Fish and shellfish of the Middle Atlantic coast

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Fis

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~ 0 the ooo~Middle

Atlantic

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ARLIS

Alaska Resources

Library & Ins:r-.orm.ano. n ServIces

Anchor~ge, Alaska

By RACHEL L. CARSON

Designed by KATHERINE L. HOWE

CONSERVATION BULLETIN NUMBER·,38

,~UNITED STATESDEPA~TMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Harold L. Ickes, Secretary

OFFICE OF THE COORDINATOR OF FISHERIES

Ira N. Gabrielson, Deputy Coordinator

This publication is one of a series

of regional accounts of the fishes

and fisheries of the United States,

published as Conservation Bulletins

of the United States Department of

the Interior. The following bulletins

in this series have already been is-sued

and may be obtained from the

Superintendent of Documents, Gov-ernment

Printing Office, at the

prices indicated:

FOOD FROM THE SEA: FISH AND SHELLFISH OF NEW ENGLAND

by Rachel L. Carson. Conservation Bulletin No. 33. 15c.

FOOD FROM HOME WATERS: FISHES OF THE MIDDLE WEST

by Rachel L. Carson. Conservation Bulletin, No. 34. 15c.

'FISH AND SHELLFISH OF THE SOUTH ATLANTIC AND GULF COASTS

by Rachel L..Carson~~ CpTue.r.vation Bulletin No. 37. lOco

<..~...~..,.m. "\., ..4~)f'l .:t ,';1:: .

, , ',' ~ ." "";.' ,< ~ .'

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UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT P'IUNTING OFFICE-WASHINGTON-1945

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, 25, D.C.~price 10 cents

"'MIl

CONTENTS

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Fishing ge.ar .

Fishing grounds ....................._...."..............

Conservation .

Oysters -rOstrea. virginica.) ••••••.••...••....•••.•...•.....

Blue crab (Callinectes sa.pidus) •..••.••••.•.•••..•......•.•

" . "' . CroakerlMicropogon unduiatus] ..••..••........•....•....•

Porgy (Stenotomus chrysops) •..•.....•••.•.••..•• ~..•.....

Weakfish(Cynoscion rega.lis) ..•.•..•...•..••.•.••......•.......

Summer flounder (Pa.ralichthys denta.tus) , •••.•.••..••..•.•.....

Shad (Alosa. sa.pidissima.) ••••••••.....•.. ~.••..•...••.....

Butterfish (Poronotus triacanthus] •.•..••• ~.••...•...•....•

Mackerel (Scomber scombrus}, . . . . . . . .. . .. " . . . . • . ~• . .• . . . .

Me~haden {Breuoortia spp) ..•......•.......••.••..•••••..•

River herring (Pomolobus spp) . : ••.•••.•.•••..•...••....••

Sea bass (Centropristes striatus} .••..•..•.•.•...••..••.....•

Eel (Anguilla rostrate] •..•..•. I. .

Mussels (Modiolus demissus) ....••..••.•••••...••..•.•.....

Scallops

Bay (Aequipecten pla.gioctenium irl'adians) .....••.•....•.....•

Sea (Placopectea grandi«} .... "•..••..•.. '••..••.•••.••..••

28

28

29

29

Hard shelled clam (Mercenoria mercenaria}: • • . . . • ., • • • . • . . . • .

Surf clam (Mactra. solidissima.) ..•...•.••.••••..•.....•.....

Appendix

Nutritive value oC fish and shellfish. . . . . . .• . . . . . . . . . . . • . . .. . . .. 30

General guides for selecting and preparing fish. . . . . . . . . • . . . .. 30

Bibliography ... ~. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . ., 32

0IlI

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FISHING GROUNDS

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Middle Atlantic fishing grounds are

divided into two distinct areas : the

oll'shore grouuds ••hleh lie near the edge of

the eontlnenlal shell (depth, about 100

fathoms) '. and' the Inshore grounds' ••hleh

Inelude the bays and sounds. Oll'shore

gr';~d; --;;re" fi~hed~ lil" 'wlute~;-"'lnslJore

grounds, In summer. Fishlug operatlo~s are

eontroiled by the migrations '~f th~ fish,

••hleh·..are generally, IDshore:;aDd north· In

sprln8t oll'shore and so~th'·b. .aut~""n.

~ Spring migrations

f·

~ 1!~(migrations

• .' k ~ {

:~/ /: .:'... -S.u'mgrmouerndfsish,"ing....,

~ Winter fishing

~ . grounds

'"'dfiW*sauH

·,e..,

The Middle Atlantic region! is a

natural division of the Atlantic coast

in both a geographic and a biolog-ical

sense. Its geographic boundaries

are clearly defined: on the south

Cape Hatteras, the most easterly

seaward projection of the North

Carolina shore; on the north Cape

Cod. Biologically, the fauna of this

long, curving Middle Atlantic shore

is distinct from that of the North

and South Atlantic coasts. Cape

Hatteras and Cape Cod are natural

boundaries of the marine world.

There is some straying beyond

them, some overlapping of ranges,

but for the most part the truly

southern, tropical or semi-tropical

fishes live below Hatteras, the typi-cally

cold water fishes beyond and

north of Cape Cod.

Most characteristic of the Middle

Atlantic fauna is a group of 60 or

more species collectively known as

shore fishes. They are a migratory

group, their migrations are seasonal,

and for generations their movements

have determined the character of

the fisheries of the region. In the

spring and summer, shorefish move

in to coastal waters, including bays,

sounds, sometimes river estuaries.

They tend to be more concentrated

at this season toward the northern

part of their range. In the fall and

early winter they migrate to off-shore

more southerly wintering

grounds.

. Formerly the shorefish were

taken only during the spring, sum-mer,

and fall, when on the inshore

grounds. No one knew exactly

where the fish went in winter, nor

how to follow and capture them.

About 1930, however, the offshore

winter home of the shorefish was

discovered ;ge~rand vessels were

I I

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1To avoid duplication 01 material presented In

other publications or this series, only that por-tion

or the Middle Atlantic area rrom Cape

HaIteras to the eastern tip 01 Long Island Is

treated In· this bulletin. The fishes or southern

New England have been described in Conservation

Bulletin No. 33.

THE FISHERY RESOURCES

developed which were suitable for

fishing these grounds .in stormy

winter weather.' Now intensive win-ter

fisheries have grown up, work-ing

the offshore area from about 80

miles off New York City all the

way to the vicinity of Cape Hatteras,

and shorefishes come into the mar-kets

throughout the year.

While the shorefishes are most

typical of the Middle Atlantic

fauna, they are not the most valu-able

aquatic resource of the region.

This distinction falls to oysters, the

product for which the region is best

and most widely known. Since the

earliest beginnings of the oyster in-dustry,

the Chesapeake Bay has

held first rank as a producer of

oysters. The area as a whole now

provides more than half of all the

oyster harvest taken in United

States waters, and its fishermen re-ceive

approximately eight million

dollars for this single aquatic crop.

(Fishermen's income from aU Mid-dle

Atlantic fishery products: about

22 million dollars.)

Other special resources give the

Middle Atlantic region a unique

position as a source of aquatic foods.

Nearly two-thirds of the catch of

Atlantic coast crabs is taken in this

area, mostly in Chesapeake Bay.

Receiving the drainage of the might-iest

rivers of the Atlantic coast-the

Hudson, the Delaware, the Sus-quehanna,

and the Potomae---the

Middle Atlantic region is the center

of the fisheries for shad and river

herring, species which live most of

their lives in the sea, hut enter

fresh water to spawn. The area pro-vides

more than half the total catch

of menhaden, first ranking Atlantic

coast fish in volume of production.

Its waters yield the first mackerel,

swordfish, and tuna of the season,

since each of these oceanic wander-ers

enters coastal waters north of

Hatteras as it turns shoreward in

spring.

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~~. 388 million pounds .,~,

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ECONOMICS'

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Menhaden

Oysters

Croakers

Crabs

Sea trout

River herring

Flounders

Porgy

Shad

Whiti'!'g

Clams

Haddock,

= 5 million pounds .

Throughout this bulletin, total sta-tistics

fot the area represent New

York to Virginia, inclusive.

CATCH OF PRINCIPAL S~ECIES, 1940

With few exceptions the. Middle

Atlantic fisheries are carried on by

individual fishermen or. by small

associations of fishermen. In this

respect they contrast sharply ..with

the fisheries of New England and

the Pacific Coast, where the 'typical

operating unit isa large company,

with financial stability and large re-sources

of material and equipment.

The only important exceptions to

the lack of organization in the Mid- .

dIe Atlantic area. are the menhaden

fishery, domin~ted by several Iarge

companies owning chains of fac-tories

and' many boats, and the

oyster industry of Long Island.

Sound and sections of New Jersey

and Virginia .. Thepoun:d net fish-eries,

asa rule, are carried on by

fishermen organized into groups of

some size. r

The small scale of most 'of the

Middle Atlantic fishery operations

has important effectswhich are seen

in the methods of handling the

catch. With the. exception of men-haden,

utilized almost entirely in

the production of meal and oil,

most of the catch goes into the fresh

fish trade. Some filleting and freez-ing

is done.. However, facilities for

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.freezing, processing, and storing

fish have been inadequate in the

past, remain so at present. Efficient

use of the Middle Atlantic fishery

yield cannot be, made until. shore

plant facilities are expanded. A

characteristic feature of the fisheries

of the region is their seasonal peaks-of

heavy production, Without means

to process, freeze, and- store fish

caught during these periods, in-evitable

waste, and inefficiency

result.· ,

Markets for the products of the

Middle Atlantic fisheries.are largely

confined to eastern United States.

