CATCH 



The annual catches of Atlantic menhaden 

 from 1940 through 1964, by fishing area, 

 are shown in figure 3. Catches were rela- 

 tively stable in the South Atlantic Area; 

 showed generally increasing trends in the 

 Cheasapeake Bay Area, and in the Middle 

 Atlantic and North Atlantic Area; and (prior 

 to 1963) were relatively stable in the North 

 Carolina fall fishery, except for an increase 

 in 1955 and decreases in 1962 and 1964. The 

 decline in the catches in the Middle Atlantic 

 and North Atlantic Areas in 1963 and 1964 

 is of deep concern to the fishing industry. 



FISHING INTENSITY BY AREA 



Fishing intensity, which also has a direct 

 effect on the magnitude of the catch, was 

 measured in terms of "standard vessel days" 2 , 

 calculated as follows: the capacity of a ves- 

 sel was accepted as the average of the 10 

 largest loads of fish landed by it (for all 

 years of its operation); the vessels were 

 classified according to capacity into 6 groups, 

 by 40-ton intervals (i.e., 141 to 180 tons, 

 181 to 220 tons, etc.); and the approximate 

 midpoint of the 221 to 260-ton group (240 

 tons) was used as a standard vessel. The 

 approximate midpoint capacity of each group 

 of vessels was divided by 240 to yield a factor 

 for the group, in terms of a standard vessel. 

 For convenience, whole numbers-- 160, 200, 

 240, etc., --were used for approximate mid- 

 points.) The vessel factor was multiplied by 

 the total number of days fished by vessels of 

 each group, and the sum of values for the 

 groups have the total number of standard 

 vessel days (figure 4). 



The pattern of fishing intensities is similar 

 to that of the catches shown in figure 3. In 

 general, the increased and decreased catches 

 accompanied increased and decreased fishing 

 intensities prior to 1963, as is normal in a 

 fishery. 



DROP IN CATCH PER STANDARD 

 VESSEL DAY AND TOTAL CATCH 



The close relation between fishing intensity 

 and catch changed after 1962. Although the 

 fishing intensities in the Chesapeake Bay 

 area have increased, the catch has not in- 

 creased proportionately. Fishing intensity in 

 this area in 1964 was about 50 percent greater 

 than in 1962, but the mean catch per standard 

 vessel day was only 96,000 pounds in 1964 



2 Changes in catch and effort In the Atlantic menhaden 

 fishery, 1940-62, by W. R. Nicholson. Unpublished manu- 

 script, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Com- 

 mercial Fisheries Biological Laboratory, Beaufort, N.C. 



compared to 165,000 pounds in 1962. Fishing 

 by area intensities in both the Middle Atlantic 

 and North Atlantic Areas decreased in 1 963 and 

 1964, but the catches decreased faster. The 

 mean catch per standard vessel day in the 

 Middle Atlantic Area was only 74,000 pounds 

 in 1964, compared with 156,000 in 1962; in 

 the North Atlantic Area it was only 110,000 

 pounds in 1964 and 164,000 in 1962. 



The marked declines in the production of 

 menhaden in the Middle Atlantic and North 

 Atlantic Areas are more apparent if only 

 the catches since 1955 are considered (figure 

 5). In the Middle Atlantic Area the annual catch 

 dropped from 862 million pounds in 1956 to 

 only 88 million in 1964--down 90 percent. In 

 the North Atlantic Area, the 1964 catch of 

 41 million pounds was down 83 percent from 

 the 1956 catch of 236 million pounds. In the 

 Chesapeake Bay area the 1964 catch of 296 

 million pounds was only average for recent 

 years, despite increased fishing intensity. 

 The catch of 86 million pounds in the North 

 Carolina fall fishery was down 39 percent 

 from 1963 (but up 48 percent from 1962). The 

 South Atlantic Area catch in 1964 was 103 

 million pounds, 13 million pounds above 1963 

 and the largest catch in this area since 1959. 



SHIFT OF FISHING EFFORT TO 

 DIFFERENT AREAS 



Another change since 1955 is the percentage 

 of the total catch of Atlantic menhaden made 

 in each of the fishing areas in the summer 

 fishery (figure 6). The North Carolina fall 

 fishery is not included in the analysis because 

 it takes place after the fishing in the other 

 four areas is finished. Prior to 1962 about 

 50 percent of the catch in the summer fishery 

 was made in the Middle Atlantic Area, but 

 this percentage began to decrease in 1962 

 and was only 17 percent in 1964. Conversely, 

 the percentage of the catch from the Chesa- 

 peake Bay Area increased from 28 percent 

 in 1962 to 56 percent in 1964. Thus, for the 

 first time since 1940, more menhaden were 

 caught in the Chesapeake Bay Area than in 

 any other area of the Atlantic fishery. The 

 increase in percentage of the catch from the 

 Chesapeake Bay Area is not surprising when 

 one considers the increased fishing intensity 

 in 1964 compared to 1962. Chesapeake Bay 

 was the only area with a higher fishing 

 intensity in 1964 than in 1963. 



In addition to changes in the percentage 

 of the total catch from each area, there have 

 been important changes in the percentage 

 contribution of different year classes to the 

 catches in the Chesapeake Bay and Middle 

 Atlantic Areas. Based on scale samples col- 

 lected from fish in the commercial catch, 

 the age composition of the catch, and the catch 

 from each year class are determined annually. 



