their patrons had hooked large fish, played it for an hour or more, 

 only to lose the fish. Consequently, a substantial number of boats 

 returned to port with few, if any, large tuna. Catohes of tuna 

 frequently increased during periods of light to moderate winds, 

 and then dooreased suddenly after a good "blow." 



During the periods when both school ajid large tuna were un- 

 available, charter boat operators turned to fishing for bluefish, 

 bonito, albaooro, and skipjacks. Albacore were abiindant from early 

 August until October, while skipjacks were fairly ooimaon during 

 Augus t« 



!nie greatest number of charter boat trips was reported 

 during holiday periods ajid the months of August and September — the 

 traditional vacation months. Inclement weather, however, brought 

 an early end to the 1948 charter boat fishing season. By the first 

 of October, many operators, discouraged by high winds and cold, 

 rainy weather, began to lay their vessels up for the winter. Several 

 had already sailed for Florida and the winter sports fishing season 

 there, while others were preparing to do so. Those die-hard operators 

 who refused to give up on both the season and weather, were re- 

 warded by good fishing early in November when a large fall run of 

 mackerel appeared in the vicinity of Ambrose Lightship. 



Despite the failure of school tuna to appear inshore, the 

 relatively low catch of large tuna, and the unseasonable, inclement 

 weather during the latter part of September and October, the 1948 

 charter boat fishing season in the Middle Atlantic Bight was con- 

 sidered by most operators to have been an average season for most 

 species, and a better than aveirage season for bluefish. 



o. THE ABUNDANCE OF PREDOMINANT SPECIES IN THE 



1948 CHARTER BOAT CATCH 



An analysis of the catch-per-unit of effort for predominant 

 pelagic species, to determine their abundance during the 1948 

 charter boat fishing season from pilot-house log records and inter- 

 views, is presented in table 1. The table covers the five most 

 important species, and the catch in numbers of fish-per-trip and 

 fishermen. Only those trips whose total catch included 75 percent 

 or more of one species were considered. Thus, the trips used In 

 oalculating the abundsince were only those in which the species were 

 sought— and caught. 



