APPENDIX III APPENDIX III 
in the North Pacriac, the crab fleet also Catches 
shrimp and groundfish. The overall number of vessels in 
the crab fishery was not available, but in the Eastern 
Bering Sea the crab fleet increased from 20 vessels in 1967 
to over 100 in 1974. Most were large modern crabbers, many 
in excess of 100 feet. 
Employment 
Statistics on processing employment for the Atlantic 
coast were not readily available. Statistics on the number 
of commercial fishermen are not accurate because they in- 
clude many recreational fishermen. States adjacent to the 
Chesapeake Bay have a daily catch limit for recreational 
fishermen and with the exception of the winter dredge fishery, 
there are no catch limits on commercial fishing. In some 
States, the fee for a commercial fishing license is minimal; 
as a result, many recreational fishermen pay the commercial 
license fee to avoid the catch limit. 
On the gulf coast, commercial blue crab fishermen can 
be classified as full time, seasonal, or casual. Because 
the full-time crabber's income depends on his catch, he 
must be a highly skilled fisherman. Soft-shell crab fisher- 
men and some hard-crab fishermen are considered seasonal 
fishermen. Casual crab fishermen are usually persons who 
previously were in the fishery but, because of the unreliable 
nature of the fishery, have taken jobs in industry. On days 
off, weekends, and vacations, these men fish for crab. 
Statistics as to the number of personnel engaged in blue 
crab processing on the gulf coast are not readily available. 
There is a shortage of pickers because higher wages can be 
earned in other occupations, and satisfactory incomes are 
provided by assistance programs. 
In 1972, according to NMFS, the Pacific coast crab 
fishery employed 3,009 fishermen, some of whom also fished 
in other Pacific fisheries. We could not determine separate 
employment figures for the crab fishery because of this 
multiple fishing pattern. 
Recreational fishing 
The blue crab resource supports a large recreational fish- 
ery on the Atlantic coast. Due to the problem of identify- 
ing the number of recreational fishermen, there is no accu- 
rate recreational catch data. Data is further limited by the 
absence of catch reporting requirements for blue crab fisher- 
men. However, the recreational catch in one of the leading 
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