GENERAL REVIEW 



Clams . Record landings of 99.2 million pounds of clam meats worth a record $28.8 million were 

 18.5 million pounds and $3.6 million more than in 1969, the former record year. The volume in- 

 crease was caused principally by record landings of surf clams in both the Middle Atlantic and 

 Chesapeake States. Suft clam landings in these two areas, together with a small New England 

 production, accounted for 68 percent of the total clam harvest. Landings of hard clams (16.0 mil- 

 lion pounds) and soft clams (12.9 million pounds) were about the same as in 1969, and together 

 accounted for 29 percent of the total clam production. 



Sea herring . Landings of 88.6 million pounds were 3 percent less than in 1969. The entire de- 

 cline was along the Atlantic coast where landings were 66.8 million pounds — compared with 69.2 

 million in 1969. Landings in Maine, for many years the mainstay of the sea herring fishery, were 

 only 36. 6 million pounds — 17.6 million less than in 1969, and the third smallest harvest since the 

 turn of the century. Massachusetts, however, had the largest landings (27 .4 million pounds) since 

 1908. Pacific coast landings of 21.8 million pounds improved slightly because of increased pro- 

 duction in Alaska where the fish are used for reduction to meal or for bait. 



Imports of fresh Canadian sea herring, which are used principally for canning and reduc- 

 tion in Maine, were 78.5 million pounds--a decrease of 16.1 million compared with 1969, and of 

 87.3 million pounds compared with 1968. The Maine pack of sardines canned from sea herring 

 (806,500 standard cases worth $11.2 million) declined 23 percent in volume and 2 percent in val- 

 ue compared with 1969. 



Alewives . The harvest of 69. 5 million pounds was 17.7 million less than in 1969, principally be- 

 cause of sharp declines in landings along the Atlantic coast. Landings in the Chesapeake States 

 (21.1 million pounds) declined 38 percent and in the South Atlantic States (11.6 million) 47 percent 

 compared with 1969. Landings Increased slightly in all other areas, but chiefly in the Great Lakes 

 where the production of 33.5 million pounds of alewives (taken entirely in Lake Michigan) was 4.2 

 million more than in 1969. The Great Lakes landings accounted for 48 percent of the entire U.S. 

 production of alewives in 1970. 



Halibut, Pacific . Landings by the combined United States and Canadian halibut fleets were 54.9 

 million pounds (dressed weight) --6 percent less than in 1969. For the third consecutive year, Ca- 

 nadian fishermen landed more halibut (53 percent of the production) than United States fishermen. 



Alaska landings were 82 percent of the total U.S. harvest. As halibut receipts increased 

 at Kodiak and other Alaska ports, they declined to an alltime low at Seattle, Wash. The pattern 

 of landings changed principally because Alaska firms began paying fishermen prices that competed 

 with the higher prices traditionally offered at Seattle. Most fishermen preferred to deliver halibut 

 to ports near the fishing areas and to make additional fishing trips in the time formerly lost in the 

 long run to Seattle. Halibut prices continued firm in 1970 until the end of the season when mount- 

 ing inventories of frozen halibut caused a sharp decline in exvessel prices. 



Oysters . The harvest of 53.6 million pounds of meats worth $29.5 million was 3 percent more in 

 volume and 7 percent more in value than in 1969. Sharp increases in landings in the Chesapeake 

 and Pacific Coast States and slighter increases in the New England and Middle Atlantic States con- 

 tributed substantially to the greater production. In the South Atlantic and Gulf States, however, 

 landings declined markedly compared with 1969. Landings of 1.6 million pounds in the South At- 

 lantic States decreased to an alltime low. In the Gulf States, landings of 17 .7 million pounds were 

 10 percent less than in 1969 and the smallest since 1966. The oyster fishery in the Gulf States had 

 been decimated by hurricane Camille in 1969, and the oyster reefs along the coasts of Alabama, 

 Mississippi, and Louisiana had not fully recovered from the devastating effects of the hurricane. 



