APPENDIX III APPENDIX III 
There is no movement of vessels into and out of this fishery 
due to the special arrangements of the holds and close ties 
among the vessel operators and processors. About eight of 
the vessels are owned by the processors. 
Ate the sitar oO seher ttshemy sine W677, sehiestoodirssin 
croaker fleet was made up of large shrimp vessels, but vessel 
modifications were required as catches increased. These 
modifications were primarily in handling larger, more effi- 
cient trawls and in increasing the holding capacity. 
The number of vessels engaged in the fishery include 26 
full-time vessels and up to 40 additional part-time vessels. 
The part-time vessels are shrimp trawlers which fish for 
croaker during off-seasons for shrimp or when economic con- 
ditions are more favorable in the croaker fishery. Transi- 
tion from the shrimp fishery to the croaker foodfish fishery 
is easily accomplished. 
The following table shows the status of the fleets for 
both trawl fisheries as of 1973. 
Industrial fleet Foodfish fleet 
Number of vessels PAL 26 
Typical vessel length (feet) 90 78 
Horsepower 470 350 
Capacity (tons) IL} 41 80 
Replacement value of fleet $4,675,000 S37 D0 F000 
Employment 
Employment statistics for these fisheries are not pub- 
lished by NMFS. The average crew size is three men for each 
vessel for both industrial and foodfish vessels. 
Production employment levels are likewise not published, 
but NMFS personnel estimated that an average four to five em- 
ployees at each of six fresh foodfish plants spend more of 
their time in activities relating to croaker. The combined 
employment level of the industrial bottomfish processors was 
estimated at 350. 
Recreational fishing 
Croaker is heavily exploited by recreational fishermen. 
In 1970 recreational fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico caught 
276 
