THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SURVEY OF MARINE FISHERIES
OF NORTH CAROLINA

<><><>c><x><><x><^c><x><><><><x^

SURVEY OF

MARINE FISHERIES

OF

NORTH CAROLINA

BY

HARDEN F. TAYLOR

AND A STAFF OF ASSOCIATES

Chapel Hill

THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS

1951

Copyright, 1951, by

THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS

Manufactiired in the United States of America

Van Rees Press, New York

P- J-

FOREWORD

By Robert E. Coker, Chairman. *' Jf^

A request from President Graham of the University of North Carolina in
October, 1944, for a project in marine biology led to the proposal of an
Institute of Fisheries Research with a laboratory at a suitable place on the
coast. Underlying the proposal was the thought that there was definite need
for a State or regional agency through which the techniques and principles
of the natural and social sciences could be applied to all manner of problems
in the use and preservation of the State's marine resources. Hitherto North
Carolina's valuable fish and shellfish have been virtually neglected so far as
regards the application of scientific research or systematic studies such as
have been so productive in respect to resources of the land. It was hoped that
properly directed research on resources of the sea and the sounds might lead
to greater profit in exploitation and to sounder practices in conservation.

The provisional draft of the project for fisheries research was considered
successively by a number of committees and boards of the University, in-
cluding the Division of Natural Sciences, the Advisory Committee, the
Administrative Board of the Graduate School, the Administrative Council of
the Consolidated University and the Executive Council of the Graduate
School of the Greater University. After full approval by all such committees
and boards, the President appointed an initial committee of organization
with membership as follows: L. D. Baver, Director of the Agricultural
Experiment Station, Raleigh; R. W. Bost, Head, Department of Chemistry,
Chapel Hill; R. E. Coker, Department of Zoology, Chapel Hill, Chairman;
William deB. MacNider, Department of Pharmacology, Chapel Hill; Z. P.
Metcalf, Department of Zoology, State College; W. W. Pierson, Dean of
the Graduate School, ex officio.

The committee met in Chapel Hill, August 9, 1945, with all members
present, except that, in the unavoidable absence of Dean Pierson, his place
was taken by John B. Woosley. Present also and participating by special
invitation, were Harden F. Taylor of New York, recently President of
The Atlantic Coast Fisheries Company, and Herbert F. Prytherch, Di-
rector of the U. S. Fisheries Laboratory at Beaufort. The group decided
unanimously on the need for an Institute of Fisheries Research and on the
desirability of its affiliation with the University in Chapel Hill. In the discus-

J.

«2^

#

VI FOREWORD

sion it was brought out that the committee had only limited and fragmentary
information with respect to the status of the fisheries in North Carolina, the
nature and volume of the resources, and the potentialities of their develop-
ment. It was decided, then, that the first need was a full compilation of
available data concerning these basic conditions. The committee adopted
unanimously a recommendation to the President that such a survey be
organized, to be completed, if possible, in advance of the inauguration of a
research program. Further procedures on the part of the committee were
then delegated to a subcommittee.

Acting upon recommendation of the committee. President Graham author-
ized a ''Survey of Marine Fisheries of North Carolina," appointing Robert
E. Coker as Chairman of the Executive Committee, Rex S. Winslow as
Secretary and Treasurer, and Harden F. Taylor as Executive Director. There
was formed also an Advisory Board whose membership is listed on another
page.

Consultations were had with Director R. Bruce Ethridge and Vice Chair-
man Josh Home of the Department of Conservation and Development, both
of whom welcomed the Survey and extended effective personal cooperation
as well as the full aid of the Department.

Initial financial support for the Survey in the amount of $12,000 was
secured from a grant to the University made by George R. Lurcy of New
York. To this was added a grant in like amount from the General Education
Board.

After a meeting of the Advisory Board in Chapel Hill May 5, 1946, the
Survey was set in operation with responsibility for organization and conduct
vested in the Executive Director. Because of special circumstances of the
time, which was just after the close of war, the task of finding efficient and
available personnel proved extraordinarily difficult. Difficulties and disap-
pointments, particularly in respect to the biological, economic and legislative
sections of the Survey, caused substantial delay in completion but in no way
lowered the quality of what was done. Unexpected burdens were placed
upon the Director, who had to complete the economic section with little aid,
while entirely new arrangements for completion of the biological section had
finally to be made.

It will be recalled that the Survey was originally intended to lay the
groundwork for a projected Institute of Fisheries Research. It happened,
however, that the Department of Conservation and Development obtained
by purchase in 1946 the former Marine Section Base at Morehead City (site
of old Camp Glenn) and promptly made available for such an Institute an
excellent laboratory building and other facilities of the Base. In the following
year a grant from the Knapp Foundation, Inc., of New York, matched by
funds allotted from State appropriations to the Department of Conservation

FOREWORD

Vll

and Development and the Shrimp Commission, made possible and desirable
the inauguration of the Institute. This was established by action of the
President and the Executive Committee of the Trustees September 29, 1947.
Actual operations of the Institute began with the inception of the Shrimp
Survey January i, 1948. The establishment of the Institute comes into the
story of the Survey, not only because the Survey was intended to give a
foundation to the Institute, but also because the Institute was able later to
make substantial contribution to the Survey. Its biological staff, working
under Dr. Taylor's direction, completed the greater part of the biological
section, including all such parts as had not previously been drafted.

The general purpose of the Survey was not to gain new knowledge by
observation, experimentation or research in the ordinary sense. Rather it was
to assemble wherever it could be found and to digest and summarize all
discoverable records and reports with respect to physical, chemical, and
hydrobiological conditions of coastal waters, the several fishery resources of
the State, the current status of the commercial and sport fisheries, and the
potentialities in development. The report of the Survey, as it was planned,
should make it hereafter unnecessary to go back ordinarily to the extremely
scattered original records. The Survey should mark the point of departure
from which future researches might begin. All materials gathered would be
critically examined and so presented with comments and interpretations that,
not only scientists, but also any interested, intelligent reader might gain a
fair conception of the magnitudes and potentialities of the State's fisheries
and might sense the general directions in which further research would likely
prove most productive.

The program of the Survey divided itself along natural lines into fairly
distinct parts. Part I would deal with the basic inorganic determinants
of life in the region under consideration: that is to say, the chemical, physical,
and hydrographic conditions of the State's coastal and estuarial waters.
Part II would treat the plants and animals upon which the fisheries and
fishery industries must be based — the marine algae, the shell fishes of various
kinds, and the fin fishes. In Part III concern would be with economic
conditions in the broadest sense, including procedures and potentialities in
exploitation, processing, and marketing. Finally, Part IV would embrace
a comprehensive study of public attitudes and acts with respect to exploita-
tion and conservation as these are expressed in legislation and administration
affecting the resources and their utilization; it was planned to include a
far-reaching study of the history of fishery regulation with analyses of its
motivations and common guiding principles.

As it turned out, the fourth part had to be abandoned for the time. This
is only because it has not yet been possible to find an available person
properly qualified by legal training and experience to carry out so difficult

rhfi!C>/

VIU FOREWORD

a task. It is hoped that at some future time this important service can be
completed as a separate undertaking of the Institute.

The third part presented exceptional difficulties for the basic reason
that the economics of the fisheries has never anywhere been the subject of
comprehensive and critical analysis. Accepting the broad challenge, Dr.
Taylor has substantially extended the scope of the economic section of this
Survey to consider the fisheries of the whole country and, to an extent, of
the world. The results provide essential background for proper appraisal of
the conditions and potentialities of the fisheries of North Carolina or of any
other state or region.

In this comprehensive report, completed now except for the part on
legislative and administrative conditions of the fisheries, we have, not only
a set of summaries and analyses of conditions in North Carolina, but also an
intensive and competent study of the peculiar nature of fisheries and fishery
industries wherever they may be. Originally intended to afford base and
background for research on problems of the fisheries in North Carolina, the
report should be of much wider interest and significance. Such an assembly
of facts concerning fisheries, with basic analyses and interpretations, has
never hitherto been available.

It is to be expected, indeed it is to be hoped, that the report will
provoke wide discussion. Whether or not there should be differences
of opinion as to interpretations and conclusions, there can be no question
as to the high and enduring value, not only of the data assembled in this
report, but also of their treatment in the light of the Director's long and
broad experience in scientific studies of fish, of fishery technology, of
processing and marketing, and of administration of fishery industries.

SURVEY OF MARINE FISHERIES
OF NORTH CAROLINA

Advisory Board

As appointed, February, 1946.

Robert Ervin Coker, Chairman

Kenan Professor of Zoology
The University of North Carolina
Rex Shelton Winslow, Secretary
Director of the Bureau of Business Services and Research
The University of North Carolina
Leonard Davie Baver *
Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station
Raleigh
Carter Dalton, Attorney
High Point
Margaret Edwards
Department of Home Economics
The Woman's College of the University of North Carolina
Irving Frank Hall f
State Planning Board
William Roy Hampton
Chairman of the Commercial Fisheries Committee
Department of Conservation and Development
Harold Judson Humm
Director of the Duke University Marine Laboratory
George William Jeffers
Director of the Chesapeake Bay Fisheries Commission
John Allen Nelson
Fisheries Commissioner, Division of Commercial Fisheries
Department of Conservation and Development
Herbert Francis Prytherch
Director of the United States Fisheries Laboratory
Beaufort

Harden Franklin Taylor
Executive Director

* Succeeded in 1948 by James H. Hilton, Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station
T Deceased.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Foreword, by Robert E. Coker, Chairman, Advisory Board v

Members of the Advisory Board ix

Part I

HYDROGRAPHY OF NORTH CAROLINA MARINE WATERS

BY Nelson Marshall

Introduction 2

Gross Geography of the Sounds and Neighboring Waters 3

Gross Geography of the Continental Shelf 7

Circulation in the Sounds 9

Circulation Offshore 12

Temperatures Offshore 21

Temperatures in the Sounds 33

Salinity and Nutrient Salts 36

The Offshore Bar and Its Inlets 50

Nature of the Bottom 57

Pollution 58

Wind, Waves, and Weather 59

Productivity 64

Summary Comments and Recommendations 68

Bibliography 72

Part II

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY OF THE
ECONOMIC SPECIES

Introduction, Harden F. Taylor 79

The Menhaden, William A. Ellison, Jr. 85

The Edible Finfishes of North Carolina, Eugene W. Roelofs 109
The Oyster and Other Mollusks in North Carolina, Alphonse

F. Chestnut 141

The Shrimps in North Carolina, Carter Broad 191

The Blue Crab in North Carolina, John C. Pearson 205
The Diamond-back Terrapin in North Carolina, Robert E. Coker 219

^^^ff

Xii CONTENTS

PAGE

The Seaweed Resources of North Carolina, Harold J. Humm 231
A Preliminary Survey of Marine Angling in North Carolina,

Francesca LaMonte 251

Part III

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA
BY Harden F. Taylor

Introduction 2 89

I. Economic Status and Standard of Living of the Coastal

Region of North Carolina 293

11. Economics of the Fisheries Generally 301

General and Qualitative 301

Production 301

Marketing, Distribution, and Consumption 328

Manufacturing 351

Quantitative Consideration of the Fisheries 363

Comparative Magnitudes of the Fisheries 363

United States Fisheries 371

Resume of Quantitative Fishery Economics 419

III. Economics and Marketing of North Carolina Fisheries 42 1

Production and Primary Marketing 424

The Historical and Statistical Record 424

North Carolina Fisheries Geographically Considered 433

Primary Distribution of North Carolina Sea Products 437

Inland Consumption, Distribution, and Marketing 445

The Potential Market 445

Mechanism of Distribution 452

Concluding Comments and Recommendations 461-

Bibliography 471

Appendix 475

Index 541

PART I

HYDROGRAPHY OF NORTH CAROLINA
MARINE WATERS

By Nelson Marshall

The University of North Carolina*

CONTENTS

PAGE

Introduction " 2

Gross Geography of the Sounds and Neighboring Waters 3

Gross Geography of the Continental Shelf 7

Circulation in the Sounds 9

Circulation Offshore 12

Temperatures Offshore 21

Temperatures in the Sounds 33

Salinity and Nutrient Salts 36

The Offshore Bar and Its Inlets 50

Nature of the Bottom 57

Pollution 58

Wind, Waves, and Weather 59

Productivity 64

Summary Comments and Recommendations 68

Bibliography 72

* Later, the College of William and Mary and the Virginia Fisheries Laboratory.

INTRODUCTION

Fisheries productivity is but a factor of productivity in general and this
in turn is based on the hydrography, or physical-chemical conditions, of
the waters involved. Though these conditions are obviously basic, it is seldom
that we have approached a problem in fishery yields from this standpoint.
The importance of soil, weather, and climate have not been overlooked in
agriculture or other aspects of production on land. We must realize that
comparable determinants are equally important in aquatic habitats. Scientists
recognize this; yet studies in hydrography and in the specific effects of
hydrographic features on production are in their infancy. The public has
responded slowly to such concepts, for underwater conditions do not speak
for themselves, as do droughts on land, for^xample. This is unfortunate and
must be remedied, for in the final analysis it is the public that makes policy
in fisheries utilization, management, etc., and sponsors much of the necessary
fisheries research.

The objective of the present study is to present and discuss the significance
of pertinent hydrographic information relative to North Carolina marine
waters. An attempt is made to utilize all accumulated information up to the
year 1947. Such available facts are so scarce and so widely scattered, and
have been accumulated for such diverse purposes that one might consider it
a wasteful objective; however, when brought together they do give a general
picture. Certainly this is the logical first step in analyzing the merits of the
many optimistic guesses as to the great potentialities of North Carolina's
marine waters, and it is the obvious basis for planning the necessary further
research in this field.

This, and several related studies, were visualized and guided by Dr. Robert
E. Coker and Dr.' Harden F. Taylor. These two scientists have been a great
inspiration to the writer and have been of special assistance in helping him
obtain and analyze the available facts. An attempt to include the numerous
others whose contributions are so greatly appreciated would take many pages.
The paper itself is, in a sense, a continuous account of contributions from
one person or organization after another. I hasten to add that all involved
(see the numerous references to data sources) have not only been exceed-
ingly generous in supplying information but have also given the matter much
time and thought in discussion and correspondence. I am especially indebted
to Dr. Gordon Riley for his helpful criticisms.

c><><><><>o<e><x><j><xx><><^^

HYDROGRAPHY OF NORTH CAROLINA
MARINE WATERS

Gross Geography of the Sounds and Neighboring Waters

The sandy offshore beach which is more or less continuous from Sandy Hook,
New Jersey, to Miami, Florida, is well developed in North Carolina, where
it is interrupted by a few relatively narrow inlets. Along the northeastern
half of the State this bank, as it is called locally, lies as a prominence far to
the east of the mainland and the broad river mouths. This results in broad,
shallow sounds (Figure i and Table i) quite different from the narrow

TABLE 1

The Approximate Area and Volume of the Larger North Carolina Sounds

Sound

Square Miles *

Acres *

Acre-Feet f

Currituck, including Back Bay

Albemarle

Croatan

Roanoke

Pamlico

Core

Bogue

1 60

500

35

25

1,700

120

35

102,400
320,000
22,400
16,000
1,088,000
76,800
22,400

512,000

5,440,000

179,200

32,000

16,320,000

268,800

34,000

Total

2.575

1,648,000

22,786,000

* Estimates made with the aid of a planimeter. The elongate broad mouths of tributaries,
such as the Alligator, Pamlico, Neuse, North, and Newport rivers were not included.
t Approximate area X estimated average depth.

lagoons usually formed behind such beaches. Johnson (19 19, reprinted 1938)
refers to this North Carolina coast as a compound shoreline, the offshore bar
suggesting emergence and the drowned-valley appearance of the river mouths
indicating later submergence.

Four major river systems flow into the sounds, and a fifth, the Cape Fear
River, flows into the ocean to the southeast. The total drainage area, 30,290
square miles (see Figure 18 for the extent of the individual drainage basins),
is largely confined to the low, flat Coastal Plain, but the Roanoke-Dan basin
to the north also drains the more roUing Piedmont Plateau and the eastern
slope of the Appalachian Mountain Region. In general the drainage is in
forest land that has been stripped extensively for agriculture.

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

PAMLICO 50UND

AND NEIGHBORING WATERS

UE@END:

MARSH

^Til'-C} DEPTH t-ld

ll

^

t

\

\
\
\

"A

V

-n

\

V

■•>T

^

pt

\(

^ V

/''

t

^ -^

\

' "^ 'J--

O

e»

i.-v

O /•.<-' "^ HATTERAS INLET

Fig. I.

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 5

Currituck Sound, the northernmost of the twelve named sounds in the
State, is about 40 miles long,^ 3 to 4 miles wide, and less than 7 feet" deep
over most of the area. It is essentially a lagoon and drains the bordering
swamps and lowlands. It opens into the eastern end of Albemarle Sound to
the south, and Inland Waterway canals link it with Norfolk to the north and
the North River tributary of Albemarle Sound to the southwest. Its mouth is
about 24 miles from Oregon Inlet, the nearest opening to the ocean; con-
sequently its waters are fresh to brackish and are notable for supporting
water fowl, freshwater game fish and such migrants to fresh water as striped
bass and alewives.

Albemarle Sound has an east-west dimension of about 55 miles, averages
about 7 miles wide, and has a rather level bottom about 18 feet deep. Eight
rivers, including the Roanoke and the Chowan, and Currituck Sound drain
into this body of water which in turn drains through Croatan and Roanoke
sounds and into the upper part of Pamlico Sound. Inland Waterway canals
connect with Currituck Sound to the northeast, with the lower Chesapeake
Bay at Norfolk by way of the Pasquotank River and the Dismal Swamp, and
with Pamlico Sound to the south by way of the Alligator River. Since Albe-
marle Sound has such a large river drainage and the exchange with sea water
is about as indirect as it is for Currituck Sound, it is essentially fresh water.
As such it has proved to be an exceptionally favorable habitat for anadromous
fishes (those that seek fresh water to spawn), which may spawn in the sound
proper or in its tributaries. The resulting fish migrations and the shallow,
level bottom suitable for staking nets form the basis for the intensive fishery
of the area.

Roanoke and Croatan sounds parallel each other and extend south from
eastern Albemarle into northeastern Pamlico Sound. Roanoke Sound, just
west of the offshore bar, is about 8 miles long and ^ to 2 miles wide, and
has a depth of only i to 3 feet over most of its area. West of Roanoke Island,
which separates these two bodies of water, is Croatan Sound. This is also
about 8 miles long but is 2 to 4 miles wide and generally 7 to 10 feet deep.
Undoubtedly it is the more important in the circulation and drainage from
Albemarle to Pamlico Sound. Accordingly, its fisheries potentialities as a
bottle-neck for anadromous fishes entering Albemarle Sound are probably
greater than those of Roanoke Sound; however, because of its higher fresh-
water circulation it has not been as productive of oysters.

Pamlico Sound is approximately 70 miles in its long northeast-southwest
dimension and varies from 10 to 30 miles in width. In the basins the bottom

1. This includes Back Bay, a branch of the sound north of the Virginia line.

2. The depths listed here and elsewhere in this section are characteristic depths, no considera-
tion being given to narrow channels, especially those man-made ones that do not alter the basic
physiography.

6 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

is rather level, with a depth of about 20 feet, but there are extensive shoals
distributed in the Sound as follows:

1. Completely around the shoreline grading into the extensive bordering
marshes.

2. As deltas at the four existing inlets (see the section below on The Off-
shore Bar and Its Inlets).

3. Between the converging mouths of the rivers, particularly the two
larger ones, the Neuse and the Pamlico.

4. Extending northward from Ocracoke Inlet as Bluff Shoal.

The latter shoal is apparently the result of the deposition of suspended
matter where waters draining from the north, Albemarle Sound, etc., meet
drainage from the southwest, Neuse and Pamlico rivers, etc. (Winslow,
1889). Thus the merged estuaries of the latter rivers form one basin in south-
eastern Pamlico Sound, while another lies to the northeast of Bluff Shoal.
The Inland Waterway connection with Albemarle Sound is cut by way of
the Pungo River to the northwest, and the connection with the Beaufort area
starts in Adams Creek from the south shore of the Neuse River. The salinity
in Pamlico Sound varies with location (see below, the section on Salinity and
Nutrient Salts), and the sessile fisheries forms are distributed accordingly:
clams about the mouths of inlets, oysters along the opposite shores. The
Sound also abounds with the previously mentioned anadromous fishes, which
tend to linger prior to entering the estuaries or enroute to the northern
sounds. Numerous other characteristically marine fishes: mullet, spot,
croaker, gray trout, shrimp, and others, populate Pamlico Sound in accord-
ance with the tendency for such forms to prosper in such extensive shallow,
brackish areas.

Core Sound begins at the southern part of Pamlico Sound and extends
southwesterly about 36 miles to the vicinity of Beaufort, where Bogue Sound
begins and stretches about 2 5 miles westerly. These sounds vary from i to 6
miles in width and are extremely shoal, Core Sound averaging about 3^ feet
of water and Bogue about 2^ feet. There is considerable drainage from the
surrounding lowland by way of marshes and small creeks. Three large arms
of these sounds, referred to as rivers, are the North River and the Newport
River, both of which are opposite Beaufort Inlet at the intersection of these
sounds, and the White Oak River opposite Bogue Inlet at the western end
of Bogue Sound. The Inland Waterway from Pamlico Sound cuts through to
the Newport River and at Beaufort it takes a westerly course through Bogue
Sound. In addition to the Beaufort and Bogue inlets, already mentioned,
there are two that cut through the banks to Core Sound. The salinity varies
with the locality, being highest near the inlets, particularly near Beaufort
Inlet. The fisheries resources are in a very general way much like those of
Pamlico Sound.

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 7

Beaufort Inlet and the adjacent intersection of the sounds and "rivers"
afford a terminal for coastal, inland-water, and land transportation which
has resulted in the rise of Beaufort and Morehead City. This twin-city fish-
ing and general coastal port is quite distinct from the other sizeable North
Carolina ports which are more inland, up the larger estuaries, and have not
depended so definitely on marine enterprises.

To the southwest from Bogue Inlet to the mouth of the Cape Fear River,
a distance of about 75 miles, the coast is fringed with numerous small, shallow
lagoons interrupted by marshes. Streams and creeks of varying volume flow
into these so-called sounds and several small inlets connect them with the sea.
A sizeable river. New River, drains across the marshes between Bogue Sound
and Stump Sound and into the ocean by way of New River Inlet. The larger
of these lagoons are Stump Sound to the northeast, then Topsail, Middle,
Masonboro, and finally Myrtle Sound to the southwest. The fisheries poten-
tialities of such waters are too varied for generalization since they differ so
much in area, depth, and drainage.

There is very little open lagoon water westward along the coast from the
Cape Fear River to the State line about 32 miles away. The Inland Waterway,
which has continued southwestward through the sounds and marshes men-
tioned above, is cut through the marshes here, connecting eventually to
Charleston, South Carolina, and other southern ports.

Gross Geography of the Continental Shelf

A zone of relatively shallow water extending many miles from the coast-
line is a general characteristic of continental sea coasts (Figure 2). Typically,
as off North Carolina, this continental shelf has a gradual slope to about 100
fathoms (600 feet or 200 meters) where the gradient increases more or less
abruptly, forming a continental slope to the deep ocean basin. The shoulder
in the region of the loo-fathom contour is thus the real edge of the continent.
Experience and available knowledge indicate that it is the shelf waters inside
this contour that offer most of the known and anticipated offshore or so-called
deep-sea fisheries resources. The bulge in the coasthne of North Carolina is
not duplicated by the loo-fathom and other deep shelf contours; conse-
quently the area of the continental shelf off this state is relatively small,
especially when contrasted with extensive areas such as Georges Bank and
the Grand Bank, off New England and Newfoundland respectively. At Cape
Hatteras the loo-fathom contour is only 21 miles offshore. From here to the
Virginia line, where 100 fathoms lies 64 miles offshore, there are about 3,800
square miles of shelf area. From Hatteras to the South Carolina line, where
the loo-fathom contour lies 78 miles along an imaginary southeastward

8

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA
80 75

Fig. 2. The Continental Shelf.

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 9

continuation of this state boundary, there are 10,450 square miles of con-
tinental shelf .^

The more modern sounding techniques have not been continued on the
shelf south of the North Carolina-Virginia line. To the north such sounding
clearly outlines numerous canyons indenting the continental slope and it is
probable that such canyons are present to the south as well. Knowledge
accumulated by the experience of fishermen and others, which has acquainted
us with the shelf off New England, for example, is very limited off North
Carolina, but it is probably a safe generalization to say that inshore the
bottom tends to be sandy and that a combination of mud and rock exists in
deeper waters. Much of the rock south of Hatteras is in the form of coral
patches (see section below on Nature of the Bottom).

The contours of the shoals of the continental shelf are well mapped. Three
prominent ones, Diamond Shoal off Hatteras, Cape Lookout Shoals, and
Frying Pan Shoals off Cape Fear, are extensions of the cuspate shoreline and
project seaward almost half way across the shelf.

The shelf waters off North Carolina are directly affected by the Florida
Current of the Gulf Stream System, a deep-sea current that overlaps the
loo-fathom contour, by the coastal waters from the north and south, and by
brackish water from the inlets. This complex interaction will be mentioned
frequently in this chapter, and a comprehension of it, especially as discussed
below in the section on Temperatures Offshore, is probably the most im-
portant item to be considered in trying to evaluate the State's offshore fisheries
potentialities.

Circulation in the Sounds

Factors that interact to produce the circulation in the sounds include:

1. Wind.

2. River discharge.

3. Evaporation and rainfall over the sound waters.

4. Tide.

5. Corioli's force, which tends to deflect currents to the right in the
northern hemisphere but has little effect in shallow waters such as these
sounds.

Finally, to arrive at the probable resultant effects, all these must be con-
sidered in terms of the coastal physiography.

Chiefly as the result of oyster investigations planned with the knowledge
that currents are important in the ecology of this species, many investigators
have made current observations in North Carolina coastal waters, but the
scattered nature of these observations and the fact that the many interacting

3. These continental shelf measurements are from planimeter readings by the author. --iitr* .*'^-

10

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

influences were not determined simultaneously prevent a comprehensive
analysis of circulation. Winslow's (1889) observations * are the most complete
in terms of area represented and, as with those offered by the other authors,
they do at least corroborate the effects expected from the considerations
offered below.

The net effect of the currents and much of the over-all circulation might
be revealed by adequate simultaneous current records taken in the inlets,
especially if a full account of modifying factors accompanied these. Table 2,
referring to Oregon Inlet, presents one of the few such tidal prisms that have
been made. Being of such short duration and without simultaneous records
at other inlets, it merely offers a few clues as to circulation. It shows that
wind currents may direct volumes of water away from such an inlet to the
extent that the expected net discharge to the ocean is reversed. It also gives
some idea of the general magnitude of circulation through such an inlet. This
flow must be considered relatively small, however, when compared with that
of Ocracoke Inlet which, from indirect evidence, seems to greatly exceed the
others in circulation (see the section below on Salinity and Nutrient Salts).

TABLE 2
Volume of the Tidal Prism in Oregon Inlet *

Maximum

instan-

Maximum

Maximum

Total

taneous

Total

instan-

velocities

flow on

flood

flow on

taneous

knots per

Date

Wind

flood

flow,

ebb tide,

ebb flow.

hour

tide,

cubic

acre-feet

cubic

acre-feet

feet per
second

feet per
second

Ebb

Flood

Sept. 9, 1 93 1

Northeast

47,769

134,050

37,399

89,150

1-3

1-5

Aug. 31, 1932

West

42,726

129,100

40,054

102,700

1-5

1.4

Oct. II, 1932

Southwest

34,873

126,500

57,208

127,300

1.9

1.4

* As reported by Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, in House Document No. 155, 74th Congress,
ist Session, 1935.

Numerous authors have mentioned the wind currents of the sounds. All
agree that the wind effect is a direct one, with minor complexities including
lag, and that wind is in general the greatest current-producing force in the
sounds. Extensive records showing the wind current to be expected with any

4. Winslow's paper merely gives descriptive, summarizing comments on the currents observed
in different areas. On page 122 he describes three charts of Pamlico Sound (not published with
his report) on which are entered the specific gravity of the water, the direction of the wind,
and the simultaneous direction of the current. Photostatic copes of these charts (the originals
have disintegrated) are in the Division of Tides and Currents, U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey,
Washington, D. C.

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 11

given wind are not available. From the United States Coast Pilot (1936) it
is noted that the wind-driven water may range about 2 feet above and below
normal in the open sounds, and the funneling of this water, such as may occur
at Washington up the Pamlico River or at New Bern up the Neuse River
behind an easterly wind, may give tides 3 or 4 feet above normal.

Obviously the net seaward flow through the sounds is positively correlated
with river discharge. Direct rainfall on the sounds is to be added to this effect
and evaporation from the sounds subtracted. The Corps of Engineers (1935)
attempted to compile figures that would indicate these net results. The basic
source of data used is not indicated and I have been unable to learn of this
through correspondence. If, as is quite possible, the discharge was taken from
so-called downstream gaging stations, the data are of a sort that I have
deliberately avoided using for this purpose. Such stations are placed well
upstream from sea level and tidal influences; consequently actual discharge
may be greatly modified over the remaining miles from rainfall, evaporation,
and transpiration from the vegetation. With this reservation, it is interesting
to consider the figures obtained by the Engineers. The stated daily discharge
into Albemarle, Pamlico, and Core sounds is 44,464 acre-feet. The daily
evaporation given (from figures on Lake Michie, Durham, North Carolina)
is 25,392 acre-feet. In the report the authors subtracted evaporation from
discharge without mentioning rainfall on the sounds, and reported a daily
net of 19,072 acre-feet to flow into the ocean. This would be a relatively minor
item in sounds that total 1,648,000 acres (Table 2 shows that on October 11,
1932, the net seaward flow through Oregon Inlet alone was greater than this) .

Of course freshets and seasonal highs and lows in river discharge, all of
which are discussed below in the section on Salinity and Nutrient Salts,
directly affect circulation in the sounds and generally cause the greatest sea-
ward flow to occur in the early spring. The discussion of salinity also
mentions density stratification, a factor which may cause shoreward counter-
currents along the bottom.

It is commonly stated that there are no lunar tides in the North Carolina
sounds except at the inlets (Table 3) which, of course, irriplies a general lack
of tidal currents. The sounds are too small to have an appreciable tide
generated within; ^ consequently what tide there is must issue from the
ocean by way of the inlets. Such tidal effects are rapidly dampened with
distance from these inlets as is clearly illustrated in Figure 3, which compares
simultaneous gage readings inside Oregon Inlet, at Fort Raleigh 15 miles to
the north on Roanoke Island, and at Munden Point in northern Currituck
Sound, an additional 48 miles away. It follows that near inlets, currents
would be more regular and stronger than elsewhere within the sounds. Many

S. In Lake Superior, for example, there is a tide of about 2 inches (Stewart, 1945).

12 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

TABLE 3

Tides Along the North Carolina Coast as Listed in the U. S. Coast and Geodetic
Survey, Tide Tables, Atlantic Ocean, ig^j *

Mean Range

Spring Range

Outer coast Feet

Feet

Currituck Beach Light 3.6

4-3

Cape Hatteras 3.6

4-3

Cape Lookout 3.7

4.4

Carolina Beach 4.2

4.8

Cape Fear 4.5

5-1

Inlets

Oregon Inlet 1.8

2.2

Hatteras Inlet 2.0

2.4

Ocracoke Inlet 1.9

2.3

Beaufort 2.5

3-0

Bogue Inlet 2.2

2.6

New River Inlet 3.0

3-6

Lockwoods Folly Inlet 4.2

4.8

Tubbs Inlet 4.5

5-1

Cape Fear River

Southport (near mouth) 4.1

4.6

Wilmington (about 28 miles from mouth) 3.2

3-4

* Albemarle and Pamlico sounds are listed but with the comment "except near the inlets, the
periodic tide is negligible."

such areas are described by Winslow (1889) as having currents of a knot
and more (the tidal currents in the inlets proper are given in Table 5).

Circulation Offshore

The near-by Gulf Stream System (Figure 2) is the outstanding feature of
the offshore circulation. From the Straits of Florida to Cape Hatteras the
western margin of the stream follov^s the edge of the continental shelf. In
this sector, where it is referred to as the Florida Current (Iselin, 1936), the
stream has a velocity decreasing from about 3 knots off Cape Canaveral,
Florida, to about i knot off Cape Hatteras,*^ and it has a depth of about 450
fathoms, extending well down the continental slope toward the bottom of
the shallow Blake Plateau, which lies beyond. The axis of maximum strength
is near the western margin of the Florida Current and there is a strong flow
right to the border where a vivid line of the stream's deep blue indicates the
abrupt transition to the coastal waters of weaker and variable currents. Off
Hatteras the Florida Current is about 50 miles wide (Church, 1932) but has

6. Recent oceanographic studies have raised some question as to the accuracy of these generally
accepted velocities.

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS

13

DAYS OF MONTH
I? _ 13

LEGEND s

Oregon Inlet Gage

- Roanoke Island Gage

Mimden Point Gage

DAYS or MONTH
10 M 12

Fig. 3. Tidal gage records at Oregon Inlet and northward to Munden Point in Curri-
tuck Sound. Adapted from Fig. 8, in Beach Erosion at Kittyhawk, Nags Head and
Oregon Inlet, N. C, by Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army (1935).

a rather vague eastern margin as the Sargasso Sea and Antilles Current
merge from the east and southeast respectively.'^

As is well known, the Florida Current is near shore off Florida; however,
with the widening of the continental shelf and the receding coastal profile of

7. The importance of these merging waters in the dynamics of the Gulf Stream System,
particularly in the pronounced volume increase of the Florida Current and the Gulf Stream just
beyond it, is a subject of controversy. For a discussion of this see Sverdrup, Johnson, and
Fleming, The Oceans (1942), pp. 675-680.

14 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Georgia and South Carolina, the stream is many miles offshore. Off North
Carolina the shelf narrows again and there is a decided coastal prominence.
Together these bring the coast and Current into such proximity that the
latter is as near Cape Hatteras and Beaufort as it is to Cape Canaveral and
Daytona, Florida, respectively (Table 4 and Figure 2).

TABLE 4
Approximate Mean Position of the Gulf Stream *

Locality

North of Habana, Cuba
Southeast of Key West, Fla.
East of Fowey Rocks, Fla.
East of Miami Beach, Fla.
East of Palm Beach, Fla.
East of Jupiter Inlet, Fla.
East of Cape Canaveral, Fla.
East of Daytona Beach, Fla.
East of Ormond Beach, Fla.
East of St. Augustine, Fla. (coast line)
East of Jacksonville, Fla. (coast Une)
Southeast of Savannah, Ga. (coast line)
Southeast of Charleston, S. C. (coast line)
Southeast of Myrtle Beach, S. C.
Southeast of Cape Fear, N. C. (light)
Southeast of Cape Lookout, N. C. (Hght)
Southeast of Cape Hatteras, N. C.
Southeast of Virginia Beach, Va.
Southeast of Atlantic City, N. J.
Southeast of Sandy Hook, N. J.