The large coastal cities of the area

itself - New York,' 'Philadelphia,

Baltimore,. Washingto:Q,, Norfolk,

and Richmond-e- all consume large

quantities of seafood, absorbing

much of the local supply. From the

Chesapeake Bay; area, heavy ship-ments

go south and west to Georgia,

the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky,

and 80uthern'dhio~' Jersey-caught.

whiting finds a farge market in St.

Louis and Kansas City. With the

exception of canned clams, which

are distributed through the grocery

trade; and the widely .marketed

oyster, little Middle Atlantic sea-

Middle

.Atlantic

ECONOMICS

Balance 01 United State«

Total number or fi.her.

men:

125,000

22,000 fi.hermen

Total annual yield:

4,000,000,0,00 pound. 676 mUlion pound.

Total value to fi.hermen:

$99,000,000 .

15 million dollar.

food is sold west of the Mississippi

River.

On the other hand, the Middle

Atlantic area is an active market

for fish and shellfish produced in

other areas. New York's busy Ful-ton

.Market handles almost every

kind of aquatic food taken on the

Atlantic coast, even receives many

. Pacific coast fishes. Red snappers,

shrimp, mullet and Spanish mack-erel

from the south; cod, hake, had-dock,

and herring from New Eng.

land; salmon and halibut from the

Pacific coast states and Alaska;

spiny lobster tails from South

Africa-these .are only a few of the

fish seen in this colorful waterside

market. Here also are to be found

marine oddities seldom available

anywhere else, seldom eaten in

America except by such cosmo-politan

populations as New York's:

Bushels of periwinkles or small

marine snails, baskets of· spine-studded

sea urchins, squids; octo-puses,

skate wings, puffers, angler

fish. Not only marine fish find ready

sale in New York: this city is the

largest market in the country for

fresh water species. It buys large

quantities of carp and buffalofish

from the Mississippi River and its

tributaries, almost every kind of fish

caught in the Great Lakes, and lake

fish from the Canadian provinces as

far west as Alberta. .

With the exception of some of the

more bizarre items, the markets of

Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Wash.

ington handle, on a smaller scale, a

similar variety of seafoods. A some-what

larger proportion of fish native

to the area are sold in these. cities,

and in the smaller cities and towns

of the region the reliance upon

locally produced fish becomes more

marked.

THE 676 MILLION POUNDS OF FISH AND SHELLFISH

TAKEN IN THE MIDDLE ATLANTIGAREA IN 1940WERE

.P• ROCESSED AS FOLLOWS:

262,589,000 pound.

were .old rre.h or

(rozen.

7,600,000 po u n d.

were eanned.

13,000,000 pound.

were eured,

393,100,000 pound.

were made into by-product

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lina sounds and the Chesapeake

Bay, also take quantities of whiting

and mackerel. Most pound nets are ~§§§>.set iri.~ivers, bays, and sounds, mak-

J;~Hngh~a:;i~st catches spring and fall

I!~§~::.{;'~\vhe'nf~l.8h,aremigrating to and from c deep~r:~'c~an.waters. Large ocean

;. " .',\., \' /, :;~:~s d,:;~hu:~dt~:a::::;t~:::::~

PURSE ~EINES,from ~~~:stand{ / quire p(;les up to 90 feet long,

point of volume o(,producHon, are{t driven "lrtto the bottom with hy-the

most important!'ge~r in the Mid-',:, draulie rjet pumps. Severe storms

dle Atlantic area. They account for may' destroy an entire trap, which

almost two-thirds of the total c~tch costs $5 000 to $8 000. Netting is

of Jhe region-s-more th~n"400~:~~1-htir.g or:;'fri~horep~unds as soon as

lion> pounds annually." However, the"fishm~~e shoreward in spring.

most-of" t~i8 catch, is menhaden, ~dffshore":poli~ds, more subject to

fish used In the ~anufacture ~f am-. weather hazards, are rigged for fish-mal

feeds .and ojls, seld?m directly ing about, mid-April off New Jersey,

as human food.~Purs~semes are the somewhat'later farther north. They

chief gear .of the; mackerel fishery, are .fished as late as' December off

also take sea trout,' porgies, croak- N~\\rj~rs·eY:,..,' "

ers, They are useful for any fish that '. .'.; '.

school in -Iarge numbers at the sur-face

where,they are visihle,bul cari~

notbeUl~ed when fish swim d~ep.

Ma'.ck'\,~.:rrer""-.s. 'ei,n,' er. J8. " •0.1.r1.- .,t~h""e~A.t.l:a~.~H\c' '

coast, '.~arry i,sW~ll~.,.r"seme. boats,

whieh.do the. actual work of setting

then~i' 'ar9,Und.a~chQol~f fish. The

net' is then pursed by .drawing in

lines run through its lower border.

The fish are gradually concentrated

Inone partof the net, then the ves-sel

comes,falongside' arid' takes the

catch' ahoard.;' ' "

FISHiNG GEAR . -. -, ,f/ilro" - '

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, P.Q'iJNQNE1'S take:m~:f;Of·the

hutterfish, porgies, sea trout, and

croakers caught in the spring, sum-mer,

and fall, are the principal gear

for shad and herring in North Caro-

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GILL NETS are. set perpendicu-

Iarlyin the water, like a tennis net,

tointerceptmigratirig fi~b;":In. at-tempting'

to pass"through the 'net,

the fish put their heads through the

meshes" and become ent~m'gled,by

the"Haps which' '~o.~ert~ei~'gills-hence

the name. Some gill nets are

anchored in position, 'some are at-tached

to' st~k~s,! others .are so

arranged that theY,\~rift.'with the

tide; Shad fisherID'e'iI of'the Hudson

River use more,' gill; nets. than any

other type 'of gear. ,~mall hutjm-portant

gill net 'fisheries ror mack-erel

operate offshore. Weakfish (sea

trout), striped. baas, and croakers

are other fish faken in ~is. gear.

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OTfER TRAWLS are baglike

nets which ate towed along the bot-tom

to fick up fish in their path.

They are of two kinds: one a heav-ily

weighted net which is dragged

close to the ocean :floor for such

groundfish as flounders; the other

a "balloon" net which is buoyed a

little off the bottom by floats, is

towed rapidly, and takes fast,

schooling fishes like porgies, whit-

.ing, and butterfish. Otter trawls are

especially effective gear because,

unlike stationary pound nets, they

can follow the fish. Small trawlers,

known as draggers, operate inshore

for :flukeand other species all Bum-mer.

By far the greater part of all

winter fishing on the Middle Atlan-tic

coast is done by otter trawlers,

which fish the offshore waters all

the way from Cape Hatteras to

Montauk.

DREDGES, used in fisheries for

oysters, clams, crabs and scallops,

are operated from power boats.

Largest dredges (9 to 12 feet across)

are used for sea scallops,'which are

scattered, . thus hard to find with

narrower gear. Oyster dredges are

4 to 6 feet wide. Because of the

weight of the oysters, the dredges

653611 0 - 45 - 2

FISHING GEAR

have heavy frames, teeth fairly long

and close together, bag wholly or in

part of metal rings. Clam dredges,

which are 2 to 3 feet wide, have

longer teeth for digging the clams

out of the bottom sand. Crab

dredges have shorter teeth, are of

generally lighter construction than

oyster dredges, and use cotton twine

bags. Dredges without teeth -

known as scrapes-are used to take

soft crabs.

HAUL SEINES are operated from

shore to take fish that are concen-trated

close to the beaches. The

seine is dropped in a wide circle

off~hore and is then hauled toward

the beach, encircling the fish. Haul-ing

is done by hand (small seines)

or by power (large seines). Some

of the largest haul seines are oper-ated

in the lower Chesapeake, and

the sounds of North Carolina, taking

spot and croakers. Weakfish (sea

trout) are taken in night seining in

the Peconic Bays or Long Island in

summer.

OTHER GEAR used in the Mid-dle

Atlantic fisheries includes tongs

for oysters and clams; trawl lines

and hand lines-used especially for

cod in the winter months; pots for

sea bass, eels, crabs, and lobsters;

rakes, forks imd hoes for various

shellfish. Fyke nets are used in the

river fisheries for catfish, carp, and

perch, also take miscellaneous other

species. Baited trot lines are one

of the principal gears of the Chesa-peake

Bay crab fishery..

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FISHING GROUNDS

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The fishing grounds of the area

extend from Montauk Point at the

eastern tip of Long Island to Cape

Hatteras, a long, curving shore line

indented by an almost continuous

series of bays and. sounds.. Large

bodies of protected water-Long

Island Sound, Delaware and Chesa-peake

Bays, Albemarle and Pam-lico

Sounds - provide unusually

favorable conditions for the devel-opment

of fisheries. Numerous

smaller inlets of the sea offp sea-sonal

fishing for commercial fisher-men

and anglers. ,

The Middle Atlantic shore is

bordered hy' a broad:' continental

shelf, widest off Long Island-about

125 to 150 miles 7- narrowing to

about 30 miles off Hatteras. This

shelf provides vast feeding grounds

for fish, supporting the large shore-fish

populations of this area. Al-though

in places there are areas of

shallow water-known to fishermen

by distinctive names like Winter-quarter

Shoals, Five Fathom Hank

-these· shoals are not as,numerous

or as extensive as the fishing ba.~ks

of North Atlantic waters, andTor

the mostvpart the fishing areas are

less concentrated.

