Thirty-six percent of the 1986 catch by weight, estimated from the Type A catch, for all 

 subregions combined was from the EEZ. The percentage catch by weight in the EEZ was 

 highest in the South Atlantic (45 percent), followed by the Mid-Atlantic (41 percent), the 

 North Atlantic (31 percent) and the Gulf (26 percent). 



Approximately 7.7 million anglers made 45.9 million fishing trips within their home State 

 during 1986. Out-of-State anglers contributed an additional 15.7 million trips. The majority 

 of all fishing trips within a State were made by coastal county residents of the same State. 

 However, out-of-State anglers made more fishing trips than resident fishermen in Delaware. 

 Residents of all 50 states were intercepted on either the Atlantic or Gulf coast in 1986. 



The Mid-Atlantic subregion accounted for the greatest number of fishing trips and 

 participation by residents in 1986 with one-third of the Atlantic and Gulf coast total. This 

 differs from 1985 when the Gulf subregion had the highest average number of trips and 

 participants. However, the exclusion of Texas and South Atlantic and Gulf party boat trips in 

 1986 may account for the differences between 1986 and previous years. The North Atlantic 

 subregion had the fewest trips and participants for all 8 years of the survey. The 

 private/ rental boat mode accounted for the highest percentage of the fishing effort in 1986 in 

 the North Atlantic and Mid-AtlantiG subregions. Most of the 1986 fishing effort in the South 

 Atlantic and Gulf was in the shore mode. 



Angler success, as measured by the average number of fish caught, was highest for the 

 private/rental boat mode in the North Atlantic and Gulf subregions in 1986. Catch per trip 

 was highest from the party/charter boat mode in the Mid-Atlantic and from the shore mode in 

 the South Atlantic. Overall, more than 70 percent of the anglers fishing in party/charter and 

 private/rental boat modes were successful in catching one or more fish; approximately 50 

 percent of those fishing the shore mode were successful in catching fish. The success rates for 

 the private/rental boat mode in the Gulf subregion was the highest of all reported in 1986. 



The coefficient of variation for the total number of fish caught in 1986 was 3 percent. 

 At the 95 percent confidence level the actual total catch was between 389.9 and 432.6 million 

 fish. Ninety percent of the species groups had coefficients of variation less than 30 percent. 

 The lowest species group coefficients of variation were 7 percent for bluefish and spotted 

 seatrout, and 8 percent for spot, red drum and summer flounder. 



Length frequency histograms for selected species in 1986 (Figure 4) were similar to 

 1983-85. A bimodal distribution was observed for bluefish, with a major peak at 450 mm and a 

 secondary peak at 750 mm. This bimodal distribution is most likely the result of differences in 



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