* From U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Current Tables, Atlantic Coast, North America for
the Year 1947.

To the northeast of Hatteras the Gulf Stream System, called the Gulf
Stream from here to a region east of Grand Bank (Iselin, 1936), continues as
a well defined and relatively narrow current. It increases in depth as it leaves
the Blake Plateau, but more important from the fisheries standpoint is the
fact that it leaves the continental shelf. There is, as a result, a water mass of
considerable depth between the Stream and the coastal waters over the shelf.
This slope water, as this intervening region is called, has varying currents
including eddy effects from the Gulf Stream. The water is somewhat similar
to that of the Stream but shows some seasonal variations in temperature and
salinity from the influence of the coastal waters and the climate.

There has been considerable speculation linking the recent warm-phase in
our climate with a supposed shift in the course and transport of the Gulf

Inner

edge

Axis

Nautical

Nautical

miles

miles

—

25

—

45

—

10

—

15

—

IS

—

20

10

45

25

75

25

75

40

85

55

90

65

95

55

90

60

100

35

75

20

50

10

35

85

115

120

—

150

—

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS

15

Stream System. The existence of a warm-phase, nation-wide and perhaps
even world-wide in effect, has been established by Kincer (1946). Any cor-
relation with the Gulf Stream System is, however, without foundation for the
following reasons:

1 . The warmer climate is not restricted to regions near the stream.

2. The weather and thus the climate of temperate regions comes chiefly
from the west.

3. There are no data from which the history of the stream and its flow can
be described accurately. Those who have probed into the pronounced short-
term changes in course and volume, Iselin (1940), Hachey (1939), and
Church (1932), have not found evidence of a change in course to fit such
speculation.

Off the North Carolina coast, where the Florida Current is bounded by
the continental shelf, the short-term shifting is slight (Church, 1932).
Perhaps this is due to a stabilizing influence of the shelf and such an influence
would also tend to minimize in this region any long-term changes that might
occur.

Shoreward from the Gulf Stream System the North Carolina coastal waters
have a varied circulation which has not been studied to any extent. Factors
that contribute to this circulation include tides, v/inds, Corioli's force, the
discharge from inlets, and the indirect effects of the Gulf Stream System.

The tidal influence, shown in Figure 4, is greater to the southwest than
immediately off Hatteras. In open waters there are rotary tides, whereas in
the inlets the tide is stronger with distinct ebb, flood, and slack conditions
(Tables).

TABLE 5
Tidal Currents in North Carolina Inlets *

Velocity at strength of current,

flood tide

Flood

Average tide

Spring tide

interval f

knots

knots

Hatteras Inlet

2.0

2.4

7 hr. 20 min.

Ocracoke Inlet

1.4

1.7

7 hr. 25 min.

Beaufort Inlet

2.2

2.6

5 hr. 50 min.

New River Inlet

1-5

1.8

7 hr. 15 min.

Mouth of Cape Fear River

at Bald Head

i-S

1.8

6 hr. 00 min.

* From U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Current Tables, Atlantic Coast North America for
the Year 1947.

t The average interval between the time of the moon's meridian passage and the time of the
following strength of flood. At these stations the time for maximum ebb strength is approxi-
mately 6 hours greater or less.

16

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

TIDAL CURRENTS

NONTIDAL CURRENTS

WIND CURRENTS

n

DIAMOND SHOAL

/

/ \
(1912)

0
10. /

/ ^4

CAPE LOOKOUT SHOALS
(1918-19)

4

FRYING PAN SHOALS

MAY
MAR

DIAMOND SHOAL

/i

\ JAN

, NOM

CAPE LOOKOUT SHOALS
(1918-19)

MAJ

WAV ♦ ^JAN
NOV SEP

FRYING PAN SHOALS

DIAMOMQ SHOAL

\

SW30
• W30

CAPE LOOKOUT SHOALS
(1918-19)

SW30
' W30

FRYING PAN SHOALS

■<y/H-r, IKNOT

Fig. 4. Currents at three lightship stations off the North Carolina coast. Adapted from Haight

(1942).

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 17

Figure 4 also shows the current produced there by the average winds from
the eight major directions. These prove to be a much greater force than the
tides at the coastal lightship stations. Of course these wind currents are
extremely variable, as is evident from Table 6, in which the number of
observations at a given wind direction and velocity indicates the propor-
tionate number of times each wind prevailed.^ From this tabulation the
approximate frequency of a characteristic current effect is evident and, when
the information in Table 6 is supplemented by that in Figure 26, frequencies
for specific months can be estimated. The decreasing of the wind currents
from the Diamond Shoal to the Cape Lookout to the Frying Pan Shoals
Lightship correlates with the location of these stations, the lightship farthest
offshore showing the greatest current, and so on. Also, all three of these show
stronger wind currents than other lightships along the eastern coast of the
United States.

In oceanic waters of limitless depth, Corioli's force directs a surface current
45 degrees to the right of the wind's path (this increases with depth; so
the deeper currents may literally flow against the wind). The Corioli's effect
is greatly minimized over the continental shelf, however, because the water is
comparatively shallow. In addition the shoreline and bottom configurations
have effects on wind currents to the extent that some are actually guided to
the left instead of the right (Table 6).

The little that is known regarding the flow from the sounds and rivers has
been discussed in the section on Circulation in the Sounds and will be men-
tioned further in the section on Salinity and Nutrient Salts. All that can be
added is that this flow simply augments the ebb of the tide through inlets,
etc., that it may have pronounced local influence but little gross effect on
currents, and that its effect will tend to be deflected to the south and southeast
by Corioli's force.

The effect of the Gulf Stream System on these coastal waters remains
questionable. A widely accepted theory proposed by Abbe (1895) relates the
peculiar cuspate shoreline of North Carolina to hypothetical counterclock-
wise back eddies of the Florida Current (Figure 5 ) . Supporting this hypothesis
are the south and southwestward migration of inlets and shore prominences
(see section below on the Offshore Bar and Its Inlets) and MacCarthy's
(1931) interpretation of the currents as indicated by the distribution of sand
grain sizes. Rude (1922) has opposed Abbe's theory, however, on the grounds
that his observations in the area show currents setting approximately with
the wind, that the winds blow from southerly directions about as often as
from northerly, and that since storm winds are chiefly from the north and
northeast, the stronger currents resulting from these occasional high winds

8. The wind velocities for such observations were determined subjectively by the observers,
which greatly limits their accuracy.

18

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

o

U

o

to
o

1-1

o

c

Current

sets to

right

of wind

(de-
grees)

;->

oi
(U

o

c^
1

Ov

t-H

M

o

J3
(72

T3

C

o

s
5

' 1 1 1 1 1

Aver-
age of
current
direc-
tions
(de-
grees)

0*0 c^CO <^N M rO'^'^mu-jr'.Ovt-ilo

I-I M C* CN <0 MM

1

>

"o

v
be
a

>

<

o i2_

Oit>-(^W (N li-lO'-'O U^M M MSO'O ^VO
iHMMMMD MTj-ro-'TrtTrrOPJi-'i-'r)

ooooooooooooooooo
dddddddddbddddddd

ir)Q\M Q."^\OoO '^^O'O fO^CO O'f^O

dddddddMMM■.^^;Mddd

^1

c
<u

3

u

1.2 :§i

« c

■a
.S S

•< 1^

m' -; M M M M d d M d

3 O "'^

CO M CO M Tt r* CO M

3

u

♦J 3
3 O

m a

OOOOm "?CN-^ r^rOupTfMi^oOt^OO

ddM odd M'MMMModoMd

3055-^

ONr^M Tj-li^oO r^rOt^'^f^t>.OoO

ro w w n M

e

3

u

M 3
3 O
o J3

.n

'^ s

IS, O.

c 2
< .o

MWCN<N«rO MM

lOM mf-^o ^fN <H00 u^Moo*Ooor>.r*co m

vO Tj-cO lOvO '^^ •-; ^. ■^TroPOM O»rt»no0 O

dddddddMMMWM*MM'dddd

3 O Si'-2

iy^iO--OM 0f0»^00 rn^ m -^msOOO m
Ttr^OM rOM t^<N Tt*0 cooO M ^OO*

B
3

u

w
*J 3
3 O

O J3

!s

■° .

^ c

GOO Mu^n 11 (N fs c^-^mior^oo mlo

>"6

66666^6^^*^^^666666

3 O ui —

N M OOOOOOO N ^N rOPOiOrONOViM
CON M lOr^Tj-OoO O lOOO POOO -^r*
MOW M c^ O'^c^^'cJ-vOmO^c*

N M M N

c

4)
1-,

3

u

■" 3
3 O

o ja

m a
•a

COOOOO M O cOfOtsOci MinvOMtrjrf
t^OO COM corj rO'^'^*>^»0\D t>.00 O

>"6

0^
coOioO^cO ION rj- CO OOO r^OoOco O^*^
(VI i-i M CONU^IOOOOO N O O0t^r0r0»00

OOOOOOOOOmmhiOOOOOO

lO *t M^ M -^ M 0_ IN M_ oo •-•_ 0_ M P) fO (N
c« M rT m" m" ^ m" m' m"

.2 c 2: 3

5 o<.|

^ « w w ^ ^ ^ ^1^

^^^ cowco co^^ ^^^rl

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS

19

O Tt N N 0>

w O ■>»• "
N 00 "O to

W w r» 00 ID ID On

O vo 1^ O M

NO oo ^ to

to m m lo

to

r^ On t^ O O to
t^ 00 O to rr ID

O O O <^ to

(S N D rO M

O O O o o

6 6 6 6 6

^ On •* m
« tj- n tN
O O O O

d o' d d

•■t •* •* oo O NO ID

o o o O o o o
6 6 6 6 6 6 6

6 d d d d

On On r~ ID
r. tt NO I^

d d d o'

to r^ PI 00 On to
t>. NO t^ to ID to

6 6 6 6 6 6

O oo o o O

O O 00 o

o o o o o o

to IS to 1- to tN

3 O
^■°

en a

-<o

■<)• M -O

to oo

NO '^

•I- r^ to

t^ On *-•

1^ W h-

o« cc o«
odd

<N 00

o- oo
d d

oo
O- Tf oO O ■-■

t^ oo O On O

d o " do

t « NO

to IM •-■

< o

'J-

n r>.

to •* NO
00 C^ OD

O 00

d o'

to -^ On to CO
r~ On id r-- -

d d d 6 6

00 c>

M 00

M O «

3 O

OJ3

•a

!1

<o

•^ oo r^ N

oo O N ■>»
r-i N M M

lO t~ 00
to •* •*
to

<s o r^ t* o

1^ O 00 to oo

00 -^ o o

^ CO lO 00

6 6 6 6

00 On M
to ID NO

d 6 6

On
M •* On 1^ M no W

00 CO NO ID <-j ID q
odd 6666

o !d « "

N ID M

O tt o M 00

t-1 11 NO ID M

u
." 3
3 O

1"
ftj

tn a
•a

!i

•Co

<N t^ r^

to

NO 00 NO ■<}■ ID
t^ t^ On to to

to lo uo

odd

to ■* <^
to NO r^

d do

ID n O -* O ts
ID NO to to ID O

6 6 6 6 6 6

oo O -O
0> M r^

00 ID
M to

O M On O no
On M to ID I-.

*j 3
3 O

•a

'!i

< o

On r^ t^ t^ >-•
O to r< >0 t

O oo ID to
>D ID NO

On On OO O to to
t^ OO OO to to T*

"D 't •* tC w

d d d d d

ID On fNi NO

M ■* ID r^

d d o' d

>o

ONWtooOMtONO^
IDN01DrO'*'3-'a-0

66666666

«n O 1^ lo so
«D On O- -I- On
ts t^

O. NO IN t^
ID <s On ■*

M On PI I- r^ On
D to « to O to

w w „

^^^ CO

^ ;2; ^ w w w

w ^

W CO CO

CO CO CO CO

s w
w s w
w

W N W

N W
N N W
Average
Ratio C/W

a.

Cm

'II'

^nO to^tNi l-l tOfO
M fo 'T ID t-^ O to
N tH M P< t-1 to

»OipitoOoOPi
^NOr^oOQOOOID

tJ-OOOOnOnO IN r^M
K«W«WMOl-l

oooooooo
66666666

ON«PllD"O>iD0t^

oqoqqqqoq
660666666

toto„<s torJ-OO M
•*'"lO<^p^P< M to

66q66666

00 nnO tOPloO tJ-nO
^IDnOnOnO ^TtPI
66666660

OOOOOQiDiD
cOtotoWMMtNin

IDIDOIDOIDOID

< o

<M ID to
O to tf

w PI 0
NO t^ 0

00 O ID

NO OC 00

6 6 6

NO

0 r^ CO 00 «-•
q> 00 ID t^ q
6 6 6 6 6

O On I^

>-< to to

0 p< 0

.^ 3
3 2

wi Q.

T3

c 2

!1

<o

<N 1- NO r~ On

^iDP) tor-Tj-topo

ttP0NOt»t~ONO>D

M M

OO 00 ID O «
ID NO NO <N rt

■■^IDmqonO tJ-OO r^l^n
NO tyi^t^CONO iDtN IDO

OOO O O

0000000000

r~ to O Tt O

Tt to O M «

tOOO IDI^O On'*00

ton t^pi r^tONO 11

■^ 3

in a

< o
to

i-OO tot^tOP) IDO.
tNi tott'Tt^i-i ttto
N ts <N1 N M to to

topotor^tooNO "-I
Tj-NO r^r^ooco mno

O toONNO O IDnjI-OO
^IDIDio^totNi to

NO
TfNOOHMpir^wONM

IDNO t^r^NONO ^tOTO

OOOOOOOO

0000000000

Mp.r-rgOtoiDt^

.* to t^ ID t-l « ID ID

<N) M NO

NO r^r^pi rt 0 POiD

•DOnOOO pi IDlDtO

-' 3
3 O

o jg
in O.

•a
c 2

!i

<o

NtOt^tNlOONtM

pi ■* -^f ID r~ 00 ■*

idonoidc>idp< to
iDt^r^oooo 0 M ID

i-pinOnOOmnOOn
tO^-^POtPl " PI

0

IDtooOONNOMPlOOPI
i^NO iDID't-^tOto^O

oooooooo

0000000000

■•^00 M -^j-oOnOno id
Tl-'tNO P^tPOOO M
ID tt « M HI 11 M

11

Tj-pi rfM ON^ton

pio>-itottpiNoi>-

t to CO N ■* M PI

= §

OJ5
in O.

< o

^UNO tOtOM t^pi

o potNO r-o «*«
p» PI PI tN< n to PO

MtOMMpjtOtH
IDr^OO OnOnh i-t ^

l^p* PI toOO t^PONO

Onn*OnnO m iD'^itttPl

MtOPO^POPINHPlO

oooooooo

oooooooooo

NOPOPii-ir^'tNOiD
►iidpipooowOpo
NO tOPOPI IDW ttM

0 tolDOO IDI^OnnO
OoOOnOnnOOwpi
IDPOnPllDiH-ti-i

« W « H

!^«^ CO wco

^ZZWWWcoco

S

S S W

s w
w s w
w

W N W

N W
N N W
Average
Ratio C/W

20

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

u

HYDROGRA^PHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 21

must be the agent molding this coastline. Johnson (1919, 1938) discusses cer-
tain types of normal wave action and the influence of prominences of the
inner shoreline as alternative explanations for this cuspate coast.

Comparing these factors influencing the coastal currents off North Caro-
lina, it is obvious that tidal effects are small and tend to cancel out because
of their rotary nature. The non-tidal currents for representative months, as
shown in Figure 4, are essentially the over-all resultant of (i) wind currents,
(2) whatever Florida Current influence there might be, and (3) a variety of
minor influences. The Florida Current influence is more or less direct and
strong at the Diamond Shoal station, of course, whereas at Cape Lookout and
Frying Pan Shoals it is indirect. That the resultants at the latter stations are
compatible with Abbe's (1895) concept (Figure 5) and not with the wind
roses of Figure 26 seems to indicate a weak, variable back-eddy circulation
repeatedly modified by winds, tides, etc.

According to Bigelow (1933), and Bigelow and Sears (1935), there is
nothing to indicate that waters from the Hatteras region and southward
move in appreciable quantities into the coastal waters off the Middle Atlantic
States. Whether there are frequent or occasional southward invasions of the
latter waters has not received appreciable attention, but I have found nothing
in the literature to suggest such a coastal influence from the north.

Temperatures Offshore

The Hatteras region has long been referred to as a temperature barrier to
the distribution of marine forms; however, as coastal temperature gradients
and information on actual distribution are analyzed, it is learned that this
region is not only a barrier but is also a wintering area for migratory popula-
tions, and even, to some extent, a center of dispersal. The fisheries poten-
tialities suggested by these unusual temperature influences merit considerable
study, as is suggested, for example, by the large wintering populations that
have been discovered in the last two decades by trawlers working off southern
Virginia and North Carolina.

The most complete temperature records for our Atlantic coast are the
surface temperatures taken at lightships and at lighthouses on the ocean
shore. These were first taken during the years 1881-85 and were analyzed by
Rathbun (1887). Later Parr (1933) analyzed records for 1928-30, included
selections from Rathbun's publication for comparison, and elaborated exten-
sively on the ecological significance of this temperature information.

Such continued records adequate for a discussion of the coastwise tempera-
ture cycle are surface records only; consequently, it is important to consider
the depth to which these apply in continental shelf waters. Parr (1933) has

22

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Fig. 6. Temperature near the bottom and at the surface, February 22-26, 1931. Adapted from two figures ot
Chesapeake Bay profile to Cape Hatteras by Bigelow (1933)

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 23

discussed this, both theoretically and on the basis of available evidence, and
has presented the following conclusions for the lightship and lighthouse
records:

1. During the warm season surface temperatures may be considered
directly representative of conditions to a depth of at least 5 fathoms and
indirectly indicative of the stage of seasonal development of the entire
epithalassa, i.e., within at least the upper 10 fathoms of water.

2. During the winter, surface temperature conditions generally represent
a layer of uniform temperature of about 10-50 fathoms depth.

The second point is too conservative for the Hatteras region, which will be
the center of the present discussion, for here the surface temperatures are
indicative of conditions to the bottom. This is shown in Figure 6, a selected
illustration that agrees with other available data such as that tabulated by
Pearson (1932) and that which has been summarized and made available
by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.^

Parr (1933) has also discussed his reasons for believing that records from
the Diamond Shoal Lightship, directly influenced by the Gulf Stream System,
apply to the narrow Cape Hatteras shelf area shoreward of this point. He has
written as follows: "... an elevated ridge less than five fathoms deep extends
outward nearly two-thirds of the way from Cape Hatteras to Diamond Shoals
Lightship, with a complex group of shoals of even less than three fathoms
depth reaching to within five miles from the lightship location [Figure 7].
With a topography of this character, particularly in a prominent region such
as that of Cape Hatteras, a very high degree of turbulence affecting the
distribution and mixing of the water both in its horizontal and vertical aspect
is plainly to be expected ... we furthermore see that the approximate inner
limit of the Gulf Stream, as determined by the United States Coast and
Geodetic Survey, cuts across the outer edge of the shoals less than three
fathoms deep off Cape Hatteras, and it therefore seems fairly certain that at
least the marginal warm waters of the Gulf Stream will commonly, to a
greater or less extent, be drawn into the turbulent mixing over these shoals.
While it is probable that the average inshore surface temperatures at Cape
Hatteras in mid winter may be somewhat lower than the average surface
temperatures at Diamond Shoals Lightship, it is therefore, on the other hand,
very improbable that the difference at this point should be nearly as great as
in the waters to the southwestward, and it is clear that the inshore belt of
lower temperatures, such as they may be, must under any circumstance be
greatly restricted in its width in the region of the shoals off Cape Hatteras,"

Figure 8 is a graphic representation of the surface temperature isotherms

9. Functioning under contract with the Division of Oceanography, Hydrographic Office,
U. S. Navy.

24

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS

25

MOUNT 0E5ERT ROCK -H

PORTLAND
BOSTON
POLLUCK RIP
NANTUCKET

BRENTON REEF
FIRE ISLAND

-S
-S
-S
-S

-5
-S

FIVE-FATHOM BANK -S
WINTER QUARTER -S

CHESAPEAKE

-S

DIAMOND SHOAL -S

CAPE LOOKOUT 5H0ALS-S

FRYING PAN SHOALS -S

RATTLESNAKE SHOAL- S

ST. JOHNS RIVER

FOWEY ROCKS
SOMBRERO KEY
DRY TORTUGAS

Fig. 8. Average annual surface temperature cycle in shallow water (averaging about 8
fathoms) according to records for 1Q28-30. The annual course of an isotherm may be read from
left to right. On the left are the lightship "S" and lighthouse "H" stations, from which the
records were taken. On the right are coastWise distances in hundreds of miles. Modified from
Parr (1933)-

throughout the year close to the shoreline along the Atlantic Coast. In the
warmer months, as can be seen by reading from the bottom to the top of the
graph over the month of August for example, rather uniform temperatures
prevail from southern Florida to Cape Hatteras (Diamond Shoal). North of
Hatteras there is a moderate gradient of decreasing temperatures but no
temperature discontinuity or barrier short of the cold area around Nantucket
and south of Cape Cod. Later in the fall a temperature discontinuity appears
in the form of warm water in the Hatteras region (read Figure 8 for the
month of February for example) and this remains till spring. This is ob-
viously due to the Gulf Stream System, which is within a few miles of the

26 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

coast at this point (Figure 2) and warms the Cape waters in spite of the
seasonal cooling of shelf waters to the north and south. ^°

Parr (1933) plotted the individual temperature averages for five-day-
periods at the Diamond Shoal Lightship off Hatteras (Figure 10) and noted
that by far the widest fluctuations occur during winter, early spring, and late
fall, while there is little deviation from the normal during the summer. This
is what would be expected in a region warmed by the near-by Gulf Stream
System, which is forever shifting position. In contrast to this, a station such
as Five Fathom Bank Lightship off Delaware Bay, which is influenced by
seasonal temperature changes that affect water very slowly, shows a much
smoother record as plotted on the same graph. The fluctuations at Hatteras
are very significant ecologically in that:

1. They subject the biota to pronounced short term fluctuations, which
are generally difficult for organisms to adapt to, even though the gross aver-
age temperatures indicate year-around warmth.

2 . They may offer temporary breaks in the barrier effects of the average
temperature conditions.

From the above discussion it is apparent that with increased proximity to
the Hatteras region there is a decrease in seasonal change, also an increase in
temperature fluctuations during winter. Much the same effects must also
occur with increased distances from shore along the continental shelf to the
southwest of Hatteras, where the Florida Current lies at the shelf's edge (see

10. The following extracts from the "Summary of Annual Geographic Temperature Cycle"
on pp. 61-62 of Parr's (1933) paper will, with the aid of Figure 8, orient the reader as to coast-
wise temperature relationships for the entire coastline;

". . . we thus have seasonal temperature barriers established at Cape Hatteras during the
winter and in the neighborhood of Cape Cod during the summer, but the impression often given,
that there should be a set of more or less permanent temperature barriers at these two points,
is entirely erroneous and contrary to the facts. In the winter there is a free access for all the
migratory cold water forms to penetrate as far south as to the neighborhood of Cape Hatteras,
and in the summer the southern forms may move as far north as Cape Cod encountering only
a slow and gradual decline in temperature on the way. . . .

"It is also suggested that the transition from the midwinter temperature conditions in the
southern section of the Atlantic coastal waters of the United States to the midwinter tempera-
tures of the Straits of Florida may take the form of a relatively abrupt warm front somewhere
in the neighborhood of the region between Jupiter Inlet and Cape Canaveral, Florida, rather
than the form of a gradual and equally distributed increase in temperature. On the basis of this
assumption we should, therefore, expect to find a critical and perhaps limiting point for the
winter migrations of subtropical species in the vicinity of Cape Canaveral. During the summer
the temperatures in the Straits of Florida are uniform with the shallow water temperatures to
the northward as far as the region of Cape Hatteras, from which point a gradual change begins
to become noticeable. [Author's note — The description by Green (1944) of a summer cold area
at Daytona (Figure 9) seems to indicate a summer barrier to northward coastwise migration
in the Cape Canaveral region in addition to the winter "warm front" described by Parr.] Although
no abrupt temperature barrier is to be found at Cape Hatteras during the summer time, it is,
therefore, nevertheless to be expected that this point will form the northern limit of distribution
for the stenothermal tropical forms during the warm season.

"In the Straits of Florida we find the northern boundary of the Tropical American Seas with
a winter temperature above 70° F. in which the stenothermal tropical forms may remain all
year around."

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS

27

o -

.to \/y

u f

c c skT

O

u

28

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Fig. 10. A comparison of average temperatures with fluctuations in a selected representative year
at Diamond Shoal and Five-Fathom Bank. Adapted from Parr (1933).

Figure 1 1 , which compares the lighthouse and the lightship temperatures off
Cape Lookout, for an example of this).

These temperature gradients suggest that non-migratory organisms that
require year-around warm waters might be missing along the coast from
northern Florida to southern North Carolina, yet be present around Hatteras
and offshore to the southwest of Hatteras to the extent that their other
ecological needs are met at increasing depths. This would result in a coastal
skip distribution from south of Cape Canaveral to the region of Cape
Hatteras.

Other non-migratory forms that tolerate moderate winter cooling but not
the extremes found off the Middle Atlantic States might have a continuous

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS

29

coastal distribution northward to Cape Hatteras and little or no farther.
Those that require cooler waters would encounter such north of this cape.^^
Though the above are theoretical considerations and the ecological role of
temperature is known for but few species, it is obvious from the literature
and from discussions with students of the area that many known distributions
of non-migratory forms fit these expectations.

90

80

70

60

50

40

Fig. II. Average annual temperature curves at (i) Cape Lookout Lightship, (2) Cape Look-
out Lighthouse, and (3) Beaufort Harbor. Source of data and method of smoothing as follows:
(i) average annual range by 2S-day periods plotted on Fig. 22 of Parr (1933); (2) average
annual range by lo-day period from the temperature charts of Rathbun (1887) as plotted on
Fig. 17 by Parr (1933); (3) average annual cycle by S-day periods smoothed by hand.

Most of the known migrators that frequent our coast seem to prefer warm
waters or at least to avoid cooling waters. There is a group of typically south-
eastern fishes, like the striped mullet, Mugil cephalus, the Spanish mackerel,
Scomberomorus maculatus, and various shrimps, which are more or less
restricted to high temperatures, that do not extend far north of Hatteras. This
fauna is said to retreat southward along the coast for the winter, though it is
possible that some take an offshore retreat to warmer waters at the edge of
the continental shelf near the Florida Current or even a northeastward
coastal migration toward the warm Hatteras region.

y'

■^^

/■

X

/

^

"^^>

/

' yy

•^

/

"/'

N

'•A

f'x /

\N.

//

/

\,

^ ,

'

^^

-

/

/'

\\

—

V.

f'

w

/

V

\

1 1 1 1 1

^^.

— .— -*•

^'

BEAUFORT HARBOR l928-3<

0^ 0— o'-/

'••w

^..-^

■

3

C

:ape

LOOK

OUT I

.IGHT

HOUSE

E 1881

-85

J

F

M

A

M

J

J

A

s

0

N

D

II. All these non-migrators must be considered in terms of the suitability of temperatures
not only for the survival of adults but also for reproduction. It is not implied, however, that
without reproduction the populations will not continue, for the conditions which first introduced
an organism may repeatedly stock any area in question.

30 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Other migrators seem to require still warmer, subtropical temperatures.
Coastwise these temperatures may be found as far north as Hatteras in
midsummer, though the summer upwelling of cold water off Daytona, Florida
(Figure 9), reported by Green (1944) may partially interrupt this continuity.
Offshore in or near the Florida Current subtropical temperatures prevail for
a greater part of the year and thus a coastal skip distribution from Cape
Canaveral to Cape Hatteras again appears as a possibility. This is important
in anticipating the occurrence of the fishes variously referred to as Gulf
Stream, big game, and tropical marine species. Many of these are known off
the coast of North Carolina but it is not known whether their occurrence is
regular or sporadic. Even if this area is far from their centers of abundance,
the hypothetical skip distribution, which is applicable whether they are
migrators, residents, or stragglers, makes their presence off North Carolina
seem, in some respects, more probable than off coastal areas immediately
to the south.

Certain fishes like the tuna, Thunnus thynnus, and the white marlin,
Makaira albida, perform long migrations from tropical waters to cooler seas
off the northern states. It is thought that in so doing they partially follow the
warm course of the Gulf Stream System and thus come close to the North
Carolina coast in passing Hatteras.

Many that characteristically migrate northeastward along the Middle
Atlantic States in the spring, such as scup, Stenotomus chrysops, and sea
bass. Centra prist es striatus, were once thought to retreat to deep waters off
the Middle Atlantic States in the fall, but it is now known that vast quantities,
if not all, of these populations migrate to the warm Hatteras region in winter.
Also many fishes from the North Carolina sounds, and perhaps to some extent
from the coast far south of these sounds, migrate to the warmer Hatteras
area in winter. In the last two decades a large winter trawl fishery has
developed from catches of such fishes off the Virginia capes and the Carolina
coast.

In describing this winter trawl fishery, Pearson (1932) distinguished two
general areas, one to the north and one chiefly south of Hatteras (Figure 12) :

"Area A extends roughly from latitude 35° 50' to 37° N. and from
longitude 74° 50' to 75° 30' W. The vessels usually sail a southeast or south-
east by south course from Cape Henry Light, Va., to reach this general
fishing area. The distance offshore extends from 1 5 to 60 or more miles and
the depth of water ranges from 20 to 50 fathoms. Inshore, the ocean bottom
appears to be generally sand or shell but mud or rocky bottom becomes more
typical in the deeper offshore water. The fishermen have learned to recognize
that rough, shell or 'rock' bottom usually yield catches of scup and sea bass
while a sandy and smoother bottom will produce largely flounders and
possibly croakers.

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS

31

Fig. 12. Location of the winter trawl fishery effort as described by Pearson. From Pearson (1932).

32 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

"Area B lies approximately from latitude 34° 50' to 35° 50'' N. and from
longitude 75° 20' to 76° 10' W. This territory covers the Ocracoke Inlet
fishing grounds, Hatteras Inlet and Cove, and the Carolina coast as far north
as Bodie Island. The fishing grounds extend from 3 to 30 miles offshore in
water from 10 to 30 fathoms in depth. Along this section of the coast the
loo-fathom line runs close inshore, as does the inner limit of the Gulf Stream,
and tends to restrict the fishery closer to shore than in area A."

From the trawling activities in the combined areas, Pearson (1932) records
55 species, a list which includes almost all the principal fishes common off
the Middle and South Atlantic States, such as scup, Stenotomus chrysops,
sea bass, Centropristes striatus, summer flounder, Paralichthys dentatus, and
croaker, Micropogon undulatus.

Unlike the fishing to the north of Hatteras, the fishing effort in area B has
been confined chiefly to the more inshore, sandy bottoms of less than 30
fathoms depth. This is evidently due to the scattered coral growth and other
rough bottom conditions offshore (see below, the section on Nature of the
Bottom) that prevent trawlers from exploring and working these waters.
There are reasons to believe that this offshore region has great potentialities
because the warm winter temperatures are continuous with those to the
north of the Cape, the rough bottom has some physical similarity to muddy
and rocky bottom well offshore in area A north of the Cape as described by
Pearson (1932), and Radcliffe (19 14) has demonstrated that quantities of
sea bass and other fish occur the year around over reefs and rocky bottom at
Cape Lookout and westward beyond the offshore limits of area B, Fishermen
are apparently aware of these untapped resources, and such steps as the
development of methods for fishing this area and the exploration of the
bottom with modern detecting equipment may lead to fisheries expansion
in this region.

On a theoretical basis Parr (1933) discussed regions with moderate
seasonal temperature change — homothermous regions to use his expression —
as areas of concentration and as potential centers of dispersal to neighboring
regions during the favorable warm season. The offshore Hatteras area is a
homothermous region and, as discussed above, it is an area of concentration
in winter, but there is no indication that it is a dispersal center. Perhaps the
limitation of space alone hinders this development. The coastal waters of the
State when considered as a whole, however, do seem to serve as a dispersal
area for some species, which apparently thrive in the extensive sounds during
the long warm season, retreat to the warm offshore waters in the fall, and,
in part at least, migrate elsewhere in spring and summer as mature or
advanced immature fish. This seems to be the general life history pattern of
vast populations of gray sea trout, Cynoscion regalis, and rock, Roccus
saxatilis.

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS

33

Temperatures in the Sounds, etc.

The only continuous temperature records that have come to my attention
for the inland waters are those taken at the Fish & Wildlife Service Labora-
tory located in Beaufort Harbor. In Figure 13 the air temperature at this
station is indicated and the individual surface temperature records on ebb
and flood tides are plotted. This shows that water temperature ( i ) is essen-
tially the same on ebb and flood tides, (2) corresponds closely to the air
temperature through the year, and (3) is usually slightly lower than air
temperature. Since the offshore waters show much less seasonal change
(Figure 11), it is apparent that it is the atmosphere and the factors which
heat the atmosphere,^- and not oceanic waters that exert the major influence
on the harbor water temperature. From the geography of the region it is also
apparent that most of the sounds and other inland waters would be similarly
influenced by atmospheric temperatures; consequently Figure 14 has been
prepared to present the average monthly air temperatures at coastal weather
stations and to imply thereby the water temperatures in the inland waters.
For considering digressions from long-term averages, reference should be
made to Table 10, which presents the records for a period of seventy-two
years at the centrally located Hatteras station.

TABLE 7

Monthly Maximum and Minimum Water Temperatures (° F) at Fivers Island,
1924-1928, Based on One Reading Daily*

Month

Year

Janu-
ary

Febru-
ary

March

April

May

June

July

August

Sep-
tember

Octo-
ber

No-
vember

Decem-
ber

Maximum

1924

59-0

57-2

60.8

68.0

77.0

86.0

87.8

82.4

84.2

734

68.0

64.4

1925

53-6

59-0

62.6

734

80.6

84.2

84.2

82.4

86.0

77.0

66.2

59-0

1926

59-0

59-0

66.2

71.6

78.8

86.0

89.6

91.4

89.6

86.0

68.0

60.8

1927

57-2

68.0

71.6

734

78.8

86.0

87.8

87.8

84.2

80.6

78.8

734

1928

59-0

57-2

62.6

734

80.6

86.0

86.0

89.6

86.0

96.8

77.0

64.4

Minimum

1924

41.0

44.6

464

57-2

68.0

75-2

734

75-2

69.8

57-2

48.2

42.8

1925

41.0

46.4

44.6

53-6

64.4

734

75-2

734

77.0

53-6

50.0

39-2

1926

46.4

48.2

48.2

59-0

68.0

71.6

82.4

82.4

78.8

60.8

554

42.8

1927

374

51.8

42.8

554

68.0

69.8

78.8

734

71.6

62.6

554

46.4

1928

39-2

46.4

50.0

57-2

60.8

734

78.8

82.4

71.6

60.8

464

41.0

♦From Outsell (1931).