Inshore, coastal fisheries have

been carried on for several genera-tions.

.The offshore fisheries are a

more recent development, These

grounds are fished not only by boats

from the Middle Atlantic area itself,

but draw trawlers from New Eng-land

ports. " , " '

Long Island is little more than

100 miles from tip, to tip, yet its

shoreline measures about 600 miles.

Between the mainland and the

island, the Sound is famous for

its oyster beds, also has-its popula-tions

of clams and scallops. Prin-cipal

clam beds, however, are.on the

ocean side of the island. This south-ern

coast, facing the open ocean,

yields larger catches of market fish

than any other section of the island.

Here the great ocean pounds are

set; here numerous harbors offer

anchorage for' the trawlers. Most

important, however, Isthe fact that

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this. southern shore lies directly in

the path of the great northward fish

migrations in the spring. '

Long Isl~nd has long been known

for its sport fishing. weakfish,

Hounders, and' porgies in its bays,

striped bass, weakfish, and bluefish

along its ocean beaches. ,

Chesapeake and Delaware. Bays

are the summer home of large seg-ments

of the shorefish populations.

Heavy runs of weakfish or sea

trouts, porgies, croakers, spot, and

Hounders enter the bays in spring,

leave in: the fall or early winter as

the shallow waters grow cold.

Pound nets within the bays inter-cept

the runs, making their heaviest

catches at these seasons. In some

areas the pound net fisheries are

active throughout the summer, sup-plemented

by haul seines, gill nets,

and other .gear, The Chesapeake

Bay in particular is noted. for the

oysters and crab&.which thrive in

its protected waters, less salty than

the open ocean. Both bays are een-tersof

sport fishing,especially for,

sea" trout, 'flounders," croakers or

hardheads, and striped bass.

The sounds of northern North

Carolina are centers of fishing for

anadromous and fresh water:species.

In Currituck Sound the fisheries

are chiefly those for ~arp,catfish,

gizzard shad, white perch; crabs.

South and, west of Currituck is Al-bemarle

Sound, its waters fresh-ened

by the large inHow from the

sluggish---Chowan'.and' "the":'muddy

Roanoke.' Heavy runiof shad and

herri~genter the, S6und, support

its', principal' fisheri~s: ....·AIi active

fishery forcatfish: is carried: on .here,

Pamlieo Sound is'directly in .,the

path of th,e runs .of shad. and her-ring.

Most of the migrating fish

cOlIJ.ein from the sea 'through Hat-teras

and, Oregon Inlets, cross

Pamlico Sound en route to their

fresh' water spawning 'grounds.

Many pound nets. are operated

here, also in narrow Croatan Sound

through which the runs must pass

to enter Albeinarle.

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Conservation of the fishery re-sources

of the Middle Atlantic

region requires close ,interstate co-operation.

To an unusual degree,

the various parts of the area are

dependent upon each othe~ for t~e

maintenance of their fisheries. This

is largely because of the migratory

habits of the shorefish populations.

The same stock of fish may be sub-ject

to capture by fishermen of dif-ferent

st~tes at different seasons of

the yearl (examples: croakers, por-gies,

flounders}, or at different pe-riods

in their lives (example: weak-fish,

see page 15). Only carefully

coordinated measures to protect

these stocks from depletion or to

increase their productivity can be

effective.

Another reason for the inter-dependence

of the Middle Atlantic

fisheries is the fact that parts of the

area-notably Chesapeake Bay-are

important nursery grounds, provid- .

ing especially favorable conditions

for spawning and survival of the

young fish. Some of the fish pro-duced

in these areas migrate else-where,

support important fisheries

in other sections. Outstanding ex-ample

is the striped bass: the Chesa-peake

Bay supplies most of the bass

taken farther north along the At-lantic

coast.

The anadromous' fishes of the

region'-shad and herring - need

strong positive action to restore

runs and prevent further depletion.

This has been done with marked

success in the Hudson River. In

places _~uchas the Delaware River,

there is.~little hope of rebuilding

the runs until pollution is brought

under control. In other areas, the

intensity of fishing operations must

be adjusted to allow more shad to

spawn. Dams in some Atlantic coast

rivers are absolute barriers to mi-grating

fish. Whether satisfactory

fishways can be devised for the pas-

CONSERVATION

sage of shad and herring is a prob-lem

for future solution.

The shellfish resources of the

region, great as they are, suffer from

lack of management by modern,

scientific methods in many parts of

the area. This is largely because,

with few exceptions, the practice is

merely to harvest the crop from the

public grounds with little or no

provision for replenishment, with

no systematic cultivation. Legal

barriers in some slates have pre-vented

the modernization of shell-fish

management. However, recent

progress has been made in some

areas toward the development of

a system of state-managed cultiva-tion.

In the Middle Atlantic region

there are no new, undeveloped

fishing grounds awaiting discovery

and exploitation, no Important ire-sources

of fish or shellfish now

underutilized. The future develop-ment

of the fisheries as a source of

food' and of economic wealth to the

area' depends upon better utiliza-tion

of the existing resource. This

requires adjustment of fishin~. ~p-erations

in such a way as to stahilise

production, a. goal which can be

realized only by measures based on

scientific studies of the aquatic re-sources

and by continuous observa-tion

of changing conditions. It

also demands improvements in the

technological field-better methods

of handling, processing, and distrih-uting

the catch.

Like all other living resources,

the fisheries of the Middle Atlantic

region are not static, but are under-going

constant change. The nature

of these changes may often be in-fluenced

or controlled by man.

Whether the Middle Atlantic fish-eries

will realize their full impor-tance

and value to the area and to

the nation depends on the character

of the conservation program fol-lowed

in future years.

7

OYSTERS

...._ ...._..._ .._-----_ ...__•...__ .,-_ •.._~ __.._--

The Middle Atlantic area is the

source of more than half the oysters

produced, in the United States,

yielding annually about 50 million

pounds, of which 35 million come

from the Chesapeake Bay. Oysters

are the most valuable aquatic crop

of the region. They brought fisher-men,

in recent prewar years,' an

annual income of about 5 million

dollars. In the country as a whole,

they rank second only to salmon in

value.

The eastern oyster is one of three

species taken commercially in the

United States, the other two being

found on the Pacific coast. The oys-ter

taken from Massachusetts to

Texas is intermediate in size be-tween

the small Olympia oyster of

Puget Sound and the giant Pacific

or Japanese oyster.

Oysters are mollusks that grow

best in shallow waters; never abun-dantly

in the open ocean. They

thrive in enclosed bays, sounds, and

river mouths, where the salinity of .

the water is reduced by the flow

from tributary streams. In the

Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, and

in Long Island Sound, they may

grow some distance offshore, in

water 30 or more feet deep. On good

hard bottoms, where oysters are not

8

crowded, the shells are flat and

rounded. On muddy bottoms or on

overcrowded reefs they tend to

grow in clusters of long, misshapen

shells.

Oysters spawn in the summer,

earlier in the south, later in the

north where the water is colder. The

female oyster is very prolific, pro-ducing

from 15 million to 114 mil-lion

eggs at one spawning, several

hundred million in' a summer. This

high fecundity is balanced by a high

mortality rate: of the larvae devel-oped

from the fertilized eggs, com-paratively

few live long enough to

settle down on the bottom, at the

age of about two weeks, and attach

themselves to clean shells, rocks, or

other' hard objects. Those that do

survive are subject to the attacks of

starfish, marine snails, boring

sponges, and other natural enemies.

They must, in addition, compete

with their fellows for ,.food and

room to grow. Once a young oyster

has "set" or become attached to the

subsurface, it never moves of its

own accord, except for slight

changes of position made by oysters

living on muddy bottom.

About half the Middle Atlantic

crop of oysters comes from public

grounds, half from privately leased

Yield [rom. one square yard 01 cultivated

ground (1,000 bushels per acre).

Oysters attain lull growth and desirable

shape when cultivated and transplanted.

Segregated by growers according to age,

their si:;e is unilorm, maki,.g market-ing

easier.

and cultivated beds. The more

northerly states of the group, New

York and New Jersey, follow the

New England practice and have de-veloped

large private industries.

Delaware takes about a third of its

yield from private beds, Virginia

about three-fourths. Maryland, how-ever,

which produces more oysters

than any other state in the"country,

takes all but a negligible amount

from the public rocks. The small

oyster production in North Caro-lina

is entirely from public grounds.

