APPENDIX III APPENDIX III 
Employment 
Employment in the Atlantic groundfish harvesting in- 
dustry declined steadily from 7,572 fishermen in 1960 to 
5,980 in 1972. The decline is due in part, according to an 
industry official, to reduced crew sizes. For example, 
large trawlers which employed about 18 crewmembers 10 or 
15 years ago now employ about 10 crewmembers. 
According to a preliminary university study of total 
employment in groundfish processing in New England, it was 
estimated that 1,510 persons were employed during peak periods 
and 1,233 were employed during average periods in 1974. The 
estimate was calculated by dividing total employment in 
groundfish processing plants by the proportion of groundfish 
output to total output in those plants. 
Recreational fishing 
A 1970 NMFS salt water angling survey estimated that 
recreational fishermen caught about 113 million pounds of 
major groundfish species off the Atlantic coast, as shown 
in Table 6. Portions of the survey may not be accurate ac- 
cording to a NMFS official who stated that the reported 
average weights of some species appear to be unrealistically 
high. The total number of recreational anglers in the United 
States more than doubled between 1955 and 1970 from 4.5 to 9.4 
million, but the rate of growth slowed considerably between 
1965 to 1970. A more current survey covering recreational 
fishing in the North and Middle Atlantic areas is being pre- 
pared. Recreational catches of some groundfish species, such 
as certain stocks of cod and flounder, are large enough to 
have an appreciable effect on the resource. 
TABLE 6 
Atlantic Coast Recreational Groundfish 
Catch, “1970 
Species Fish caught Pounds 
(000 omitted) 
Cod 3,844 35,918 
Flounders--summer 16,404 28,291 
Flounders--winter 29,077 SDS 
Haddock 501 2,528 
Red hake 497 904 
Silver hake 1, SOW, 2095 
Pollock 2.,45 1. 5,584 
Total: 54,081 112,885 
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