12. Of course the offshore waters are among the factors governing the atmospheric tempera-
ture along the coast and in this way they indirectly influence the inland waters.

34

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

CJ

-a

1 <

!-0

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS

35

;-:^^^^C7

S=o

T^

"> »A<

--"5

•« io\

*« '*^

*j --^

/

■^ a

bC s

c t^

=50

36 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

There are, of course, pronounced short-term fluctuations within any given
month and thus the averages tell but part of the story. Figure 13 and Table 7
indicate such fluctuations in Beaufort Harbor, and shallow flats probably
show even greater extremes. One extreme condition for these waters is
described by the following statement from the Supplement to the U. S. Coast
Pilot (1945): "Ice may be expected as far south as the headwaters of the
North River and Pasquotank River, and Albemarle Sound, and in very severe
winters, farther south."

Since the North Carolina inland waters are generally shallow in proportion
to area, continuous mixing is likely to offset tendencies toward temperature
stratification. It is possible, however, that the latter may develop for short
periods, especially as a secondary effect of salinity stratification (see the
following section on Salinity and Nutrient Salts).

The seasonal relationships between temperatures in sounds, etc., and those
offshore are of considerable ecological significance. Figure 11 indicates the
typical comparison, the inland water temperatures being higher in summer
and lower in winter. Warm-water fishes that are in the sounds during the
summer always have a retreat, unobstructed as far as temperature is con-
cerned, to the more temperate offshore waters when the inland waters cool.

Salinity and Nutrient Salts

The dissolved salts ^^ in the ocean average about 35 parts per thousand.
The percentage composition of these as found dissociated or ionized is: ^*

Sodium (Na + ) 30.4% Chlorine (C1-) 55.2%

Magnesium (Mg+ + ) 3.7% Sulphate (SO^--) 7.7%

Calcium (Ca + + ) 1.16% Bromine (Br-) 0.19%

Potassium (K+) 1.1% Boric acid (H3BO3) 0.07%

Strontium (Sr+ + ) 0.0470 Bicarbonate & carbonate (HCO3-- & CO3--) 0.35%

Minor constituents 0.02 — 0.03%

This well buffered, slightly alkaline solution contains all elements known
to be required by living things but there are limitations in quantity and avail-
ability which in turn may limit productivity. So limited are the supplies of
phosphates and nitrogen salts and so great is the demand by living things
that the quantities of these nutrients in aquatic habitats vary considerably as
they are consumed and later returned to solution. Numerous factors may
affect the availability of such important dissolved materials. Dead organisms,
which sink to great depths, drain nutrients from the productive photic zone.

13. In referring to the concentration of these salts we use the expression salinity which is
defined, on the basis of a standardized chemical procedure, as: The total amount of solid materia]
in grams contained in one kilogram of sea water when all the carbonate has been converted to
oxide, the bromine and iodine replaced by chlorine, and all organic matter completely oxidized.

14. From Harvey (1945).

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS

37

Fig. 15. Surface distribution of salinity in Pamlico Sound, January, 1927. Chart prepared by
H. R. Seiwell and published here through the courtesy of the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

On the other hand, in shallow waters such as in sounds or over the continental
shelf, the limited depth checks this loss, and turbulence and up welling
replenish the supply. In addition, such shallow waters are usually so located
as to be replenished with nutrients carried by the rivers from adjacent land.
Little is known as to the availability of such limiting nutrients or of hydro-
graphic features that might add nutrients to the continental shelf off North
Carolina. Upwelling is not known to occur, and additions through the river
discharge, discussed below, are not great. As suggested in the section above
on Temperatures Offshore, winds, currents, and physiographic features may
cause considerable turbulence in the Hatteras region. Land drainage may
prove important in contributing nutrients and it may be that a counter-
clockwise circulation (see the section above on Circulation Offshore) aug-
ments this by directing southward the discharge from Chesapeake Bay.

38

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

PAMLICO SOUND

SURFACE DISTRIBUTION OF SALINITY cZ%
JULY 1927

Fig. i6. Surface distribution of salinity in Pamlico Sound, July, 1927, represented by the
isohalines. Added and encircled are the average surface salinities as given by Winslow (1886) for
the year 1886. The isohalines were drawn by H. R. Seiwell and are published here through the
courtesy of the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Density records, convertible to salinity, are available for the Diamond
Shoal Lightship station for the period April, 1923, through April, 1928 (U. S.
Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1945) . It is doubtful that the hydrometer method
used for such measurements is sufficiently accurate to evaluate slight salinity
changes that would be significant in these oceanic waters. The mean for this
series, namely 35%o is, however, unquestionably representative of the station.
Other data for these shelf waters include (i) the salinity tabulations of the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,^^ including Bohnecke's (1938)
records but not the U. S. C. G. S. records mentioned above, and (2) hydrom-
eter readings taken by the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries for the Cape Lookout

15. Compiled for the Division of Oceanography, Hydrographic Office, U. S. Navy.

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS

39

PAMLICO SOUND

BOTTOM DISTRIBUTION OF SALINITY
JULY 1927

Fig. 17. Bottom distribution of salinity in Pamlico Sound, July, 1927. Chart prepared by H. R.
Seiwell and published here through the courtesy of the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

area and the seaward end of Beaufort Inlet. The only conclusion justified
from this miscellany of records is the simple one expected for coastal regions
affected by river discharge, namely, that the salinity is slightly lower over the
continental shelf than in the ocean beyond, the latter being 36.o%o and over
(Bohnecke, 1938) off North Carolina.

The brackish water behind the offshore banks, Figures 15-17, is a mixture
of (i) ocean waters coming through the inlets, (2) river discharge, (3) rain-
fall, and (4) underground seepage, an unknown factor which may drain as
well as add to the water of the sounds. These waters are also affected by
evaporation from the water surface and transpiration from the emergent
vegetation of the marshes.

The area drained by each major river basin contributing to North Caro-

40

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 41

Una's inland waters is shown on Figure i8. According to this, the Cape Fear
River Basin has the largest drainage and is about twice the size of the three
main basins that drain into the sounds. Another interpretation issued by the
North Carolina State Planning Board extends the drainage basins to include
all the coastal tributaries as though part of the major basins; for example,
the Meherrin-Chowan River Basin and all the waters tributary to Albe-
marle Sound, including Currituck Sound, are considered as in the same basin
with the Roanoke River. This interpretation, the figures for which are in
parentheses on Figure i8, is especially significant, for it shows that the
northern drainage into Albemarle Sound equals the combined areas of the
Neuse and the Tar which flow into Pamlico Sound. The Corps of Engineers
(1935) states that the average daily run-off for the area tributary to Albe-
marle, Currituck, Croatan, and Roanoke sounds is 26,950 acre-feet as
compared with 17,504 acre-feet for the drainage tributary to Pamlico and
Core sounds. As mentioned above in the section on Circulation in the Sounds,
the source of these data is unexplained and rather questionable; nevertheless,
there is a noteworthy correlation between these discharge figures and the
over-all areas just mentioned.

Figure 19 shows the rate of discharge from these river basins as it varies
with the seasons over a period that was selected as having the most complete
records and including both drought and wet conditions. The most downstream
permanent gaging stations were used for the flow data under consideration,
but even these stations were some distance from the river mouths, beyond
any backing-up effects characteristic of estuaries; consequently, the actual
discharge from the rivers may be quite different when rainfall, evaporation,
and transpiration effects are considered. For this reason only the figures for
run-off in inches, ^^ which are on a per unit of area basis, have been used.
This gives all four rivers approximately equal weight in the computed aver-
ages and demonstrates seasonal and annual changes in relation to rainfall.
A correlation with precipitation is noticeable in the fall, winter, and spring.
The fall often has little precipitation and little discharge. The winter and
spring have more rainfall, greater discharge, and, according to Figure 20,
a high frequency of floods and freshets. Summer is usually a rainy period, but
apparently because of transpiration and evaporation, the discharge does not
always rise accordingly and floods are not as frequent as the precipitation
data at first suggest. On an annual basis there is more agreement between
discharge and precipitation, though the latter still fluctuates more than the
former.

Other factors being equal, these fluctuations in river discharge must cause
inverse fluctuations in salinity in the sounds. Such a relationship has been

16. Run-off in inches is the depth to which a drainage area would be covered if all the water
draining from it in a given period were uniformly distributed on its surface.

42

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

ins . PRECIPITATION

1931

JFMAMJJASOND

JFMAMJJA50ND

JFMAMJJA50ND

JFMAMJJA50ND

JFMAMJJASOND

JFMAMJJA50ND

JFMAM J J A5 0 NO

JFMAMJJASOND

JFMAMJJASOND

1942 -

JFMAMJJASOND

JFMAMJJASOND

JFMAMJJASOND

JFMAMJJASOND

31 32 33 3A35 56 37 31
YEARS

39 40 41 42 43

Fig. 19. The first 13 graphs show the monthly average stream discharge from the following
stations: Fayetteville on the Cape Fear Riyer (not included for the years 1940-43) ; Kinston on
the Neuse River; Tarboro on the Tar River (not included for the year 1931); and Roanoke
Rapids on the Roanoke River; also monthly average precipitation from the following five
selected stations: Chapel Hill, New Bern, Tarboro, Weldon, and Wilmington. The graph at the
bottom right shows the yearly average stream discharge from the four stations mentioned above ;
also the yearly average precipitation for these stations. Data from the U. S. Geological Survey
Water-Supply Papers.

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS

43

J3 ^

.2 c

ff -^^

> O

O

^S

^t«

3

St3

S

S- o

M-kJ

2-0

0^

03 <u

J3 3 _

;-!

.-y

>^ ^

rt
^

(J

r!

U

<u

1)

H

0
■a

2

>

^

0

0

nt

t/3

;-i

nj

*J <u

' '

<u

H

"1 >

T3

QJ
S

2

rt

0

I)

Q

a;

0
C

>

Pi <u

^-'

-C

0

D rv

■0

3
0

43

Pi
J3

H
<u

^6

•5 -^

0

10
0

_C

_c

•S.S

<u

f n

O) (U

^

•>

> >

s

3

>;

J3

0

0 0

3
C

1-1

)-< u

0

0 0

0

nl

.4_>

1 ,

■*-> ■*-»

f— >

(U

0) 0

<u

11)

11 a>

rl

■0

i+-(

VO

IT)

p< 10

U4

t-i

Pt

HI

M M

44

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

demonstrated for Chesapeake Bay waters by Beaven (1946) who further
noted that periods of high stream flow have a cumulative effect such that
''when saHnity is depressed it does not recover fully for a period of weeks
or months."

Rain falling directly on the sounds (see the precipitation data of Figure
19) must also be considered as a major factor reducing salinity. As with
river discharge, its effects are minimized by evaporation and transpiration.
The Corps of Engineers (1935), using rates determined at Lake Michie near
the inland city of Durham, set the average evaporation from the sounds at
25,392 acre-feet per day but there are no figures for transpiration. Though
seasonal or even annual evaporation-transpiration totals are not available,
it is obvious that these are very significant considering the 1,648,000 acres of
water surface in the sounds, their lengthy coastlines with vast areas of
emergent vegetation, and the fact that the evaporation figure alone is more
than half the river discharge estimated by the Corps of Engineers. Both the
evaporation and transpiration are probably greatest in the late spring and
summer; so their role in offsetting rainfall and river discharge is probably at
a minimum in winter and in early spring when the river flow is often at a
peak. Figure 2 1 showing monthly changes in salinities at Beaufort shows this
seasonal effect.

Winds, currents, and diffusion tend to mix the fresh water flowing in a
general seaward direction from the river mouths with the ocean water enter-
ing the sounds through the inlets. Because of differences in density, however,
some stratification of fresher water over that from the sea is to be expected
even in such shallow estuaries as Pamlico Sound. In numerous papers Nelson
(1928 and 1931, for examples) has described the existence of salinity strata
in Barnegat Bay and vicinity in New Jersey, where the depth is considerably
less than in much of PamHco Sound. ^' Also, Figures 16 and 17 suggest slight

17. There is some evidence of this for North Carolina waters in the published records of
Grave (1904) as offered in the following two tables. This is relegated to the status of a footnote
here, however, because accompanying temperature records are not given, and the consistently
higher densities toward the bottom may be, in part at least, a result of temperature and not
salinity.

Average densities at 3 stations over
an oyster bed in North River

Average densities at 4 stations over
an oyster bed in Newport River

High Tide

Low Tide

High Tide

Low Tide

Surface

Bottom

Surface

Bottom

Surface

Bottom

Surface

Bottom

1.0221

1.0227

1.0172

1.0173

1.0182

1.0187

1.0164

1.017

1.0206

1.0207

1.0181

1.0183

1.0176

1.0177

1.0156

1.0158

1.0197

1.0199

1.0169

1.017

1.0163
1.0168

1.017
1.0169

1.0128
1.0146

1.0156
1.0166

Average depth 3^ to 4 feet at low tide.
From Grave (1904)

Depth 3 to 9 feet at low tide. From Grave
(1904) •

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 45

Fig. 21. Extreme monthly maximum and minimum salinities at Pivers Island, Beaufort, N. C,

1924-28. From Outsell (1931).

46 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

stratification where bottom isohalines for July, 1927, are seen as tongues of
high salinity pointing toward the river mouths. Since warm water is less dense
than cold ^^ and since there is a tendency for the surface to be heated during
warm periods, temperature conditions may supplement the salinity stratifica-
tion. On the other hand, when the surface water cools, its increased density
opposes any stratification due to salinity but does not necessarily prevent it;
consequently there may be a layer of colder, fresher water toward the surface
(for an example of this in shallow waters see Nelson, 1928).

Currituck Sound, many miles from the nearest inlet, is considered essen-
tially a body of fresh water. A salt-water guard lock prevents an inflow of
brackish, polluted water from the Norfolk area into the sound by way of the
Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal. The lock was removed in 19 13 resulting
in higher, more variable salinities. Largely because of the threat to the
unusually good production of freshwater game fishes and related forms, a
new guard lock was put in operation at Great Bridge in 1932. Figures 22
and 23 show the before and after effects of this installation.

Albemarle Sound is also essentially fresh water as its biota indicates. About
the only salinity records available apply to the eastern end as given in Figure
22. Certainly to the westward, with the increased influence of the tributaries,
salinities are no higher than this.^''

The salinities in Pamlico Sound may be represented by Figures 15, 16,
and 17. The isohalines indicated form inverted cones, each of which has its
apex at Ocracoke Inlet and is not perceptibly modified about the other
narrower and shallower inlets. This suggests that practically all circulation
between the ocean and Pamlico Sound is through Ocracoke Inlet, or at least
such was the case when the records were taken in 1927. On the other hand,
in the earlier i88o's the salinity was high about the mouths of all the inlets,
according to figures published by Winslow (1886) and shown within the
circles of Figure 16.

Winslow (1889) did not publish all the substantiating data but gave the
following very interesting account of the effects of winds on salinity in
Pamlico Sound:

"It must be remembered that the condition of the water is not dependent
upon the wind prevailing at any particular time, but upon the wind that has

18. Except near the freezing point. Maximum density of water is 4° C. (39.2° F.). It expands
with the fall of temperature below this point until it freezes, thereafter it contracts on further
cooling.

19. Robert W. Luther of the Public Utility Commission of Elizabeth City has submitted
chloride determinations for points in the Chowan and Pasquotank rivers and Knobb Creek,
tributary to the latter. None of these indicate salinities even approaching i%o', however a note
indicates that fishermen reported water too salty to drink about 8 miles upstream from the
mouth of the Chowan in 1941. The note also indicates that, according to these fishermen, this
was the first period of such high salinity in 70 years. Figure 19 of the present paper shows that
1941 was a drought year with low river discharge.

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS

47

ATLANTIC OCEAN

o '*

Ui M

■is

o

w

t/1

^ «<1

QJ ^

P3

"> a

<-> S
o .

~ C -^
*-l ^

3 " "

tc OJ

OJ

rt <I

c i; s"

0 3'-

D. . 'w

g vo C

o " W

(U O

■*-" H D.

u I J?

D IH O

Co -

(U u a
^ 3 -Si

ATLANTIC OCEAN

o

M

3 C i^

"" >- o

_e "->

■^ <u ^

.11! «!

c
^ 1)

in O

bJD
D C3 O

tlH -^ "S

° A

48

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

NORTH LANDNG RIVER NEAR MOUTH
WEST NECK CREEK, VA.

APPnOX, 3 MILES SOUTH OF NORTH LANDING

NORTH LANDING, VA

6 MILES SOUTH OF GREAT BBIDOE

GREAT BRIDGE LOCK, VA

Fig.

23. Salinity observations before and after the installation of Great Bridge tidal guard lock.
Adapted from unpublished graph supplied by the Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army.

prevailed; while, except in the neighborhood of the inlets, the exact opposite
is the case with the currents. For instance, in the upper part of Pamlico
Sound, the specimens taken during a strong northwesterly wind, and with a
strong southerly current, may show a high specific gravity. But by consulting
the weather record of the previous days or weeks it will be found that strong
easterly and southeasterly gales have prevailed. The water of the ocean was
thus driven into the Sound and then up it; the natural flow from the Albe-
marle was stopped, and the heavier, denser waters of the lower part of the
Sound banked up against it. As the wind changed to the southward and west-
ward, the pressure at the inlets was relieved and the water there began to
flow out; but the direction of the wind would prevent any great change of
conditions in the main body of the Sound, as its major axis extends nearly

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 49

northeast and southwest. Upon the change of the wind to the northward,
however, an immediate and comparatively violent movement of the water
will take place in the direction of the inlets where the level has already been
reduced, and though this movement is rapid, amounting sometimes to two
knots per hour, yet considerable time is necessary to displace the salt water
by the fresh, and consequently high densities may easily be found with north-
westerly winds and southerly currents, and, vice versa, low densities with
easterly and southerly winds and northerly currents. In the southern part of
the Sound the rule will be modified somewhat owing to the trend of the land
and lay of the shoals, the greater densities being found, as before, after
easterly winds, but a southerly wind immediately effecting a diminution of
gravity.

'Trom a careful inspection of the determinations of specific gravity and
observations of winds and currents, the following are deduced:

"Easterly winds will cause high water and high densities.

"Westerly winds will cause low water and low densities.

"Southerly winds will cause low water and low densities in the southern
part of Pamplico Sound and high densities in the northern part.

"Northerly winds will have an exactly opposite effect in each locality.

"The greatest density and the highest water will be coincident.

"The greatest density and the highest water will be found, after continued
easterly weather —

"In the northern part of the Sound immediately before the shift of wind
to theN. W.;

"In the southern part of the Sound immediately before the shift of the
wind to the S. W.

"The strongest currents will be found immediately after a shift of wind.

"The weakest currents will be found immediately before a shift of wind."

Generalizations on the remaining sounds are difficult because they are so
numerous, small, and varied. All generally extend with their long axes par-
alleling the coastline and in general they are well supplied with inlets; so
salinities are usually high. Figure 2 1 for Beaufort is representative of condi-
tions near an inlet. With respect to Core Sound, Winslow (1889) offers the
following interpretation from his accumulated records: "Anomalous as it
may seem, in Core Sound, its general direction being N. E. and S. W., a
northeast gale will cause high water and high densities and a southwest gale
the reverse — showing that the real outlet of that Sound is into Pamlico and
not Beaufort Inlet as would be supposed." Inlet changes are such that this
situation may have been altered since that time.

High productivity characteristic of coastal waters such as these North
Carolina sounds is commonly attributed to the extra nutrients added by
river discharge. Theoretically this discharge, operative since the seas first

50 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

formed, has been the source of the dissolved salts characteristic of sea water.
Important minerals, such as the phosphates and nitrates, the scarcity of
which may limit production, are usually present in and added by the streams.
The quantity of any critical nutrient entering the North Carolina coastal
waters by this means is not known ^° and, if such data were available, they
would mean very little till additional studies revealed their ultimate fate and
use in the water in question. It is probable, for example, that many nutrients
adhere to the silt in the stream and settle out of circulation when salting
out ^^ and other sedimentation processes carry the silt to the bottom at the
river mouths. With erosion " as great as it is, heavy losses from this action
are to be expected. Erosion also leads to unchecked and highly varied run-off
conditions causing floods, sudden changes in salinity, and great variations in
nutrients contributed by river discharge.

The Offshore Bar and Its Inlets

As mentioned in the discussions of geography, an offshore bar interrupted
by a few narrow inlets extends the entire length of the North Carolina coast
(Figures i and 24). Ocracoke Island, a typical segment of this coastline is
described by Engels (1942) as follows:

"Through the greater part of its length of 1 7 miles, Ocracoke is only about
)4 mile wide; near the southwest end it is at one point nearly two miles in
width, but for a considerable distance, toward Hatteras Inlet, barely 200
yards separate the sound from the sea. Much of the island is less than one
foot above sea level; little of it rises more than three feet above the sea. The
dunes scarcely exceed 20 feet in elevation — most of them are much lower;
they occur as scattered, isolated hills of sand, or as small clusters of hills, not
forming a continuous barrier to the encroachment of the sea." That such an
offshore bar persists is obviously due to the continuation of the dynamic
forces that built it, for in itself the loose shifting sand comprising this barrier
beach offers no stability.

A wealth of information on the history of the inlets through the bar is
contained in the report issued by the North Carolina Fisheries Commission
Board in 1923. Appendix III of this report is a letter from S. T. Abert to the

20. Studies to date have been planned primarily for industrial use of the water and have been
made at more or less upstream stations not applicable to the river mouths. For the latest such
records see Lamar (1947).

21. Neutralization of electric charges on the silt particles by charges on the salt ions of the
sea water tends to destroy one of the major forces maintaining such material in suspension. As
a result a pronounced settling, or salting out as it is called, may take place where fresh and salt
water mix.

22. Available data on the degree of erosion in North Carolina applies to upstream locaUties
and not to river mouths. A promising method for determining erosion is by comparing old
and recent surveys of bottom contours in the river mouths as has been done by Gottschalk (1*945)
in other areas.

TABLE 8

Comparative Conditions of Inlets on the Coast of North Carolina
at Different Dates *

Conditions as Shown by Map of: ^

Name

of
Inlet

o >.

&CO

Remarks

Currituck
New Currituck
Caffeys
Roanoke
Oregon

Chickinoke
New (Dare Co.)

Loggerhead

Hatteras

Ocracoke

Whalebone

New

Normans (Sand)

Drum

Cedar
The Drain

(Lookout Bight)
Beaufort

Bogue

Bear

Brown's

Little

New River

Stump

New Topsail

Old Topsail

Rich

Queen (Mason)

Barren (Moore)

Sandy

Bread

Shoal

Masonboro

New (Cape Fear)

0 0 O C

C — C 0

0 — C C

0 0 0 0

0 — 00

C — 0 O 0
C — C C C

C — C C C
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0

0 0

0 o

0 o

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

O 0

c c

0 0

c c

0 0

C 0

0 o

0

c

0 0

Now
closed
(1947)

0 -

- 0

c

_

c

u
0

0 -

- 0

c

—

c

0

0 -

- 0

—

—

c

c

— -

- c

c

—

c

c

— 000 O O 0

c c — c o

Closed in 1828

Known as New in 1838; as
Hatorask in 1590; as Gunt
in 1775 and as Gant in 1795.
Known as Chickinock-
comiock in 1775.
Closed in Jan. 1922. Artifi-
cally reopened in 1924 but
closed immediately. Re-
opened by storm in March
1932.

Known as Wokoken in 1590;
as Okeracock in 1738 and as
Occacock in 1775.

Reopened by storm in Sep-
tember 1933.

Known as Core Sound in
1708, 1738 and 1775.
Known as Boug in 1738.

Known as Sandy in 1738.
Known as Reach in 1738.
Open in 1868.

Open in 1871.

Known as Cabbage in 1738
& 1775.

Open in 1774 and in 1806.
Closed by man in 1876.

* Adapted from table supplied by Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, 1948. Does not include
inlets west of the Cape Fear River.

52 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Chief of Engineers of the U. S. Army, dated February 21, 1876, which con-
tains a table stating the condition of the inlets at various dates according to
old maps or other available source data. Table 8 is essentially a condensed
and up-to-date version of Abert's table as supplied by the Corps of Engineers
in recent correspondence. Figure 24 will orient the reader as to the location
of the existing and past inlets as far south as Beaufort.

Through the years inlet changes due to natural forces have been rather
great. Because of the obvious importance of these passages for navigation and
from the standpoint of modifying the sounds for fisheries development, there
have been many proposals for artificially developing inlets, reopening old
ones, etc. The Division of Water Resources of the North Carolina Depart-
ment of Conservation and Development and the Corps of Engineers, U. S.
Army have conducted surveys that bear wholly or in part on such questions.
A background in theory is indispensable for comprehending the problem
involved and, since Johnson (1919, 1938) not only offers such theory but
discusses its application to North Carolina, I will quote from him at length: ^^

"It is commonly assumed that the amplitude of the tide is the only factor
involved in determining the number and width of tidal inlets through offshore
bars. Both theoretical considerations and field observations negative this
assumption. In addition to the varying strength of longshore action (mainly
beach drifting), the volume of land water, the extent to which the lagoon is
filled with sediment or marsh deposits, the abundance and rapidity with
which debris is supplied, and the strength of storm-wave attack, are all
factors of importance. With the same tidal range along two offshore bars, it
may happen that longshore current action is weak on one, but vigorous on
the other. Under such conditions the one with the weaker longshore currents
will have more or wider inlets. Where large rivers empty into a lagoon, the
ebb current of the tide is greatly reinforced by the land waters, and will keep
open inlets which would otherwise be narrowed or closed. As sedimentation
and marsh growth decrease the water space of the lagoon, the volume of tidal
waters admitted and the strength of the tidal currents is reduced, in con-
sequence of which longshore currents may be able to narrow or even close
some of the inlets. If an abundance of debris is supplied to longshore currents
with great rapidity, the closing of inlets will be more readily accomplished
than if a smaller amount of debris is supplied very slowly. An inlet, once
closed, might never be re-opened were it not for breaches made in the bar by
storm-wave attack. Tidal action tends to keep inlets open; but, except in the
case of an unusually high tide overflowing a low point on a bar, does not tend
to produce inlets. Impounded land water may in rare instances open an inlet

23. Reprinted by permission from Shore Processes and Shoreline Development by D. W. John-
son, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1919. A similar discussion but in a more tecl^nical
vein is offered by Brown (1928).

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS

53

Fig. 24. Inlets from Cape Henry to Bogue Sound. Names in parentheses represent former inlets
now closed. Adapted from Beach Erosion at Kittyhawk, etc., by Corps of Engineers U S
Army (1935).

54 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

after the manner described by Shaler; but inlets are more commonly re-
opened during exceptional storms by vigorous wave erosion. A bar exposed
to the waves of an occasional great storm may thus be breached, where one
less exposed would remain intact.

"On the other hand, it matters little how many inlets may be opened by
the waves, longshore currents will soon close all except those kept open by
tidal currents reinforced by outflowing land waters. If the tidal range is such
as to generate currents capable of maintaining two inlets of a given breadth
through a certain bar, and storm waves cut two additional inlets, the tidal
waters will for a time flow through the greater number of openings with
decreased velocities. Longshore currents will therefore dominate the tidal
currents at the inlets, until deposition has narrowed all of the inlets, or closed
two of them (often the older ones), leaving the other two of the required
breadth and thereby re-establishing a condition of equihbrium. Or, if a storm
drives waves obliquely upon a coast in such manner as greatly to accelerate
the longshore transportation of debris, all the inlets through a bar may be
closed by excessive deposition in spite of tidal currents. Once the inlets are
closed, the tidal currents cease to exist; and the inlets will remain closed until
storm waves or some other agency makes new breaches through the bar. In
general we may say that waves tend to make inlets, tidal currents to preserve
them, and longshore currents to close them.

"That the supply of debris brought by longshore currents may be more
important than differences of tidal range in determining the number of inlets
through a bar, is apparent from a study of certain offshore bars which are
supplied with debris derived from headlands to which the bar is at one end
attached. Let us deduce the conditions which theoretically should charac-
terize offshore bar and lagoon development when the bar is attached to a
headland, and longshore currents move from the headland toward the further
extremity of the bar.

"In the first place, it is evident that while wave currents may remove much
material from the face of the bar and transport it seaward to deeper water,
near the headland the loss may be more or less completely made good by new
debris brought from the adjacent source of supply by longshore currents.
The effect of this accession of debris is two-fold; the bar withstands the
normal tendency of the waves to drive it landward since the waves have all
they can do to take care of the new material continually being added to its
face ; and for the same reason the waves are less apt to cut inlets through the
bar, while longshore currents utilize the abundant debris to seal up such inlets
as may occasionally be formed. Accordingly we should expect a tendency for
lagoons to be broad and bars to be continuous in the vicinity of headlands.

"Toward that end of the bar most remote from the headland, conditions
are very different. The debris from the headland has been ground fine in the

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 55

course of its journey, and largely dissipated. Wave attack expends its full
energy upon a bar which receives little material from the distant headland to
offset the ravages of marine erosion. Hence the bar is driven landward with
greater ease, and during its retreat the waves cut through first here, then
there, forming inlets which are not closed as readily as where debris is more
abundantly supplied. Far from headlands, therefore, there should be a tend-
ency for lagoons to be narrow and for bars to be broken by frequent inlets.

" The Carolina coast is so complicated by the three cuspate bars forming

Capes Hatteras, Lookout, and Fear that one might scarcely expect to find
the relationships characteristic of simple offshore bars. Yet if we compare
different sections of the coast in a broad way, ignoring local abnormalities,
we seem to see the working of the same laws controlling cases previously
discussed. The headland for this section is the margin of the coastal plain
of Virginia, south of Cape Henry, and the shore currents move in a general
north to south direction."* We may recognize four natural subdivisions of the
coast: a first section from the headland to Cape Hatteras, a second between
Capes Hatteras and Lookout, a third between Capes Lookout and Fear, and
a fourth between Cape Fear and a point just west of Little River, beyond
which the offshore bar seems to touch the mainland again. In the first section
the inlets number but 2 in a distance of 113 miles, and the lagoon attains a
great width with comparatively little filling. The abnormal width in parts of
the first two sections is probably due to an exceptionally gentle slope of the
sea-floor along the Cape Hatteras axis. In the second section of 72 miles,
there are three inlets, giving an average spacing of 4 to 100 miles, and the
lagoon becomes comparatively narrow toward Cape Lookout. In the third
section the number of inlets increases to 9 in 100 miles, while the lagoons
narrow still more and become much more filled with marsh deposits. At Cape
Fear the lagoon broadens out considerably, but the width here is only seven
and one-half miles as compared to twelve and one-half at Cape Lookout, or
thirty miles at Cape Hatteras. In the fourth section there are eight inlets in
40 miles, which is equivalent to a spacing of 20 inlets to 100 miles; the bar is
driven back nearly to the mainland, and the narrow lagoon is almost com-
pletely filled with marsh. Despite its complexities the Carolina case appears
to meet the requirements of the theory." "^

24. The basis for this statement on current direction is not given, although Prof. Arthur N.
Strahler, who worked with Dr. Johnson for some years, has informed me he believes the current
direction was inferred from the shape of the inlet mouths. It is interesting to note that such a
direction is compatible with Abbe's theory ; yet, as already mentioned in the section on Circulation
Offshore, Johnson (1938) discussed the formation of the cuspate Carolina capes on the basis of
geological relationships having no bearing on Abbe's hypothesis.

25. The Corps of Engineers (1948) gives the following up-to-date account of inlet distribu-
tion: "The prevalence of inlets increases to the southward along the coast. The latest informa-
tion indicates that there is only i inlet open along the 100 miles of coast from the Virginia line
to Cape Hatteras, 6 in the second hundred miles, 12 in the third hundred miles, and 6 between
the Cape Fear River and the South Carolina line, a distance of 32 miles."

56 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Continuing our quotations from Johnson, the physiographic feature known
as the tidal delta that is so characteristic of the North Carolina inlets (Figure
25) is described. "...Debris brought by beach drifting or other longshore
currents is seized by the inflowing or outflowing current at the inlet and
transported into the lagoon or out to sea. Most of the debris is not carried
far before being deposited in the quieter water of the larger waterbody to
form a tidal delta. The typical tidal delta is wholly submerged and is double,
one part facing landward and representing the result of deposition in the
lagoon by incoming currents; the other part facing seaward and owing its
construction to deposition in the sea by outflowing currents. Because the
seaward part of the delta is exposed to the action of waves and longshore
currents it is commonly stunted in its growth and margined by contours of
simple curvature ; only that portion in the lagoon is apt to acquire appreciable
size and the lobate form of ordinary deltas."

From the above it is clear that the maintenance of a new inlet and its
channel is often an engineering task in direct opposition to natural forces
which, due to storms, are highly unpredictable. Estimates that are frequently
made as a basis for evaluating the economic feasibility of an inlet project are
thus subject to error. The experience with New Inlet in Dare County illus-
trates this. New Inlet was closed by a storm in 1922. An unsuccessful attempt
was made to reopen it artificially in 1924; yet a storm accomplished the
reopening in a couple of days in 1932.

According to the Corps of Engineers (1948), the usual combination caus-
ing the formation of a new inlet in the barrier beach off the broad North
Carolina sounds begins with a sudden shifting of the waters from the land-
ward to the seaward side of the sounds, caused by changes in wind direction
during infrequent cyclonic storms of great intensity. The resulting high
waters wash over low places in the bar and sometimes flow toward the ocean
for a great many hours cutting a deep gorge. The past history of inlets in-
dicates that the waters of Albemarle and Pamlico sounds will again carry
out this pattern to form additional inlets. The past also indicates that such
inlets will probably be filled at a later date by sand drifting along the shore.

One characteristic of past studies considering new or modified inlets is
the tendency to assume that any biological effects will be beneficial. Increas-
ing salinity near an inlet would probably better the clam production and
possibly the yield of certain other fisheries products; however, harmful
results are not inconceivable. Certainly the popular concept, that more inlets
will mean increased migration of fishes into the sounds, is unfounded. The
concept may be true or partly true; yet there may be some detrimental
results. For example, if discharge of brackish water through an inlet attracts
fish, the addition of inlets may so reduce this factor for any given inlet as to
be less than the amount necessary to stimulate migration. Little or no in-

•a g

^ T3
■-3 o

OS o

-Sx.

XI p.

J2 ^
o O

* J^ ''■°'

a.^

<u

IT

■^ X!

