The shift to larger vessels of greater carrying capacity 
was the most striking change. Vessels less than 75 net 
tons constituted over 50% of the fleet until 1956. In the 
following years the number of vessels in this size class 
declined continually, dropping to 1 in 1966 and finally 
disappearing completely in 1972. The number of vessels 
between 75 and 200 net tons increased until 1960, 
remained fairly stable through 1964, and then declined 
steadily. By 1973 they composed only 22% of the fleet. 
Vessels over 200 net tons first appeared in 1955, in- 
creased gradually over the years, and by 1973 numbered 
51, or 78% of the fleet. Most of the vessels in this size 
class after 1965 were greater than 300 net tons, and one 
was more than 400 net tons. 
Improvements in Fishing Methods 
Fish pumps, power blocks, refrigeration, nylon purse 
seines, aluminum purse boats, and airplane spotting 
were introduced in the Gulf menhaden fishery in the 
1950’s (Table 1). These techniques and equipment in- 
creased efficiency by reducing the time spent searching 
for fish, steaming to and from fishing grounds, and com- 
pleting purse seine sets. 
Fish pumps replaced the time-consuming method of 
brailing fish from the purse seine to the hold of the car- 
rier vessel (Robas 1959), and first appeared on gulf coast 
vessels in 1951. By 1960 they were standard equipment 
on nearly all vessels. 
A power block is a mechanical device that retrieves the 
net and concentrates the fish in it so they may be 
pumped or brailed aboard the carrier vessel. Its use 
reduces the average time required to concentrate the fish 
by about 6 min and the crew by 6 to 10 men (Schmidt 
1959a, b), and permits a quick retrieval of the net if a 
school of fish is missed. Power blocks were introduced in 
the Gulf menhaden fishery in 1956. Although their use 
did not spread rapidly, they were standard equipment on 
over 80% of the vessels by 1964. 
Refrigerated vessels are able to fish greater distances 
from their home ports and to spend up to a week on the 
fishing grounds. Generally larger than nonrefrigerated 
vessels, they increased steadily in number after their in- 
troduction in 1957. Their use has been more extensive in 
the central and eastern Gulf regions, where vessels travel 
farther to the fishing grounds, than in the western Gulf. 
Aluminum purse boats can encircle a school of fish 
faster and can operate in rougher waters better than 
wooden or steel boats. They were first employed in 1956, 
but their use spread slowly, and all vessels were not 
equipped with aluminum purse boats until about 1970. 
Information was difficult to obtain on the use of nylon 
seines by individual vessels. A few were reported to have 
used them in 1956. The changeover was rapid in 1957 and 
1958, and by 1959 nearly all vessels were using them. 
The use of airplanes for locating schools of menhaden 
greatly reduced the amount of vessel searching time and 
was one of the more important improvements in fishing 
methods. Spotter planes were introduced in the Gulf 
menhaden fishery in 1949 and rapidly increased in num- 
ber. Most plants chartered planes part time until about 
1955, but employed two to four planes full time by 1960. 
Initially, planes only guided vessels to large concen- 
trations of fish, but in recent years pilots have used two- 
way radios to direct the purse boats in setting the seine. 
SAMPLING PROCEDURE 
Catches of Gulf menhaden were sampled by seasonal 
employees who followed the procedures described for 
sampling catches of Atlantic menhaden (June and 
Reintjes 1960). For each vessel sampled, fish were taken 
Table 4.—Number of samples taken from Gulf menhaden catches by plant and loca- 
tion, 1964-73. 
No. of samples in year 
Plant 
location 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 
Appalachicola, 4 0 
Fla. 
Moss Pt., Miss. 76 98 33 25 29 53 43 19 58 ; 
66 126 100 141 173 135 119 50 136 96 
56 88 53 89 53 71 66 56 102 102 
Empire, La 152 142 5 88 111 79 0 0 108 108 
18 25 63 71 70 75 0 0 153 166 
Dulac, La. 1 2 : A : 
0 5 4 4 15 0 7 4 : : 
7 10 37 79 0 69 57 68 133 
Morgan City, La 111 126 90 103 73 147 56 41 49 133 
Intracoastal 11 3 1 36 36 35 23 22 14 
City, La 
Cameron, La. 14 8 32 45 23 1 28 29 «102 87 
118 112 152 76 105 157 9 57 68 94 
27 0 0 22 41 68 71 
Sabine Pass, Tex. 4 16 26 1 6 3 9 : : 
Total 616 766 623 708 773 757 518 386 934 1,004 
Plant did not operate. 