Oyster cultivation on underwater

farms has much in common with

agriculture. As in land farming,

the cultivated product is superior in

quality to the wild. Several basic

operations are involved. The bottom

is cleaned and planted with shells

to receive the young oysters. After

the larvae have set they are allow~d

to grow for several months, then,

8S seed, are transplanted to growing

grounds. With further growth they

may be transplanted one or more

times to other areas, to assure them

OYSTERS

•

Yield Irom. one square, yard 01 severely

deplefed uncultivated rock (11 bushels

per acre). Years 01 jishing without re-seeding

the grounds'" or protecting the

oysters from thei» natural enemies have

reduced the yield to a worthless rem-nant.

plenty of space and food. In this

way full growth and a good shape

are assured. Finally, the oysters are

harvested, graded, and. shipped to

market. '

Most oysters harvested in the

Middle Atlantic area are sold as

shucked meats. A gallon of eastern

oysters contains from 150 to 300

oysters, depending on their size.

Present demand for shelled oysters

comes chiefly from hotels and res-taurants.

Canning of oysters is not

carried on in this area, but is cen-tered

in the southern states.

The oyster feeds by drawing

through its gills large quantities of

seawater from which it strains its

food-microscopic plants and ani-mals.

Because of its diet, it is a

rich source of minerals"such as cop-per,

iron, and iodine. It also con-tains

most of the essential vitamins,

protein of high nutritive value, and

starch in the easily digested form

known 8S glycogen.

Area catch in 1940:

51,440,000 pounds

9

BLUE CRAB ,r.:A

In: the lower Chesapeake:

Young crabs hatch In July and August, migrate

northward to Mar)-land waters, where they ma-ture

the following summer.

Mature female crabs return here In the fall

from the upper Bay, spend the winter, the

foUowlng sU'mmer develop the "sponge" or,

egg mass from which the young hatch.

BLUE CRABS have an extensive

range along the Atlantic coast-from

Massachusetts at least to the

northern part of South America.

They are animals of the shallow

bays, sounds, and river channels,

seldom found far out 'at seavsome-times

reported in fresh water. In

summer the crabs live close inshore,

but in winter move off into deeper

water to escape the cold. They do

10

.: --_._.,-,-_.••

..•.•..•. .•..

In the upper Chesapeake:

Immense numbers of young erab. arme here

In the spring and summer. A. they grow they

shed their shells repeatedly, form the basi. of

an Important 811ft,crab Industry which does not

eust In the lower Bay. Mature crabs mate

here In their second summer. Mo.t male. then

remain over wlnterl most females return .outh

In autumn.

not appear to migrate extensively

up and down' the coast; probably

each section has its own local popu-lation.

The blue crab resources of the

Atlantic coast yield nearly 80 mil-lion

pounds annually, of which 60

per cent is taken in the waters from

New' York to North Carolina.

Chesapeake Bay is the chief source

of crabs, yielding about 42 million

pounds annually.

Crabs have an interesting and

complex life history, which has been

carefully studied in the Chesapeake.

The seasonal migrations are espe-cially

important, having a direct

bearing on the problem of conserva-tion.

Every year between the first of

June and the end of August, a new

generation of crabs is produced.

The female extrudes the eggs, each

about one one-hundredth inch in

diameter. These remain attached

to the female in a large yellowish

mass known as the sponge. The eggs

hatch in about 15 days.

As the young crabs grow they

shed their shells repeatedly and in

about a month assume ,a crablike

form. Thereafter the crab molts

about 15 times before reaching ma-turity-

at first every 6 days, then

after gradually lengthening periods

until about 25 days elapse between

the final molts. Ordinarily the crab

gains about one-third in size with

each molt. Crabs reach their .full

growth and maturity, and cease to

molt, during their second summer,

when 12 to 14 months old.

The so-called "soft crab" is not

a distinct species; the term is ap-plied

to any crab that has shed its

old shell, in the interval until the

new shell has hardened. As the

soft-shelled crab is considered espe-cially

choice, large numbers of

young crabs are sought in the spring

and summer while they are still

molting. It is customary to place

crabs that show definite signs of

approaching the shedding stage in

floats. If thus imprisoned too prly,

however, the crab will die without

shedding; hence State laws prohibit

the impoundment of crabs which

have not reached the "peeler" stage.

A peeler crab can be detected by a

pink "sign" on the last pair of Iegs,

indicating that the new shell is fully

formed underneath the old one.

Usually the first spawning takes

place when the female is about 2

years old.' Some females are be-

Iieved to live over another winter

BLUE CRAB

and deposit more eggs when 3 years

old; probably few or none live

longer than this. Presumably the

life span of the male is about the

same length.

Most of the young crabs hatched

in the lower Chesapeake Bay soon

begin a northward migration. Cold

weather interrupts this journey, and

they settle to the bottom and cease

to feed or grow until conditions are

more favorable. In the spring their

migration. is resumed, growth pro-ceeds,

and finally they reach Mary-land

waters as nearly mature crabs.

The mating of the majority of the

crabs takes place in Maryland. After

mating, the females return to the '

lower Bay, but most of the males

remain behind, spending the winter

in deep holes or creeks and rivers.

Only about a fifth of the crabs taken

in the lower part of the Bay during

the winter are males. Nearly all the

sponge bearing crabs are found in

Virginia waters. .

Soft crabs are shipped alive to

market, while most hard crabs are

steamed near the place of capture,

the meat picked out of the shell, and

shipped to market in iced contain-ers.

Crab meat is also canned in

some sections of the country, espe-cially

in South Carolina and Louisi-ana.

At the present time, the most im-portant

markets for fresh crab are

the cities of the Atlantic seaboard.

Improved handling and marketing

facifities, and the further develop-ment

of the canning industry, will

probably create wider markets in

the near future. However, the con-servation

problem remains to be

solved. The Chesapeake crab fishery

has been subject, throughout its

history, to extreme fluctuations in

yield, catches ranging from 20 to

60 million pounds. Studies are now

under way to learn whether it is

possible to control these natural

fluctuations, and so stabilize pro-duction.

Area catch in 1940:

43,038,000 Ibs.

II

_. _ .... , -_ .... -------------_._-----------'---_. ---

PORGl;~

Croaker

................................. ::::::::::::::::.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Porgy

Areacatck in 1940:

Porgy-9,755,000 pounds

Croaker-46,905,000 pounds

THE PORGY-called scup in

New England-is a common shore

fish of the Atlantic coast, marketed

chiefly in New York, Philadelphia,

Norfolk, and other cities of the

Middle Atlantic region. It is avail-able

throughout the year, is sold

chiefly as fresh, pan-dressed fish

rather than in fillets. Summer fish-eries

for porgies are concentrated in

J ~rsey, New York, and Rhode

Island, winter fisheries offshore

from the Jersey Capes to Hatteras.

During recent years the catch,

especially in New York and New

Jersey, has been increasing. This is

due to several causes: temporary

increase in abundance (the result

of several years of unusually suc-cessful

spawning) and inoreases in

the number of boats and the effec-tiveness

of their gear. However, a

succession of poor spawning years

could easily reverse the present up-ward

trend. Rather severe fluctua-tions

in the catch have, in fact,

marked the history of this fishery.

Otter trawls take about three-fourths

of the total catch of porgies.

Ocean pound nets and floating

traps, especially off Rhode Island,

Long Island, and New Jersey, also

take important quantities. The

porgy is one of the principal species

taken in the offshore winter trawl

fisheries.

In addition to its commercial

value the porgy is more and more

sought by the salt water angler.

Open boat fishermen go out from

Montauk, the south shore of Long

Island, and Cape May, N. J., to fish

for it.

Porgies spawn in the inshore

waters and bays of New Jersey, Long

Island, and southern New England

from May until August, then begin

to move offshore. The young reach

a length of some 4 inches by the

end of their first summer. By the

fifth year they average 10 inches in

653611 0 - 45 - 3

CROAKER

length, three-fourths of a pound in

weight. Market sizes range from

three-fourths of a pound to one and

a half pounds.

THECROAKERorHARDHEAD

occurs in fishermen's catches any-where

from Cape Cod to Texas, but

north of New Jersey and south of

North Carolina there are no im-portant

fisheries for the species .. It

is, however, one of the principal

market fishes of the Middle Atlantic

section. After Virginia, where

about three-fourths of the total

catch is taken, the /most important

fishing centers are North Carolina

and New Jersey.

Its comparatively small size-market

fish averaging half a pound

to about two pounds-places the

croaker in the pan-fish category. It

is usually sold whole, is sometimes

filleted.

The croaker was once exclusively

a summer fish in the Chesapeake

Bay and northward, taken only dur-ing

the warm months when the fish

were in coastal or inside waters.

Now fishermen follow them offshore

in winter, and fresh croakers appear

in local markets every month of the

year.

In March, April, and May the

pound netters in Chesapeake Bay

and on the Jersey coast find the

cribs of their nets filled with croak-ers.

After the first of June they

take fewer as the fish scatter. Bay

anglers take many croakers during

the summer. In the fall the tem-perature

of air and water drops;

the croakers begin a mass exodus

from the inshore waters. Pound

netters again make heavy catches.

By mid-December the fish have left

the coast, moving to their offshore

winter grounds. There they form

an important part of the catch of

the winter trawlers. The total catch

has increased greatly since the de-velopment

of this winter fishery.

13

STRIBED BASS

_ Weakfish

Area catch in 1940:

Weakfish-18,465,000 pounds

Striped 8ass-2,221,000 pounds

14

THE STRIPED BASS or ROCK-FISH

is well known to anglers,

commercial fishermen, and the gen-eral

public along the Atlantic coast,

where its range is extensive. It also

has a limited distribution on the

Pacific coast (where it was intro-duced

in 1879) but is reserved as a

sport fish in California.

