were concentrated in the lower part and in 

 waters just outside the mouth. Approxinnately 

 85 percent of the catch was from these locali- 

 ties. Fishing terminated on November 6. 



The purse seine catch was 130,000 tons, 

 18,000 tons greater than the 1960 catch, but 

 64,000 tons less than the record 1959 catch. 

 July landings accounted for 28 percent of the 

 catch, while June, September, August, October, 

 and May accounted for 25, 18, 16, 9, and 4 

 percent, respectively. 



Middle Atlantic Area 



Fishing began on May 16, when two vessels 

 from Lewes, Del., made catches off Hog 

 Island, Va. By May 31, the fleet comprised 

 21 boats from Lewes, 7 from Wildwood, N.J., 

 6 fronn Tuckerton, N.J., and 10 from Port 

 Monmouth, N.J. 



Fishing was good during May and early 

 June, large catches being made off the New 

 Jersey coast from Cape May to Atleintic 

 Highlands. Particularly dense concentrations 

 of fish occurred in the vicinity of Great Egg 

 Harbor Inlet. By the middle of June, fish be- 

 came less plentiful off the New Jersey coast, 

 and Lewes and Wildwood vessels shifted to 

 Delaware Bay and southward to Wachapreague 

 Inlet, Va. Except for short periods when fish 

 disappeared from some localities, fishing 

 through July and August was good from Dela- 

 ware Bay to Atlantic Highlands, N.J. In Sep- 

 tember, fish became relatively scarce and bad 

 weather hindered fishing. Schools of large fish 

 appeared in October off the southern Long 

 Island coast, and fair catches were made until 

 the season ended on October 19. 



The purse seine catch was 307,000 tons, 

 5,000 tons less than the mean for 1955-60. 

 July landings accounted for 33 percent of the 

 seasons catch, followed by August (26 per- 

 cent), June (18 percent), September (12 per- 

 cent), May (6 percent), andOctober (5 percent). 



North Atlantic Area 



Five vessels constituted the Point Judith, 

 R.I., fleet in 1961. One vessel began fishing 

 on May 24, two during the week of June 1, one 

 on June 21, and another on July 18. Except 

 for two catches on July 6 and two on Sep- 

 tennber 2 from Nantucket Sound, Mass., all 

 fishing through September 10 was conducted 

 in Narragansett Bay, R.I. Fishing from Sep- 

 tember 1 1 to 18 was confined to the vicinity of 

 Buzzards Bay, Mass. No catches were made 

 during the remainder of the month. Sporadic 

 catches were made in Gardiners Bay, N.Y., 

 from October 1 to 11. 



Five vessels, constituting the fleet fronn 

 Gloucester, Mass., fished intermittently fronn 

 June 13 to September 2. From June 1 3 to 18, 

 fair catches were taken fronn Narragansett 

 Bay. Although spotter pilots reported fish 



plentiful on the south shore of Nantucket 

 Island, Mass., on June 23, bad weather pre- 

 vented fishing. Fronn June 24 to 26, however, 

 two vessels made good catches in this area. 

 Except during the week of July 19, when 

 three vessels landed fish from Buzzards Bay, 

 no catches were made from June 27 to August 

 14. Fronn then until fishing terminated on 

 September 2, occasional catches were made 

 in Buzzards Bay and off Revere Beach auid 

 Martha's Vineyard, Mass. 



Ten vessels from Amagansett, N.Y., com- 

 menced fishing on June 5. Most of the catch 

 during June was taken fronn Narragansett Bay. 

 During July and August good catches were 

 made in Long Islaind auid Nantucket Sounds, 

 in Narragainsett Bay, and off the southern 

 shore of Long Island, N.Y., as far east as 

 Fire Island. Fish became scarce in September, 

 and during the last half of the month northeast 

 stornns and hurricane "Esther" hampered 

 fishing. Catches during the month were poor, 

 and nearly all were made in Long Island and 

 Nantucket Sounds. Fish appeared off the 

 southern shore of western Long Island in 

 early October, and good catches were made 

 until October 5. The fleet then shifted to the 

 western end of Long Island Sound, where 

 fish were relatively plentiful. The boats fol- 

 lowed these fish as they moved eastward and 

 finally disappeared in the vicinity of Gardiners 

 Island, N.Y., on October 13. From October 17 

 to October 20, when fishing stopped, scattered 

 catches were nnade from Gardiners Bay to 

 Barnegat, N.J. 



The catch in the North Atlantic was 55,000 

 tons, 15,000 tons less than the nnean for 1955- 

 60. August ranked first m percentage of the 

 season^ catch (36 percent), followed by July 

 (28 percent), September (14 percent), June 

 (13 percent), andOctober (9 percent). 



North Carolina Fall Fishery 



The fall fishery began November 13 and 

 ended January 9, 1962. Forty-one vessels 

 were engaged in the fishery. Until November 

 21, nearly all fishing was done between Cape 

 Lookout and Cape Hatteras, with only snnall 

 fish being caught. Large fish were spotted 

 off Rodanthe on November 17 and off Cape 

 Hatteras on November 20, but rough seas 

 prevented fishing. On November 21, large 

 fish were caught off New Topsail Inlet. For 

 the next 5 weeks, large fish were plentiful 

 between Cape Hatteras and New River, and 

 good catches were made when weather per- 

 mitted. During the first part of the season, 

 most schools occurred within 8 miles of 

 shore, in contrast to other years when they 

 were found up to 20 nniles or more offshore. 

 Large numbers of fish, easy accessibility of 

 the schools, and good weather combined to 

 give nearly all boats record catches. The 

 catch was 78,000 tons, 3,000 tons nnore than 



