FISHERIES OF PAMLICO AND CORE SOUNDS 4] 
Since no further refinement in the analysis of the data is feasible, 
and since, on the basis of this evidence, the yield of the fishery appears 
to be quite uniform, it is believed that the conclusions drawn are not 
unwarranted because of the possible error of the method. This view 
is further supported by the internal evidence of uniformity of the data; 
for it appears, as is shown in the following tables, that the important 
features of the data are consistent among themselves. 
COMPOSITION OF THE CATCH 
As indicated in a previous paragraph, the yield of the pound nets 
and long-haul seines in Pamlico and Core Sounds comprises more than 
three-fifths of the aquatic food produced in North Carolina, and the 
species that make up this great catch, in order of importance, are the 
sea trout, croakers, spots, starfish, and butterfish. This estimate of 
relative importance is based upon the total weight of each species 
landed in the markets annually; but, from the point of view of wise 
regulation of the fishery, the total amount of fish landed is of less 
significance than the amounts actually caught, and in this case the 
disparity between the two figures is surprisingly great, for a tremen- 
dous waste of immature fish occurs in these fisheries. From the same 
point of view, the weight of the fish caught is of less significance than 
are the numbers of individuals taken, for an individual specimen, 
regardless of how young or how small it may be, barring the normal 
mortality occasioned by its enemies in the sea, has the potentiality of 
developing to a size that is of real value either to man as food or to 
the species as the brood stock of the future supply. 
In the following discussion, therefore, the relative abundance of the 
different kinds of fish and of the various sizes representing each species 
is determined by calculating the percentage by number and not by 
weight in the entire unsorted catches of food fish in the different nets. 
Hence the following figures represent more fully the real stock of fish, 
as caught, than would any analysis of the catch as marketed. Let us 
examine the records, then, to discover what kinds of fish are caught by 
each type of gear and the relative importance of each species in the 
total catch. 
SPECIES TAKEN 
The following species, arranged in the order of importance, were 
observed in the catches of long-haul seines during the season. The 
common names are those in most general use in this locality. Those 
marked with an asterisk are marketed; all others are discarded as 
trash fish. 
FISH TAKEN IN LONG-HAUL SEINES IN PAMLICO AND 
CORE SOUNDS, N. C., 1925 
FSDOied TOU tse ee ot Cynoscion nebulosus. 
PGT AVA TOW GSEs See, pL SS a oe Cynoscion regalis. 
ROR OT eg SM Bae gen te es Micropogon undulatus. 
“sfs) 210 | ee aN: PLES Se a Leiostomus xanthurus. 
*Bluefish 5 fi EIS ER RT Reale Raa Pomatomus saltatriz. 
Eeirafs neg ha eee ie oe ees Pe a ete re Tet! Font Lagodon rhomboides. 
DMenhaden asst = 22s Dee ee 2 Brevoortia sp. 
ASHE OCS) Og Dil Dia i ee pir iE ae Geaniees, Peprilus alepidotus. 
-Spsmish mackerel ws =—- s Scomberomorus maculatus. 
AISI Tig TS IT ces ee eae Sciznops ocellatus. 