The Chesapeake Bay is the center

of abundance of the Atlantic coast

stock, furnishing two-thirds of the

commercial catch. Most of the bass

are taken in pound nets; smaller

quantities in haul seines, gill nets,

and other gear. Striped bass fisher-ies

are active in the Chesapeake

throughout the year. Largest catches

in New Jersey and Long Island are

made in the fall.

Hundreds of rod and reel fisher-men

all along the coast seek the

striped hass, Surf casting and troll-ing

are their favorite methods.

Most of the catch is sold in the

fresh fish markets, but minor quan-tities

are frozen. The larger bass

are often filleted or steaked; market

sizes of the whole fish run from 2 to

40 pounds. Cities of the Middle

Atlantic area are all important

markets for the species.

The striped bass is a fish of the

coastal waters, seldom being taken

more than a mile or so at sea. Al-though

it is most often found in salt

water, it sometimes ascends coastal

rivers for several hundred miles.

Most important spawning and

nursery areas are in the Chesapeake

Bay; some spawning also takes place

in the Roanoke River, the upper

part of Delaware Bay, and the lower

Hudson River. Females usually ma-ture

when 4 years old or 20 inches

long, males when 2 years old or 12

inches long. Spring and summer

months are the spawning season.

Some of the striped bass spawned .

in the Chesapeake (biologists esti-mate

about 10 percent) migrate out

of the bay when they are about 2

years old and wander northward

at least as far as New England.

These fish make up the greater part

of the supply available to fishermen

in northern coastal states. The

striped hass populations as a whole

migrate extensively, northward in

spring, south in autumn. Conserva-tion

of the supply, by appropriate

size limits or other methods, there-fore

becomes an interstate problem.

WEAKFISH

THE WEAKFISH or GRAY SEA

TROUT, one of the chief market

fishes of the Middle Atlantic area,

is also a favorite sport fish from

Long Island to North Carolina.

Pound net fisheries make most of

the catch ill the Chesapeake, center

of the fishery; haul seines are used

more extensively in North Carolina,

where they are fished at night. Some

purse seining is done in New Jersey.

Anglers usually chum the weakfish

with hait shrimp.

Weakfish is sold almost entirely

in fresh fish markets, sometimes in

the form of fresh fillets: Small

amounts are frozen, salted, or

smoked. This fish is available

throughout the year, being taken

inshore in summer and offshore by

trawlers in winter.

Weakfish probably spawn in their

third summer in the larger bays

from Hatteras to Cape Cod, but most

intensively in the Chesapeake. They

migrate widely. Most of the fish

spawned in the Long Island bays

.move at. the end of their first sum-mer

to the Chesapeake or the sounds

of North Carolina, remaining in

southern waters about 2 years. In

their third summer they migrate

northward, .but return each fall to

the south. Likewise, southern-spawned

weakfish tend to wander

north in summer. Coastal runs are

therefore composed of a mixture of

fish from northern and southern

spawning grounds. As a result of

these migratory habits, the weakfish

must be treated as an interstate

unit if they are to be effectively

conserved.

Seeming to prefer shallow water,

schools of weakfish feed in the surf

on open coasts. and generally keep

close inshore during the summer.

They usually remain near the sur-face,

feeding on smaller fish and

on crabs, shrimps, squids, and other

small marine creatures.

A related form, the spotted weak-fish

or spotted sea trout, is taken

abundantly along with the gray

trout in Chesapeake Bay.

15

SUMMER FLOUNDER

- .:._._------_. __.~-

FLOUNDERS are among the

most popular market fishes. Of the

half dozen or more species that have

commercial or recreational impor-tance

along the Atlantic coast, the

summer flounder or fluke predom-inates

in the Middle Atlantic area.

This is one of the larger flounders,

sometimes measuring 3 feet, weigh-ing

up to 25 pounds. Market sizes,

however, range from % pound to 6

pounds. As dressed for market this

species yields a larger fillet than

most other flounders.

The summer flounder is found

from Maine to northern Florida, but

is most abundant from Long Island

to North Carolina. On the coast as

a whole, the resource yields about

11 million pounds of fish caught

commercially, also supports an ac-tive

sport fishery in the bays and

inshore waters of Long Island, along

the New Jersey coast, and in the

lower Delaware Bay and adjacent

seacoasts.

Most important summer fisheries

for the summer flounder are located

on the southern shore of Long Island

and on the coasts of New Jersey and

Delaware. In winter, the offshore

catch extends from the offing of

New York to Cape Hatteras, the

summer flounder being the only

flatfish taken in important quan-tities

in the winter trawl fishery.

An active migrant, the summer

flounder comes inshore in the

spring, moves off in the fall. Its

16

name arose from the fact that it is

the most .common flounder in the

inshore coastal waters during the

summer months. Most of the larger

fish are believed to spend the sum-mer

in northern regions-northern

New Jersey, southern Long Island,

and southern New England; the

smaller fish summer anywhere from

southern New Jersey to the Virginia

Capes. The older fish seem (on evi-dence

from tagging experiments) to

return to the same locality summer

after summer.

These flounders spawn in the late

fall or early winter, probably at

sea. In the following spring the

young move into coastal waters,

where, like the adults, they live on

or near the bottom. Probably

spawning is more successful-that

is, more young survive-from the

Chesapeake south than in more

northerly parts of the range.

Like other flatfish, the summer

flounder is a .predatory creature.

It lives chiefly on other fishes, also

eats shrimps, crabs, and other

aquatic animals. Waiting for its

prey, it lies partly buried in the

sand, but darts up with surprising

swiftness to seize a passing fish. In

North Carolina, many are speared

at night, by torchlight, as they lie

on the bottom. Otter trawls, how-ever

are the most important gear

used in the fishery.

Area catch in 1940:

6,800,000 pounds

..- II

SHAD

THE SHAD is one of the leading

seafood delicacies of the Atlantic

coast, where it enters streams from

Nova Scotia to northern Florida to

spawn in the spring. In the area

from Cape.Hatteras to Long Island,

first shad runs of the season begin

in February or March in North

Carolina, in March in the Chesa-peake

Bay, usually in April along

the New Jersey coast and in the

Hudson River.

Once tremendously abundant all

along .the Atlantic coast, the shad

resource has suffered from the

effects of the white man's establish-ment

along the banks of the coastal

rivers. Dams, pollution, and exces-sive

fishing have combined to de-plete

the runs. In the Chesapeake,

present catches are about four mil-lion

pounds annually, compared

with some 16 million pounds half a

century ago. On the Atlantic coast

as a whole, the catch has declined

from 50 million to 9 million pounds.

Fortunately, much is now being

learned about the biology of the

shad as a basis for a sound program

of restoration, and fishermen as well

as State officials are showing an in-terest

in rebuilding the resource.

This has already been done in the

Hudson River, where the runs have

recovered from their low yield of

40,000 pounds in 1916 to 5 million

.pounds in 1944.

Shad have a peculiar life history.

During the greater part of their ex-istence

they are inaccessible to the

commercial fisheries. Spawned in

rivers and streams, they migrate

down to salt water as young fish

scarcely as long as a man's finger.

Little is known about their next

two or three years. A few immature

shad have been caught along the

shores of Long Island, others off the

coasts of Maine and Massachusetts,

but the main populations of young

shad have so far eluded fishermen's

nets wherever they have been set.

Shad mature after several years

of ocean life-three to four for

males, four to as much as seven or

eight for females. At maturity, they

return to spawn in the rivers where

they were hatched. In the course

of this spawning migration, they are

taken by commercial fishermen in

bays, sounds, and rivers. Unlike the

Pacific salmon, shad do not as a rule

die after spawning but return to the

sea from which they make repeated

annual spawning migrations.

Fresh shad is available during

only a limited season; frozen shad

throughout the year. Some canning

is done on the Pacific coast, where

the shad was introduced in 1871.

Frozen fillets of shad-a boneless

product-have been prepared on an

experimental basis, and may become

an important market product after

the war. Increasing quantities of

fresh fillets are heing marketed in

the larger eastern cities.

Area catch in 1940:

8,045,000 lbs.

17

BUTl:,ERFISH

Principal fishery

THE BUTTERFISH is solely a

commercial species. It is taken in

-winter as well as summer fisheries,

hence is a popular market fish

throughout the year. Summer fish-

18

eries are chiefly off Long Island and

the New Jersey coast. In the fall,

runs of large, fat butterfish appear

off these coastal areas. These fish are

in demand for smoking; the result-ing

product has a large market in

New York delicatessens. Winter fish-ing

for butterfish is carried on from

the vicinity of offshore northern

New Jersey south to Cape Hatteras,

on the offshore grounds where

trawlers operate. Most of the winter

catch is made off northern New Jer-sey,

along a -deep undersea gully,

leading to New York harbor.

Market sizes of butterfish in gen-eral

range from a quarter of a pound

to a pound and a half, placing it in

the pan-fish category. Rich in fat,

it is usually broiled or fried. Chief

hutterfish markets are Boston, New

York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and

Norfolk.

While never seen in enormous

schools like those of mackerel or '

herring, hutterfish are rather grega-rious,

traveling in small, loosely or-ganized

bands. Their movements

are inshore in summer, a spawning

migration; offshore in winter.

