CHESAPEAKE FISHERIES 



Alewives . Landings of 21.1 million pounds were 12.8 million (38 percent) less than in 1969, and 

 the smallest production since 1961. The decline in landings followed a delayed spring migration 

 caused by cool weather. When the fish finally appeared, they were in small schools and therefore 

 not captured as readily as their usual full schools. The smaller or broken schools may have been 

 caused by foreign vessels that were fishing herring offshore from the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. 



Surf clams . Record landings of 14.6 million pounds of meats worth $1.6 million increased 99 per- 

 cent in volume and 73 percent in value compared with 1969. Most of the increase was during the 

 first 7 months of the year when the fleet was fishing for inshore clams. The abundance of inshore 

 clams encouraged the fishery, but packing firms finally refused to buy them because of a slow mar- 

 ket. Beginning in August, the fleet fished the offshore clam beds . The surf clam fishery has been 

 gradually moving south in its search for clam beds. In 1970, 19 dredge vessels landed at Ocean 

 City, Md. , and 8 other vessels landed at Chincoteague and Oyster, Va . Several plants shucked 

 surf clams in both Maryland and Virginia. Other plants in Maryland packaged frozen surf clam spe- 

 cialties . 



Spot . Landings of 6.4 million pounds were 5.4 million (502 percent) more than in 1969, and sec- 

 ond only to the record harvest of 8.7 million pounds taken in 1949. The fishery began in the late 

 spring, but most of the landings were made from July through September. September was the month 

 of greatest production--the fish were taken as they began to move back out of the Chesapeake Bay. 

 Catches were made principally by pound nets, haul seines, and gill nets. 



Soft clams . Landings of 6.2 million pounds of meats worth $2.4 million declined 21 percent in 

 volume and 13 percent in value compared with 1969. The production decline resulted from over- 

 fishing in some areas and also from clam mortalities in the late summer--caused by low oxygen 

 levels on the bottom. The average price per pound increased from 35 cents in 1969 to 39 cents in 

 1970. The entire production was from Maryland. Few stocks of soft clams exist In Virginia, which 

 had no commercial clam fishery in 1970. 



Hard clams . Landings of 1.9 million pounds of meats worth $1.2 million declined 30 percent In 

 volume and 29 percent in value compared with 1969. The harvest was the smallest since 1960. 

 The decline was caused largely by lack of consumer demand. The littleneck and cherrystone sizes 

 were still popular, but the chowder sizes were not. The chowder-sized clam usually was about 40 

 to 60 percent of the total landings, but in 1970, competition from the surf clam almost eliminated 

 the chowder-size clam. Packing firms changed from buying hard clams to buying surf clams — with 

 a noticeable effect on the fishery in the Chesapeake area. 



Sea scallops . Landings of 750,000 pounds of meats worth $995,000 declined 46 percent in quan- 

 tity and 32 percent in value compared with 1969. The harvest was the smallest since 1964. De- 

 clining stocks of sea scallops and less fishing effort were the principal reasons for the smaller 

 production. In 1970, 14 vessels were in the sea scallop fishery and made 120 trips. In 1969, 20 

 vessels made 201 trips. The average trip in 1970 landed 6,300 pounds of meats — compared with 

 6,800 pounds of meats per trip in 1969. In 1970, the average exvessel price was $1.33 per 

 pound--an increase of 26 cents per pound compared with 1969. 



Other information . Landings of fish and shellfish in the bay and ocean areas of Maryland and Vir- 

 ginia are shown at the end of this section. Additional data maybe found in the monthly and annual 

 Maryland and Virginia landings bulletins published by the Statistics and Market News Division in 

 cooperation with the respective States. Information on the daily, monthly, and annual production 

 of fishery products in selected areas of these States is available in reports published by theNMFS 

 Fishery Market News Office at Hampton, Va . 



Acknowledgments . The following organizations helped collect the data appearing in this section: 

 Maryland Fish and Wildlife Administration, Natural Resources Institute of the University of Mary- 

 land; Virginia Marine Resources Commission, Virginia Institute of Marine Science; and Potomac 

 River Fisheries Commission. 



