APPENDIX III APPENDIX IIT 
The vessels are highly specialized and fish during 
daylight hours in relatively shallow waters, generally 
about 1 to 3 miles offshore. 
The number of fishing vessels assigned to a menhaden 
plant varies with plant size and availability of fish. A 
plant of average size is supplied by 6 to 10 vessels. 
Menhaden are caught by the purse seine method, in which 
a large seine (net), designed to be set by two boats around 
a school of menhaden, is so arranged that after the ends have 
been brought together the bottom can be closed. The fishing 
fleet includes aircraft (spotter planes) which find the men- 
haden and direct by radio the setting of the net. Menhaden 
vessels range in size from about 125 feet to 200 feet long, 
are built of steel and range from 150 to 700 tons. The 
purse seine boats are constructed of aluminum, about 36 feet 
long and 10 feet wide and are equipped with a diesel engine 
that powers the boat and the hydraulic seine block. The 
purse seine nets, some 1,200 feet long and about 60 feet deep, 
can encircle an area the size of two football fields. The 
fleet's mechanized catching operations are quite efficient. 
Atlantic 
In 1975 a total of 61 vessels were reported as landing 
menhaden, compared to 63 which were active in 1974 and 58 in 
1973. Fifty-one vessels were active in 1969-72 and 54 in 
1970". 
More fishing vessels and more effort were observed in 
the South Atlantic in 1975 than in the 1974 season, and fewer 
in the Chesapeake Bay, Middle and North Atlantic areas. 
--14 vessels were reported landing menhaden in the 
NoreEhs Carolinas talaly fas hermyeam s1l9W7i5i. 
--10 were active in 1974 and 4 in 1973 when the 
catch was a record low since at least 1940. 
Gulf 
The fleet operating in the gulf during 1972 consisted 
of about 75 vessels, with an average age of about 13 years. 
The larger vessels were almost 200 feet long and carried 
300, tons, .of fish. 
In 1975 78 purse seine vessels were active in the 
fishing industry, an increase over the 71 vessels in the 
1974 fleet. During the last 11 years, the gulf fleet has 
averaged 79 vessels per season, with the lowest number, 66 
in 1973, and.92, the highest, in 1966. 
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