logs were distributed* 



