July 1966 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



net catch consisted of species occurring rather infrequently. Thus, about 80 percent of the 

 catch in this fishery, both by weight and by number of individuals, consisted of nonedible spe- 

 cies, just the reverse of the trawl fishery results. 



Column 5 shows the size range of the eight species to be 1.5 oz. (spot) to 3.1 oz. (men- 

 haden). Generally, the average individual size appears to be somewhat larger than fish taken 

 by the trawl fishery. Although pinfish contributed considerably less to the total sample weight 

 than menhaden, this species contributed the highest number of individuals. Those species 

 occupying the surface and middle layers of the water, such as menhaden, thread herring, blue- 

 fish, and perhaps pinfish, were more evident in the catch than the bottom species such as 

 croaker, sand perch, hogfish, and spot, 



SPECIES COMPOSITION OF THE TRAWL CATCH BY MONTH : In table 3 the heaviest 

 contributor to the total trash fish catch, the croaker, contributed consistently throughout the 

 year; in March only 3 percent of the trashfish weight was croaker, but in other months the con- 

 tribution varied from 17 percent in November to 7 9 percent in December. The second prin- 

 cipal species, spot, was low in December at 2 pei'cent but ranged from 10 percent to 39 per- 

 cent in other months. Species such as butterfish and longspine porgy contributed relatively 

 large amounts only in two or three months. Still other species like gray sea trout and sand 

 perch owe their consideration as principal species to relatively heavy contributions in one 

 or two months. Some spcies like sand perch contributed less than (C) 1.0 percent of the 

 sample weight in most months of the year. 



Table 3 - Species Composition of Industrial 

 Weight by Month during Sample Year 



Fish Samples from Trawl Fishery in Pe 

 , February 1962 through January 1963ij 



pcent of 







Species 



Jan. 



Feb. 



Mar. 



May 



June 



July 



Sept. 



Oct. 



Nov, 



Dec. 





53 



10 



13 



4 



6 



1 



<1 



<1 



<1 



10 



2 



19 



24 



5 



2 



8 



3 



<1 



16 



<1 



21 



2 



3 

 10 

 23 

 <1 



1 

 16 



5 

 10 

 <1 

 27 



4 



52 

 17 

 5 

 <.l 

 8 

 4 

 3 

 

 2 

 7 

 2 



57 



17 



2 



6 



3 



2 



<1 



<1 



2 



6 



5 



46 



16 



2 



8 

 1 

 3 

 4 



<1 

 2 

 8 



10 



45 



14 



41 



6 



7 



3 



2 







2 



12 



8 



24 

 20 



9 

 17 



9 

 <1 



3 

 <1 



3 

 12 



2 



17 



39 



25 



<1 



1 



2 



2 



<1 



2 



11 



<:i 



79 



2 



<1 



1 



1 



1 



<1 



<1 



<1 



14 



1 



Spot 





•logfish 



■*infish 



Sand perch 





Invertebrates 



Number of samples 



4 



4 



3 



7 



12 



8 



1 



5 



4 



5 



l/Samples unavailable in April and August. 



When trash fish arebeing supplied from the shrimp fishery from May through September, 

 the amount of "all other fish" decreases (6-12 percent) and the weight of invertebrates in- 

 creases (2-10 percent). 



THE 1964 SURVEY 



It was originally planned that the sample year for 1964 would be February 1964 through 

 January 1965, but owing to stormy weather and little fishing activity, samples were not avail- 

 able in February. Therefore, the sample year extended from March 1964 through February 

 1965. Since the trawl fishery accounts for 95 percent or more of the industrial fish catch, 

 sampling effort was directed entirely towards this fishery. A total of 82 samples was col- 

 lected from which 112,493 individual fish, weighing 10,780 pounds, or almost 0.1 percent of 

 the total industrial fish catch were identified and counted. 



SPECIES COMPOSITION OF THE CATCH : There were 77 species collected in 1964, and 

 a breakdown by species or groups is presented in table 4. Twelve species listed separately 

 accounted for 83.8 percent by weight and 85.3 percent by number of individuals. Nineteen 

 species, each accounting for less than 1 percent by weight of all samples, are shown collec- 

 tively to constitute 6.1 percent by weight and 5.7 percent by number of individuals. Forty- 

 six species, each occurring infrequently, combined to constitute 4.6 percent by weight and 