Because of their habit of moving

in toward the shore line in summer,

they are easily taken in pound nets.

On Long Island, more than 90 per-cent

of the summer catch of butter-fish

is made by pounds. This fact

creates an important conservation

problem, for pound nets are not se·

Iective, but trap fish of all sizes. In an effort to return small butterfish

to the sea unharmed, many fisher-men

are now using a sifter device

which sorts out the small sizes as

the pound is fished.

Butterfish spawn in June and

July, and the young,which come to

resemble the adults at an early age,

are about 4 inches long by the end

of their first summer. Small groups

of fish less than one year old are

often seen under the shelter of large

jellyfish during the summer.

Area catch in 1940:

11,985,000 pounds

THE SPOT is a small pan fish,

common in the Chesapeake Bay but

taken in some numbers all along

the coast within its range. Spot fish-eries,

centered in North Carolina

and Virginia, take about 8 million

pounds yearly. Because cities near

the centers of production-Norfolk,

Baltimore, and Richmond - con-sume

almost the entire catch, the

spot is not as well known to the gen-eral

public as its quality merits.

Haul seines are the chief gear

used in the spot fisheries, especially

in Virginia and North Carolina.

Probably the largest seines are oper-ated

in the vicinity of Ocean View,

Virginia. The commercial catch

generally consists of fish ranging

from 6 to 12 inches long, weighing

up to three-quarters of a pound.

Spots are usually sold whole, being

too small for filleting.

The spot belongs to the croaker

family. Like its relatives, the croak-ers,

drums, and sea trouts, it is able

to drum on its air bladder. How-ever,

this organ is thin-walled and

the drumming muscles are not well

developed, hence the sound pro-duced

is a feeble imitation of the

throbbing hum of the croakers.

The habits of spot are not com-pletely

known. They spawn in late

fall and early winter, after they

move out of the bays and sounds.

Nursery grounds are probably close

inshore, for young spot are abun-dant

in Pamlico Sound and lower

Chesapeake Bay.

Spots are very abundant some

years, scarce in others. This sug-gests

that there are great variations

in the survival of the young from

year to year, probably depending on

environmental conditions.

Seasons of greatest market abun-dance

are spring and fall, when the

fish are moving to and from the

bays and sounds. In the fall, the

movements of the spot seem to con-centrate

them in heavier runs, hence

the fall fisheries are more active

and larger catches are made then.

SPOT

The winter habitat of the spot is

unknown, but presumably is in deep

water offshore. A few are taken in

the winter trawl fisheries, off the

Virginia Capes.

• II ~.

.i:::;lilt@il;i~;

"':':':';':';'. "':':':':';':'.

'::::::~:~~ft~:~::::,

'{{f:: .,':: . .:::::::::::: :•........ j}?

W~~~~i;t~:::{::"

19

,I

"

THE MACKEREL is often con-sidered

a New England fish because

the bulk of the catch is made in

that region. However, the first

catches of the season are taken off

the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay

and northward and are generally

landed at New Jersey ports. Later

catches come into New York, then

, into New England. The mackerel is

one of the most important market

fishes of the Middle Atlantic area,

the New York markets alone han-dling

13 to 14 million pounds annu-ally•.

Principal

fishery'

MACKEREL

Area catch in 1940:

4,662,000 pounds

20

Mackerel· are highly migratory,

their movements difficult to predict.

Their seasonal migrations control

the operations of the fishery, and

their extreme changes in abundance

from year to year set in motion a

chain of economic effects, making

the mackerel industry one of the

most precarious ventures among the

fisheries.

Every spring the mackerel mi-grate

from the deeper waters off the

coast, where they have wintered,

and move shoreward in two vast

divisions: one that arrives off the

Chesapeake and Delaware Bays in

April, another that comes inshore

in the vicinity of southern New

England in late May. Both groups

then move in a northeasterly direc-tion

up the coast. This shoreward

movement is a spawning migration.

After spawning, the mackerel spend

the summer feeding on the abun-dant

surface life of the coastal

waters. The southern group of

mackerel summers in the Gulf of

Maine, the northern in the Gulf of

St. Lawrence.

Oceanic conditions - water tem-peratures,

distribution of feed,

perhaps other factors-appear to

control the movements and concen-trations

of mackerel. In some years

the fish do not appear on their

usual feeding grounds, or are wide-ly

scattered, making it difficuli for

fishermen to locate them.

Years of poor mackerel catches,

however, usually reflect an actual

scarcity. More than most fish, at

least among the species that are well

known, young mackerel seem to be·

affected by' environmental condi-tions,

attacks by natural enemies,

availability of food. What happened

in one year, when infant mortality

must have been unusually high,

serves to illustrate the point. In

1932,out of every million mackerel

eggs spawned, only four young fish

survived the first 2 months. This

almost complete failure of the year's

spawning had its inevitable result

MACKEREL

in poor catches by fishermen a few

years later. However, when condi-tions

favor survival and growth of

the young mackerel, broods of enor-mous

size may result, and subse-quent

catches are good.

While the conditions that deter-mine

the abundance of mackerel

are of a cosmic character, and as

such uncontrollable, it is possible

that with further study the environ-mental

factors may be foreseen and

their effects well enough under-stood

to allow biologists to make

accurate predictions of the abun-dance

of mackerel in advance of the

fishing season.

Mackerel are taken largely in

purse seines. There is also a small

gill net fishery, and some are taken

in pound nets. Most seining is done

at night, the fish being located by

the phosphorescent glow which

their movements ereate in the water.

Mackerel are caught from late

March or early April into December

(rarely into January) and thus are

available in the fresh state during

the greater part of the year. A con-siderable

part of the 'catch is frozen.

Although the early mackerel fish-ery

was a salt-fish industry, today

only a small part of the catch-about

6 million pounds-· is salted

or smoked. Smaller quantities are

filleted. During the war a consider-able

amount of mackerel has been

canned; normally, however, less

than 2 million pounds are so

treated.

.120

~

§ 100

oIlo

•••80

og 60

3 40

Il

20

J ~

I"'-... , \

/ \ - If \ ) \. / v ,~

,1840 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940

...

During the history of the mackerel fish-ery,

the catch has shown extreme fluctu-ations,

from only a few million pounds

to 100 million or more.

21

MENHADEN

Principal fishery

THE MENHADEN at present has

little utility as a food fish; its im-port.

ance rests on the fact that it

supports the largest fishery byprod-uct

industry on the Atlantic coast

22

... _._--~'--'~.~

and ranks second in volume of pr!J-duction

among all fisheries of the

United States.

A third of the fish meals and a

fourth of the marine animal oils

produced in the United States are

derived from the menhaden. The

meals are fed to hogs and poultry;

the oils are used in preparing forti-fied

vitamin feeding oils for poultry.

Industrial uses of menhaden oil are

many: as a constituent of many

paints,. varnishes, insect sprays,

printing inks, and soap; as a lubri-cant

for machinery; in aluminum

casting; in leather tanning. Small

Quantities of menhaden are canned,

and the roe is saved for freezing,

salting, or canning.

Menhaden, of which at least three

species occur on the Atlantic coast,

are herringlike fish that. swim in

enormous schools near the .surface

of the water, straining out the mi-nute

forms of sea life. They form

perhaps one of the chief foods of

the larger predatory fishes present

in the same area.

Menhaden mature during their

third or fourth year, spawn in the

summer and fall. They increase in

oil content, and therefore in com-mercial

value, with age and size.

Also, northern menhaden are more

oily than southern.

The fishery is largely controlled

by the seasonal migrations of the

menhaden. In the spring large

schools appear in the coastal wa-ters,

entering bays, sounds, and

river mouths. Fishing begins in

northern New Jersey and western

Long Island in early June, a little

later in the Chesapeake Bay where

intensive activity continues into

October or November, when the fish

move out of the Bay and down the

coast into the region of the North

Carolina fall fisheries. The purse

seine is the most important gear

used in the menhaden fishery.

Area catch in 1940: 388,596,000 lbs,

'..-

RIVER HERRING support one

of the principal river fisheries of

the Atlantic coast. They are caught

in greater quantity than any other

food fish in North Carolina, outrank

all other aquatic. products except

crabs and oysters in Maryland, and

are one of the chief products of the

Virginia fisheries. Elsewhere in the

Middle Atlantic area few are caught,

but in NewEngland, where they are

called alewives, rather large fisher-ies

exist.

River herrmg enter the coastal

rivers in the spring, often in com-pany

wiih shad, and return to the

ocean after spawning. Pound nets

in Albemarle Sound, Chesapeake

Bay, and the lower stretches of the

tributary rivers catch large quanti-ties

during this migration.

The river herring fisheries are

supported by two species whose

ranges overlap: the "true" alewife

or branch herring (Nova Scotia to

the Carolinas) and the blueback

(Bay of Fundy to Florida).

The fish usually enter the streams

in tremendous numbers, move up-stream

to the spawning grounds by

day, and return to the sea imme-diately

after spawning. The young

hatch in 2 to 6 days, depending on

the temperature, develop rapidly,

and in the fall descend to the ocean

as 2- to 4-inch fish.

The ocean life of the river herring

is not well known. They are school-ing,

gregarious fish, wandering near

the surface of the sea in summer

and autumn and feeding on the

minute life of the waters. In their

tum, they serve as food for many

of the larger, predacious fishes.

