TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Page 



Int r oduc ti on '■ 



The 1957 purse-seine fishery 2 



South Atlantic Area 4 



Chesapeake Bay Area 4 



Middle Atlantic Area 5 



North Atlantic Area 5 



North Carolina fall fishery 6 



Distribution of fishing effort ^ 



Sampling of the catch ' 



Age c ompos iti on ° 



Length composition ^^ 



Weight c ompos iti on '■^ 



Average length and weight ^5 



Discussion ^' 



Summary ^" 



Literature cited 



20 



Appendix ^^ 



FIGURES 



Frontispiece: "Power blocks" in operation during menhaden purse -seine 

 fishing. Part of the net is hauled aboard each seine -boat until the fish 

 are closely confined in the bunt. 



1. Areas used in summarizing Atlantic menhaden catch data 2 



2. Distribution of fishing effort in the South Atlantic Area, 1957 ^ 



3. Distribution of fishing effort in the Chesapeake Bay and Middle Atlantic 



Areas, 1957 "^ 



4. Distribution of fishing effort in the North Atlantic Area, 1957 ^ 



5. Age composition of purse-seine catches, 1957 ' 



6. Length composition of samples from purse-seine catches, 1957 ^2 



7. Length frequencies of males and females in samples from purse -seine 



catches, 1957 12 



8. Weight composition of samples from purse-seine catches, 1957 15 



TABLES 



1. Catch, total fishing effort, and catch per unit of effort, Atlantic nien- 



haden purse-seine fishery, 1957 ^ 



2. Number of samples taken from purse-seine catches, 1957 ° 



3. Age connposition (in percent) and calculated number offish (in millions) 



at each age in purse-seine catches, 1955-57 



4. Age composition (in percent) of purse -seine catches, by area and sea- 



son, 1955-57 



5. Calculated number of fish (in millions) at each age in purse-seine 



catches, by area and season, 1955-57 ^^ 



6. Age composition (in percent) of purse -seine catches in the Middle 



Atlantic Area, by month, 1957 H 



7. Sex ratio of fish in purse-seine catches, by area and season, 1957 13 



8. Length frequencies of males and females in samples from purse-seine 



catches, 1957 14 



iii 



8 

 10 