»'>i—'f**--ma^

^ 1

.S ti

> o

5 ^

<• ,■ ',,,

•v^ ^ /'

1^ tn

O -^

■r ' -^

(J —

1

rt -

u, aj

* /

O I-

o 5

o 'S,

<> *'/

<U QJ

■' -f

:2 -c

-c S

-a '"'

«

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS

57

formation is available on such questions but to ignore them may cause great
losses.

Nature of the Bottom

In the ocean north of Cape Hatteras the bottom is said to be rather sandy
close to shore and more of a mud with rough areas due to shell accumulations,
etc., at the greater depths offshore (Pearson, 1932). Somewhat the same
conditions prevail south of the Cape except that rocks are scattered over the
area, especially to the southward and offshore. Little is known as to the
nature of these rocks to the south and the corals and coralline algae which,
in part at least, build them. The specific locations of some of these scattered
bottom reefs have been described by Radcliffe (1914) in a discussion of the

TABLE 9

A Summary by Areas of the Bottom Characteristics of North Carolina Sounds *

Av. depth of

General character

Locality

Area, acres

water, ft.

of bottom

Croatan and Roanoke Sounds

48,389 1

8 to 10
4 to 6

\ Sand.
J

Upper part of Pamlico Sound

V

45,757

10 to 12

Sand and mud.

Upper part of Pamlico Sound

45,157

I to 5

Sand.

Upper part of Pamlico Sound

82,904

14

Sand and mud.

Eastern Pamlico Sound

60,626

I to 10

Sand.

Middle Pamlico Sound

95,776

18 to 20

Mud.

Western Pamlico Sound

43,038

2 to 17

Sand and mud.

Eastern Pamlico Sound

61.834

2 to 12

Sand.

Middle Pamlico Sound

103-270

20

Mud.

Western Pamlico Sound

30,291

3 to 14

Sand and mud.

Eastern Pamlico Sound

76.570

I to 20

Sand.

Middle Pamlico Sound

67,738

14 to 22

Sand.

Western Pamlico Sound

15,746

8 to 10

Sand and mud.

Southern Pamlico Sound

39,988

18 to 20

Mud.

Middle Pamlico Sound

45,413

16

Sand and mud.

Western Pamlico Sound

38,315

2 to 14

Sand and mud.

Southern Pamlico Sound

38,888

12 to 22

Sand and mud.

Middle Pamhco Sound

65,164

8 to 20

Sand and mud.

Western Pamlico Sound

50,639

2 to 20

Sand and mud.

PamUco and Pungo Rivers

63,437

18

Mud.

Neuse River

50,299

23

Sand and mud.

Cedar Island Bay

28,615

18

Sand and mud.

Northern part of Core Sound

44.307

I to 10

Sand and mud.

Southern part of Core Sound

38,907

I to 15

Sand and mud.

Bogue Sound

25,929

2 to 5

Sand.

White Oak River

3,900

5

Mud.

New River

4,522

5

Mud.

*FromWinslow (1889).

58 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

offshore fishing grounds. These and the less known rocks, so numerous south
of Cape Hatteras, have already been mentioned as an obstacle to trawl fish-
ing. Further studies of this bottom, such as are now in progress, may lead to
the day when fishermen can work these areas, locating right over them when
desired, circling the edges at will, or fishing well clear of them for still other
purposes.

The bottoms in the sounds have been referred to repeatedly in published
reports on oysters because the production of these shellfish is so dependent
on a favorable firm substratum. Throughout, the bottom is either sand, mud,
or a mixture of the two, and there is little or no actual rock.-'' Table g gives
the area of different bottom compositions as determined by Winslow (1889).
Winslow and other authors have reported the potential oyster-growing areas
but changes due to depletion, shifting of sands, and silting make such
accounts unreliable today.

Pollution

Pollution of North Carolina's marine waters is restricted to a few local
situations mostly in the vicinity of towns and cities where toilet sewage, and
in a few instances industrial sewage, is either untreated or inadequately
handled. Much information relative to pollution sources is given in the study
of "The Extent of Stream Pollution in North Carolina" by Stiemke (1947) ;
however, as a summary of the marine waters most affected by pollution,
reference is made to the areas which the State Board of Health has closed to
the harvesting of oysters. As of April 12, 1949, the following eight areas,
totaling about 27,000 acres, were on this restricted list: -^

Core Sound at Atlantic 312 acres

Morehead City — Beaufort Area 3-95° acres

Oyster Creek at Bogue 107 acres

White Oak River at Swansboro 490 acres

New River at Marine Base 290 acres

Stump Sound at King Creek 122 acres

Wrightsville area 1,800 acres

Myrtle Sound 20,000 acres

Much of the sewage of these regions is toilet discharge, endangering human
health. Among the dangers is the threat that typhoid fever will be spread
by eating oysters contaminated by human fecal bacteria. Many of the above-
mentioned areas are at the sites of military establishments where the situa-
tion should improve under postwar conditions ; however, localities now under
suspicion may more than offset the improved areas.

26. Oyster bars are often referred to as rocks though they are essentially accumulations of
shells compacted to varying degrees over a firm substratum of the sandy consistency mentioned.

27. Exact descriptions of these localities are issued by the State Board of Health.

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 59

The total acreage thus restricted is relatively small; yet specific localities
are affected considerably. The damage to the fisheries is not great. The
condition does not ruin areas for fish life; furthermore, oysters grown in
polluted waters can be transplanted elsewhere for purification before harvest.
The addition of important nutrients as a result of pollution is probably small
and of minor significance.

The subject of pollution would not be complete without mentioning pulp
mill wastes in relation to the spawning and survival of anadromous fish,
particularly shad. This has developed into an acute question in the lower
Roanoke River. Strong accusations have been directed at the pulp mill
activity and strong defense statements have been made in reply. The problem
is being given some study and merits considerably more. It would be pre-
mature to discuss it further here, especially since, with the legal proceedings
involved, one finds it impossible to obtain much of the pertinent information
at this time.

Wind, Waves, and Weather

Little can be said here that is beyond the realm of common knowledge.
The inland waters seldom present conditions too rough for reasonably able
small craft, but offshore, particularly in the region of Cape Hatteras, condi-
tions are frequently quite severe. ^^ Many accounts and explanations of the
latter are a bit fantastic, such as the theory of a consistently strong wind or
current from the north bucking the opposing Gulf Stream flow from the south.
The actual conditions are nothing more than one would expect in considering
features already described in this chapter. A review of this might well start
by mentioning the strong Florida Current (Figure 2) flowing northeastward
just off the Capes. The non-wind counter currents that might buck this are
ill defined, weak, and evidently quite irregular (see section on Circulation
Offshore). Winds and wind currents that might buck it are also irregular but
sometimes constitute strong opposing forces (Figures 4 and 26). Opposing
currents of this sort are common off land prominences which in turn are often
characterized by rough water. Off Hatteras this common condition is far more
pronounced than usual and the severity is greatly augmented by the irregular
shallows (Figure 7) which tend to turn long swells and waves into sharper
ones and even into breakers. Add to all this the heavy shipping and fishing
that passes or centers around this Cape and its reputation for wrecks is

28. The following quotation from the Supplement to the U. S. Coast Pilot (1945) describes
expected results: "It has been found that with easterly winds, and particularly northeast winds,
the Gulf Stream becomes very rough. A fresh northeast breeze causes as much sea in the Gulf
Stream as is ordinarily produced by a moderate gale. Easterly winds appear to drive the warm
surface waters of the Gulf Stream frequently many miles inshore of the average limits, and
westerly winds appear to move the western limit of the Gulf Stream offshore.

60 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

readily understood. On the other hand, lulls between times of adverse
weather, the milder conditions between the Capes, and the near-by harbors,
such as Ocracoke, Beaufort, and lower Chesapeake Bay ports, are sufficient
to enable a large trawler fleet to work this coastline during the winter, which
is the most severe season (Figure 26). Perhaps, if greater strides are made
with wave forecasting techniques that have been developed during the recent
war, the area will be fished with far greater ease.

A miscellany of other conditions should be included in completing an
account of the over-all hydrographic conditions. Air temperature has been
referred to several times in discussions of water conditions. For a more
detailed record than offered in Figure 14, Table 10 is presented, giving the
monthly averages since 1875 for the central Hatteras station. Fog is another
weather condition important in considerations relative to the water. The
North Carolina coast is favored by the lack of this. At Cape Hatteras there
are 10 days of dense fog per year (see U. S. Dept. Agriculture Yearbook,
1941 ) . With the exception of the southern tip of Florida, no other coastal area
in the United States has as little fog (there are 40 to 80 days of fog per year
on Cape Cod). Data compiled by Dailey (1946) shows that most of the fog
around Hatteras occurs during winter.

The subject of hurricanes or, more technically, tropical cyclones, demands
what little consideration is possible here. Since one hears so much about
hurricanes moving northward along the coast and since North Carolina's
coastline is so prominent, there has been a tendency to think of this region
as being especially subject to hurricanes. On looking at the numerous re-
corded hurricane courses on maps by Tannehill (1945) in his comprehensive
discussion of these storms, it is clear that North Carolina is hit about as
often as any other east coast area, any part of which may be struck by the
highly varied courses. The disadvantage of this coastal prominence is that it
may be struck by a storm directly off the sea, weakened only to the extent
that such storms may die as they move northward and not subject to the loss
in strength that inevitably results from an overland course. Also the nature
of the offshore bar makes that area extremely vulnerable to any appreciable
storm. If the reader will recall the comments on the instability of the offshore
bar, given in the section on the Offshore Bar and Its Inlets, and, better yet,
if he has been there, he may join with the writer in amazement that residents
and dwellings have survived the full force of any great hurricane. That they
have done so is clearly a matter of record, however, one example being the
1944 hurricane, the center of which passed over Hatteras with winds of about
100 miles an hour and tides 7.0 ft. above mean low tide (Sumner, 1944).

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS

61

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

ANNUAL

LEGEND

Q % OF CALMS (0-3 MILES PER HOUR)

— 4-15 MILES PER HOUR

Ezza 16-31 MILES PER HOUR

Mi 32 MILES PER HOUR AND OVER

rj

Fig. 26. Monthly and annual surface wind roses for Cape Hatteras showing, by the propor-
tionate length of a given symbol, the percentage of winds of the indicated strengths and direc-
tions. Data from U. S. Weather Bureau (1941), Airway Meteorological Atlas for the United States.

62

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

CJ
1^

K

u

M

ca

>-i

(U

>

o

<

vO

»— 1

0)

Tl-

W

3

ON
M

H-1

pq

«5

<

a

CO

H

H

M

3
<

O

a

n
c
c
<

o M M M d <N M w M c^' o d " 6 w r<^ r^' d d M d w cj M « <vi d M c) d M

cs O O '^J-O M <s rood i-^i^l-^iorj-firi \r> as d o6 lod t^oooovood Mvd d»
\o•*^OT^lr5^^li^Tf'^lOT^rl-•^■<*•t^lTtvoM•TJ•lo•<;J■■*v^l'!t':t••*•*■<i■T}■TJ■Tt

>■

o

q o 00 q> «>

O O tH fOvO

lOVO \^ IT) IT)

O

\0 O O O VO vO t^ O O VO vO vO vO ^ ^ *0 vO "O VO O O VO O O vO VO VO O O NO vO

•^ ro Cf- f^ ^
li-) ro P) •<i- VO

t^ t^ t^ j^ r-.

bi)

o< N t^'^. '^'^ P'^ P q<pioiort-p) Ono a<c>q m •^*-<. f^K^^q
i-^odododyDododoo r^vood voo r^vd^'odoovd x-^cxi a>od d^od d

>o q VO •^ qv
dv r-^ dv t-^ x-^

t^ 1^ x^ t-» t^

1— >

q^c^iOMtrjMvq Mvqt^c»t-~c?.vooqt-;-c< cs covooq q><>o w m ovi--.r--.t--.q>
od o^od d>i-^dNodod ONvdodr^cd ■4-r^vdvdood-rivdodododod dvod d^ d^ t>.ai

C

1— >

VO ro -^ M »0
tf ui ro VO •«j-
r^ x^ 1^ t^ 1^

^
^

Tfiodo •^ovt-^TJ-TJ-i-ivdvo dvoododvdo lod lodvoovdo

vO vO vO VD O O vO vO O \0 O O VO vO vO ^o VO vO vO t^ O r^ O vO vO VO

lo ro X--. 00 CO
VO 00 X^ 00 M

VO vO O VO X^

l4

a
<

r^MWt^MMOOMcooOPOOvOro*^OOvOOcit^C7>rjHOMt^
!-oi-^iodo c><s r^vd rj-odod t^t-^vdododvd d>f^cd dsr^t-^iood

VO x^ CO p; q

pi vD d 00 dv

lO VO vO VO VO

1

vqoo Mioo^t-;-qiOM rorf-vo T^o ►^^ O'lriOvO c-j q qvoqr-»r^Ti-t^p)W|)qv
cs d M rfvd <Nod Mt^i^-^od dvcd r^<N d\r^odiod ctn <N-Looi c^^odod m po
lOlo>J^u->Tt■vor^vo•5l-lo■*'i■T^rt•*»>^rl-T}•■!;i-^'>lo•^l/^>ol/^TJ-low^u-llJ^>/^

^^-qvoq MOO Tf-co q n q <n q>rorovq tj-n mvo Tj-qvoor^oq tj-
rod tovd M M i-< i-iod ^i-i i-i M \6 fovd co>Ai-^oduovdr^Tt-tH Tf

TJ■^orl■rl■rl-vo■*vor^l/^Ti-TtlO■>^••^lO■l/^■'l■Tf•^ro•*■^'*'*'*

Tj- CO X-- M lO

d^ d» d^ M od

PO CO •* Tj- CO

c

•—1

OvfOvO MVO ■^r^woo M ONOO t^f-^O t^MvO mt^CvoO CvvO O -t^

tJ- M ro vd M ro dv od N N f-^ d» -^ -^ t-^ lo r^ lo »o 00 »o M pi od od VO

M- q x~-. •>!}• x^

VO PJ Vi-) O •-<

■* -^ -^ •* '^

OS

lOVOr^OO CvO M P» fO^^OvOt^CO OvO M (N CO^IOOX^OO OvO
i^r^r^r^t^ooooooc/3000000000000 o^c^c^o^c^o^c^o^c^o^o
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo o

w P) CO •* VO

o o o o o

(^ O o^ ov ON

H Ipl M M 11

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 63

M M fO N M (T) M r^, w cq CN O " " O r^ r^ c^ w r«^ F- M c^ c-^ ro cs Tf •^ M N cs ri r^ tJ- 6 w <^ M i-t O)

ooo^M rocs w N o>oo Tt-00 d M lAd d M rocKi-^od cf\o>dv)vd copoj^m' i-Ivd doo pj i-It^i/^pi rj-
q^co N q^'^voio-'i-vq fOTi-'>^c^o roocjoq q pj "tj-oo q w "^oo •*'*q omoooo o f2oo\o\o ■*« n

^O q r^li^^) M q ^. O q tN csooc P<>0 m n n « '^■^o M-oo rOOO ^O Tj-ioOoo
" lOt^COO r^OO r^.^i irir^-rOc^'i-vdod r^l/>rot---t-^od lOVn<>rA<-Aod M O t^ TTi -^ xri

•^i-^i^qvq<q '^•q q m n tj-vo q '>4-«iooqoqvq q^^j-ovo ^j-^jvo nvq Tfo^dt/ici covo o •«i-vo coco

t^oo o^po^ovq cr>o q c^oqoo tj-vovovooo voroq>q cji-^Tfr^o ■^oo o n iouiOoj^m o "^o m ■^

o^^-oot^■^^c^t^f^c^CT^r^o6ooo6x^o'lv-!odcoo6 c>vo o^i---o'od cf^d^c^od ocf^d d>odt--ododvdt-^vd

". i~^o>oq o) q rj-oqooqt-^-*q <~^.oq <>"_ qoovo ■^qo -*r^-o i- •^iriwoqi^o o o m i^. '^-Tf-^tvo

t^oo d-o'oo ooooo t^r-^f^od vrii>-w-)t^oo r^oodod r^oood d^od dvo d t-^ocooooodod OMod r^<:>vd

rJ-ir5q>M NOO p<>0 "po CT>c>r^00t^oq ^oo 'tCT-ix'O O >-< q t"--^!-! loO 'i-r^oooo ^co^n voOoo
J^ *^ -t^ t^ -t^ t^ t^ f^ -t^ f^ r^ f-^ x^ x^ j^ f^ r^r^x^x^t^r^x^x^t^r^x-*.r^x>. x^ x^-c^t^x^x^x^x^x^x^ x^ x^

vO

PI

VO

rO

o

o

Ov

o

p)

PO

rtvO

00

o

o

O

VO vO

PO

PO

CO

P)

■*vO

>+

X-.

•*

>* VO

M

POvO

r-

o>

P)

VO

p)

00

M

■^00

00

lO

c^oo

x^oo

00

Cv

o^ oo

OV

M-

o-

Ov

t-t

VO

00

X^

VO

r^O

a^ VO

Ov

o

)_,

r^

P4

X^

x-00

J^

CvO

VOVO

f~v

o

VO

vO

O

vO

o

vC

vD

vO

VO

O

vO

VO

vO

VO

vO

o

vO

VO

VO

■O

VO

VO

VO

vO

x^vO

vO

vO

VO

VO

VO

VO

vO

X^ VO

X^VO

VO

o

O- VO 00

rn

-*

M

CO

M

x~-

P)

o

tT

o

Tj-00

Ov

o

CO

rO

PI

o

o

O

00

P)

00

00

VO

•* PO

o

TfOO

P)

VO

a>

CJ

r^

M

CN

x^

rO

o

Ov

ov

I^

ov

x~.

on

00

p^

o

a-'^-o

t-i

x^

X--

n

r^

o

00

00

M

en

X^OO

as

PI

M

VO

nv

Ov

PO

m

lOvD

VO

VO

vovO

VO

VO

lO

lO

lO

VO

LO

VO vO

VO

VO

VOvO

VO

lO VO

vO

\o

VO

VO O

VO

VO

VO VO vo

vO

VO

lO

VO

VO

VO vO

VO

O

■>!• 0-.

M

<^

t

o

00

^

VO

00

VO

X^

PO vO

o

VO

rtvO

VO

VO

IH

VO

O

VO

o

O

PI

OvOO

Ov

x^

X^

00

O VO

O

■* •*

PJ

X--

o

P)

00 vO

VO 00

l-t

'O

PI

o

n

'^

fO

x^

r^

x^

PI

rovo

M

x^

n

p)

O

X^ VO

o

vO

lo

x^

VO

■^

o

M

VO

to

lO

lO

to

"■3

VO

VO

■*

■^

-^

VO

VO

lO

vovo

lO

lO

^

VO

'^

lO

VO

lO

VO

Tt VO

VO

lO

VO

VO

VO

VO

VO

'J-

Tj- VO VO

VO

VO

VO

x^

O

O VO 1^00

VO 00

00

00

PI

O

00

w

VO

00

Ov

ro

Tj-O

P)

vO

Ov o

■*

PO

p)

p)

CO

o

Tf vO

N

VO

oo

00

TfOO

■*

<ri

ro

PJ

VO

X^

p)

00

VO x^

x^

^vo

VO

POOO

Ov

<^

M-

p)

00

Ti-OO

VO

)H

VO

-^

O

O 00

M

VO

n

PO

p-1

t-i

M

VO

no

VO

X-

■*

■5j- Tl- VO ■* -^

■<1- ^

•* ■*

^

^

Tj-

■*

•*

"^

•* -a- ■<*■ VO

■^ VO

^ '*

lO

■* VO VO

■*

•*

1-

^

VO

VO

"^

•&

^

Tl-

'^

'^

"*

VO

IJO

^

X^

VO

00

p»

VO

)H

PJ

00 VO

00

00

00

00

^

rfO

vO

VO

O

TfO

O

PO

'd-

00

M

rj-vo

PI

O

vO

o

PO

X^

P)

O

OVO

O

o

00

M

VO

t^OO

M

x~-

x^

x^

ro x>. vooo

VO

VO

VO

•*VO

O

O VO

VO

PO

o

VO

CO

Ov

VO

n

x^

VO

VO

r^

■rr

PI

X-

U-,

'^

■* VO

■^

^ •* VO

Tj- Tf VO -"J-

PO Tt-

'J-

't ^

^

'^l-

■*

Tl- Tj- Tj- lO VO

Tj- VO VO VO

'^

Tj- VO

■* VO

PO

Tf

^

^

'^

rf

-*

VO

00

o-

O

M

rr>

■* vovO

r^ 00

o

o

w

rO

rj- vovo

r^oo

Ov

O

ro

tT vovo

^00

Ov

O

M

PO

rj- VOvO

M

tH

H)

M

h-t

M

l-H

M

PI

pj

p<

P)

P)

p*

pj

pj

PJ

PO

PO

PO

PO

PO

PO

PO

PO

PO

PO

■*■<*■*■*

Tt

■*

xi-

Ov

h-t

M

t-H

M

Ov

M

CV
t-1

t-H

HI

H

OV

M

Ov
M

Ov

M

OV
M

Ov
M

ov
HI

Ov
M

ov

ov

Ov
M

ov
H

Ov
t-4

Ov

Ov
M

o-

Uv

M

Ov

OV

Ov

Ov
1-1

ov
M

ov

Ov

Ov
l-t

ov

64 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Productivity

It now seems opportune to discuss, as best we can, the potential produc-
tivity of these North Carolina waters, reviewing where desirable hydro-
graphic features of special significance to this subject.

With sunlight as their source of energy, the chlorophyll-bearing micro-
scopic algae that are so abundant as drifters (plankton) in aquatic habitats
synthesize inorganic ingredients into food. As a result they grow and multiply
and thus photosynthesis provides the basic food supply of these areas just as
it does through the growth of grass in pastures.

Attempts to compare this basic productivity for different types of environ-
ments indicate that coastal marine regions exceed cultivated land and other
terrestrial associations. The comparisons may be stated in terms of photo-
synthetic efficiency which is the ratio of energy fixed by photosynthesis to
the solar energy reaching the surface of the environment. In a discussion of
plankton studies on Long Island Sound, Riley (1941) rates the mean
efficiency of the sea at 0.31 per cent. For forests this photosynthetic efficiency
is 0.16 per cent and for cultivated lands 0.13 per cent, according to figures
quoted by Lindeman (1942) from an unpublished manuscript by G. E.
Hutchinson. It is difficult to generalize on fresh waters because of the extreme
variability between different lakes, ponds, rivers, etc.; however, many lakes
and ponds that have been studied equal and even surpass marine waters in
productivity per unit of area. Lindeman (1942) credits Lake Mendota with
a photosynthetic efficiency of at least 0.27 per cent and possibly 0.40 per cent
and reports only o.io per cent for senescent Cedar Bog Lake.

Certain characteristics help account for the comparatively high produc-
tivity of marine habitats. The microscopic size of the basic producers, the
algae, offers a high surface-volume ratio for the utilization of radiant energy
and the absorption of nutrients. The penetration of light to considerable
depths results in photosynthetic activity over an appreciable vertical range,
a feature only slightly approached on land even in forest regions. The char-
acteristic minerals of sea water plus those contributed from land drainage
provide a rich supply of important nutrients. (With the exception of the
minerals of sea water, the above characteristics apply to many lakes, which
explains why, with a favorable nutrient supply, they may equal or excel
marine waters in production.)

From the marine fisheries standpoint it is a matter of record that relatively
shallow waters, as in estuaries and over the continental shelf, are the great
producers. Such waters are usually so located that they may benefit con-
siderably from land-drained nutrients and in many places they are enriched
by up welling currents from the ocean depths. Also, as living things die 'and

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 65

sink to the bottom in shallow water their contained nutrients are not drained
from the region of photosynthesis.

The sounds of North Carolina comprise about 2,500 square miles of
typically productive shallow waters, seldom as much as 20 feet deep. A
complete range from sea water to fresh adds to the potentialities since vast
areas meet the salinity requirements of almost any marine, brackish water,
and migratory species. Correlated with the latitude is a mild seasonal tem-
perature change which, if other things are equal, provides a longer growing
season than is expected where it is colder. Rivers draining about 30,000
square miles, almost all within the Coastal Plain and Piedmont Plateau, flow
into these sounds. This is small compared to the 67,505 square miles (Wells,
Bailey and Henderson, 1929) draining into Chesapeake Bay with its surface
area of 2,800 squares miles (Cowles, 1930), and it may be that the lesser
Carolina fishery is partially the result of proportionate differences in nutrients
contributed by drainage. On the other hand, too little is known to accept such
a conclusion. The difference in harvest may not be correlated with differences
in potential harvest. It may be that the barrier beach bordering the sounds
creates a compensating reservoir effect holding important nutrients in more
of a closed production system.

Offshore from the North Carolina barrier beach there are about 14,000
square miles of shallow water (to the lOO-fathom curve which is the edge of
the continental shelf). Because of the adjacent Florida Current of the Gulf
Stream System, the temperature on this shelf has an unusually moderate
seasonal change for this latitude. For this reason apparently, the region is an
important winter retreat for migratory fish from the north, and perhaps from
the south as well. In addition, this coast and its large adjacent sounds serve
as the nursery area and center of dispersal for some species.

Some nutrients are inevitably added to these shelf waters from the rivers
and sounds but the contributions from oceanic circulation are unknown.
There are indications of counter-clockwise eddy currents over the shelf from
the edge of the Gulf Stream System which, among other things, would tend
to bring waters from off Chesapeake Bay. There is no known upwelling but
biologically similar effects may be produced if the frictional stress of the
Florida Current forces eddies of deep, nutrient-rich water into the coastal
region.

With a figure for basic productivity it would be possible to estimate the
total production of the 16,500 square miles of sounds and shallow oceanic
waters of North Carolina. Riley (1944) states, "The best determinations for
open oceanic waters average about 340 tons of carbon per km^. per year [881
tons of carbon per square mile per year]. . . ." The same author (1941) says
there is no major difference in productivity associated with latitude but that
local conditions greatly modify productivity. Because of North Carolina's

66 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

favorable conditions, it seems conservative to use the average of 88 1 tons,
multiply it by the 16,500 square miles involved, and consider the resulting
i4j536,5oo tons as an estimate of the annual carbon production in North
Carolina waters.'^

The largest annual catch recorded for North Carolina is 224,457,000
pounds or 112,229 tons.^° Using 10 per cent as the proportion of carbon in
most living things, including fishes, this would represent 11,222 tons of
carbon or .08 per cent of the calculated basic production.

This figure of .08 per cent depends on so many approximations that it
serves only to indicate the general magnitude of the productivity relation-
ship; however, my confidence in this is augmented by the fact that the
following, somewhat different approach gives a figure of .06 per cent. This
other procedure is as follows :

1. Radiant energy reaching the earth's surface at Washington, D. C.
equals 341 g.cal./cm.Vday (Hand, 1941) or 124,465 g.cal./cm.Vyear.
Since the North Carolina coast is south of Washington and has approximately
2,800 hours of sunshine annually as compared to about 2,600 hours in Wash-
ington (from map data supplied by the U. S. Weather Bureau), this figure
for radiant energy is probably a little low for the region being considered.

2. Riley (1941) rates the efficiency of net plant production in Long Island
Sound at 0.31 per cent. At such an efficiency rating the net plant production
from the above mentioned radiant energy would be 386 g.cal./cm.Vyear or
165 X 10^^ for the estimated 16,500 sq. miles of North Carolina coastal
waters. Since Long Island Sound is notably productive, the efficiency figure
used may be high. Perhaps it helps offset errors created by using the radia-
tion figure for Washington, D. C.

3. Using a figure of 1,000 g.cal./g. for the energy content of raw fish (as
suggested in correspondence by Harden F. Taylor) the peak North Carolina
catch of 224,457,000 lbs. would yield 102 x 10^" g.cal. which is .06 per cent ^^
of the basic productivity of 165 x 10^^ g.cal.

The losses expected at successive links in the food chain must be recognized

29. More precise estimates require, among other things, a greater knowledge of the details of
circulation discussed above. For example, the extent to which currents hold produced organisms
in the region or permit them to drain off may prove very critical.

30. The winter trawl fishery makes large catches offshore around Cape Hatteras and docks
most of it in Virginia, whereupon it is listed in the Virginia, instead of the North Carolina
records. Pearson (1932) studied this fishery in 1930-31 during months when it was more or less
restricted to North Carolina's offshore waters and rated the yield at approximately 5,700,000
pounds. There are insufficient data to permit adding the proper share of the winter trawl catches
to North Carolina's annual yield. Due to high prices, they represent a large economic factor;
however, including them would not create an appreciable change in the poundage figures being
used for these ecological discussions.

31. This percentage and the .08 per cent calculated above would both be slightly higher if an
attempt were made to account for the carbon content and energy value of the menhaden
involved, both of which are higher than average.

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 67

in considering the significance of these percentage figures. A predator is
seldom able to assimilate more than lo per cent of the over-all production of
its food organisms (see Lindeman, 1942); so the losses through successive
levels of the food chain are somewhat as follows:

The weight of all primary consumers is less than 10 per cent of the basic
production. Examples: oysters which feed on microscopic drifting plants
and menhaden which feed largely on such plant plankton.

The weight of all secondary consumers is less than 10 per cent of the
weight of primary consumer's or less than i per cent of the basic production.
Example: mackerel which feed on small drifting Crustacea which in turn
feed on microscopic drifting plants.

The weight of tertiary consumers is less than 10 per cent of the weight of
secondary consumers or less than o.i per cent of the basic production. Ex-
ample: Blue fish which feed on small fish that are secondary and primary
consumers.

Obviously, other things being equal, a fishery should be more efficient if
centered on species low in the food chain, as in agricultural practices where
we eat primary producers such as wheat and primary consumers such as beef
cattle. In this respect relatively high yields might be expected in North
Carolina, for the fishery is characterized by species low on the food chain,
such as menhaden which comprised over 80 per cent of the large 1939 catch;
yet the harvest is more of the order to be expected at the tertiary consumer
level. With menhaden, oysters, clams, shrimp, shad and many other low-level
consumers abounding in North Carolina, there appears to be ample hydro-
graphic and biological support for the hope that a considerably greater sea-
food production might be realized by improved management and resource-
use techniques.

The present North Carolina harvest is not low by comparison with other
fishery areas. From 1923 to 1945 the smallest annual catch was 86,214,000
pounds in 1932, which equaled 8.2 lbs. /acre for these coastal waters, and the
largest annual catch was the 1939 yield of 224,457,000 lbs., representing
21.3 Ibs./acre. On Georges Bank, most important of the famous New Eng-
land fishing areas, the annual yield from 1923 to 1945 ranged from 7 to t,^,
lbs. /acre/year (Clarke, 1946); however, with fish like haddock and others
high on their respective food chains dominating the catch, there is little
reason to expect a high return. The range of 8-2 1 Ibs./acre/year is also com-
parable to the commercial production in large lakes. Rounsefell (1946)
reports a range from 29.72 pounds per acre for 10,000 acre lakes to 1.40
pounds per acre for 25,000,000 acre lakes. These lake figures exhibit a con-
sistent negative correlation between lake size and yield per unit area which
Rounsefell (1946) attributes to the relative amount of shoal shoreline waters.
Marine habitats are usually characterized by vast areas with proportionately

68 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

little shoreline, but North Carolina, with multiple estuaries and the offshore
bar, has a better than average physiography in this respect.

In many situations, chiefly in freshwater habitats, the yield has been
greatly increased by adding fertilizers. Yields of 400-600 lbs. /acre/year have
been obtained in the southeast by Swingle and Smith (1947) in ponds where
fish such as bluegills, which are low on the food chain, dominate the catch.
A spectacular increase was produced in certain marine Lochs in Scotland
where flat fish grew at several times their normal rate after their habitats were
fertilized (Gross, Raymont, Nutman and Gauld, 1946, and Raymont, 1947).

Fertilization warrants considerable attention in North Carolina, as else-
where. It is not inconceivable that someday the mouths of the main rivers
might be used as feeders to add fertilizing nutrients to the sounds with the
offshore bar aiding by effectively impounding the derived benefits. There are,
however, in addition to practical economic limitations, at least two funda-
mental points that detract from the prospects of improved yields by this
means. Added nutrients provide their benefits by increasing basic production
where it has been limited because of deficiencies; yet the present discussion
has suggested that basic production has not been a limiting factor in the
State's fisheries yield. Also fertilizers may stimulate the growth of undesired,
instead of beneficial, plankton algae, not to mention the fact that some species
may react unfavorably when excessive numbers of microorganisms are pro-
duced (see, for example, Loosanoff and Engle, 1946). Conveniently, there
are in North Carolina many natural estuarine environments of varied sizes
and types that might be used for progressive experimentation with fertilizers.

Summary Comments and Recommendations

This study is an attempt to assimilate, analyze, and describe all pertinent
hydrographic information relative to North Carolina's marine fisheries as
accumulated up to the year 1947. Since the coverage is broad and descriptive,
this summary will of necessity be limited to selected items considered espe-
cially significant.

An offshore bar runs the length of the North Carolina coast separating
inshore from oceanic waters. Where this bank, as it is called locally, projects
seaward as the Cape Hatteras prominence, it encloses broad sounds to the
west. To the south, where the bank lies closer to the mainland, the enclosed
sounds are narrower and more in the nature of lagoons, with even the latter
poorly developed southwest of Cape Fear.

From the Virginia line to Cape Fear this offshore bar is interrupted by
about seventeen inlets connecting the ocean with the sounds. As controlled
by strong natural forces, these inlets open and close, migrate with the shifting
sands, and vary from shallow temporary washes to deeper more permanent

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 69

openings. Apparently as a result of fill carried southward from the Virginia
Capes headland, there are no inlets along the northern reaches of the bar.
From the standpoint of exchange between sounds and ocean, the greatest
inlets are in the central area, Ocracoke Inlet being the most prominent.

To create and maintain a new inlet or to deepen an existing one is to oppose
strong natural forces. It can be done at any point if the engineering is ade-
quate (which means proper financing) to withstand the extremes in adverse
wind and currents. On the other hand, inadequate construction may mean
money completely wasted as when New Inlet closed immediately after being
artificially reopened in 1924. The public seems to class all proposals for new
inlets as improvements for the fisheries as well as for navigation. This is an
extremely hasty assumption. The increase in salinity in the sound side of a
new or deepened inlet might increase clam production and possibly the yield
of certain other forms, but the popular concept that more inlets will mean
increased migrations into the sounds is unfounded. This may be true or partly
so; yet there may be some detrimental results. For example, if the discharge
of brackish water through an inlet attracts fish, the addition of inlets may so
reduce this factor for any given inlet as to make it less than the amount
necessary to stimulate migration. Studies should be made of the relation of
inlets to the habitats and migrations of pertinent fisheries forms. Such studies
should be both basic and practical, ranging from physiological studies of the
influence of brackish water on fish behavior to before and after observations
around new inlets created by nature. North Carolina affords natural models
for the latter work, the greatest limitation being lack of data on past
conditions.