Probably they winter in deep water,

off the rivers of their origin.

Little of the catch is eaten fresh.

The canning of river herring and

their roe is one of the principal sea-food

canning industries of the

Atlantic coast from Maryland to

North Carolina. Much of the catch

is salted or cured in vinegar and

RIVER HERRING

salt for use in making special her-ring

products. A few are smoked.

Byproducts of··the industry are dry

scrap for fertilizer, oil, and pearl

essence from the scales.

-'l

Area catch in 1940:·

16,333,000 'bs.

23

SEA BASS

Area catch in 1940:

3,525,000 pounds

Principal

fishery

24

.... - ..---_ ..---'---_.._....~.. ..

THE SEA BASS supports large

sport fisheries and is also a popular

market fish in the Middle Atlantic

area. Center of the commercial fish-ery

is the coast of New Jersey, which

yields about 2:0 million pounds,

and the winter trawl fishery off the

New Jersey and Virginia capes,

where 3 to 4 million 'pounds are

taken each year.

The sea bass, best known mem-ber

of a large group of bottom-liv-ing,

marine fishes, lurks around

wrecks and wharf pilings, frequents.

rocky bottoms which snag fisher-men's

trawl nets. As a result, one of

the most effective kinds of sea bass

gear, especially in New Jersey, is

the fish pot-much like a lobster pot

with the height of the funnel in-creased

to admit the fish. The pots

are set unbaited on rough bottom,

buoy lines marking their location.

One fisherman sets up to 650 pots.

Hazards of the pot fishery are

many: passing boats may cut or foul

the lines, storms carry away the

pots. Hand lining, another good

method of fishing on rough bottom,

is common on the rocky shoals off

Montauk Point, also in the North

Carolina fishery. Sea bass are taken

by dragging off Long Island and

New Jersey in summer.

These fish move . inshore and

probably northward in spring, off-shore

and probably south in

autumn. Sport and commercial fish-eries

for sea bass open up in May

along the New Jersey coast, con-tinue

until about November.

Adult sea bass live chiefly on

other creatures of the sea bottom:

mussels, crabs, small lobsters, some

fish, a few plants. The young eat

smaller fare, mostly minute crus-tacea.

Sea bass spawn in May and

Jnne in coastal waters.

Market sizes range from half a

pound to about four pounds. Sea

bass usually are sold whole, but

sometimes are steaked or filleted.

•••

EEL

THE EEL has an extraordinary

history. All the eels of the Atlantic'

Ocean-both the European and the

American eels-are born in the deep

Atlantic, south of Bermuda. After

hatching as minute, transparent

larvae, the young eels gradually rise

out of the deep, warm water to the

upper layers of the ocean. There

they begin a long migration which

carries them to the shores from

which their parents came. Remark-ably,

young European eels always

return to Europe, young American

eels to America, although the two

species of larvae are mingled to

some extent on the spawning

grounds.

American eels reach our shores in

the spring when somewhat more

than a year old. They enter the bays

and sounds and ascend the streams

in enormous numbers. At this stage

they are still transparent with only

traces of pigment appearing on

their glassy, rodlike bodies. The

males are believed to remain in

brackish water, while the females

ascend the streams, sometimes to

distant headwaters. ..

The males grow to a length of

about 2 feet, females to 3 or 4. Some

of the eels are believed to mature

at the age of 7 or 8 years, others

not until they are 12 or even older.

The spawning migration of the ma-ture

eels takes place in the fall,

the females descending the rivers,

joining the males in the estuaries

and bays, and in company with

them returning to the oceanic

spawning grounds. Presumably they

die after this single spawning. ,

American eels are confined to the

Atlantic and Gulf coasts and the

streams which descend to them. Eel

fisheries in the United States are

carried on from Maine to Florida

(small catches are made also in

L_ake Ontario and the Mississippi

Valley), but are concentrated in the

Middle Atlantic area. New York

and New Jersey provide the largest

catches.

The fisheries continue throughout

the year but are most active in the

late fall, when eels are sought for

the Christmas market. The Italian

populations of the larger cities-especially

New York and Philadel-phia-

use eels in preparing the

principal dish for the Christmas

Eve supper. To supply this demand

eels are shipped in tank trucks from

North Carolina, Virginia, and other

areas, and a special shipment of

live eels is made by barge down the

St. Lawrence River, Lake Cham-plain,

and the Hudson River.

Although the market for live eels

is largely confined to the holiday

season, smoked eels are sold

throughout the year. ..

Area catch in 1940:

782,000 pounds

25

i

.jl

BONITO

Kingfish '::::::.:::::::.:::::::.::::::::.::::::..:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

Area catch in 1940:

283,000 pound8

Bonito ~

Area catch in 1940: 2,093,000 pound8

26

_. I

THE BONITO, a member of the

mackerel tribe, inhabits the warmer

parts of all the great oceans of the

world-the Atlantic, the Pacific,

and the Indian. Chiefly an oceanic

fish, it comes inshore in pursuit of

the mackerel, menhaden, squid or

other fish on which it lives. Like

most of its relatives it travels in

schools, swims rapidly, and feeds

for the most part at the surface.

A large pound net fishery for

bonito is operated in New Jersey,

taking nearly a million and a

half pounds annually. Only small

catches, ranging from a few thou-sand

to half a million pounds, are

made in other Middle Atlantic

states. About a hundred thousand

pounds are taken in New England,

none south of North Carolina.

Very little is known about the

migrations of the bonito, or its

spawning habits. It is common

from Massachusetts to Florida .. Ap-parently

it makes some coastwise

migrations, but their extent or pur-pose

has not been discovered. It

seldom enters enclosed waters like

the Chesapeake in any numbers.

Bonito run from 2 to 15 pounds

in weight. They are usually cut in

thick steaks.

. Its strength and size make the

bonito a favorite game fish, which

anglers take by trolling.

THE WHITING or SILVER

HAKE, a fish closely related to the

cods, supports important fisheries in

New York and New Jersey and is

also taken in small quantities off

Maryland and Virginia. Off Long

Island, it is common .throughout

most of the year, being caught off-shore

by otter trawlers from Novem-ber

through March, inshore by

pound netters in spring and fall.

In deep, offshore waters, whiting

range as far south as Tortugas; in-shore,

are seldom found south of

Virginia.

Large runs of whiting appear off

Long Island and New Jersey in the

spring and fall. The fall run is a

WHITING and KINGFISH

mixture of large fish and small or

"pencil" whiting. Whether this sea-sonal

schooling is associated with a

spawning migration is not known.

Whiting do, however, spawn from

June until September. The eggs and

young drift in the currents; the fry

later descend to the bottom when

about an inch long. Adult whiting

often live on the bottom, but also

roam through all levels of the sea,

for they are active predators. They

feed usually on schooling fish, or on

squids, crabs, and crustaceans.

Chief markets for the whiting

caught in the Middle Atlantic area

are New York, Philadelphia, and

Pittsburgh. Most whiting caught in

New England and some frozen whit-ing

from New Jersey is shipped to

the Middle West, especially Kansas

City, where it is used in fried fish

sandwiches.

THE KINGFISHES, also called

ground mullet, king whiting, sea

mullet, or sea mink are members of

the croaker family and should not

be confused with the "kingfish" of

the mackerel tribe. Three species,

with interlapping ranges, are found

along the Middle Atlantic coast.

From New York to North Caro-lina,

kingfish are taken mainly in

haul seines, gill nets, and pound

nets, largest catches being made in

Virginia and North Carolina. They

are chiefly summer fish, those avail-able

in the winter being shipped in

from the south.

Kingfish live on the bottom, tend

to move inshore in summer and off-shore

in winter. In the summer they

ascend the Chesapeake about to the

mouth of the Patuxent. They are be-lieved

to mature at the age of three

years. They spawn from June to

August, chiefly along the ocean

shores, but sometimes in inside

waters.

Chief markets for kinzfish . are

the large cities of the Middle At-lantic

area, where they command a

good price and are considered

among the choicer varieties.

27

THE RIBBED MUSSEL sup-ports

one of the newest and most

unusual aquatic .industries of the

Middle Atlantic region, supplying

"provitamin D," which, on irradia-tion

with ultraviolet light becomes

transformed into vitamin D and is

used in poultry feeding. Prior to

1940, United States needs for this

product were supplied by the mus-sel

fishery of Holland. When war

cut off this foreign supply,· chem-ists

discovered a domestic source in

the ribbed mussel, found from Nova

Scotia to Georgia. An industry was

developed on the ocean side of

Virginia's Eastern Shore peninsula,

soon becoming the country's prin-cipal

source of provitamin D. Al-though

large mussel beds are

believed to exist in the Carolinas,

only the Virginia resource has, up

to now, been tapped. Little is known

about the extent of the resource or

the natural replacement rate of the

mussels.

A small fishery for the related sea

mussel is carried on in theOvster

Bay region of Long Island. These

mussels are a food resource, as yet

little utilized.

28

SCALLOPS taken along the Mid-.

dIe Atlantic coast are of two kinds:

sea scallops and bay scallops. Pro-duction

of sea scallops in the waters

of this area is small, but about two

million pounds, chiefly taken in

NewEngland, are landed at its ports.

