40 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
monthly frequencies to a constant number. Thus the conditions in 
each locality are represented by 12 separate samples taken on four 
occasions in each month. 
The conclusions concerning the actual or total destruction of 
undersized fish, however, are subject to some criticism, from the fact 
that the total amount of the commercial yield at any time during the 
séason is unknown. It is presumed that the fishery has a normal 
cycle of abundance, reaching a maximum at some period and dying 
away toa final end. Since the sampling was uniform throughout the 
season and the results are not weighted according to the total yield, 
a distortion of facts would occur from overemphasizing the early and 
late parts of the season, when the yield is presumably smaller, and 
underemphasizing the middle part of the season, when the maximum 
yield is supposed to occur. There are no statistics in North Carolina 
that can be used to weight our figures according to the total yield, 
and since it was not feasible, because of conditions in the field, to col- 
lect these figures at the time of the investigation, it is impossible to 
estimate the magnitude of this error. The authors believe that this 
error is negligible, however, because of evidence based on records of the 
catch of pound-net fishermen at Gull Rock. The actual yield of three 
different crews was obtained throughout the entire season. Since the 
nets are fished irregularly in this locality daily yields could not be 
obtained, but a table of total yield during each weekly period from 
each of the three crews was constructed. (See table 1.) During the 
period from June 28 to October 31, when all three crews were working 
without interruption, the average weekly yield does not vary more 
than 1,000 pounds, ranging between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds. If this 
condition obtains throughout Pamlico Sound, it is likely that maxi- 
mum production is reached as early in the season as all the gear is 
installed and continues at a horizontal level until the removal of gear 
in early November. 
TABLE 1.—Pound-net catch of three fishermen at Gull Rock, N. C., in 1925, weekly 
totals of marketable fish 



| Crew Crew Crew 
Date Nou No. 2 No. 3 Total Average 
| 
Pounds | Pounds | Pounds | Pounds | Pounds 
LTC het ten es, Ps Sa a eee 1, 219 Vi a Oe a OS i lie ee 
DUNE awe eee 3 SA See 2, 483 453 ese 3, 000 || eee nee 
arise 7 BSS a 88 heey ose 8 Pg RE Shee See 2, 398 1, 065 244 Bia @ |e oe oe ees 
ATOR TTY Ae eee oe es oh ea ee | 4-478 2, 507 1, 650 8, 635 2, 878 
Sulysp Meee IL TS. ss OY ey ee dae 5, 126 2, 242 1, 812 9, 180 3, 060 
ASE IPSN en 2 2 RN eee a 3,077 1, 155 1, 673 5, 906 1, 969 
JU? DOSY SSS eee ee Sa Se NS oe 5, 200 1, 599 1, 818 | 8, 617 2, 872 
UVa Orel Uae) oo eee oe i dU oe fe ope ee ae 1, 828 1, 092 1, 657 5, 577 1, 859 
Aug. 2,400 | 6, 400 | 2,133 
2, 837 7, 537 2, 512 
2, 469 8, 845 2, 948 
3, 183 6, 363 2,121 
3, 372 8, 807 2, 936 
1, 052 5, 736 1, 912 
3, 110 7, 538 2,513 
3, 799 8, 546 2, 849 
3, 439 7, 808 2, 603 
2, 921 7, 443 2.481 
3, 701 8, 289 2, 763 
2, 605 7, 291 2, 430 
1, 810 3, 200 1, 067 
435 1,118: f Aes 
628 852, |= Ss see 
549 549 eee 
Total xp siete teed pene EE Lae ee 63; 596) | #1 9250285 |) upd BelG4) ee | ee 