The North Carolina sounds consist of about 2,500 square miles of typically
productive shallow waters, seldom as much as 20 feet deep. The bottom areas
are of sand, or mud, or a mixture of the two. A statement of the areas now
capable of serving as oyster bars cannot be made but, in view of past history,
it is assumed that with proper management vast areas, including some now
depleted, can serve well in this respect.

Rivers draining about 30,000 square miles, almost all within the Coastal
Plain and Piedmont Plateau, discharge into these sounds. Salinities range
from fresh water at the river mouths to almost the full concentration of sea
water at the inlets from the ocean. The tidal range is so small that, except at
inlets, most changes in water level result primarily from wind-driven water.
From the limited data available it appears that the temperature in these
sounds generally approximates that of the overlying air, being slightly colder
as a rule. There is very little freezing in mid-winter.

To the seaward of the offshore bar there are about 14,000 square miles of
shallow water (to the lOO-fathom curve which is the edge of the continental
shelf). The adjacent Florida Current of the Gulf Stream System makes the

70 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

temperature on this shelf comparatively warm the year around. The seasonal
relationships of this warm area to the rest of the coast are as follows (for a
comprehensive discussion of this see Parr, 1933):

During mid-summer rather uniform temperatures, usually above 78° F.,
prevail from southern Florida to Cape Hatteras. To the north of Hatteras
there is a moderate gradient of decreasing temperatures but no temperature
discontinuity or barrier exists short of the cold area around Nantucket and
south of Cape Cod.

Later in the fall a temperature discontinuity appears, as coastal waters cool
to the north and south of the general Hatteras region which maintains
mid-winter temperatures of about 60° F. under the effects of the Florida
Current.

Because of variations in such factors as the flow and course of the Florida
Current, there are relatively great temperature fluctuations in the Hatteras
area in winter.

Cape Hatteras has long been referred to as a temperature barrier to the
distribution of marine forms, but these coastal temperature relationships
suggest many distribution effects not brought to attention by the barrier
concept. A non-migratory organism that requires warm water the year
around might be missing along the coast from northern Florida to southern
North Carolina and yet be present around Hatteras and offshore to the south
of Hatteras. Other non-migrators that tolerate moderate winter cooling might
have a coastal distribution as far north as Hatteras and little farther, whereas
those requiring cooler water might be found only to the north of this cape.
Continuing to deal in categories in order to elaborate on such general tem-
perature effects, migratory species may be mentioned under four headings:
( I ) those which undertake northward migrations to cooler waters in summer
and probably pass close to Cape Hatteras en route; (2) those requiring sub-
tropical temperatures which might be found as far north as Hatteras in
summer, though a cold summer upwelling off Daytona, Florida, may interrupt
this; (3) those requiring warm waters to the extent that they retreat from
the North Carolina sounds and from the coast to the south to a southern
winter retreat or possibly to warm waters at the edge of the continental shelf
including those in the Hatteras region; and (4) those requiring moderate
winter temperatures, retreating from Middle Atlantic and North Carolina
coastal points to winter around Hatteras.

The last is a comparatively well known category of great fisheries sig-
nificance. It accounts for the prosperous winter trawl fishery for scup,
flounders, croakers, sea bass, etc., which has developed off the Virginia and
North Carolina capes in the last two decades. Also, the combined assets of
the large shallow North Carolina sounds with a bordering area that remains

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 71

warm through the winter may have an important bearing on the importance
of these waters as a nursery habitat or center of dispersal for many fish
populations. Referring to the North Carolina and more southern populations
commonly thought to move farther south in winter, it is quite possible that
some of these populations move into the Hatteras region and have as yet
remained undiscovered or unrecognized. From experience fishermen occa-
sionally speculate as to the great untouched offshore resources to be expected
south of Hatteras in winter. The hydrographic data seem to support such
speculation. The occurrence of uncharted rocks on the bottom in this area
has discouraged exploration of such potentialities by privately owned
trawlers; however, with the aid of modern detecting devices and sampling
gear, it is a reasonable undertaking for a research organization, and is now
being pursued by the Institute of Fisheries Research of the University of
North Carolina.

The greatest annual fishery yield credited to all these North Carolina
marine waters is less than one per cent of the estimated potential annual
production of basic food. The food chains of many of the fishes harvested are
so long and the loss in poundage at each food chain level is so great that this
low percentage is readily understood. The North Carolina harvest compares
favorably on an acre per acre basis with many other fishery areas including,
for example, Georges Bank, but there is good reason to expect greater yields.
One obvious suggestion is to look to fishes that feed low on the food chain,
such as shad, menhaden, shrimps, oysters, and clams. Where these are not
yielding up to expectations, the difficulties can often be discovered through
basic research.

Probably the greatest gap in the story of the hydrography of North Caro-
lina marine waters is with respect to chemical contributions and exchange.
This involves the basic nutrients from which production must stem. A great
deal should be done to trace the history of such nutrients to answer such
questions as: what nutrients are contributed by river discharge, how are they
utilized, are they lost with silt deposition, are nutrients contributed to the
continental shelf area from oceanic circulation? The subject of pollution
should be handled as well, especially with respect to fish that depend on good
fresh water. conditions for spawning up the river mouths.

Though "some suggestions have been made, recommendations for future
study can best be made as detailed programs are analyzed and planned.
Certainly hydrography and quantitative ecology should be pursued inten-
sively in future investigations. In the past we have been preoccupied with
species studies, attempting to find basic difficulties from clues suggested by
fisheries forms that are just the partial end points of production systems. A
more basic approach has always seemed beyond our means both as to financ-
ing and as to the complexity of the problems involved. It is time to take a

72 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

bold stand in both respects. If the discrepancy between basic production and
yield suggested here is a reality, and this can be determined more definitely
through further research, a far greater harvest is a very reasonable ex-
pectation.

' BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbe, Cleveland, Jr.

1895. Remarks on the cuspate capes of the Carolina coast. Proc. Boston
Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. 26, p. 489-497.
Beaven, G. F.

1946. Effect of Susquehanna River stream flow on Chesapeake Bay salini-
ties and history of past oyster mortalities on Upper Bay bars. Third
Ann. Rept. Maryland Bd. Nat. Resources, App. B, p. 123-133.
Bigelow, H. B.

1933. Studies of the waters on the continental shelf, Cape Cod to Chesa-
peake Bay. I. The cycle of temperature. Papers in Physical Oceanog-
raphy and Meteorology of Mass. Inst. Tech. and Woods Hole
Oceanog. Inst., Vol. 2, No. 4, p. 1-135.
Bigelow, H. B. and Mary Sears.

1935. Studies of the waters on the continental shelf. Cape Cod to Chesa-
peake Bay. II. Salinity. Papers in Physical Oceanography and
Meteorology of Mass. Inst. Tech. and Woods Hole Oceanog. Inst.,
Vol. 4, No. I, p. 1-94.
Bohnecke, G.

1938. Temperature, Salzgehalt und Dichte an der Oberflache des Atlan-
tischen Ozeans, Deutsche Atlantische Exped. Meteor 192 5-192 7,
Wiss. Erg., Bd. 5, 2 Lief.
Brown, E. I.

1928. Inlets on sandy coasts. Proc, Amer. Soc. Civil Engineers. Vol. 54,
Pt. 2, p. 1-32.
Church, P. E.

1932. Surface temperatures of the Gulf Stream and its bordering waters.
Geographical Rev., Vol. 22, No. 2, p. 286-293.
Clarke, G. L.

1946. Dynamics of production in a marine area. Ecol. Monographs, Vol. 16,

P- 321-335-
Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army

1935. Beach erosion at Kitty Hawk, Nags Head and Oregon Inlet, N. C.

House Doc. No. 155, 74th Congress, ist Session.
1948. North Carolina shore line, beach Erosion study. House Doc. No. 763,
80th Congress, 2nd Session.
Cowles, R. P.

1930. A biological study of the offshore waters of Chesapeake Bay. Bull.
U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLVI, p. 277-381 (Doc. 1091, 1930).

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 73

Dailey, R. B.

1946. Annual meteorological summary with comparative data, 1945,
Hatteras, N. C, U. S. Weather Bur., mimeographed rept.
Daly, Reginald A.

1942. The Floor of the Ocean, New Light on Old Mysteries. Chapel Hill:
The University of North Carolina Press.
Engels, W. L.

1942. Vertebrate fauna of North Carolina coastal islands. A study in the
dynamics of animal distribution, i. Ocracoke Island. Amer. Midland
Naturalist, Vol. 28, No. 2, p. 273-304.
Gottschalk, L. C.

1945. Effects of soil erosion on navigation in upper Chesapeake Bay.
Geographical Rev., Vol. 35, p. 219-238.

Grave, Caswell.

1904. Investigations for the promotion of the oyster industry of North
Carolina. Rept. U. S. Fish Comm'r. for 1903 (1905), p. 247-341.
Green, C. K.

1944. Summer upwelling — northeast coast of Florida. Science, Vol. 100, No.
2607, p. 546-547.

Gross, F., J. E. G. Raymont, S. R. Nutman and D. T. Gauld.

1946. Application of fertilizers to an open sea loch. Nature, Vol. 158, p. 187.
Outsell, J. S.

193 1. Natural history of the bay scallop. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLVI,
1930 (1931), p. 569-632. (Doc. iioo, 1931).
Hachey, H. B.

1939. Temporary migrations of Gulf Stream water on the Atlantic seaboard.
Jour. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada, Vol. 4, No. 5, p. 339-348.

Haight, F. J.

1942. Coastal currents along the Atlantic coast of the United States.
U. S. Coast & Geodetic Surv. Spec. Pub. No. 230.
Hand, I. F.

1 94 1. A summary of total solar and sky radiation measurements in the
United States. Monthly Weather Rev., Vol, 69, No. 4, p. 95-125.
Harvey, H. W.

1945. Recent Advances in the Chemistry and Biology of Sea Water.
London : Cambridge University Press.

Iselin, C. O'D.

1936. A study of the circulation of the western North Atlantic. Papers
in Physical Oceanography and Meteorology of Mass. Inst. Tech.,
and Woods Hole Oceanog. Inst., Vol. 4, No. 4, p. i-ioi.

1940. Preliminary report on long-period variations in the transport of
the Gulf Stream system. Papers in Physical Oceanography and
Meteorology of Mass. Inst. Tech., and Woods Hole Oceanog. Inst.,
Vol. 8, No. I, p. 1-40.

74 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Johnson, D. W.

1938. Shore Processes and Shoreline Development. New York: John Wiley
& Sons, 1919, reprinted 1938.
Kincer, J. B.

1946. Our changing climate. Trans. Amer. Geophysical Union, Vol. 27,
No. 3, p. 342-347.

Lamar, W. L.

1947. Chemical character of surface waters of North Carolina 1944-45.
North Carolina Dept. Cons, and Develop., Div. of Water Resources
and Engineering, Bull. 52, Vol. i, p. 1-20.

Lindeman, R. L.

1942. The trophic-dynamic aspect of ecology. Ecology, Vol. 23, No. 4,
p. 399-418.
Loosanoff, V. L., and J. B. Engle.

1947. Effect of different concentrations of microorganisms on the feeding
of oysters (O virginica). Fishery Bull. U. S. Fish & Wildlife Serv.,
Vol. 51, Fishery Bull. 42, p. 30-57.
MacCarthy, G. R.

193 1. Coastal sands of the eastern United States. Amer. Jour. Sci., 5th
Series, Vol. 22, No. 127, p. 35-50.
Martin, R. J. (editor).

1933. Climatic summary of the States. Section 96. Central and South-
eastern North Carolina. Section 97. Northeastern North Carolina.
U. S. Weather Bureau, Washington.
Nelson, T. C.

1928. Report of the Department of Biology of the New Jersey Ag. Exp.
Sta., year ending June 30, 1927, p. 77-83.

1931. Studies of the movements and of the distribution of oyster larvae in
natural waters of New Jersey. Rept. Dept. Biol, of the N. J. Ag.
Exp. Sta., year ending June 30, 1930, Bull. 552, p. 5-24.

North Carolina Fisheries Commission Board.

1923. Report of special committee on inlets which investigated the proposal
to construct certain additional inlets on the North Carolina coast.
Raleigh.
Parr, A. E.

1933. A geographic-ecological analysis of the seasonal changes in tempera-
ture conditions in shallow water along the Atlantic coast of the
United States. Bull. Bingham Oceanog. Coll., Vol. 4, Art. 3, p. 1-90.
Pearson, J. C.

1932. Winter trawl fishery off the Virginia and North Carolina coast. U. S.
Bur. Fish. Investigational Rept. No. 10.

Radcliffe, Lewis.

1 9 14. The offshore fishing grounds of North Carolina, U. S, Bur. Fish.
Economic Circular No. 8. ,

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 75

Rathbun, Richard.

1887. Ocean temperatures of the eastern coast of the United States, from
observations made at twenty- four lighthouses and lightships. In:
Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States, by G. Brown
Goode and associates, Sec. Ill, App., p. 155-239.
Raymont, J. E. G.

1947. A fish farming experiment in Scottish sea lochs. Jour. Marine Res.,
Vol. 6, No. 3, p. 219-227.
Riley, G. A.

1941. Plankton studies, III, Long Island Sound. Bull. Bingham Oceanog.
Coll., Vol. 7, Art. 3, p. 1-93.

1944. The carbon metabolism and photosynthetic efficiency of the earth
as a whole. Amer. Scientist, Vol. 32, No. 2, p. 129-134.

Rounsefell, G. A.

1946. Fish production in lakes as a guide for estimating production in
proposed reservoirs. Copeia, 1946, No. i, p. 29-40.

Rude, G. T.

1922. Shore changes at Cape Hatteras. Annals Assoc. Amer. Geographers,
Vol. 12, p. 87-95.
Stewart, J. Q.

1945. Coasts, Waves and Weather for Navigators. Boston : Ginn & Co.
Stiemke, R. E.

1947. The extent of stream pollution in North Carolina. N. C. State College
Record, Vol, 46, No. 6, p. 1-69.

Sumner, H. C.

1944. The North Atlantic hurricane of September 8-16, 1944. U. S. Weather
Bureau, mimeographed rept., IMarine Section.

Sverdrup, H. U., M. W. Johnson and R. H. Fleming.

1942. The Oceans. New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Swingle, H. S., and E. V. Smith.

1947. Management of farm fish ponds. Bull. Agric. Exp. Sta. Alabama
Polytechnic Inst., No. 254,
Tannehill, I. R.

1945. Hurricanes, their nature and history, particularly those of the West
Indies and the southern coasts of the United States. Princeton:
Princeton University Press.

U. S. Coast & Geodetic Survey.

1936. U. S. Coast Pilot, Atlantic Coast, Section D, Cape Henry to Key

West, 4th ed.. Serial No. 582.
1945. Density of Sea Water at Coast and Geodetic Survey Tide Stations,

Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. DW-i revised 1945.

1945. Supplement to United States Coast Pilot, Atlantic Coast, Section D,
Cape Henry to Key West, 4th (1936) edition.

1946. Tide tables, Atlantic Ocean, 1947. Serial No. 678.

76 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

U. S. Coast & Geodetic Survey, continued

1946. Current tables, Atlantic Coast North America for the year 1947.
Serial No. 683.
U. S. Department of Agriculture (numerous authors).

1941. Climate and Man. Yearbook of Agriculture. House Doc. No. 27,
77th Congress, ist Session.
U. S. Geological Survey.

Surface water supply of the United States [separate paper for each
year involved]. U. S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Papers.
U. S. Weather Bureau.

1941. Airway meteorological atlas for the United States. U. S. Weather
Bureau, W. B. No. 1314.
Wells, R. C, R. K. Bailey and E. P. Henderson.

1929. Salinity of the water of Chesapeake Bay. U. S. Geol. Surv., Profes-
sional Paper 1S4-C, p. 105-152.
Winslow, Francis.

1886. Report on the waters of North Carolina with reference to their
possibilities for oyster culture, together with the results obtained
by the surveys directed by the resolution of the General Assembly,
ratified March 11, 1885. Raleigh: North Carolina State Printer and
Binder.
1889. Report on the sounds and estuaries of North Carolina with reference
to oyster culture. U. S. Coast & Geod. Surv., Bull. No. 10, p. 52-136.

PART II

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY OF
THE ECONOMIC SPECIES

BY

William A. Ellison, Jr., Eugene W. Roelofs, Alphonse F. Chestnut,
Carter Broad, John C. Pearson, Robert E. Coker, Harold J. Humm,
and Francesca LaMonte, with an Introduction by Harden F. Taylor

CONTENTS

Introduction

Harden F. Taylor

Page
79

The Menhaden 85

William A. Ellison, Jr.

The Edible Finfishes of North Carolina 109

Eugene W. Roelofs

The Oyster and Other Mollusks in North Carolina 141

Alphonse F. Chestnut

The Shrimps in North Carolina 191

Carter Broad

The Blue Crab in North Carolina 205

John C. Pearson

The Diamond-back Terrapin in North Carolina 219

Robert E. Coker

The Seaweed Resources of North Carolina 231

Harold J. Humm

A Preliminary Survey of Marine Angling in North Carolina 251

Francesca LaMonte

78

INTRODUCTION

BY Harden F. Taylor
Executive Director of the Survey

The purpose of Part II of this Survey is to assemble and summarize the
present knowledge of the natural history of the several economic species of
fish and shellfish and also game fishes in North Carolina waters, and to focus
attention on the large unknown area where further research is needed. In
carrying out this purpose, the broad subject has been subdivided and as-
signed in its parts to biologists who are considered qualified to deal with
them.

In addition to the detailed treatment of the fisheries by species, the ecology
and dynamics of the flora and fauna of the region as a whole ought also to
be considered at length, but in the absence of sufficient exact knowledge to
make such a treatment worth while, we can here mention only a few gen-
eralizations and must leave the rest to future research.

The lay of the land (and water) of the coastal region of North Carolina,
as dealt with in detail in Part I of this Survey, predetermines the kind and
amount of living things to be found there.

The outer banks enclose the mouths of the rivers to form sounds; the
input of the rivers into these sounds varies greatly in quantity, turbidity,
and chemical content with rainfall and run-off from the land, and varies also
in temperature with the inland weather and the seasons. The sounds them-
selves are shallow with much surface in proportion to volume, and can change
in temperature much and quickly. Their salinity or saltiness is governed by
the back-flow of sea water through the inlets as affected by tide and the
direction and velocity of wind. Moreover, precipitation into and evaporation
from the sounds affect both salinity and temperature of the water. The over-
all effect of these and other variables is to provide not constant but highly
variable conditions in both time and place in the sounds to which animals and
plants must accommodate themselves one way or another. Attached forms
such as seaweeds, grasses, and mollusks must be able to endure a wide variety
of conditions if they are to survive ; swimming forms can either endure these
conditions or migrate; some of them, such as crabs and flounders, are suffi-
ciently tolerant of salinity and temperature to remain in the sounds the year
round; most of the others migrate seasonally into the sounds in summer and

79

80 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

out again to sea in winter, with the result that the fisheries of the State are
mostly seasonal and highly variable.

At sea the waters are controlled by oceanic conditions. North Carolina
lies between the sub-tropical Florida-Caribbean region with the Gulf Stream
close to shore, and the colder northern sub-arctic region where the Gulf
Stream is far out to sea, with its great, stable year-round fisheries; with
Cape Hatteras apparently a natural dividing point between these regions,
the State marks the northern limit of one and the southern limit of the other,
and its assortment of fishes is of an in-between composition. North Carolina
does not seem to have any dominant species which it can call its own ; it has
some shrimp, Spanish mackerel, speckled trout, bluefish, and mullet, but
(if production is any indication), less than are found farther south; and
some croaker, gray trout, striped bass, and oysters, but less of them than
Chesapeake Bay; it has, however, perhaps a greater variety of fishes than
any other Atlantic state, and fortunately those it does have are mainly the
choice or deluxe varieties and these mostly the invertebrates, oysters, shrimp,
crabs, scallops, and clams.

When the migrant fishes, young and adult, leave the sounds, their destina-
tions at sea are mostly unknown. No doubt some of them go south; some
probably proceed to the deeper continental shelf, there to feed or hibernate
until their next return. In recent years a new winter trawl fishery has been
established offshore from the Virginia Capes to a little south of Cape Hatteras,
as a result of the discovery of the winter quarters of some of the species which
inhabit the sounds in summer; further exploration may reveal similar oppor-
tunities farther south of Hatteras. Some fishes such as the menhaden and
Spanish mackerel perform long coastwise migrations from the north to the
Florida region, making North Carolina a port of call on their way. The
strategy of the North Carolina fishermen is to know intimately the move-
ments of the various fishes so as to find and catch them when and where they
are present.

In addition to the variability caused by migrations, most if not all fishes
seem to be subject to cycles of abundance and scarcity. These cycles are of
irregular occurrence and duration and, in the present state of fishery science,
are not predictable. In part, no doubt, local fluctuations in abundance are
caused by migrations or geographic shifts in the centers of population of
freely-moving species, but in another part the actual total population of each
species itself varies, sometimes widely. As examples, annual alewife produc-
tion in the twenty-two statistical canvasses made since 1887, has varied in
North Carolina from 5 to 17 million pounds, bluefish from 323,000 to over
2 million, croakers from 286,000 to nearly 10 million, etc. In the case of each
species, good periods are followed by lean periods, and vice versa, so that it

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 81

seems reasonable to believe that those species which are now at a low point
in production or abundance may be expected to increase in the future.

Long-term geographic shifts in the population of fishes from one region to
another are well known to the fishing industry. The weakfish or gray trout
was absent from northern New England waters from before 1800 to 1838,
then became abundant in the late i8oo's, reaching a peak from 1901 to 1904;
it declined rapidly after 1904, and was again practically absent from these
waters by 1909. Bluefish were absent from New England waters during the
period 1764 to 18 10, but since that time they have supported a continuous
but fluctuating fishery. The centers of abundance of the North Carolina
species, gray and spotted trout, bluefish, and croakers, seem to have shifted,
so that their relative abundance in the State and in the neighboring States
has changed much from time to time. Notwithstanding the fluctuations in
abundance of many or all the species, the total production of the food fishes
as a whole in North Carolina shows no consistent trend, upward or downward.

Changes in the abundance of the several species are thus undoubtedly
the result of natural factors even though fishing may also have some effect.
Heavy fishing may reduce a population, but the fishery arrests itself auto-
matically as it becomes unprofitable and is discontinued or much diminished
long before any species is totally "fished out."

While in most cases a decline in production is followed by an increase,
there are certain instances where changed conditions may prevent subsequent
increases. This seems true of the shad in nearly all of the Atlantic coast
streams. Obstructions, pollution, sedimentation, and soil erosion have made
many of the rivers unsuitable for shad spawning and survival of young. This
problem is discussed in greater detail in the sections dealing with the species.

The relationship between legislation and fluctuations in abundance is
interesting and important. Restrictive laws are generally made when a
fishery is declining or when it has reached a low point in the usual cycle;
and when subsequently the species increases in abundance, the restrictive
measures are given credit for having produced the increase. The same chain
of events has occurred in the case of artificial propagation, although recent
research has cast serious doubt on the ability of fish plantings to increase
the population of sea or coastal fishes to a measurable degree or even to
sustain it where it naturally tends to decline. Considerable research needs
to be done to determine whether the fish need the protection they are now
given, and whether the inconveniences of restrictive measures to the fisher-
men are justifiable from an economic or biological viewpoint.

It is indicated in Part III of this Survey that economic improvement in
the fishing communities is not to be expected from advance in prices, but
it must come from the production and sale of more fish and from increased
efficiency and lower cost. Is the State capable of producing substantially more

82 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

fish than it now does? Statistics of commercial production are not a reliable
indicator of abundance, since fishermen catch only the kinds and amounts
of fish that they can dispose of to best advantage and the number of fishermen
is also determined by the total magnitude of the economic opportunity. In the
statistics of North Carolina (if menhaden is excluded) there appears to be
no drift upward or downward in the total quantity or real value of food fish
or in the number of fishermen engaged in catching them. If there is any
tendency toward smaller individual sizes of finfish (an indicator of heavy
drain on the supply), no one seems to have observed it. No systematic studies
have been made on the catch per unit of effort, but there is no talk here,
either, of any change, and none has occurred, so far as we know.^ The only
measure we have of the amount of effort is in the statistics of production
units (numbers of boats, nets and other gear) reported in the Government
canvasses.

While most of the potential increases of the State depend on the spontane-
ous bounty of nature, the oyster can be increased in abundance at will by
the now well developed art of cultivation, since the State has an abundance
of natural bottom in water of suitable quality and condition. Perhaps the
clam and scallop, two of the State's choice species, may also be artificially
cultivated or assisted.

If we can reason from analogy with the other fishing regions of the country,
North Carolina could well produce much more fish generally than it now does
if the market demanded it, if the fishermen should take full advantage of
their opportunities, and if legislation were designed to encourage them to
do so. The New England, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific coast, and Alaska regions
have all fished more aggressively and produced more total fish as the human
population has increased, and as improved technical processes and better
marketing have stimulated demand. The Middle Atlantic and Chesapeake
regions failed to increase their yields of food fish over the years because of
special conditions (shad and oysters) and only the Great Lakes seem to have
reached the limit of their productivity (Part III, Appendix, Tables 48, 49,
and 50). The percentage composition of the total by species has continually
changed in all the regions as it has in North Carolina. There are no obvious
signs of shortage in the known fisheries of North Carohna, and there are large
expanses of offshore waters not yet explored.

Up to now, the quantitative science of fisheries production has concerned
itself almost wholly with particular species separately, and has tacitly as-
sumed that the whole is the sum of the parts in the sense that if each species
of a regional fishery could be "managed," conserved, or increased, one by

I. As Dr. Roelofs points out in his Summary and Recommendations concerning the finfishes,
the North Carolina fishermen believe that the last few years have witnessed a decrease ia the
abundance of finfish, but we have no quantitative data as a support for this belief at this time.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 83

one, the total would or could be correspondingly enhanced. Little attention
has been paid to this or any other regional fishery as a community of many
rivaling, competing, predatory, and mutually destructive species wherein the
rise of one is inseparably associated with the decline of others so that the
whole behaves as a body and in a manner entirely different from that of
any of the parts. Each species in its early stages of life drifts helplessly as
eggs, then as larvae; as such it is consumed by anything that feeds on drifting
life and itself consumes other drifters; as it grows it continues to devour
other species smaller than itself, is devoured by others larger, and until it is
consumed it is in severe competition with many other rivals. Nearly all the
destruction of all species occurs in the earliest stages of life, i.e., infant
mortality is by far the greatest m-ortality of every species and is the part of
marine life about which we know practically nothing quantitatively.- The
science of marine biology, up to now, has concerned itself mainly with the
exceptional survivors, the adults which have already escaped most of the
hazards of existence, have outgrown most of their enemies, and are in least
danger from them. We know very little in detail about the food of fishes
or the quantitative relation between the amount of food consumed and the
amount of growth, and what we do know is mainly derived from examination
of adult stomachs.

It appears that until we know far more than we now do about the dynamics
of fishery production as a whole, especially at the level where most of the
discriminate and indiscriminate destruction occurs, "fishery management"
by public regulation is little more than vain presumption arising from rival-
ries and jealousies among fishermen and sportsmen, and designed principally
to assuage them.

2. For extensive information concerning the food relationships of, and struggle for existence
among, the plankton or small drifters, see throughout and especially p. 97-112 of Bigelow's classic
work (1928) cited in Mr. Ellison's bibliography of the menhaden.

THE MENHADEN

BY William A. Ellison, Jr.
Institute of Fisheries Research, University of North Carolina

CONTENTS

Page

Page

General and Historical

85

Natural History 93

Position and Magnitude of the

Distribution and Migrations 93

Menhaden Fishery

85

Breeding Habits 98

History of the Menhaden

Food and Feeding 100

Fishery

87

Enemies 103

Names and Classifications

91

Effect of Menhaden Fishery

Species and their Scientific

on Other Fish 104

Names

91

Bibliography 105

Common Names

92

GENERAL AND HISTORICAL

POSITION AND MAGNITUDE OF THE MENHADEN FISHERY

The menhaden is a member of the important family Clupeidae, which in-
cludes the shad, herring, alewives, and the hickory shad of the Atlantic
and the pilchard of the West Coast. Not being considered an edible fish, it
is rarely recognized and in fact scarcely known by name among the general
public. It has, however, given the United States one of its great fisheries
and is fished for in more states and over a wider range than any other import-
ant fish in the territorial waters of the United States.

As a food fish, the menhaden has never been popular, and may never be,
because of its unesthetic quality, although it is perhaps unequalled by any
other known food in intrinsic nutritive value at so low cost. From the earliest
colonial times it has provided bait for other fish and industrial commodities
in the form of oil, fertilizer, or animal food. During the middle of the nine-
teenth century considerable quantities were salted for export to the West
Indies and for home consumption. A little later (1873-75) small menhaden
were canned as "American sardines" or "shadines," but the superiority of

85

86 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

the small herring of Maine caused this practice to be abandoned. The prin-
cipal value of the fish even in those days was derived from its use as fertilizer,
animal food in limited amounts, oil, and bait. Large quantities of the fish were
used by the fishermen out of New England ports for bait and a substantial
trade was developed in supplying these fishermen.

During World War II menhaden was canned in fairly large quantities, but
most of it was put up for export and little was consumed in this country.

The roe of menhaden has had some acceptance as a food item, and if
marketed in a suitable package and properly labeled, it might offer consider-
able possibilities, coming as it does when other fish roe in large quantities is
unavailable.

In the United States, as a source of marine animal oil, the menhaden is
at present pre-eminent. Marine animal oils fall into two classes: ( i ) body oils
from the whole animal or as by-product from offal; and (2) liver and visceral
oils for vitamins. The former are used for industrial purposes, such as making
soap, paint, and linoleum, and the latter for pharmaceutical preparations.

In 1947 the menhaden accounted for over half the production of oil and
meal made from the body and waste of marine animals processed in this
country. With the decline of the pilchard fishery on the West Coast for the
past three years, it has had no close rival in the United States and Alaska
in this respect. For the year 1947, 8,473,371 gallons of oil valued at $11,425,-
497 were produced from menhaden alone. Pilchard supplied 2,103,965 gallons
valued at $2,677,453. Nine other species supplied 5,323,106 gallons valued
at $6,004, 244. As a source of oil from all marine animals, the menhaden ranks
high, its oil being exceeded in value only by the medicinal oils from those
marine animals producing viscera and liver oil of high vitamin content. The
fishes from which the medicinal oils come are the shark, halibut, tuna, sword-
fish, ling cod, and jewfish for the high potency oils, and the common cod, rose-
fish, burbot, skate, sole, etc., for lower potencies but larger volumes. Among
these fishes no single species approaches menhaden in the dollar value of oil
produced (see Tables i and 2). The total value of all oils produced from all
marine animals in the United States in 1947, including a small amount from
whales, was $31,750,662. Of this amount slightly over 35 per cent came from
menhaden.

The largest landings of menhaden in the history of the fishery were re-
corded in 1948 when over one billion pounds were processed. From this
amount of fish, 104,058 tons of dry scrap and meal, valued at $11,560,914,
and 8,763,939 gallons of oil, valued at $10,132,179, were produced, with a
combined money value of $21,693,093. Although the year 1948 saw the
greatest amount of fish ever landed, the dollar value was slightly less than
that of 1947, which amounted to $22,336,212. The decrease is attributed to
a decrease in yield of oil.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 87

Table i gives for 1947 the value of marine animal oil produced from whole
fish and waste, and Table 2 gives the value of marine oil produced from
viscera and liver. ^

TABLE 1

Production of Marine Animal Oils from Whole Fish and Waste, 1947
Species Gallons Value

Menhaden 8,473,371 $11,425,497

Pilchard • 2,103,965 2,677,453

Nine others 5,323,106 6,004,244

Total 15,900,442 $20,107,194

TABLE 2

Production of Marine Animal Oils from Liver and Viscera, 1947
Species Gallons Value

Shark 490,940 $ 6,634,050

Cod 260,377 556,546

Tuna 43,305 1,373,609

Miscellaneous (9) 37,888 3,079,263

Total 832,510 $11,643,468

The principal uses of menhaden oil are for the manufacture of cutting oils,
paint, linoleum, etc. For a time efforts were made to market menhaden oil on
the basis of its vitamin content, but its value is so low as compared to the oils
of other fish easily obtained that there is little likelihood that menhaden oil
will ever be used for this purpose.

Meal made from menhaden is highly rated as an animal food and, particu-
larly during the past few years, has fetched a high price. It is about equal in
total dollar value to that of the oil produced. In 1947 the total meal made in
the United States from all sources of marine animals, including that manufac-
tured from cod, haddock, rosefish, salmon, pilchard, and menhaden, was
371,616,000 pounds valued at $22,353,488. Of this amount, menhaden sup-
plied 197,204,000 pounds, or 53 per cent, the value of which was $10,883,852,
or 48 per cent of the total. Because of its greater value as fish meal for
animal feeding during recent years, Httle or no menhaden is manufactured
into fertilizer.

HISTORY OF THE MENHADEN FISHERY

Of the important fisheries of the Atlantic coast, the menhaden industry
is the youngest with the exception of the rose- or redfish industry, which was
started in the early 1930's in New England. The fish has been known from
colonial days when the Indian chief Squanto, friend of the white man, taught
the early Pilgrims to fertilize their crops with it. John Lawson, colonial ex-

I. All statistics of menhaden herein are from U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

88 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

plorer of North Carolina, records the use of "fatbacks" as a food of the early
colonists.

It was not until the first half of the nineteenth century that serious effort
was made to separate the oil from the flesh, and even as late as 1879,
Professor Goode urged the use of the dried fish scrap as a food for domestic
farm animals, citing such use by European farmers and by the farmers of
New England, As late as 1864 the pressed scrap was thrown overboard in
Maine or given to farmers at the price of hauling it away.

Formerly the fish were taken incidentally with other fish or sought after
in relatively small amounts to be used as fertilizer. They had no other recog-
nized value; their use as whole fish fertilizer was a doubtful practice, for
although prolific crops resulted for a season or two, the oil from the fish so
"burnt" the land that it was untillable for years to come. Until the early part
of the nineteenth century, however, menhaden was used solely as a raw whole
fish fertilizer.

