partial records, the locations of over 48,000 sets were 
recorded for the 6-yr period. 
To show the relative distribution of fishing activity, 
particularly in reference to distance from shore, I or- 
ganized the data by degrees of longitude to show the per- 
centage of sets made less than 10, 20, 30, and 40 mi from 
shore (Table 2). Since longitude 89 is divided by the 
Mississippi Delta, I treated the data from east of the 
delta (89a) and west of the delta (89b) separately. West 
of the Mississippi delta (longitudes 89b-94), 44 to 93% of 
the sets were less than 10 mi from shore, 90 to 98% less 
than 20 mi, and 99 to 100% less than 30 mi. East of the 
delta (longitudes 84-89a), 100% of the sets were made less 
~ than 10 mi from shore. 
In effect, the fishing area west of the delta is restricted 
to a narrower band adjacent to shore than is indicated by 
the data. Because the shoreline usually passes through 
subareas rather than along their boundaries, the actual 
distances from shore are considerably less than the max- 
imum. Therefore, a majority of the sets are in reality less 
than the maximum possible distance. Probably 85 to 
90% are made within 15 mi of shore. Undoubtedly many 
reported in subareas more than 20 mi were due to errors 
in recording. 
Catches 
Records of annual catches were compiled from con- 
fidential company sources of individual vessel landings 
for years 1945-73 (Table 3). In a few cases where plant 
records were missing (one plant in Mississippi 1949-50, 
one plant in Louisiana 1954-55, and one plant in Texas 
1948-51), I estimated catches by multiplying the mean 
catch of similar vessels at nearby plants by the number 
of vessels that normally fished at plants whose records 
were missing. For Florida in 1946-47 and Mississippi in 
1946 where only one plant operated, I was unable, 
however, to make any estimates and no published 
records were available. 
Published records (Anonymous 1918-38, 1939-44) prior 
to 1945, although fragmentary and incomplete, suggest 
annual landings from 1918 to 1944 of about 2,000 to 12,- 
000 t, all in Florida, Mississippi, or Texas. There was lit- 
tle increase until 1948, when the catch was 103,000 t, 
mainly as a result of new plants being built in Mississip- 
pi, Louisiana, and Texas. It had increased to 481,000 t by 
1962 and thereafter fluctuated between 317,000 and 728,- 
Table 3.—Purse seine catch of Gulf menhaden, in thou- 
sands of metric tons, by State, 1945-73. 
Mississ- _ Louisi- 
Year Florida ippi ana Texas Total 
1945 3.2 26.0 0.0 0.0 29.2 
1946 3 8.9 0.0 
1947 10.1 24.0 0.0 
1948 15.4 34.8 40.0 12.7 102.9 
1949 11.2 30.1 15:2: 19.0 135.5 
1950 0.6 31.1 94.3 21.2 147.2 
1951 1.5 43.4 96.7 13.2 154.8 
1952 4.8 70.7 129.2 24.0 228.7 
1953 2.0 22.1 142.1 30.3 196.5 
1954 0.0 36.0 121.8 23.4 181.2 
1955 0.9 56.0 135.1 23.0 215.0 
1956 0.0 70.3 144.6 29.9 244.8 
1957 0.0 59.3 74.5 26.1 159.9 
1958 4.6 56.1 109.5 31.3 201.5 
1959 8.2 79.7 191.5 55.9 335.3 
1960 2.8 99.1 213.2 65.6 380.7 
1961 1.9 136.7 260.2 60.7 459.5 
1962 0.0 119.5 314.1 47.1 480.7 
1963 0.0 113.6 288.4 35.8 437.8 
1964 0.0 107.8 271.4 30.2 409.4 
1965 0.0 126.4 308.6 28.1 463.1 
1966 ret 86.4 252.0 17.6 359.1 
1967 0.0 75.5 231.4 10.4 317.3 
1968 0.3 67.8 282.2 23.2 373.5 
1969 0.0 102.2 388.3 33.2 523.7 
1970 0.0 93.4 435.2 19.5 548.1 
1971 0.0 138.8 560.9 28.5 728.2 
1972 0.0 80.8 420.9 0.0 501.7 
1973 0.0 80.4 405.7 0.0 486.1 
‘Records not available. 
000 t. More vessels, larger and more efficient vessels, and 
improved fishing technology were primarily responsible 
for increased catches after 1947. 
Size and Number of Vessels 
The number of vessels increased rapidly from 1945 to 
1950, and then more slowly, reached a peak of 82 in 1965, 
and thereafter fluctuated between 65 and 82 (Table 1). 
Because many vessels often made only a few landings 
each year in the early years of the fishery, I have ex- 
cluded all vessels that fished less than 9 wk. Including 
them would have indicated greater changes in the com- 
position of the fleet than actually occurred. 
Table 2.—Distribution of purse seine sets for Gulf menhaden, by degrees of longitude 
and relative distance from shore, 1964-69. Longitudes 84-89a are east of the Mississippi 
delta, 89b-94 are west. 
Longitude (°W) 
Sets 94 93 92 91 90 89b 89a 88 87-86 85-84 
Number 598 4,310 4,672 10,328 1,730 2,539 14,486 9,050 94 767 
% 0 to 10 68 57 44 48 85 93 100 100 100 100 
miles of shore 
% 0 to 20 91 93 90 98 98 98 0 0 0 0 
miles of shore 
% 0 to 30 99 99 99 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 
miles of shore 