Small but intensive :fisheriesfor the

bay scallop exist in Rhode Island,

Long Island, and North Carolina.

Virginia formerly produced several

million pounds of bay scallops and

New Jersey a smaller amount. How-ever,

the scallop :fisheries in these

and many other areas disappeared

early in the 1930's simultaneously

with the destruction, by a mysteri-ous

disease, of the eel grass in which

the young scallops shelter. The only

portion of the scallop-either bay

or sea-that is eaten is the large

muscle that controls the movements

of the shells. Sea scallops are taken

by dredging, sometimes at consider-able

depths; bay scallops in shallow

water by dredges, rakes, or dip nets.

Scallop rake

•••

THE HARD SHELL CLAM (qua-hog,

round clam, little neck) is the

most abundant clam on Middle

Atlantic shores. The fisheries of

New York and New Jersey yield

between 2 and 3 million .pounds

each; the Virginia clam industry is

only slightly less productive, with a

yield of nearly 2 million pounds.

Small quantities. are taken in Dela-ware,

Maryland, and North Caro-lina.

The bulk of the clam catch is sold

fresh; the balance is canned-as

minced clams, as chowder, or as

clam cocktail.

Hard shell clams live in coastal

waters, from almost the high tide

level to depths of more than 50

feet. The deeper growing clams are

taken by dredging or with tongs

(the New Yorkfishery is carried on

entirely by tonging), while clams

that live in or near the. tidal zone

are dug out of the sand with rakes

or are picked by hand.

Because hard shell clams are well

adapted to cultivation and grow

within a wide depth range, the fish-ery

could be greatly developed by

extensive farming. In practice,

however, cultivation has been neg-lected

and pollution has been toler-ated

in otherwise good clam-grow-ing

areas; as a result only a fraction

of the potential value of the clam

resource is realized.

MOLLUSKS

THE SURF CLAM, one of the

commonest shellfish of the Middle

Atlantic coast, has supported an im-portant

fishery only during the past

two years, when a new industry was

developed to supply wartime needs

for canned products. Principal

commercial operations are now

carried on along the southern shore

of Long Island, where the clams are

taken in dredges a half mile to a

mile from shore. Some are sold

fresh, part are canned locally, but

most are shipped to Maine for can-ning.

With about 25 boats fishing

for surf clams in 1945,average daily

production was reported as about

2,000 bushels. Almost the entire

production goes to the military serv-ices.

The clams live on exposed

coasts from Labrador to Cape Hat-teras,

burying themselves in the

bottom to a depth of several inches.

They spawn .in the sprmg and

. throughout the summer. About 5

years are required to reach a length

of 40 inches. .

29

APPENDIX

Nutritive Value of Fish and

Shellfish: Fish are good natural

sources of calcium, phosphorus,

iron, and copper and provide pro-tein

of unexcelled quality. Some

species also furnish vitamins in

appreciable quantities and sea fish

are rich in iodine.

Fish are an important source of

proteins, a type of food which must

be included in the diet to provide

the elements needed. to grow and

repair worn-out body tissues. Some

proteins are complete in that they

supply all of the elements needed;

others are incomplete and must be

supplemented with other protein

foods if the body is to remain in

normal health. Fish proteins, like

those in beef, pork, and other meats,

are complete in themselves and pro-teins

of this type should supply

about one-third of the daily protein

requirement.

Fish are an excellent source of

most of the minerals which the body

needs to develop properly and per-form

its functions. Calcium and

phosphorus (without which proper

development of bones and teeth is

impossible) occur in fish fillets in

about the same quantities as in beef

round. Marine fishes are especially

rich sources of iodine, containing 50

to 200 times as much of this essential

element as any other food. Oysters,

shrimp, and crabmeat, compared

with milk, provide half as much

calcium, five times as much magne-sium,

and slightly more phosphorus.

Iron and copper, which build up the

hemoglobin content of the blood

and prevent or remedy nutritional

anemia, are easily obtained by eat-ing

most fish. Oysters and shrimp

are the best known sources of these

two minerals.

could be obtained from ordinary

serving portions of fish to the fol-lowing

extent: vitamin A, 10 per-cent;

vitamin D, more than ade-quate

amounts; thiamin (vitamin

B1), 15 percent; riboflavin (vitamin

B2), and "nicotinic acid (another

element of the vitamin B complex),

70 percent.

General Guides for Selecting

and Preparing Fish: Insist upon

freshness. A fresh fish may be recog-nized

by the following: firm and

elastic flesh, scales that cling to the

skin in most species, reddish gills

free from disagreeable odor, eyes

bright and full, not sunken. In

selecting shellfish like clams and

oysters, be sure that the shells are

tightly shut, indicating that the ani-mals

are alive, unless you prefer to

buy the meat separately as shucked

shellfish. Crabs and lobsters should

be bought alive or as cooked meat.

However, uncooked shrimp may be

bought in the shell provided it feels

firm to the touch. Cooked shrimp is

sold either with or without the

shell, with the heads already re-moved.

When to buy: In general, the fish

of any species are of highest food

quality when most abundant, for at

these periods fishermen are making

their catches in the shortest time

and shipping them promptly. Usu-ally,

but not always, fish are cheap-est

when most abundant.

Common market forms: Fresh

(refrigerated) fish and completely

frozen fish should be equally good

if the freezing is done by the mod-ern

methods now well known to the

industry. Both are marketed in a

variety of convenient forms, as

follows:

Although fish-liver oils have long

been recognized as first-classsources

of vitamins A and D, it is less widely

known that the flesh of fish is also

a source of several vitamins. On the

average, daily vitamin requirements

30

=

*'MHM9R'!*"

Whole or round fish are those

marketed in the form in which they

come from the water, and are of

three kinds: fish that keep as well

or better without dressing, small

fishes, or the small sizes of larger

species. Before cooking, whole or

round fish are eviscerated and in all

but the very small sizes, the heads,

scales, and sometimes the fins are

removed.

Drawn fish are those marketed

with only the entrails removed. To

prepare these fish for cooking the

heads, scales, and (if desired) the

fins are removed, and the fish may

be split or cut into serving portions

if too large to be cooked whole.

Dressed fish have had the head

and entrails removed and the tail

and fins may be cut off. If dressed

fish are large they may be cut into

pieces in preparation for cooking.

Very large dressed fish are some.

times marketed in pieces.

Steaks are slices (usually about

half an inch thick) cut across a large

dressed fish.

Fillets are meaty slices cut length.

wise from the sides of the fish. Ftl-lets

contain no bones or other waste.

Their weight varies with the size of

the fish from which they are cut.

Sticks are crosswise or lengthwise

cuts of fillets.

Canned fish: Besides the uni-versally

familiar canned salmon,

tuna, and sardines, many kinds of

fish are canned for use in main

dishes, salads, and appetizers.

Salt or Smoked fish: Tasty vari•.

ations in the menu are provided by

salt or smoked fish. Salt fish ordi-

APPENDIX

narily requires one-half to several.

hours' soaking before further prepa-ration;

while smoked fish usually is

ready to eat as it is or may be

heated.

Fat content of fish: For best re-sults

in preparing a fresh fish, it is

always desirable to know whether

it is fat or lean. Fat fish are espe-cially

suitable for baking, and may

also be broiled, while lean fish are

best adapted to steaming, boiling,

and frying. Medium-far fish are

prepared like the lean, or may be

dressed with strips of salt pork or

bacon and baked. Most cook books

classify fish as follows:

Fat fish are those containing more

than 5 percent fat. Examples are

shad, mackerel, eel, hutterfish ,

herring, porgies, striped bass.

Lean fish are those containing less

than 5 percent fat. Examples are

croaker, sea bass, weakfish, oysters,

crabs, flounders, spot, whiting,

clams.

Sauces and garnishes: The at-tractiveness

of almost any dish con-sisting

of fish will be increased

greatly by the use of sauces that

subtly enhance or complement the

flavor. Any good cook book contains

excellent suggestionsas to the choice

and preparation of such saucea.f

Fresh and colorful garnishes also do

much to create a dish as pleasing to

the eye as to the palate, thereby

whetting the appetite and helping to

make the serving of fish a pleasur-able

and often repeated experience.

2 Sauces for seafood.. Fishery Leaflet 53.

Mimeographed, 4 pages, may be obtained on

request from the Fish and Wildlife Service, Chi.

eage 54, III.

31

1

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BREDER, CHARLES M., JR. Field hook of marine fishes of the Atlantic

coast. 332 pp., iIIus., 1929.

CHURCHILL, E. P., JR. Life history of the hlue crah. Bulletin, U. S.

Bureau of Fisheries, Vol. XXXVI, pp. 91-128, iIIus., 1917.i918.

--The oyster and the oyster industry of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

Appendix VIII, Report, U. S. Commissioner of Fisheries for 1919.

51 pp., Illus., 1921,

HARRISON, ROGER W. The menhaden industry. U. S. Bureau of

Fisheries Investigational Report No.1, 113 pp., Illus., 1931.

HILDEBRAND, SAMUEL F., and W. C. SCHROEDER. Fishes of Chesa-peake

Bay. Bulletin, U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, Vol. XLIII, Part I,

366 pp., Illus., 1927.

MERRIMAN, DANIEL. Studies on the striped hass (Roccus saxatilis] of

the Atlantic coast. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fishery Bulletin 35.

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