There are many claimants for the honor of having started the menhaden
industry, but the evidence seems to indicate that two men, Barker and Tall-
man, who in 181 1 set up two small iron pots at Black Point Wharf, Ports-
mouth, Rhode Island, were first (Goode & Clark, 1887). Their process was
simple. First, the menhaden, covered with water, were boiled in the iron pots
until the breakdown of the fleshy tissues released the oil. The boiled mass
was then poured into containers and weighted by rocks placed on boards
laid over the solid mass. When the oil floated to the top of the water, it was
skimmed off and barreled for shipment to the New York market. Two pots
were added in 1 814. Gales in 181 5 destroyed the apparatus, and business was
not resumed until 1818. Ini824a cooker replaced the pots. This cooker was
a wooden tank sy^ feet high, 6 feet wide, and 8 feet long. A furnace was
located at one end, from which a copper flue ran through the box. The
"factory" was built on skids and hauled from place to place by two oxen.
According to the early report, it was hauled from the shore to the farm a
mile away, and, after the oil was recovered, the water and scrap were broad-
cast to add fertility to the soil.

The first factory to use live steam was built by John Tallman in 1841, also
at Portsmouth, R. I. This installation consisted of eight wooden tanks holding
60 barrels of fish each and a flue boiler. In 1842 the business expanded and
branched, and Tallman and Lambert built a plant at the mouth of the
Merrimac River, Mass. Shortly thereafter Daniel Wells built a factory,
modeled after Tallman's, on Shelter Island, near Greenport, New York.
About this time, Charles Tuthill, of Greenport, invented a method for ex-
pressing the oil from the cooked fish. The next twenty-five years saw a great
expansion in the menhaden industry, and by 1866 plants had been established
along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Portsmouth Island, North Carolina.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 89

The early history of the menhaden industry is given briefly by Earll
(1887). Early efforts to establish the menhaden industry in North Carolina
were inspired by Northern soldiers who had sojourned in the State during the
Civil War. Their glowing accounts of the abundance of menhaden in the
waters of North Carolina encouraged Northern capitalists to invest in the
fishery. Capital, and men experienced in the capturing and processing of
menhaden, were brought to the State to initiate the program. In spite of the
experience and background of the promoters, the establishment of menhaden
factories in North Carolina had rugged going, and at one time, even as late
as 1880, it was doubted that the menhaden industry could ever be developed
here.

This early fishery was limited almost entirely to the sound waters, Core
and Pamlico sounds and a part of Bogue Sound being the principal fishing
grounds, with the exception of one fishery that was established on the Cape
Fear River.

Some effort was made to fish outside the inlets, but the unpredictable
storms and the narrow circuitous inlets with their strong tidal currents dis-
couraged any extensive effort in this direction. The shoal waters of the sound,
the periodic scarcity of fish, and the poor yield of oil conspired to defeat
all the early efforts.

The first processing plant was established on Harpers (Barkers? ) Island in
Core Sound in 1865. The first year, this plant was equipped with kettles
and hand presses and was dependent upon gill nets for its fish supply. Later
a boiler was installed and purse and haul seines were introduced for the
capture of the fish. In 1873 operations were discontinued on the Island and
the equipment was moved to Cape Lookout, which was considered a more
favorable location. The plant was never erected at the new site and the
project was abandoned with a total loss of capital of about $3,000.

In 1866 the Excelsior Oil and Guano Company established a plant at
Portsmouth Island, near Ocracoke Inlet. This plant was financed by Northern
capital and was probably "modernly" equipped. It was an ambitious under-
taking, backed by $50,000 capital. Purse seines were employed and Northern
fishermen skilled in their use and acquainted with the behavior of the fish
were imported for the operation of the seines. After three years the project
was completely abandoned with the loss of the original $50,000 capital and
$25,000 more. The reasons given for the abandonment of this project were
(i) the scarcity of fish; (2) the limited range of operation due to the hot
weather. The boats could fish no further than 25 miles from the plant and
land fish in condition to process; (3) "outside" fishing was found impracti-
cable because of the shoalness of the inlets and the frequency of sudden
storms; the shifting channels prevented entrance into the sounds and fishing
boats caught outside were in a hazardous predicament; (4) the fish in the

90 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

sounds, upon which the fisheries principally depended, were found to be very
poor in yield of oil.

In spite of the adverse conditions experienced by others, a factory was
built in 1870 at Oregon Inlet by the Church Brothers of Rhode Island.
During the first season they employed a steamer for the operations, but in
the second year they abandoned the steamer operation and attempted to carry
on the fishery by small sailing vessels. At the end of two seasons the opera-
tions were suspended because of the strong current which kept the vessels
from passing freely into and out of the sound. The record shows that the
Church Brothers engaged in activity with a Mr. Etheridge of Roanoke Island,
but does not indicate whether it was in the prosecution of the menhaden
fishery or some other fishery activity.

In 1 87 1 a factory was established at the mouth of the Cape Fear by the
Navassa Oil and Guano Company. This venture lasted two years and then
it was closed at a $10,000 loss because of the poor oil yield and the small
amount of fish taken. In 1879 Captain I. Kain of Roanoke Island, having
convinced himself by experiment that a menhaden plant could be made suc-
cessful, established a plant on Roanoke Island. During his first year of opera-
tion, his venture failed because the fish did not enter the sound. What
happened after the first year is not known, although a commentator writing
in 1880 indicated that Captain Kain did continue for that year.

From this unpromising and discouraging beginning, the menhaden industry
in North Carolina has grown to one of large proportions and now takes an
important place in the economic life of the seaboard region of the State. In
1948, 198,270,000 pounds of menhaden were processed in eight plants. The
value of the produce from these fish was $3,901,605. During this year North
Carolina produced slightly more than 19 per cent of the quantity captured
on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and the dollar value was nearly 18 per cent
of the total value of these fish on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

For the nine-year period 1940-48, North Carolina produced 1,179,279,980
pounds of menhaden valued at $17,996,700. The quantity landed represented
17.28 per cent of the total of menhaden on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and
the dollar value represented 16.6 per cent of the total money value.

Menhaden, like all other products of the sea, has shown a remarkable
increase in value during the last ten years. This has no doubt come about by
reason of the serious shortage of animal proteins and oils and, of course, by
inflation or general rise of all prices. The last three years ■ have been very
favorably affected by the decline of competition from the pilchard industry
on the West Coast. Even before these inflationary conditions arose, the men-
haden had been the object of one of the most important and generally profit-
able fisheries of North Carolina. In the country at large it has always

2. This chapter on the menhaden was written in the spring of 1949.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY

91

been recognized, since it became an organized fishery, as one of the most
important sources of animal food and marine animal oils, and the world
demand for fish meal seems to be insatiable. It appears likely to maintain its
relative position both in the State and in the nation.

Table 3 gives the total quantities and values of the national landings and
of the landings of North Carolina:

TABLE 3

Annual Landings of Menhaden for the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and
for North Carolina for the Period 1940- 1948

North Carolina

Atlantic and Gulf Coasts

N.C.

Percentage

Year

Pounds

Value

Pounds

Value

Pounds
Per cent

Value
Per cent

1940

129,741,480

$ 898,728

634,589,000

$

3.999,482

20.45

22.47

1941

122,390,240

1,560,067

775,087,000

7,080,588

15-79

22.03

1942

86,202,870

1,147,728

482,644,000

6,642,928

17.86

17,28

1943

116,557,220

1,633,196

615,554,000

8,717,635

18.94

18.73

1944

116,928,400

1.517,201

685,980,000

8,749,826

17-05

17-34

1945

142,209,510

1,865,819

759,074,000

11,202,127

18.74

16.66

1946

139,531,520

2,816,014

916,013,000

17,716,625

15-23

15-90

1947

127,448,740

2,656,342

948,156,000

22,336,212

13-44

11.89

1948

198,270,000

3,901,605

1,007,889,000

$^

21,693,093
08,138,516

19.67
17.28

17.99

Total

1,179,279,980

$17,996,700

6,824,986,000

16.64

In spite of this contribution to the economics of the fishing industry, and
hence to the general economy of those seaboard states where it constitutes
an important fishery, it has never been the object of serious investigation.
Neither the Federal Government nor the states have undertaken a study of
the habits of the fish, its migrations, or its potentials. Since most such studies
on other fishes in recent years have been directed towards conservation
measures, it would appear that little will be done so far as the menhaden is
concerned until either the cry is raised that the stock is being depleted or
that the menhaden fishery is threatening the life of some other fishery.

NAMES AND CLASSIFICATIONS

SPECIES AND THEIR SCIENTIFIC NAMES

There are seven American species of the menhaden genus Brevoortia. Two
of these are South American forms, B. pectinata and B. aurea; three species
occur in the Atlantic Ocean, B. tyr annus, B. smithi and B. brevicaudata ; two
appear in the Gulf of Mexico, B. patronus and B. gunteri. There is no inter-
mingling by those species, which are separated geographically, and the range

92 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

for each, while over broad areas, is strictly limited to given boundaries. For
instance, the South American species never appear in the northern waters,
the Gulf species never leave the Gulf, and the three Atlantic species remain
in the Atlantic limited in their southern range by the east coast of Florida.
Hildebrand (19 19) ascribed to B. aureus a range as far north as Beaufort
but later (1941) corrected this error by naming as smithi the species form-
erly identified as aureus.

B. patronus, closely related to B. tyrannus of the Atlantic, ranges from
Tampa, Florida, to Brazos Santiago, Texas. B. gunteri ranges from Grand
Isle, Louisiana, to the mouth of the Rio Grande. B. smith! ranges from Indian
River City, Florida, to Beaufort, North Carolina, while B. brevicaudata is
known only locally at Noank, Connecticut. B. tyrannus ranges from Florida
to Nova Scotia.

While specifically different, tyrannus of the Atlantic and patronus of the
Gulf are closely paired as are smithi of the Atlantic and gunteri of the Gulf.
The ranges of these two pairs are believed by Hildebrand (1948) to have
been at one time continuous but were made discontinuous when the last water
passage across Florida between the Atlantic and the Gulf was closed. Passage
around the peninsula is prevented by unsuitable conditions, and no menhaden
of any species are found in the waters of southern Florida. Before this isola-
tion of the two pairs occurred, tyrannus and patronus were probably iden-
tical, as were smithi and gunteri: Local conditions seem to have produced
species differentiation (Hildebrand, 1948).

Of the Atlantic species, B. tyrannus only is of commercial significance;
brevicaudata appears only at Noank, Connecticut; and smithi, according to
Hildebrand, is not known to school. There are apparently exceptions to this
conclusion of Hildebrand, for Harrison (1931) reports that while they are
seldom seen in large schools, considerable quantities of the species were taken
in the Beaufort area in 1929.

Of the five North Amercan species, tyrannus is the most important com-
mercially, over 73 per cent of the 1948 catch of 1,007,888,840 pounds being
taken in the waters of North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, and
New York and consisting of B. tyrannus. A part of the South Carolina and
Florida catch also consisted of B. tyrannus, but the lumped figures do not
permit of a breakdown. Except where otherwise noted, from this point on,
the present study is concerned only with the species of greatest industrial
importance, B. tyrannus.

COMMON NAMES

Brevoortia tyrannus probably has more common names than any other
fish; and although it is universally known as the menhaden, the local names
remain familiar and almost affectionate appellations. Perhaps regional and

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 93

sectional pride has something to do with this resistance to change, for the
names are strictly regional; and when there is an encroachment of a foreign
name, it can usually be traced to the presence of outsiders in a local fishery.
For instance, menhaden is not the common name of the fish south of Rhode
Island; yet we find it common in Florida. The fishery in Florida was de-
veloped late by Northern shad fishermen. The same is true in Maine, where
the common name is pogy; yet an equally acceptable name is menhaden, in-
troduced there by Rhode Island fishermen who carried their local names.
The name menhaden is endemic to southeastern New England and the fish is
recognized there by this name only.

In Maine and Massachusetts pogy and menhaden are the most common
names. Southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island favor menhaden almost
exclusively. Fishermen of Connecticut lean to bony-fish, as do those of
certain sections of Long Island. Fishermen of the New York City vicinity
and along the New Jersey coast know the fish as mossbunker or bunker. In
Maryland and Virginia it is known as alewife, probably a corruption of
allizes, a colonial name used in common with shadd, another name for men-
haden that has held through the centuries and which is still used in some
places (Goode, 1879, 1884). In North Carolina the fish is known as jatback
and shadd, both of colonial origin (Lawson, 1709).

Each of the names is derived from some physical characteristic, resem-
blance to other fish or functional use. Bony-fish and hardhead refer to the
heavy bony head. The names bug-fish and bug-head, common in Virginia,
allude to the parasite, Oleucira praegustator, which is generally present in
the mouths of menhaden in the south. Menhaden and pogie, from poghaden,
are Indian names meaning fertilizer; and shadd is an Indian name from the
Indians of Virginia. Fatback, common in North Carolina, refers to the
smooth plump back of the fish when it is in a well-nourished condition. The
southern New York and New Jersey mossbunker is a name given by the
early Dutch settlers who saw in the fish characteristics which recalled to
their minds a fish native to their homeland, the marshbanker.^

Other names for the menhaden are: porgie, yellow tail, yellow-tail shad,
shiner, herring, greentail, hard-head shad, old wife, chebog, bughead, and
bunkers.

NATURAL HISTORY

DISTRIBUTION AND MIGRATIONS

Menhaden are seasonal migrants north of Virginia, appearing along the
New Jersey coastline and northward only after the spring warming of the
ocean. In the Chesapeake region, according to Hildebrand and Schroeder

3. The "scad," or horsemackerel, Trachurus lacuta, which visits the shores of north Europe in
immense schools swimming near the surface.

94 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

(1928), they are sometimes found in winter by trawlers in deep waters. From
Wimble Shoals to the South Carolina line and in Florida waters, menhaden
are year-round inhabitants and are present in North Carolina in sufficient
abundance to support a fishery ten months of the year, February and March
are normally shut-down and overhaul periods in North Carolina plants,
although there is some evidence to indicate that fish are present in sufficient
amount off the North Carolina coast to be landed in commercial quantities.
Large schools have been reported in February as far north as Wimble Shoals.

The weather, however, during February and March is so uncertain that
it would make for a costly discontinuous plant operation and would also
make fishing for menhaden by purse seines a hazardous occupation. The
result is that there are no definitive data to indicate the abundance of fish
off the coast of North Carolina during February and March. There is little
information concerning the presence of fish off the South Carolina and Geor-
gia coasts, but it is known that in Florida they are present the year around.

Along the Virginia coast and northward to Maine, menhaden make their
first appearance after the ocean water has warmed up to a temperature of
around 50° F. The first of the fish to arrive are only a few scattered in-
dividuals. These are the vanguard of the main invasion which does not
appear until the water has reached the temperature in excess of 50° F. The
fish first appear along the coast as follows: The Chesapeake Bay regibn,
March and April; the New Jersey, New York, and southern New England
region, April and May; Cape Ann, in Massachusetts Bay, middle May; and
the Maine coast, the latter part of May and in June (if they appear at
all). The fish disappear from these regions in reverse order, beginning their
departure from the Maine coast the latter part of September and completely
disappearing by the middle of October. By the middle of November the fish
have all left the Massachusetts Bay region. Along the southern New England
coast some strays remain until late November and December, but very few
fish are found after October. The same is true of the New York and New
Jersey coasts.

In North Carolina the migration pattern is an interesting one. The spring
fishery usually starts in May, although sometimes in April. This fishery
depends principally upon individuals which run from 6 to 8 inches in length
and which are believed locally to come up from Florida. Usually these fish
strike shoreward about the latitude of Fernandina, moving north and paral-
leling the coast, supplying a good fishery at Mayport, Florida. For the past
four years, however, they have scarcely touched Mayport, and snapper
fishermen working 30 miles out have reported great schools moving north.
In these recent years they have struck first off the South Carolina coast about
Georgetown and are called in North Carolina the '^Georgetown-flats" 'fish.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 95

These fish support the fishery in North Carolina until August, when they
disappear.

About October 15 a run of fish appears in North Carolina from the north
and is joined by fish from the southern sounds and estuaries. These fish run
from 10 to 12 inches in length and are known locally as "Chesapeake Bay"
fish, "holy jumpers" or "forerunners." They contribute to the fishery about
a month and are followed about November 10 by the so-called "Dela-
ware" fish, which measure from 13 to 16 inches. These fish, in turn, are
succeeded about Thanksgiving by i6-to-2 0-inch fish recognized as the
"Boston Bay" or the "Amagansett" fish. All of the fish appearing from
October 15 to November are following a north-south migration route. In
former years both the "Delaware" and the "Boston Bay" fish were taken
at Southport, but for the past fifteen years they have rarely appeared south
of New River Inlet, at about which point they make a southeasterly course for
the open ocean.

In December there comes a run of small fish which, according to the fisher-
men and plant operators, "just come." Their source or destination is not
known. The average size of this fish is the smallest of all those taken in the
fishery. The schools are of mixed sizes, which is unusual, and fish from 2 to 10
inches appear in the same haul. Further, a boatload shows the greatest admix-
ture of menhaden and food fish that is found at any time of the year.

It is a moot question what causes the migration of menhaden; but the
generally accepted theory, which is the oldest one, is that they appear along
the coastline when the temperature of the water has reached 50° F. and that
they leave when the temperature falls below this. Their appearance in the
Gulf of Maine and their westerly progress from south to north in the Gulf
closely parallels the warming of the waters to 50° F. Off the North Carolina
and Florida coasts, where menhaden are year-round inhabitants, the average
monthly surface temperature is 50° F. or above. Directly to the north and
south of North Carolina it falls below this in mid-winter. Fish appear in the
greatest abundance only after the water has warmed above 50° F. It is
generally believed that the fish, departing from a given region, make for
the deeper waters nearest to that region where the desired temperature is to
be found; but there is "fishermen" evidence to indicate that long coastwise
migrations to the north in the spring and to the south in the winter are the
rule. Smith (1896), describes the route of departure from the Massachusetts
Bay region as around Cape Cod and along the shoreline to the eastern end
of Long Island and thence to sea. Fishermen are reported to have followed
menhaden from the Long Island coast to Delaware; and at Beaufort, North
Carolina, it is commonly accepted as a fact that the schools which leave the
Delaware coast in the fall are continuously fished down the coast to this area.
This question will not be settled until tagging experiments are undertaken.

96 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Such an investigation would present relatively little difficulty if advantage
were taken of the recent developments in abdominal tagging and magnetic
recovery of the tags.

Although the menhaden makes its annual appearance along the entire
Atlantic coast, the routes of migration, local appearance, and abundance are
variable. In some cases the fish have been known to abandon completely
waters that they had hitherto visited in great numbers. In other cases the
abundance shows the fluctuation in population that is common to all the sea
fishes. Fowler (1906) says that menhaden were present on the New Jersey
coast along Cape May in goodly numbers but not in the abundance of former
years.

Mr. William Gaskins of the Wallace Fisheries, Morehead City, North
Carolina, has told the writer that the Mayport fishery on the Florida coast
has been a virtual failure for four successive years. The fish which have
ordinarily supplied this fishery did not strike into the coast at the usual points
but passed by many miles at sea moving to the north. Mr. Gaskins also
reports that a fall fishery off Beaufort, North Carolina, was supplied with
fish which first made their appearance at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina,
and moved north until they encountered schools of southbound fish which
they joined and reversed their northward movement. This fishery was pro-
ductive in the Beaufort-Morehead City area until about 1925, but since that
time none of these northbound fall fish have appeared. Above, in a discussion
of the so-called "Boston Bay" and "Delaware" fish, it has already been
pointed out that these fish now forsake the coast about New River Inlet and
move to the open ocean. Eighteen years ago, this fall run of fish supported
an active fishery at Southport which is no longer existent.

Mr. George Wallace of the Wallace Fisheries, Morehead City, North
Carolina, says that prior to fifteen years ago the appearance of the spring
run of menhaden in large quantities could be regularly depended upon to
strike in abundance in April. These fish have not made an appearance in any
numbers since 1933.

The classic example of the abandonment of a fishing ground is that off the
coast of Maine. The menhaden fishery was first established in Maine about
the middle of the nineteenth century and prospered greatly for a number of
years, although at times the fish failed to appear in as great abundance as
usual. Over the years, however, they did come in sufficient numbers to justify
continuous plant maintenance and operation, but in 1904 they completely
disappeared, and, according to Bigelow and Welsh (1925), the appear-
ance of menhaden north of Cape Cod between 1904 and 192 1 was an
extremely rare event. Within the last year or two they have showed signs of
returning, and recently there is considerable talk of reviving the menhaden
fisheries of Maine. Bigelow and Welsh (1925) describe in a very interesting

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 97

manner the fluctuations of the menhaden in the Gulf of Maine, and it is
worth while to quote the following:

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the occurrence of the menhaden in the
Gulf of Maine is that it fluctuates tremendously in abundance from year to
year, periods of great plenty alternating with periods of scarcity or entire
absence from our waters. Thus 1845 was a "big year," while in 1847 pogies
were very scarce. Then for some years prior to 1875 they were tremendously
abundant off the coasts of Massachusetts and Maine every summer, and a
considerable menhaden fishery grew up on the Maine coast. Since then the
local stock has undergone the most violent fluctuations imaginable, of which
abundant testimony is to be found in the files of the Bureau of Fisheries. Thus
very few menhaden were taken in the Gulf during the cold summer of 1877
until September and October when they were reported as about as abundant
as normal. Practically none appeared north of Cape Cod in the year 1879, ^s
striking an abandonment of a considerable area by a fish previously abundant
there, perhaps, as has taken place within recent times.

The following is a summary taken from Bigelow and Welsh (1925) show-
ing the years of abundance and scarcity:

1845

Abundant

1890

Plentiful

1847

Scarce

1892

Fish disappeared

1875

Abundant

1894

Abundant

1877

Very scarce until

September and

1895-97

Scarce

October, when

they

became

1898

Abundant

abundant

1902

Scarce

1879-85

Extremely scarce

1903

Abundant

1886

Abundant

1904-21

Extremely rare north of Cape Cod

1888

Plentiful

1922

In great abundance in southwest

1889

Plentiful

Massachusetts Bay

These fluctuations are no doubt controlled by biological factors such as
temperature and food. It seems to be the consensus that the primary factor
is temperature, particularly where complete abandonment or severe diminu-
tion in numbers is concerned. Other conditions, however, are known to
affect the local movements of menhaden. It is a common occurrence for inept
or greedy fishermen to break up schools, causing them to sound or to run
to open sea.

Natural enemies also affect the local movements of menhaden. Friedlaender
relates in September, 1882, that very large bodies of menhaden appeared
along the Long Island coast between Fire Island and Rockaway Inlet. He
attributes the presence of this mass of fish in this area to the abundance of
sharks which had driven them in.

Smith (1896) cites two interesting cases where bluefish apparently affected
the migration of menhaden, one case in Long Island Sound and another off
the North Carolina coast. He reports that menhaden were held in Gardiner

98 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

and Neapeague bays several weeks beyond their usual date of departure by
remarkable quantities of bluefish which were present in the ocean. He relates
that about October 21 the bluefish disappeared and that "the departure of
the menhaden rapidly ensued." By the middle of November the menhaden
had largely withdrawn from Chesapeake Bay, and all schools were moving
south. On November 16 the "J. W. Hawkins" observed fish swimming rapidly
northward. Twenty miles farther south a large school of bluefish was en-
countered. For a week the northward migration of menhaden and bluefish
was observed. It is assumed that the northbound bluefish intercepted the
southbound menhaden causing them to reverse their direction.

BREEDING HABITS

EGGS AND SPAWNING. In spite of the appearance of the menhaden every
year along the entire Atlantic coast from Florida to Maine, their breeding
habits were not well understood until comparatively recently. Various the-
ories were advanced from time to time, which had the menhaden spawning
from the headwaters of tributaries to the Gulf Stream, on the shoals off
Georges Banks, and all the way to the Florida Keys, where it is now known
the Atlantic menhaden never appear. Even now, knowledge concerning the
spawning of the menhaden south of the Chesapeake Bay region is confused
or nonexistent.

For certain sections of the coast, however, the time, period, and condi-
tions of spawning have been well worked out. In general, it may be stated
that menhaden spawn all along the Atlantic coast from Florida to Maine,
the time of spawning varying with the latitude. Menhaden spawn in the
Gulf of Maine in the summer and probably in late spring. In the Vineyard
Sound area they spawn in the summer as early as June and through October
(Kuntz and Radcliffe, 19 17). In Long Island waters the season extends
from late May to October (Perlmutter, 1939). Westman and Bidwell (1948)
say that spawning begins in Raritan Bay and lower New York Bay in April,
and increases to a maximum in June. In the Chesapeake Bay area Hildebrand
and Schroeder (1928) find that spawning occurs in the fall. Hardcastle
(1946) concludes that spawning off North Carolina occurs in late winter and
in the vicinity of the Gulf Stream. He found fully ripe ova in December but
reports that ripe specimens are seldom seen, that when the fish approach
maturity, they disappear, and when seen again, are spent. Reporting on the
observations of local fishermen, he says that in late winter great schools are
occasionally seen in the Gulf Stream area churning the water and making it
white with spawn. South of North Carolina no definitive data have been dis-
closed as to the time of spawning. Hildebrand and Schroeder, on the basis of
larvae varying in size from 27 mm. in January to 46 mm. in May, concluded
that menhaden spawned in the Chesapeake in the fall of the year.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 99

The most extensive and complete investigation on the spawning of men-
haden has been done in Long Island waters by Perlmutter.

He places the spawning time from May to October with the height in May.
The season is prolonged and spawning apparently very prolific, Perlmutter
found that the eggs of the menhaden represented a large proportion of the
total egg catch of all species collected in 1938. Perlmutter established a wide
latitude in both temperature and salinity conditions. He found spawning
freely taking place between 55° and 80° F., and a salinity from 84 to 100
per cent sea water. Since the incubation period is short (Bigelow and Welsh,
1925), there must be a high tolerance to temperature and salinities or a
great mortality must result. Since Perlmutter found both larvae and eggs
under the reported conditions, it may be concluded that the tolerance is high.

According to Bigelow and Welsh (1925) sexual maturity is attained in
the season following the third winter. The sexes are not distinguishable by
external characteristics (Hildebrand and Schroeder, 1928). In one specimen
reported (Goode, 1884), 150,000 eggs were found. Hardcastle (unpublished
manuscript) has found over 41 per cent of the mature and immature males
to be infested with a gonadal parasite, Eimeria brevoortia. In some cases 100
per cent of the mature males have the parasite. Hardcastle does not indicate
whether or not sterility results.

EMBRYOLOGY. The eggs are buoyant, highly transparent and 1.4 to 1.6 mm.
in diameter. The perivitelline space is very large, resembling the shad and
European pilchard eggs. The yolk sphere is approximately 0.9 mm. in diam-
eter and contains a transparent oil globule 0.12 to 0.14 mm. in diameter. The
egg membrane is thin and horny (Kuntz and Radcliffe, 191 7).

Welsh found by experiment that the incubation period does not exceed 48
hours (Bigelow and Welsh, 1925). The newly hatched larvae are approxi-
mately 4.5 mm. long and slender with yolk sac attached. The pigmentation
is less than before hatching, and small black chromatophores appear on
dorsal aspect of the body and on ventral aspect posterior to vent.

Four days after hatching, the larva is 5.7 mm. in length. In the 9 mm. fish
the dorsal and ventral fins begin to differentiate and the posterior gut has
become distinctly convoluted. At 23 mm. all fins are well differentiated, but
the body is still slender, and at 33 mm. scales appear. The fish remains
slender. At 41 mm. most of the characteristics of the adult have appeared.
The body proportion has been acquired and the shoulder blotch is distinct
(Kuntz and Radcliffe, 191 7; Bigelow and Welsh, 1925).

In the young larval and fry stages the menhaden are very similar to the
herring and almost indistinguishable, but according to Bigelow and Welsh
(1925), the differentiation of appendages and similarity to the adult occurs
at a much smaller stage in the menhaden, a menhaden of 20 mm. length in
this respect being far more advanced than a herring at 35 mm.

100 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

THE YOUNG OF MENHADEN. Very little work has been done on the young
of the menhaden, although its rate of growth for the Gulf of Maine seems to
have been reliably and adequately worked out by Bigelow and Welsh (1925).
They found that menhaden that were spawned in the summer attained a
length oi 2% to 3>4 inches (6-8 cm.) the first winter and averaged slightly
more than 6% inches (16 cm.) the second winter, while those spawned in
the fall grew to i}i inches (3 cm.) the first winter and 5 inches (13 cm.) the
second. Between these extremes there are all gradations depending upon the
exact time of spawning. Hildebrand and Schroeder (1928), writing of the
Chesapeake area, give slightly different values. They rate the first-year-old
fish at 5^ inches and the second-year-old fish at 8^ inches.

The young fish apparently have a very high tolerance of salinity and tem-
perature, seemingly enjoying an environment that varies from slightly brack-
ish water to one with the salinity of sea water. They are found forty-five
miles up the Hudson River (Westman and Bidwell, 1948) and at the same
time in Long Island Sound. Their tolerance of temperature is apparently
greater than that of the adult. Bean (1903) found that adult menhaden could
not survive in an aquarium if the water dropped below 50° F. On the other
hand, Kendall (1910) reports on observations by Edwards in which young
menhaden 2 to 6 inches long survived without harmful effects a temperature
of 31.5° F. They swam on their sides at 30° F. and died only "when it became
much colder and snowed."

FOOD AND FEEDING

FOOD. Before 1894 it was generally believed by laymen and scientists that
menhaden subsisted on mud and silt, although as early as 1879 the engineer
on a menhaden steamer observed and pointed out that menhaden "feed on
floating crustaceans" (Goode, 1879). In 1894 Peck published the findings of
observations made by him the previous year at Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
The work of Peck is important for it positively identified the food of the
menhaden and established the menhaden as one of the prime converters of
basic food.

Peck's investigations were complete and thorough. He examined the
stomach contents of the fish and, by means of the devices available at the
time, explored the waters in which the menhaden fed. He also estimated the
speed at which the fish moved through the water, calculated the volume of
water strained, and examined and described the gill mechanism by means of
which they were able to filter out the microscopic plants and animals which
serve as their food.

He found that the food of the menhaden consisted, not of bottom mud
and silt as had been supposed for thirty years, but of small microscopic plants

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 101

and animals which lived in the upper few feet of the waters in which the
menhaden lived during its annual inshore migrations.

The menhaden is an indiscriminate and non-selective feeder, whose dietary-
consists of whatever of suitable size the waters in a given locality and at a
given time afford. A close parallel, both as to quality and quantity, was
found between the stomach contents of the menhaden and the contents
of nets towed in the waters from which the fish were taken. Although the diet
varied from place to place and from time to time (night or day) , the food
consisted of small annelids, sometimes ^ inch long, rotifers, small Crustacea,
amphipods, schizopod shrimp, ostrocods, peridinia, diatoms, foraminifera,
and several larval forms. Ordinarily diatoms and small Crustacea predom-
inated as would be expected, since they are the most plentiful members of
the microscopic pelagic life. In this respect the menhaden is different from
most of the fish in the sea. Its catholic and non-discriminating taste distin-
guishes the menhaden as strongly exceptional, if indeed not unique, among
the fishes of the sea. Most fishes exercise a certain selectivity in eating, chang-
ing their diet from season to season and from place to place. Among the
pelagic feeders, the mackerel and the herring, the latter a close relative of
the menhaden, are strongly selective, the herring often disappearing from
waters in which its desired food is not present. Cheng (1941) compares the
herring to the menhaden in this respect, pointing out that the herring, "unlike
the menhaden, selects its food by individual acts of capture"; and Lebour
(1920) has demonstrated the highly selective feeding habits of fishes.

MECHANISM OF OBTAINING FOOD. The menhaden strains these microscopic
and near-microscopic plants and animals from the sea water by means of a
very efficient sieve located in its mouth and throat. The gills of the menhaden
are equipped with a set of comb-like, long, slender gill-rakers, lying parallel
and very close together, each raker itself being a comb of still finer teeth.
The entire mouth cavity is coated with mucus. As the fish swims through the
water, his mouth open and opercula distended, the water, laden with micro-
scopic plants and animals, passes through this fine sieve. The animals and
plants become entangled, are coated with mucus, and then are swallowed or
forced down the throat into the stomach. This straining device is as efficient
as any devised by man. Bigelow (1928) aptly compares the filtering mech-
anism of the menhaden with similar apparatuses of other fish, ". . . nor is
any other local species possessed of a filtering apparatus comparable to that
of the menhaden for fineness and efficiency."

The menhaden feeds by swimming rapidly through the water with mouth
agape, literally funneling the water through its mouth and forcing it through
its pectinated or comb-like gills. Schroeder (in Hildebrand and Schroeder,
1928) in his field notes recorded aboard the "Fish Hawk" graphically de-
scribes the feeding habits of the menhaden as follows:

102 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

The fish swam swiftly in circles, like the dust driven by a whirlwind ; then
suddenly formed in a straight line, continually rising and falling at various
depths. Each time they rose their mouths were wide open, but it was not possible
to see whether or not their mouths were open when they swam downward. The
fish near the shore seldom "broke water," but those observed in the open swam
in compact schools, causing ripples at the surface ; at times hundreds of them
swiftly darted a few inches out of the water, causing a noise that could be
heard easily at a distance of 300 feet. One large school was seen to divide into
two parts. Some schools swam against the tide and then suddenly turned back
with the tide. No general direction seemed to be maintained.

Enormous quantities of water, considering the size of this fish, are filtered
daily. Peck (1894), basing his calculations on the speed of the feeding men-
haden and the area of its mouth opening, figured that the menhaden forced
water through its gills at the rate of 6.8 gallons a minute containing about 3.4
cubic centimeters of organic filtrate. Peck points out that his figures are
estimates, that the menhaden does not feed continuously, that all the water
may not pass through the gills at the rate the fish swims and that many small
organisms may escape. He feels, however, that his estimates are reasonable.
According to these estimates, a menhaden could filter nearly a barrel of water
an hour and extract about 24 cubic inches or nearly a pint of food of the
richest sort. Unfortunately, no quantitative work has been done on this
subject, and at best the figures remain estimates.

How much of the time a menhaden feeds is not known, although Peck's
observations indicate that it feeds at some time both night and day. That it is
a voracious feeder or an efficient converter must be admitted, for it appears
off the coast in an emaciated condition, and in a very short time it is fat and
well nourished. It has the richest fare at its disposal that can be found in
nature at sea or on land and, according to Bigelow (1928), subsists entirely
and for life on this fare: "Outside the littoral zone the menhaden is the only
important Gulf of Maine fish that continues throughout life to subsist chiefly
on diatoms and peridinians with the most minute Crustacea and other animals.

"The menhaden has no rival among the fishes of the Gulf of Maine in its
utilization of this pelagic vegetable pasture." In writing this Bigelow com-
pares the menhaden with other eaters of the pelagic flora, such as the herring
and mackerel. What is true in the Gulf of Maine must be true along the
entire Atlantic seaboard, and we find the menhaden seeking those inshore
waters which are made up of oceanic waters and the rich outpourings of rivers
and estuaries. It is no wonder that the menhaden is one of the richest sources
of oil of all sea forms. It has no equal on our Atlantic coast and has only the
pilchard sardine as a close rival in Europe and the anchovy on the Pacific
coast.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 103

The relationship of the type of food to the oil production of menhaden has
received no attention from scientists. It is a fact recognized by all fish curers
and herring fishermen that the food of the herring directly affects the quality
and quantity of the oil. If the herring has been feeding heavily on copepods
and euphausiids (tiny crustaceans), they will be found in prime condition for
curing and salting. If, on the other hand, the diet has consisted chiefly of
pteropods (small mollusks), the fish is watery and the curing poor. Nor-
wegian fishermen recognize this fact and often "pen" the fish until they are
cleansed (Kyle, 1926). The quality, as well as the quantity, of the food of
the menhaden may readily account for poor oil yield during a season and
period where in previous years it was good.

The food of the small menhaden appears to be identical in character with
that of the adult, although the very small menhaden possesses teeth (Hilde-
brand, 1948), the significance of which is not known.

ENEMIES

Menhaden is the prey to virtually all of those carnivorous fishes which in-
habit the same waters as the menhaden. In New England it is eaten by the
whiting, codfish, pollock, dogfish, shark, tuna, whale, and even the flounder.
In the more southern waters it is eaten by the pompano, cavally, bonito, and
bayonet-fish. Along the entire coast wherever they are found in common with
menhaden, the striped bass, swordfish, weakfish, or sea trout, and dolphin
destroy and consume them. They are attacked and eaten in rivers, par-
ticularly southern rivers, by gar-fish and catfish.

Of the enemies, the whales, dolphin, shark, tuna, bluefish, and weakfish
are the most destructive. As many as one hundred individuals have been
taken from the stomach of one large shark, and Dr. Goode says that the
whales and dolphins consume them by the hogshead. From the air, predatory
sea birds attack the schools, and it is not unusual to see gulls riding the
schools and enjoying a feast.

The quantities in which they are eaten or destroyed by their natural
enemies is prodigious. Dr. Goode estimates that the number of menhaden
annually destroyed by natural enemies amounts to a million million of mil-
lions, or put differently, 1,000 times the number taken by man in 1948, let us
say, when the greatest capture on record was made.

Of all the enemies, bluefish are the worst and the most savage foe. Not
only do they devour great numbers but after gorging themselves they con-
tinue to kill and destroy, often driving menhaden into the surf, by which they
are thrown on the beach in windrows, sometimes to a depth of two feet or
more, where their decaying bodies foul the shore and air for weeks. On
occasions when this stranding of menhaden has occurred near inhabited
beaches or towns, it has been necessary to have them removed as a health

104 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

menace. There are reports from Hatteras, North Carolina, to the coast of
Massachusetts which graphically describe this wanton destruction.

Bluefish are frequently governed in their migrations by the presence and
movements of the menhaden schools, and conversely, menhaden disappear as
quickly as possible with the arrival of bluefish. Bigelow and Welsh (1925)
say that they may actually drive menhaden from their customary grounds.

EFFECT OF THE MENHADEN FISHERY ON OTHER FISH

Periodically the menhaden industry becomes the object of controversy. No
fishery of modern times has been attacked by so many, over such a wide area,
so violently, and from so many angles. The agitation centers around the
presumed destruction of commercial food fish and sports fish, the interference
with the normal routes of spawning migration of all fish, the ruination of
sports fishing grounds. The testimony and arguments on both sides are some-
times bitter and violent and ordinarily are characterized by the absence of
exact data on which to base them. Until 1894 no recorded observations had
ever been made ; and since that time none has been made which has come to
the attention of this writer.

In 1894 the U. S. Fish Commission put observers on two boats which
operated the full season from the Maine coast to Cape Lookout, North
Carolina. A total of 946 productive seine hauls were made, and the catch
recorded. In all, 60 species of fish were taken. The surface swimmers pre-
dominated, and of these (excluding menhaden) bluefish, alewives, shad,
butterfish, and mackerel were the most prominent. Some bottom dwellers
such as skate, cod, pollock, hake, and haddock were taken in shoal water.

Altogether a total of 28,060,505 fish were taken among which there were
27,965,755 menhaden and 93,893 fish commonly considered food fish. Of
these food fish 86,000 were alewives, which are also used for oil and fertilizer;
and 6,990 more prized and high priced food fish. Of these latter there were
2,274 bluefish, 1,816 shad, 800 butterfish, 631 common mackerel, 150 Spanish
mackerel, 3 cero, 35 bonito, and 500 squeteague. Of the demersal fish, or
bottom dwellers, there were i cod, i pollock, 33 haddock, 40 hake, and 30
whiting (Smith, 1896).

These figures have been challenged, but it is presumed that the investiga-
tors were competent and the ability and integrity of the author of the report
are beyond question. It is surprising, however, considering the range of the
two vessels that so few species are represented in the catch. It is also surpris-
ing to find that so few of the natural predators of the menhaden such as
sharks (388), bluefish, and squeteague were taken, although it should be
borne in mind that the predators are not necessarily mixed intimately among
the individuals of the fish schools. If, however, the figures are taken as
reliable, they would mean that at this rate, in a banner year such as 1948

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 105

when 1,504,311,700 menhaden were landed, a total of food fish of approxi-
mately 375,000 of other fish were caught with the menhaden, that is, if
alewives, which are not esteemed as a food fish and which are frequently-
reduced for their oil and meal or sold as bait, are not included. Of this 375,000
total, about 120,000 would be bluefish, 47,000 shad, and the remainder
butterfish, common mackerel, squeteague, Spanish mackerel, bonito, cero, etc.
Since a good many of the food fish, probably most of them, are eaten by the
crew, carried home or sold as food fish, there seems Httle to be alarmed about.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bean, Tarleton H.

1903. The Food and Game Fishes of New York. Notes on their common
names, distribution, habits and mode of capture. Albany: J. Lyon
& Co., 1903, p. 251-460, 2 pis. New York State Forest Fish & Game
Comm'n.
Bigelow, Henry B.

1928. Plankton of the offshore waters of the Gulf of Maine. Bull. U. S.
Bur. Fish., Vol. XL, Pt. II, 1924 (1928), p. 1-509, 134 figs., extensive
bibliog.
Bigelow, Henry B., and William W. Welsh.

1925. Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XL, Pt. I,
1924 (1925), 567 p., 278 figs., extensive bibliog,
Cheng, C.

1 94 1. Ecological relations between the herring and plankton off the north-
east coast of England. Hull University College; Hull Bulletins of
Marine Ecology. Vol. i, No. 5, Sept. 1941, p. 239-254.
Earll, R. Edward.

1887. North Carolina and its fisheries in 1880. In Goode and associates
(1884-87) (which see below). Sec. II, Pt. XII, p. 475-497.
Fowler, Henry W.

1906. The Fishes of New Jersey. Ann. Rept. New Jersey State Museum,
Pt. II, 1905 (1906), p. 35-477, 103 pis.
Friedlaender, Oscar O.

1883. Notes on the menhaden fishery. Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., Vol. II,
1882 (1883), p. 252.

Goode, G. Brown.

1879. The natural and economical history of the American menhaden.
U, S. Comm. of Fish and Fisheries, Pt. V, Rept. of the Comm'r. for
1877 (1879). Appendix A, xii + 529 p., 31 pis.

1884. Food fishes of the United States. In Goode and associates (1884-87)
(which see below). Sec. I, Pt. Ill, p. 163-682 (menhaden p. 569-577).

Goode, G. Brown (and a staff of associates).

1884-87. The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States. V

106 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Sections (7 volumes), Sec. I, Text and Plates, 1884; Sees. II, III,
IV and V, (Vols. I and II and Plates), 1887, U. S. Comm. of Fish
and Fisheries.
Goode, G. Brown, and A. Howard Clark.

1887. The menhaden fishery. In Goode and associates (1884-87) (which
see above). Sec. V, Vol. I, text, Pt. V, p. 327-415.
Hardcastle, Aaron Bascom.

( 1946) The Genus Eimeria with special reference to the species parasitic on
marine fish. Unpublished ms. in Library, Duke University Marine
Station, Beaufort, N. C.
Harrison, Roger W.

193 1. The menhaden industry. U. S. Bur. Fish., Investigational Rept. No. i.
Vol. I, 1931, 113 p.
Hildebrand, Samuel F.

1919. Two species of menhaden occurring on the coast of North Carolina.
Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish, for 1918 (1920), Appendix VI, 8 p.,
2 figs., I pi.

1 94 1. An annotated list of salt and brackish water fishes, with a new name
for a menhaden, found in North Carolina since the publication of
The Fishes of North Carolina, by Hugh M. Smith in 1907. Copeia,
1941, No. 4, p. 220-232.
1948. A review of the American menhaden. Smithsonian Inst., Misc. Coll.,
Vol. 107, Mar. 22, 1948, No. 18, 39 p. Pub. 3913.
Hildebrand, Samuel F., and William C. Schroeder.

1928. Fishes of Chesapeake Bay. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLIII, Pt. I,
1927 (1928), 366 p., 211 figs., glossary, extensive bibliog.
Kendall, W. C.

1910. Effects of the menhaden and mackerel fisheries upon the fish supply.
[Proc. Fourth Int'l Fish. Cong. Washington, 1908]. Bull. U. S. Bur.
Fish., Vol. XXVIII, Pt. I, 1908 (1910), p. 279-293.
Kuntz, Albert, and Lewis Radcliffe.

191 7. Notes on the embryology and larval development of twelve teleostean
fishes. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XXXV, 1915-1916 (1918), p.
87-134, 126 figs.
Kyle, Harry M.

1926. The Biology of Fishes. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1926,
XVI + 396 p., illus., pis.
Lawson, John.

1709. History of North Carolina, by John Lawson, Gentleman (being a
reprint of the copy now in the North Carolina State Library, Raleigh.
Presented by President James Madison in the year 1813). Charlotte
Observer Printing House, 1903.
Lebour, Marie V.

1920. The food of young fish. No. Ill (1919), Jour, Mar. Biol. Ass'n. of
the United Kingdom, n.s. Vol. XII, No. 2, July, 1920, p. 261-324. -

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 107

Peck, James I.

1894. On the food of the menhaden. Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., Vol. XIII,
1893 (1894), p. 113-126, 8 pis.
Perlmutter, Alfred.

1939. A biological survey of the salt waters of Long Island, State of New
York. Dept. of Conservation, Part II, Supplemental to Twenty-
eighth annual report, 1938 (1939), 17 p.
Smith, Hugh M.

1896. Notes on an investigation of the menhaden fishery in 1894, with
special reference to the food-fishes taken. Bull. U. S. Fish Comm.,
Vol. XV, 189s (1896), p. 285-302.
Westman, James R., and jNIilton H. Bidwell.

1948. Waste disposal and fisheries of the salt waters adjacent to the Greater
New York metropolitan area. New York State Dept. of Conserva-
tion, mimeograph report, Freeport, N. Y., Dec. 1948.

<^><><><><><^£><X><><>^><><><><X><*^^

THE EDIBLE FINFISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA

BY Eugene W. Roelofs

Institute of Fisheries Research, University of North Carolina

CONTENTS

Page

Page

Alewives

109

Speckled Trout 127

Shad

III

Spot 128

The Mullets

114

Croaker 129

Spanish Mackerel

116

Minor Commercial Species 131

Bluefish

118

Summary and Recommendations 134

Striped Bass

120

Bibliography 136

Gray Trout

125

ALEWIVES

Pomolobus species

The alewife fisheries along the Atlantic coast are supported by two species:
the "true" alewife, "branch herring," or "goggle-eye" {Pomolobus pseudo-
harengus), and the "blueback," "glut herring," or "school herring" {P.
aestivalis). These two species have overlapping ranges, the former being
taken from Nova Scotia to the Carolinas, and the latter also from the Bay of
Fundy, but mainly from Chesapeake Bay to Florida. The North Carolina
fishery therefore includes both species, but the school herring is the more
important. Although the fishermen recognize the different species (the goggle-
eye is known as the forerunner of the shad) no distinction is made in the
commercial catch.

The principal Atlantic coast alewife fisheries are found in Chesapeake Bay
and North Carolina's Albemarle Sound region. Smaller fisheries exist in New
England and Florida. Only a small portion of the fish harvested are eaten
fresh, the bulk being salted or otherwise cured. Some of the roe is canned.
By-products from the fishery include scrap for fertilizer, oil, and pearl
essence from the scales.

Nearly all the alewives caught in the State are taken from the Albemarle

109

110 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Sound region, and particularly the Chowan River. Other rivers discharging
into the sound also yield small quantities, as do the Pamlico and Neuse rivers.
None are marketed south of Carteret County. Alewives are taken in pound
nets, haul seines, and gill nets. The season is a relatively short one, occurring
in late March, April, and early May.

The alewife is anadromous, i.e., it lives in salt water but migrates into
fresh-water rivers and streams for the purpose of spawning. The time of
its spawning migration in a given locality is regular from year to year. In
the Albemarle Sound region, the first run usually occurs in late March or
the first half of April. A number of Albemarle Sound fishermen say that the
largest runs "almost always start on the Monday following Easter Sunday."
The goggle-eye usually arrives three or four weeks ahead of the school
herring; the latter arrive with the shad. The goggle-eye also spawns farther
upstream than does the school herring.

The alewife has a high reproductive capacity. The average number of eggs
produced per female is given by Smith (1907) as 100,000. The adhesive eggs
cling to sticks, stones, pilings, and other available material; fishermen report
large numbers of eggs sticking to the pound nets. The length of time required
for hatching depends on water temperature; two to six days is considered
the range of the period of incubation. The young are very active and feed on
other small fish, mosquito larvae, small crustaceans, insects, etc.

Insofar as is known, the adult alewife, like all members of the herring
family, is a plankton feeder. The alewife, young and old, in turn serves as
food for other predatory fishes which occupy the same waters. Predators in
fresh water include the striped bass and white perch. Its salt-water enemies
undoubtedly include the bluefish, Spanish mackerel, and many others.

The young alewives spend their first summer in the fresh water, growing
to a length of two to four inches by fall, at which time the water temperature
drops and the young fish move downstream and into the warmer salt water.
After three or four years the fish have attained adult size, are sexually
mature, and ascend the rivers to spawn.

Little is known of the alewife during its stay in salt water. What happens
to the adult fish after spawning is also a mystery. It is evident that they
return to the ocean, since no adults are found in the rivers or sounds after
completion of the spawning season. The commercial catch consists almost
entirely of three- and four-year-old fish. It is not definitely known whether
the four-year-old fish also spawned as three-year-olds, or whether these fish
did not mature until their fourth year and are spawning for the first time.

The North Carolina alewife fishery has declined during the last 40 to 50
years. During the period 1890 to 1900 the annual production of the State
was between 15 and 20 million pounds (about one-third of U. S. production).
This decline is not so severe as that experienced in New England, where a

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 111

number of dams and obstructions have been placed in the rivers. However,
since 1900 the annual take has fluctuated considerably with a low of about
6 million pounds in 1937 and a high of nearly 15 million pounds in 1934. Such
fluctuations are most probably the result of differences in abundance rather
than in economic factors. The price of alewives remains nearly constant (one
cent per pound) regardless of peak or lean years. Merriman (1941) has
shown that in the case of the striped bass, abundance depends to a large
extent on the survival rate of the young in various years; the survival rate
in turn depends on conditions of temperature, wind, water flow, predation,
and food for the young. Production and survival of a large number of young
are then represented in the fishery in succeeding years in proportion to the
age of the fish composing the commercial catch. Fluctuations in alewife
production, therefore, are believed to result largely from biological and
climatic factors.

SHAD

Alosa sapidissima (Wilson)

The shad, a member of the herring family, was until 1935 the most impor-
tant food fish of North Carolina in terms of value. It was an important
species along the entire Atlantic coast since it supported a commercial fishery
in every state. The spring spawning runs were known in every suitable river
from the St, Johns River in Florida to the St. Lawrence. Since the great
decline in the fishery, beginning shortly before the turn of the century, the
shad runs in a number of streams are of historic interest only. Several factors
are involved in the collapse of the fishery; these will be discussed later.

The shad, like the alewife, is anadromous, living in salt water but ascend-
ing coastal streams to spawn. The earliest shad runs occur in Florida, begin-
ning in November or December. These are followed, in succession, by runs
in the streams in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and up the coast,
the most northerly runs occurring in late May. In Albemarle Sound, North
Carolina's most important shad fishing locality, the earliest shad may appear
in February, but the peak of the run occurs in late March or early April. The
runs along the entire coast take place when the water temperature in the
rivers reaches 50° to 55° F.

It was formerly thought that the spawning migration originated from the
ocean south of Florida, where all shad were believed to spend the winter. As
the huge mass moved northward, groups split off to return to the streams of
their birth along the coast. This theory is no longer entertained. Although the
life of the shad in salt water is still not known, it is believed that the fish
move offshore more or less opposite their native streams, and return to their
respective sections of the coast or even to their native streams for spawning.

The shad runs are usually composed of several cycles spaced at intervals

112 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

of a few days. The earliest runs consist largely of males (bucks) whereas the
females (roe-shad) arrive in the later runs. The roe-shad are larger, weighing
on the average at least a pound more than the bucks. The eggs are deposited
over the stream bottom, sandy or pebbly shallows being selected when avail-
able. On the average, 25,000 to 30,000 eggs are produced per female, although
large individuals may produce as many as 150,000. The eggs fall to the river
bottom, where they remain until hatching. Many eggs, therefore, may not be
fertilized, may be covered by mud or silt, and may be eaten by bottom-feed-
ing animals.

The eggs hatch in from three to ten days; the exact time depends upon
water temperature. The young feed on plankton which they obtain by means
of numerous long gill-rakers, and grow rapidly during the summer. They
remain in fresh water until, with the advent of cold weather in the fall, they
move downstream and into the sea. By fall, they have reached an average
length of three to five inches. Young individuals of seven to nine inches are
not uncommon in some areas. Little is known of the growth rate of the shad
after they leave the streams. They mature and first spawn at about the same
age as the alewife, i.e., three or four years.

Upon completion of spawning, the adults begin their return to the sea.
These fish are in poor condition because they take little or no food during the
spawning migration. However, according to Atkins (in Bigelow and Welsh,
1925) they begin feeding again before reaching salt water, and so recover
somewhat before going out to sea.

North Carolina is favorably situated geographically, with respect to shad,
in that the shad runs occur here early in the season while the price is high.
When the later large runs of the Chesapeake and other northern waters reach
their peak, the price of shad drops as much as 50 per cent or more, because
of the larger supply. But by this time, the bulk of the North Carolina supply
has been marketed.

The history of the shad decline in North Carolina parallels that of the
entire Atlantic coast. Shad were once so abundant as to be sold for fertilizer
but the runs became smaller during the period 1800-1850. The earliest avail-
able records for the whole coast are for 1880, when 17 million pounds were
taken. Stevenson (1899), however, gives records for the Greenfield seine
fishery in Albemarle Sound from 1852 to 1896. These records show years of
abundance and scarcity throughout the period, with a general increase from
1852 to 1874, a rapid decrease from 1875 to 1878, followed by a gradual
increase to 1896, a year in which 50 million pounds were taken from the
rivers of the Atlantic coast. It is not known whether the Greenfield records
reflect accurately the picture of the entire coast, but they very likely follow
the general trends in the coastal fishery. Total production dropped to 26
million pounds in 1908, and the 1940 catch was only about 12 million pounds.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 113

North Carolina's production dropped from about nine million pounds in
1897 to less than one million in 1940. In fact, the annual production since
1930 has averaged less than a million pounds. North Carolina has produced
from 8 to 15 per cent of the total U. S. catch.

Much has been said and written regarding the causes of the decline in the
shad fishery. Overfishing, pollution, and dams are generally considered the
three important factors involved. At first, it was thought that overfishing
was chiefly responsible; therefore about 1880 a large-scale program of
artificial propagation was initiated in an attempt to restore the shad popula-
tion. Early indications were that the planting of small shad was accomplish-
ing its purpose (a gradual increase in supply of adults from 1880 to 1896)
but improvements in fishing methods and greater fishing intensity were not
considered in accounting for such increases. Then after 1896, while planting
was continued, the shad decreased at a rapid rate. Artificial propagation did
little, if any, demonstrable good; at least it could not maintain the supply.

The effect of overfishing, or even the possibility of overfishing, is not com-
pletely understood. Huntsman (1944) summarizes one of the current at-
titudes toward overfishing (of fish in general) as follows:

Frequently the possibility is advanced that overfishing has resulted in under-
replacement of the stock through decrease in the numbers of spawning fish.
Since most species have a high reproductive capacity, this does not readily occur.
Exclusion of anadromous fish from their spawning grounds by impassable dams
definitely prevents replacement of the stock. Conceivably, overfishing might
prevent full replacement of stock, but it is desirable to have carefully docu-
mented experiments to establish the need for restriction of the fishery to assure
replacement. Leaving out of account such forms as the amphibious walrus of
the Atlantic and fur seal of the Pacific, which are particularly vulnerable on
their breeding grounds, we have as yet been unable to learn of a clear, docu-
mented case of under-replacement through overfishing for this continent.
Information on this would be welcomed. It is proposed to undertake somewhat
precise experiments to determine in particular cases how many spawners are
required for replacement of the stock, so that the full surplus may be taken for
human use if desired.

It is also difficult to place the full responsibility for the shad decline on
overfishing, in the light of the Greenfield fishery data referred to above. This
fishery, as were most other fisheries, was inoperative for four years during
the Civil War, 1862-1865 inclusive. If the breeding stock previously had
been maintained at too low a level, this four-year period should have provided
ample time to increase the stock. Yet the annual production for the five-year
period following the war was only 14 per cent higher than the five-year pre-
war period (41,746 fish as compared with 36,609). The take for the next
five-year (1871-1875) period was about the same, but the following five

114 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

years witnessed a drop to 17,185 fish annually. Production since that time
has never approached the period 185 7-1 861. Although this does not prove
the impossibility of overfishing, it does show that controlled fishing may not
provide the remedy desired, since if complete cessation of a fishery for a
four-year period gave little benefit, controlled fishing could do no more.

The Hudson River fishery is an interesting one and should be followed
closely. The shad made a surprising come-back in the Hudson in 1936, and
since that time only a portion of the available shad have been taken. Produc-
tion since then has been maintained at a high level, although there were
indications of a decline in 1947. This fishery should be observed carefully in
the future to ascertain whether limited fishing will insure a continuous high
yield.

The effects of pollution and construction of dams are much more easily
demonstrated and evaluated. Many streams have been ruined for shad by
industrial and municipal pollution and by the erection of obstructions of
various kinds. Clearing of land has resulted in erosion and silting, rendering
streams unsuitable for shad spawning. Shad formerly ascended many rivers
to their head waters. Stevenson (1899) reports shad fisheries in the early
days on the Neuse River above Raleigh, but there are very few rivers today
where the shad can reach the head waters. In other words, shad and civiliza-
tion are not compatible, and it is doubtful that the shad can ever be restored
to the status of colonial days, in spite of the attempts to do so by well-mean-
ing conservationists.

In North Carolina, the upper waters of the Cape Fear, Neuse, and Pam-
lico-Tar rivers formerly contained important shad fisheries, but today most
of the state's production comes from Croatan, Roanoke, and Albemarle
sounds. A few shad are still taken from the lower regions of the rivers men-
tioned above but none from the head waters. The gear used in the shad
fisheries is comprised chiefly of gill nets, pound nets, and seines.

THE MULLETS
Mugil species

Two species of mullet are caught and marketed under this name in North
Carolina, namely, the striped or jumping mullet {Mugil cephalus) and the
white or silverside mullet {M. curema). A number of other species are known,
most of them being found in tropical waters of the world, but the two named
above form the mullet fishery of northern waters. The jumping mullet is
more abundant than the silverside in North Carolina. The former also has a
more northern range, extending into the Gulf of Maine, whereas the latter
is not found north of Cape Cod (Bigelow and Welsh, 1925), The local species
are also found on the Pacific coast and both coasts of South America. '

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 115

Some studies have been made on the biology of the mullet in North Caro-
lina waters. Adult and young fish are found dispersed in the sounds during
the summer. In the fall the fish congregate in schools and move to the inlets
and apparently wait for weather conditions favorable to their moving out.
Early fall runs (August and September) contain small fish less than a year
old. These are followed by the year-old fish, and later in the fall (October
and November) the adults school up and move to the inlets. These fish carry
spawn, indicating that this is a spawning migration. The fish move out of the
inlets in November and December, usually on a northerly wind (according
to old-timers) and spawn in the ocean. Spawning is believed to occur in the
vicinity of the inlets because within two or three weeks, young mullet are
found entering the inlets. After spawning, the schools break up and some of
the adult fish also begin moving into the inlets. Both the young and the old
fish apparently move in and out of the inlets with the weather during the
winter, and finally move into the sound in the spring.

The fall spawning migrations described above are reported from North
Carolina by Smith (1907), from Florida by Hildebrand and Schroeder
(1928), and from Texas by Gunter (1945). All are similar in outline but
differ slightly regarding dates and extent of the spawning season.

Little is known of the growth rate of the mullet. Nichols and Breder
(1926) report that the young, after the first summer's growth, have reached
an average length of about two and one-half inches (standard length,
measured from tip of snout to the end of spinal column). The adults may
reach a length of two and one-half feet, although the average size of mullet
taken commercially is less than eighteen inches. Nichols and Breder state that
mullet may spawn at an age of two years.

The food of the mullet consists of a wide variety of plants and animals.
Dr. Coker reports, in Smith (1907), finding amphipods, annelids, shrimp,
and bivalve mullusk shells in fish examined at Beaufort, North Carolina,
during June and July. However, Nichols and Breder allude to a progressive
proportionate lengthening of the intestine as the fish ages, and suggest that
such a change may be correlated with a change in diet from one of plankton
to one containing a high percentage of higher marine plants. It is obvious,
therefore, that the mullet is omnivorous and perhaps takes its food largely
on the basis of availability without exercising a great degree of selection.

The mullet fishery is a seasonal one, usually of short duration. Most of the
mullet are taken in seines during the period of the fall mass migration. The
average annual production in North Carolina is over three million pounds.
The handling and disposal of such a quantity in a space of a few weeks
becomes a definite problem. The price is usually low because of the flooded
market. About 95 per cent of the mullet are sold fresh; the rest are either
brine-cured, salted, or filleted and packaged. A small amount of mullet roe is

116 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

dried and salted. Technological studies aimed toward developing other
products should be undertaken in order to spread the marketing of these
species over a longer period. Development of other products might also in-
crease the value of the fish marketed fresh by preventing gluts or overloads.

SPANISH MACKEREL

Scomberomorus maculatus (Mitchill)

Spanish mackerel is the most important member of the mackerel family
in the commercial fisheries of North Carolina. It is also a highly prized sport
or game fish. It is a smaller fish than its close relative, the kingfish or cero,
and it is more abundant in North Carolina waters. The Spanish mackerel is
found along the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Brazil and also in the
Gulf of Mexico. It attains a size of nine to ten pounds, although Smith (1907)
reports a 25-pound fish from Chesapeake Bay.

The Spanish mackerel is a migratory species and travels in schools. In the
spring, it migrates northward from its winter habitat in the southern waters.
Its winter habitat is not definitely known although Longley and Hildebrand
(1941) report that the species is abundant in the vicinity of Key West,
Florida, from November to April, the months when they are absent from
northern waters. The size of the wintering area is unknown, but the Spanish
mackerel is taken in commercial quantities all around the coast of Florida,
both Atlantic and Gulf, between these months of the winter period.

A migration from the winter grounds to the Gulf and one up the Atlantic
coast coincide, starting in March and April. Gunter (1945) reports that
Spanish mackerel appear off the Texas coast in March. They spend the
summer in the Gulf and begin to leave in September; they become scarce by
November although a few individuals may be taken during the winter. The
largest catches are made in August. The Atlantic coast migration also begins
in late March and April and passes through North Carolina waters in May
and early June, the latter month producing the larger catches. They do not
reach New York waters until July, according to Bigelow and Welsh (1925).
Very few fish are taken during the summer in North Carolina, but the
southern migration in September and October supports a fall fishery. The fish
have grown in the northern waters during the summer, and are larger on
their return trip. The smallness of the fall catches is attributed to general ad-
verse and unstable weather conditions during this season, but occasionally a
break in the weather will permit large catches.

Spanish mackerel are believed to spawn along the entire Atlantic coast,
although the principal spawning area is Chesapeake Bay. The fish, as they
begin the spring migration, are ready to spawn, but all the eggs in an indi-
vidual female do not ripen simultaneously, indicating that not all eggs' are

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 117

discharged at one time but rather are discharged at intervals as the migration
proceeds. The spawning season, therefore, extends for several weeks, during
which several hundred thousand eggs may be deposited. The eggs float on
the surface and hatch in a relatively short time. Smith (1907) reports the
hatching period to be 25 hours in water of 77°-78° F. Ryder (1882) took
eggs at Nev/ Point Comfort, Virginia, and reports their hatching in 24 hours,
but the water temperature is not given. The latter author observed the young
actively feeding on the fourth day although the nature of the food was not
determined. He reports further that teeth are developed by the end of the
first week of life. The early development of teeth indicates that their carniv-
orous feeding habits develop very early. The adult Spanish mackerel is among
the most voracious feeders; it follows schools of smaller fish, apparently
without regard to species.

Goode (Sec. I, Text, 1884) states that the Spanish mackerel was known in
New England as early as 1673, when it was clearly described and referred to
as the speckled hound-fish. No further mention of this species is made until
Mitchill (181 5) described and named it. Goode further reports that the
species was not taken commercially until 1845 in New England and some-
what later in the southern waters. He records a catch of several thousand
pounds landed at Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1879, which could not be
sold to local dealers because there was no market for it (the dealers believed
the fish to be the horse mackerel, Orcynus), and the entire catch was thrown
away. In the next few years the true value of the Spanish mackerel was
realized and the North Carolina fishery developed rapidly.

This species supports its largest fishery in Florida, where the annual take
is several times that of the other Atlantic states combined. The catch in
North CaroHna recorded by the Federal Government since 1889 shows wide
fluctuations. The production in 1889 was 63,000 pounds; it increased to
about 350,000 pounds annually during the period 1897-1908, then slowly
decreased to a low of 48,000 pounds in 1934. In 1936, 433,000 pounds were
taken. Production since then has varied from 141,000 pounds to 507,000
pounds, the latter figure representing the 1945 catch. An indication that such
fluctuations may be rather limited in area is given by Smith (1907) who
reports that, during a peak in North Carolina's production, the Spanish
mackerel "is especially abundant in the Gulf of Mexico, about the Florida
Keys, and on the coast of the Carolinas; and was once very numerous in
Chesapeake Bay, but is now much less abundant than it was 25 years ago."
This species seems to be subject to wide fluctuations in local abundance, but
such changes do not necessarily embrace its entire range.

This fish undoubtedly occurs off the entire coast of North Carolina, but
few are taken commercially south of Carteret County. Over 50 per cent of
the State's production is landed in Carteret County, with Dare, Pamlico,

T 1^ V

118 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Hyde, and Beaufort counties taking the remainder. They are taken by troll
lines, hand lines, and pound nets.

BLUEFISH

Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus)

The bluefish is found along the entire Atlantic coast of the United States
from the Gulf of Maine southward, including the Gulf of Mexico. It is not
restricted to our coast, however. According to Goode (Sec. i. Text, 1884),
it is also found in waters of Australia, Malay Archipelago, Cape of Good
Hope, Brazil, Madagascar, Syria, Canary Islands, and in the Mediterranean.
It apparently does not occur along the Atlantic coast of Europe, nor in
Bermuda or the West Indies waters, but it occurs in commercial quantities
off Uruguay and Argentina, from which it has been imported to the United
States. The species is migratory, and its abundance in a given area is sporadic.

It is also known to disappear from certain waters for protracted periods.
Such was the case in New England during the period 1 764-1810 when no
bluefish were taken. According to Goode {loc. cit., 1884), bluefish were
common in New England in 1672 and were abundant in Nantucket waters
from 1659 to 1763. They did not appear in 1764 and were entirely absent
from New England waters until 1810, when small numbers returned to New
York and southern New England. They were abundant in these waters by
1825. According to Bigelow and Welsh (1925), they did not return to Cape
Cod and northern Massachusetts until 1837 or 1838. From 1850 to the late
i86o's they were abundant at Gloucester. Their numbers then began decreas-
ing, and since 1889 the species has remained scarce.

The history of this species in North Carolina waters is not clear. Smith
(1907) quotes Lawson (1709) as saying that they appeared in the fall in
great schools on the coast and were taken by the Hatteras Indians. However,
Goode {loc. cit., 1884) quotes R. E. Earll as saying that the bluefish was first
known in the Hatteras area in 1842, that it reached a peak between 1870 and
1876, and that from 1877 to 1880, they were much less abundant and of
smaller size. Their history between 1709 and 1842, therefore, is unknown,
but this account does bear out their erratic movements and fluctuations in
abundance.

Very little is known of the spawning of the bluefish. It is generally agreed
that they spawn offshore in early summer. A few fish in "ripe" condition have
been taken in early June, but spawning fish have not been observed. However,
young fish about three inches in length enter the sounds in June and July.
This fact substantiates the belief in the early-summer spawning period. The
young, as well as the adults, travel in schools of a particular size group. The
larger fish remain in the deeper waters while the smaller ones enter the shal-

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 119

lower coastal and sound waters. The growth rate and age at maturity are
not known. The only available information is that the young reach a length
of four to five inches during the first summer. The bluefish grows to a maxi-
mum size of less than 30 pounds; in fact, fish weighing over 15 pounds are
rare along the United States coast.

The feeding habits are well known. Studies of the bluefish contain many
references to its voracity. It has been alluded to as an animated chopping-
machine, the business of which is to cut to pieces as many fish as possible in
a given space of time. Reports of the bluefish leaving blood and partially
eaten fish in their wake are plentiful. Various estimates of the number of
fish destroyed by an individual bluefish have been made, and on the basis
of such estimates, some authors have calculated the total number of fish
destroyed by these killers. Such figures for one section of the coast run as
large as several hundred billion. Perhaps such figures should not be taken too
seriously since they have only doubtful basis on fact. From all reports, the
bluefish feeds on almost any fish smaller than itself, and if its prey is too
large to be swallowed, the bluefish merely eats part of it, leaving the
remainder.

Bluefish are taken along the entire North Carolina coast, chiefly in offshore
waters. Some are taken in Pamlico Sound. The counties landing the greatest
catches are Carteret, Dare, Pamlico, Brunswick, and Hyde. Bluefish are
taken in long haul seines, run-around gill nets, and stake gill nets. They are
taken chiefly in early spring (March and April), although some may be
taken during the summer. These summer inhabitants are generally small,
one to three pounds ; the larger fish are believed to move farther north or to
stay in deeper water. In the fall, October to December, they become more
abundant as the southern migration takes place. It is not known whether the
entire coastal stock winters in the south or moves offshore more or less
opposite the summer grounds. The increase in North Carolina waters in the
fall, as well as the winter fishery in Florida, tends to favor the theory of a
north-south migration rather than the inshore-offshore movement.

The bluefish is a highly desirable food fish, is generally in demand, and
therefore brings a good price. The commercial production in North Carolina
is variable, having been as high as two million pounds and as low as less than
a half million pounds annually. The bluefish is an important game species,
and it has been estimated that the number taken by sport fishermen in some
places may equal or surpass the commercial catch.

Since the species is pelagic (living near the surface in the open ocean) and
spawning occurs offshore, where the waters are not fished, it seems doubtful
that fishing exerts an appreciable influence on the total population, and so
no restrictions on fishing seem advisable. Periods of abundance and scarcity
will undoubtedly occur, much as they have occurred in the past.

120 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

STRIPED BASS

RoccMS saxatilis (Walbaum)

The striped bass (also known as ''rock" or "rockfish") is found along the
Atlantic coast from the Gulf of St. Lawrence southward. Jordan and Ever-
mann (1896-1900) report it on the western coast of Florida (Gulf of
Mexico), Bean (1884) records it from Mississippi, and Gowanloch (1933)
mentions it in "Fishes and Fishing in Louisiana." However, Merriman
(1941) states that although it occurs from Florida to the Gulf of St. Law-
rence, it is most common from North Carolina to Massachusetts. In 1945, of
a total commercial production of 5,624,000 pounds, 65 per cent was produced
in the Chesapeake states. It was introduced (135 fish in 1879 and 300 in
1882) on the Pacific coast and supports a commercial fishery there which
yielded 250,000 pounds in 1945.

This fish appears to be a coastal form, for it is rarely taken more than a
few miles offshore. The species is anadromous, living in salt water but
spawning in fresh water, and it is therefore taken in both inside and outside
waters. It is sought by both commercial and sport fishermen. One of the most
notable sport fisheries occurs each spring in the Roanoke River at Weldon,
North Carolina, over a hundred miles inland from the river's mouth.

An investigation of the striped bass was undertaken by the Connecticut
State Board of Fisheries and Game in 1936. Since the species is migratory,
it soon became evident that the investigation should be extended over an
area larger than a single state. This extension was made possible by the
financial support of the American Wildlife Institute and the United States
Bureau of Fisheries. The investigation was concluded in 1938 and reported
on by Merriman (1941). Much of the information given in this review is
taken from Merriman's study, and in all the references to Merriman below,
his 1 94 1 paper is to be understood.

The striped bass spawns all along the Atlantic coast in the spring, the exact
time depending on latitude and water temperature. According to Smith
(1907) spawning in North Carolina occurs in late April and early May. The
spawning activities are well known to fishermen who have witnessed the
"rock-fights," in which a single large female and a number of smaller males
rise to the surface and vigorously splash about, creating a commotion which
can be heard for several hundred feet. Whether these fights are part of the
actual spawning act or merely a form of courting is not known.

The sex ratio of spawning striped bass is estimated to be 10 to 50 males
for each female. Merriman took a sample of 127 fish at Weldon in the spring
of 1938, and found only six of them to be females. Spawning males are con-
siderably smaller than females. Worth (1903) states that the males weigh
from one to three pounds whereas the females weigh from four to fifty
pounds. This size difference is due to the difference in age at which the two

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 121

sexes reach maturity. Most males are sexually mature at the end of two
years growth, while females require at least four years, at the end of which
time only about 25 per cent are mature. Merriman estimated that at the end
of the fifth year of life, 75 per cent of the females are sexually mature, the
remaining 25 per cent requiring six or seven years. The majority of the
spawning males at Weldon are two-year-olds, with smaller numbers of three-
and four-year olds; females, however, are all over four years old, accounting
for their larger size.

The number of eggs produced per female varies greatly with the size of
the fish. Worth (1903) reports egg counts from 11,000 to 1,215,000 but does
not include data on size or weight. Merriman found a 4^ -pound female con-
taining 265,000 eggs. Bigelow and Welsh (1925) report a 12-pound fish
which produced 1,280,000 and estimate that a 75-pound fish would produce
10,000,000 eggs. The eggs are semi-buoyant and are therefore carried down-
stream during the development period. The time required for hatching,
dependent on water temperature, is from 30 to 74 hours. Considering the
current of the Roanoke River, Merriman believes that many of the eggs
produced in the vicinity of Weldon, North Carolina, may reach Albemarle
Sound before hatching.

The young fish apparently remain in fresh or brackish water for two
summers, for young-of-the-year and yearly fish are rarely taken in outer
coastal waters. Young bass feed on small invertebrates such as fresh-water
shrimp, insects, and worms (Townes, 1937; Hildebrand and Schroeder,
1928; and Merriman, 1941). The older and larger bass are known to feed
largely on other species of fish, such as menhaden, alewives, shad, silver-sides
(Menidia), killifish {Fundulus), and shiners {Notropis). Other species of
fish and Crustacea are also taken in lesser quantities.

The rate of growth of the striped bass has been studied by Merriman.
Measurements were made of fish ranging from one month to nine years of
age. There is some evidence of varying growth rates in different localities
along the coast. In 1937, for example, the two- and three-year-old fish from
Massachusetts were larger than the Connecticut bass of the same age. The
average lengths (from tip of nose to fork of tail) of striped bass at successive
years of age are given by Merriman as follows :

AVERAGE

LENGTH

Age

Centimeters

Inches

I

12.S

4.92

2

23-5

9-25

3

36.S

14-37

4

45-0

17.72

5

53-0

20.87

6

61.0

24.02

7

68.5

26.97

8

75-0

29-53

9

82.0

32.28

122 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

The growth of the striped bass, as found by subtractions in the above
table, was 4.92 inches during the first year, 4.33 inches the second, and 5.12
inches the third year. The growth rate then decreases, being 3.35, 3.15, 3-i5,
2.95 and 2.56 inches during the fourth to eighth years respectively.

Unusually large striped bass are taken occasionally. Smith (1907) reports
fish weighing 125 pounds taken at Edenton, North Carolina, in 1891, and
states further that striped bass weighing 60 to 75 pounds are (or were) not
uncommon. Apparently these larger fish are no longer as common as in the
past, for Merriman states that "bass above 60 pounds are now decidedly
rare."

An interesting feature in the life history of this species which was not
commonly known prior to Merriman's study is the annual mass migration to
the north in the spring and to the south in the fall. These migrations were
demonstrated by tagging a large number of fish at various points along the
Atlantic coast.

The spring migration is believed to start from Chesapeake Bay and the
size of the migrating group increases as the fish from more northerly points
join it. When the migrating mass reaches Long Island, Connecticut, and
Rhode Island waters, large groups split off to spend the summer in these
waters, so that the body of fish dwindles as it moves farther north. The
northern limit of the migration apparently is determined by the size of the
migrating mass. During years when the population is small, the northern
limit seems to be Cape Cod, but in years of large populations, such as 1936
and 1937, striped bass were common as far north as New Hampshire and
Maine. During those years, bass were taken in commercial quantities in Cape
Cod where normally the annual migration is not large enough to support a
fishery.

In the fall, the migration reverses, starting with those individuals which
spent the summer in the most northerly waters, gaining numbers as it is
augmented by the fish from Long Island and southern New England, and
then decreasing as groups split off to spend the winter in different localities.

There are indications that the migrations are greatly influenced by water
temperature. The striped bass tolerate a wide range of temperature, as shown
by their distribution described earlier; yet Merriman found that "the times
when the first striped bass of the year were taken — in April 1936, 1937, and
1938 — and the times that the last ones of the year were caught — in Novem-
ber, 1936 and 1937 — in the Niantic River, Connecticut, were always when
the temperature of the water was approximately the same, 6.0° to 7.5° C.
(42.8° to 45-5° F.)."

Not all striped bass take part in the annual migration; some individuals
remain in each of the southern localities during the summer and convei^sely
some remain in the northern waters during the winter. Whether such indi-

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 123

viduals are part of a continuous resident population or are detached from the
migrating mass is not definitely known.

The age and sex composition of the migrating fish is interesting in that
the group spending the early summer in New England waters contains 90
per cent females, most of which are two or three years old. This condition is
explained by the fact that the migration coincides with the spawning season.
As pointed out earlier, females do not spawn until the end of their fourth
year while males mature at the end of the second year. Since fish of both
sexes remain in fresh or brackish water for two years, the only fish which
are available for the migration are females too young to spawn (the 2- and
3-year olds). However, the migration also includes some larger females which
are of spawning age but do not contain eggs. This fact suggests that females
do not spawn every year.

There is a second and less numerous migration in early summer, after the
spawning season. This migration is composed of individuals and small groups
of larger females which have spawned and are moving north for the summer.
The movements of these larger females is reflected in the fishing records of
New England, where catches prior to June consist of smaller fish and the
catches during the summer and fall contain a greater percentage of the larger
size fish — more than can be accounted for by the growth of the earlier and
smaller migrants.

Information regarding the migratory habits of the male striped bass is
needed. According to the literature, the sex ratio on the spawning grounds is
10 to 50 males per female, and the summer populations in the north, resulting
from migrations described above, are 90 per cent females. A large number of
males are therefore unaccounted for during the summer, except by Merri-
man's statement that the "strikingly abnormal sex ratio does not exist in
waters farther south." If the second migration (females which have spawned)
is large enough to influence materially the northern catch, there should be
10 to 50 times as many males to distribute themselves along the coast, and
there should be some southern localities where the summer population is
predominantly male. Future studies on this species may clear up this phase
of the life history.

The migrations described above involve only a part of the coastal popula-
tion of striped bass. Although it is found from Florida to Nova Scotia, only
those fish from Chesapeake Bay to Cape Cod normally participate in the
migration described. It is believed, on the basis of tagging experiments, that
the Albemarle Sound population contributes very little to the northern migra-
tion and that very few of the south-bound migrants reach North Carolina in
the fall or winter. The Nova Scotia population also seems to be a separate
group and contributes very little to the New England population. On the
basis of observations made by Parr (1933), Merriman suggests that a cold

124 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

water barrier at Cape Cod normally limits the northern spring migration and
that a warm water barrier at Cape Hatteras marks the southern extent of the
normal fall migration.

We find no mention in the literature of migrations of striped bass in the
regions north and south of the area covered by Merriman. It remains to be
determined, then, whether the North Carolina population is a resident one
or whether it represents the northern limit of a migration from more southern
waters. If in North Carolina there is a resident and more-or-less static popula-
tion, not moving to or coming from other coastal states, the management of
the species would be simplified. At present the minimum legal size in North
Carolina for commercial purposes is 12 inches. Such a fish is two years old
and, if a female, is two years younger than spawning age. The females are
thus available to commertial use for two years before spawning. If, therefore,
the North Carolina fishermen could be reasonably certain that the fish were
not moving into "foreign" waters to be caught, they might welcome legisla-
tion to protect the species until they attain spawning age and a considerably
larger size. Since the third year is the year of greatest growth, it might be
advisable, in any case, to allow the fish to reach the larger size before harvest-
ing. On the other hand, the additional food, including young herring and
shad consumed by the striped bass thus protected, might be of more value
than the increment of growth of the bass. The production of striped bass in
North Carolina, as in other states along the coast and as with other species,
has had its ups and downs. These fluctuations are believed to be closely
associated with survival of the young of various year-classes. In 1934, for
example, an exceptionally large crop of young was produced in Chesapeake
Bay (Merriman, 1941) which were caught in 1936 and 1937 along the coast
north to Cape Cod. These years saw all previous catch records broken by
wide margins. These same years in North Carolina, however, witnessed no
such increase. This fact provides additional evidence that the two populations
are separate and distinct, and that conditions favorable to the survival of
young are not general but rather occur in specific localities. There is no rec-
ord of a local decline in North Carolina such as is reported in more northern
waters during the latter part of the nineteenth century. The average annual
catch from 1887 to 1945 is 550,000 pounds, and in only one year (1902) has
the catch varied by more than 50 per cent of this amount. In 1902, 1,175,000
pounds was reported. Although there have been good years and poor years,
there has been no appreciable upward or downward trend in the last 60 years.

Most of the striped bass in North Carolina are taken in Croatan Sound
and the eastern end of Albemarle Sound, In 1938, Dare County landed over
50 per cent of the State's catch, with other counties along Albemarle Sound
producing the rest. These fish also ascend Pamlico and Neuse rivers, but the

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 125

commercial catch in them is negligible. A few are taken in the Cape Fear
River area.

Future studies on the striped bass in North Carolina should include a
determination of the extent of migration of the population, since the nature
of such migrations may well be considered a basis for more effective manage-
ment of the fishery. Because the species is anadromous, like the shad and
alewife, it is necessary to keep streams free from obstructions and pollution
if the continued utilization of this fishery is desired.

GRAY TROUT

Cyno scion regalis (Bloch & Schneider)

The gray trout, also known as gray weakfish and squeteague, is found
along the Atlantic coast from southern New England to Florida, although it
is of commercial importance only from North Carolina northward. It was
formerly believed to inhabit waters of the Gulf States, but Ginsburg (1929)
found the Gulf trout to be a distinct species, C. arenarius. The gray trout is
ordinarily taken in North Carolina from March to December; the exact
length of the season depends upon the date of beginning and the severity of
the winter. The gray trout is among those fishes which are considered "good-
eating" and therefore commands a good price. The states reporting the
largest catches are New Jersey, Virginia, and North Carolina.

An interesting note regarding the distribution of this species is found in
the report of Bigelow and Welsh (1925) on the fishes of the Gulf of Maine.
Trout were plentiful in Massachusetts Bay in the middle and latter part of
the eighteenth century, but disappeared before 1800. The disappearance was
apparently so complete that a single specimen taken in 1838 at Provincetown
was sent to Boston for identification. By 1867 they were reappearing in south-
ern Massachusetts and became abundant in 1870, but were not reported
north of Cape Cod until 1884. They then became very abundant, and reached
a peak in 1 901 -1904. The 1906 population was somewhat smaller and rapid
annual decreases took place; the 19 10 Massachusetts Bay catch was 17
pounds. By 191 7 they had again disappeared from these northern waters.

The gray trout is believed to spawn at sea. This conclusion is reached on
the basis of a study of the movements of adult fish and distributioii of the
very young fish by Hildebrand and Cable (1934). They report that the adults
move inshore in early spring as the water temperature rises (March and
April), but in May they move offshore, to return after spawning. The large
trout increase in abundance through June, July and August. Very young fish
appear in coastal waters from late May to the middle of August; this period
coincides with the absence of the large adults. This evidence seems sufficient
to place the spawning at sea during the period May to August. The spawning

126 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

period therefore is an extended one, although the peak of spawning activity
occurs in May and June. No adults containing roe in a "ripe" condition have
been found in inshore waters.

Many young fish move into the shallow inside waters as soon as they are
able to swim, although young are also taken during the summer in shallow
offshore water. They remain in the sounds and estuaries all summer and fall,
and apparently stay during the winter as well except for short periods of
severe cold. The young may therefore move in and out several times during
the winter. The adults, however, move out to sea with the first cold weather
and do not return until spring.

The food of the very young trout has not been studied, but from the time
they reach one and one-half to two inches, Welsh and Breder (1923) state
that the young feed largely on small Crustacea such as copepods, isopods,
amphipods, shrimp, and crabs. Worms and smaller fish are taken. Smith
(1907) and Nichols and Breder (1926) list menhaden as the principal food
of the gray trout, although other fish and shrimp are also important food
items. The young trout grow rapidly; they reach an average size of about
seven inches by the end of the first year. They spawn for the first time when
three years old, according to Higgins and Pearson (1927).

The gray trout is a migratory species; adult fish spend the summer in the
north and the winters in the south. This seems particularly true in the Chesa-
peake Bay to Cape Cod section of the coast. But as in the case of the striped
bass, the extent of migrations in waters south of Chesapeake Bay is not
known.

The chief North Carolina fishery is in Pamlico Sound and tributary wat-
ers; Carteret, Dare, and Pamlico counties account for nearly the entire catch.
Trout are taken from inside waters throughout the year, except for periods
of cold weather when they move "outside." They are taken by offshore trawl-
ers during these winter periods.

Smith (1907) lists the gray trout as much less abundant than the spotted
trout, but data obtained by the Federal Government since 1930 show the an-
nual catch of gray trout in North Carolina to be nearly five times that of the
spotted trout — (five million pounds annually as compared with a little over
one million. See this Survey, Part III, Table 91, Appendix).

Some concern has been expressed in years past regarding the destruction
of young gray trout by the summer pound-net and haul-seine operations in
North Carolina. Higgins and Pearson (1927) made a thorough investigation,
reported on the tremendous destruction of small trout, and recommended a
closed season on pound netting in Pamlico Sound from the end of the shad
season until August i in order to preserve the gray trout fishery. This rec-
ommendation was never carried out, but the gray trout fishery did not de-
crease. What the effect of a closed summer season would have been is' of

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 127

course unknown. However, during recent years very few pound nets have
been fished in Pamlico Sound after the shad season, but there is no evidence
of an increase in gray trout resulting from the much-reduced pound netting.

SPECKLED TROUT

Cynoscion nebulosus (Cuvier & Valenciennes)

Also known as spotted or speckled weakfish or squeteague, the speckled
trout has a wider distribution than the gray trout ; it is found from New York
to Texas. Since it is commercially important only in the southern part of its
range (Virginia, southward) it is frequently referred to as the southern weak-
fish, squeteague, or trout. Both species are therefore important in North Car-
olina, where they are usually called trout, the names weakfish and squeteague
being more common to the north. Like its close relative, it is a fish of
superior flavor, and commands a good price. It is of particular importance
in North Carolina because it is taken during the entire year in shallow water
and therefore supports some fishery in the slack season during the sojourn
of other fish in deeper offshore waters in the winter months.

The spawning of this species is not well known. Hildebrand and Cable
(1934) found larvae (very young fish) under one-fourth inch both offshore
and in estuaries and conclude that spotted trout probably spawn in both the
inside and the outside waters. The North Carolina spawning season coincides
with that of the gray trout, May to August. Pearson (1929) reports that this
species in Texas spawns largely in the coastal bays and lagoons from March
to October.

Growth and food of the spotted trout have been studied little. Hildebrand
and Cable (1934), on the basis of measurements of the young, found that its
growth rate parallels that of the gray trout, reaching 6.75 inches in seven to
eight months. Nichols and Breder (1926) show the growth to be as follows:
first winter, 4.5 inches; second winter, 9.0 inches; third winter, 12.2 inches;
fourth winter, 14.2 inches; fifth winter, 15.75 inches; and sixth winter,
nearly 17 inches. Regarding feeding habits, Smith (1907) states, "It swims
in schools, and preys on all kinds of small fishes, and is itself eaten by blue-
fish, drum and northern squeteague" (i.e., by gray trout).

Adult and young spotted trout now are found in the sounds and mouths of
rivers throughout the year. However, they apparently did not occur in the
Beaufort region in the earlier part of this century; Coker reports (in Smith,
1907) that the winter fishery is a recent development and that the presence
of schools of trout in the winter "presents something new and unexplained."
Trout were known to frequent other shallow waters in winter in earlier years,
however. Records of finding "numb" trout (fish which become numb, rise to
the surface almost motionless and are easily captured) during extremely cold

128 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

periods are found in the literature (Lawson, 1709, cited by Smith, 1907;
and Goode, 1884, Sec. I, Text). It seems, therefore, that long-term fluctua-
tions in distribution take place in at least certain localities.

Production of spotted trout in North Carolina amounts to about a million
pounds annually. There have been high and low years, but there has been
no significant trend in the fishery since 1925.

SPOT

Leiostomus xanthurus (Lacepede)

The spot, which derives its name from the round spot on its shoulder, is
found from Massachusetts to Texas. North Carolina, Virginia, and New Jer-
sey are the largest spot-producing states. The spot is not so large a fish as
are many other commercial species, but it is highly regarded as a food fish.
It is of much more importance in North Carolina than it was fifty to sixty
years ago. In fact, Smith (1907) states that there was no special fishery for
spot, but that they were taken incidentally in seines, gill nets, and pound
nets. Before 1900, the annual North Carolina production was less than a
half a million pounds, but since the middle 1930's the annual catch has been
in the neighborhood of five million pounds. The spot now supports a special
fishery, particularly in October and November, when other fish are scarce.

The life history of the spot has been studied by Hildebrand and Schroeder
(1928) and Hildebrand and Cable (1930). However, some phases of the
life history are still unknown, or are known only on the basis of circumstan-
tial evidence.

The spawning and development of the eggs have not been observed. It is
known, however, that adult fish leave the sounds in the fall (October and
November) and that the females carry eggs presumably ready for dis-
charge. Larval fish (under one-half inch in length) have been collected in
shallow waters along the coast from November to May. It is evident, there-
fore, that the fish spawn offshore, and, judging by abundance of larvae, it is
believed that the principal spawning period is during December and Janu-
ary, with some spawning in November and February.

The rate of growth and average size of the spot vary throughout its range.
Pearson (1929) states that spot are not taken commercially in Texas because
they do not attain sufficiently large size, seldom reaching ten inches. Hilde-
brand and Cable (1930) report that the average size of the spot taken com-
mercially in the Beaufort, North Carolina, region is somewhat smaller than
at Norfolk, Virginia. Croakers and weakfish (trout) also reach a larger size
in the northern part of their range. At Beaufort, the young fish grow rapidly
during the summer, reaching a length of four to five inches by fall. At the age
of one year they have reached five to seven and one-half inches, the larger

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 129

ones having attained the size of the smaller ones from the previous year-class.
From this point on, it is difficult to follow the growth because the year-classes
are intermingled and the fish tend to school by size-groups rather than age-
groups. In New Jersey, Welsh and Breder (1923) report that spot reach a
length of three to four inches in their first year, indicating a somewhat slower
growth in the northern waters. In Texas, Pearson (1929) reports the first
year's growth as very similar to that in North Carolina. The difference in the
average adult size referred to above is due to the fact that in Texas, few fish
over two years of age are taken, whereas in North Carolina the commercial
catch is made up largely of fish not less than three years old.

The age of first spawning is estimated to be two years. Hildebrand and
Schroeder (1928) found no fish under eight inches in October which were
ready to spawn, while Pearson (1929) found spot in Texas in spawning
condition at six and one-half to seven inches. These fish, however, were
approaching two years of age. The maximum age of spot has not been de-
termined because of the difficulty involved in "reading" the scales after two
years of age.

The spot is a bottom feeder. The small fish feed largely on plankton. As
the fish grows, somewhat larger forms are taken. The food of the adult in-
cludes crustaceans, principally amphipods and ostracods, and also minute
mollusks, annelid worms, fish, and vegetable debris (Welsh and Breder, 1923;
and Hildebrand and Schroeder, 1928). Large amounts of sand are also found
in stomachs, sometimes constituting fifty per cent of the stomach contents.
Whether the sand is taken intentionally or incidentally is unknown.

Some spot are taken in Pamlico Sound during the summer in haul seines,
but the chief fishery occurs in the fall (October and November) when the
fish are migrating in schools from the inside waters to the offshore waters.
The fishery operates both inside and outside the inlets along the entire coast
from Ocracoke southward. Carteret County leads in production, but the
aggregate from the southern counties, New Hanover, Pender, Onslow, and
Brunswick, amounts to about a third of the State's production.

CROAKER

Micropogon undulatus (Linnaeus)

The croaker is known from Massachusetts to Texas. The largest croaker
fishery is located in the Chesapeake Bay states, Virginia and Maryland,
where the croaker may be designated as the principal food fish. There it leads
all other food fish both in quantity and in value. The 1944 figures show a
harvest of 38 million pounds, valued at $2,017,732. Although the North
Carolina yield is considerably less, the croaker nevertheless occupies an
important place in the State's fisheries.

130 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

The life history of the croaker has been studied in more detail than that
of many of our other marine food fishes. It has received attention in recent
years throughout its entire range.

The croaker was formerly reported by Smith (1907) to spawn in the
sounds and estuaries, but more recently it has been shown by Hildebrand and
Cable (1930) and Wallace (1941) that spawning occurs offshore. The spawn-
ing season is rather extended, covering a period of from five to nine months.
In Chesapeake Bay, Wallace found sexually mature fish migrating to the
ocean from July to November, with the males tending to migrate before the
females. Welsh and Breder (1923) found males with running milt off Atlantic
City, New Jersey, in July, but ripe females were not found until September.
However, Hildebrand and Cable (1930) found young croakers, less than
one-half inch in length and obviously recently hatched, during nine months
of the year — September to May — in the Beaufort area. Pearson (1929)
found larval croakers in Texas waters from October to February.

The age of the spawning fish varies from one locality to another. Pearson
(1929) reports that croakers in Texas spawn at the end of the second year,
while Wallace (1941) states that less than half of the Chesapeake Bay males
and none of the females were sexually mature at the end of two years. It has
been suggested by Hildebrand and Cable (1930) that individuals of the same
species may mature earlier in the warmer climates.

The number of eggs produced per female has not been adequately deter-
mined. A single specimen, measuring 15.5 inches, taken by Hildebrand and
Schroeder (1928) contained 180,000 eggs. However, fish of this size are
seldom taken in North Carolina waters and the average reproductive capacity
would therefore seem to be considerably less.

The eggs of the croaker have not been taken by any of the workers. How-
ever, Hildebrand and Cable (1930) found larvae about one-eighth inch long
off the shores of the outer banks at Beaufort. These small fish are not capable
of active swimming, but are carried about by water currents. Since there are
no definite inshore currents in this region, except during flood tides, it seems
probable that the eggs are deposited or hatched comparatively close to shore.
Wallace (1941) is able to explain the occurrence of larval croakers in Ches-
apeake Bay, perhaps over 100 miles from the spawning area, by the presence
of a definite current of ocean water moving along the bottom through a deep
channel up into the Bay. No such currents are known in the Beaufort and
Pamlico Sound regions, and it therefore seems that the eggs are deposited in
the outside water, but not far from the shore.

Those young croakers which are not carried in by the tide move into the
shallow inside waters soon after they become capable of swimming. They stay
inside all summer and grow rather rapidly; they reach an average length of

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 131

five and one-half to six inches by October. The adult fish also move into the
sounds during the summer where they are taken commercially as well as by
hook-and-line sport fishermen. During the colder winter months, the fish
move out of the sounds into the ocean, but apparently stay closer to shore
than the older fish.

In recent years, the fishery has been extended to the winter months and
offshore with the use of large trawlers. This winter fishery has been of impor-
tance to the fishermen because the winter season was previously a slack
period. But other fish being scarce, the croaker commands a fair price on the
winter market and thus tides the fishermen over the formerly lean season.
The smaller operators also find croakers coming into shallow waters during
warm spells in the winter.

The croaker, both young and adult, is primarily a bottom feeder. The
chief items of food reported by Hildebrand and Schroeder (1928) are small
Crustacea, annelids and mollusks, in the order named. Fish are occasionally
found in croaker stomachs, although the principal food forms are those
which have no direct commercial value.

As was previously pointed out, the chief croaker fishery is located in the
Chesapeake Bay region. Not only are more croakers taken in Chesapeake
Bay than in North Carolina, but the northern croakers are also considerably
larger than those taken locally. The average size of croakers marketed in
North Carolina is seven to ten inches; these are considered ''pin-heads" in
Chesapeake Bay.

The annual production of croakers in North Carolina has varied from
300,000 pounds in the 1880- 1890 period to a high of nearly ten million
pounds in 1937. Since 1937, the production has declined to about four mil-
lion pounds in 1945. The records since 1888 show at least three distinct peaks
of abundance, each succeeding one being larger than the previous one. One
peak in 1902 shows a production of about two million pounds, followed by a
decline to 387,000 pounds in 1918. Another peak occurred in 1928-1929,
with 7.7 million pounds in 1929. This peak was followed by a decline to 4.3
million pounds in 1934. A peak also occurred in 1936-1937, this time to
nearly ten million pounds. This species, like many others, is subject to wide
fluctuations in abundance. The present slump may therefore be expected to
be followed by an increase in production.

MINOR COMMERCIAL SPECIES

KING WHITING (SEA MULLET ) — MeuticirrhuS SPECIES

As in the case of the jumping mullet, the sea mullet taken commercially in
North Carolina includes at least two species, M. americanus and M. saxatilis.
Other names for these fish are kingfish, sea-mink and hake. Sea mullet is the

132 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

most common name used in North Carolina.^ They are found from Ches-
apeake Bay to Texas. They are bottom feeders; their chief food are mollusks
and crustaceans.

The sea mullet brings a good price at times, but is subject to rapid price
fluctuations. The production varies from year to year, probably as a result of
economic influences as well as fluctuations in abundance. Although the total
catch and value of the sea mullet is not as high as that of many other species,
the fishery nevertheless is important in that it is operated in shallow offshore
waters.

HOGFiSH — Orthopristis chrysopterus (linnaeus)

Also known as pigfish, this species is one of the most common food fishes of
the North Carolina coast. It is found everywhere in the sounds and shallow
offshore waters and is present throughout the year. At certain seasons and
in some localities it is about the only fish available. It takes a hook readily
and the number taken by sports fishing may equal or exceed the commercial
catch. The meat has a good flavor, although it is claimed that hogfish from
some areas are better than others. Variation in flavor may be due to difference
in diet since the hogfish, much like the mullet, feeds on a variety of things.

Most of the catch is sold fresh, but small quantities are salted for local
consumption,

HARVESTFisH — PepHlus aUptdotus (linnaeus)

The harvestfish is a small pan fish and is considered an excellent food fish.
It is taken during the summer from the bays and sounds, the Pamlico Sound
area producing the bulk of the State's catch. It apparently is much more
abundant now than forty years ago, when Smith (1907) reported that it had
not often been recorded from North Carolina, although it was not considered
rare. Average production since 1923 has been in excess of a half a million
pounds annually. Little is known about the biology of this species.

BUTTERFiSH — Porouotus tHcanthus (peck)

The butterfish resembles the harvestfish in appearance, but it is not as
deep bodied and it has smaller dorsal and anal fins. It is found from Massa-
chusetts to North Carolina, and in North Carolina is taken in most of the
sounds, Pamlico Sound leading in production.

The butterfish, like the harvestfish, is a small but excellent food fish. Pro-
duction is limited and variable. It is present in the sounds from spring to fall,
often traveling in large schools. Its winter habitat is not known. It is believed

I. The "sea mullets" are not mullets at all; they are more properly called kingfishes. They are
members of the noise-making or drum family (Sciaenidae) along with the croakers, spot, red and
black drums, silver perch and sea trout or weakfishes.

I

J

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 133

to spawn in June and July in the bays and sounds, and is more abundant in
Chesapeake Bay and northward than in North Carolina.

WHITE PERCH — MoTone americana (gmelin)

The white perch, closely related to the sea bass family, is considered by
many the finest of all food fishes. It therefore commands a good price on the
market and, being a game fish, is also sought by anglers. It will take a variety
of baits, including artificial lures.

The white perch is at home in shallow fresh, brackish, and salt water. It
is found from South Carolina to the maritime provinces of Canada. The
Currituck-Albemarle Sound region yields most of North CaroHna's produc-
tion, which varies from 150,000 to nearly a million pounds annually.

In habits, this fish resembles its relative, the striped bass. It feeds largely
on fish, shrimp and other animals. Spawning occurs in early April in North
Carolina, three to six days being required for hatching of the eggs. Nichols
and Breder (1926) report that about 40,000 eggs per female are deposited;
the eggs are heavy and sticky, and cling together in masses on the bottom or
attach to any object with which they come in contact.

Fishing for this species should be encouraged, for it is an extremely popular
pan fish and is always in demand.

BLACKFisH — Cetitropristes striatus (linnaeus)

More commonly known in North Carolina as the sea bass, the blackfish
lives on bottoms, many of which are non-trawlable, around wrecks and coral
beds and feeds voraciously on fish, squid, crabs, and other animals. It takes a
hook readily and is caught in commercial quantities by hand lines.

The blackfish grows to a size of six pounds but the average weight is not
over two to three pounds. Spawning takes place in the spring off the North
Carolina coast; the eggs rise to the surface and hatch in about five days in
water of 60° F. The young are common along the shore and in the inlets,
gathering around jetties and wharves.

The blackfish fishery at present is not large. The population of this fish
could perhaps support an increased fishery. The chief obstacle is that the
coral reefs which are the centers of concentration of blackfish are located
some distance offshore, and for the most part North Carolina fishermen do
not have boats which can operate safely in the outside waters day after day
because of uncertain weather conditions. In some northern waters, these fish
are taken in traps or pots.

FLOUNDERS — Paralichthys species

There are a number of different kinds of flounders on the Atlantic and
Gulf coasts, each kind or species having a rather definite distribution. North

134 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Carolina waters contain several species although the commercial catch is
made up largely of the summer or southern flounder, Paralichthys dentatus.
Although the flounder is not one of the leading species in the State in total
production, it is important to the fishermen because it is a year-around fishery
and fills the gap in fishing created by the seaward migration of other fish in
winter.

The flounder is a bottom feeder and is found in the harbors and sounds.
The fish move out of the inlets during the winter and are taken by offshore
trawlers. Spawning is believed to occur in the ocean, perhaps not far offshore,
since larvae are found close to shore in greater numbers than in the inside
waters.

CARP — Cyprinus caprio (linnaeus)

The prolific fast-growing carp was introduced into North Carolina in 1879,
according to Smith (1907), and quickly became established in the waters of
the State. For many years, from the 1870's to the 1890's, the carp was the
subject of great interest and was extensively investigated, cultured, and
transplanted to many parts of the United States by the U. S. Fish Com-
mission. For an exhaustive review of the carp, see Cole, 1905. It has a low
value as a food fish, the meat having an inferior flavor and texture, but it
has been successfully used as food for other fish being propagated in hatch-
eries. There is, therefore, little demand for fresh carp and the price is low.
The carp fishery in North Carolina is variable, but on the average is worth
less than $20,000 annually.

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The present knowledge of the natural history of the commercially impor-
tant finfish of the State is only of a general nature. We know, for example,
something about where and when certain fish spawn. In most cases, spawning
has not been observed but ripe females have been taken. The location of
ripe fish in relation to inside or outside waters and the appearance of the
larval stages at given times and locations indicate the approximate times
and places for spawning. In the case of the jumping mullet, for example, we
can say only that it is believed to spawn during November and December,
in the ocean — not far off shore. This statement is made on the basis of the
observed fact that mature fish pass through the inlets to the ocean in
October and November, and that, about two weeks later, larval mullet are
taken in the vicinity of the inlets. Information on other species is of a
similar nature. The type of bottom, the temperature and depth of water in
which most species spawn are not known.

Little is known regarding the life of most species while they are in the

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 135

ocean. Where do they spend the winter? What do they feed on? How fast do
they grow? And what is the natural mortality?

In the sounds, more observations have been made, and knowledge of the
life histories in these waters is further advanced, although still inadequate.
Interspecies food relationships — a most important factor in fisheries man-
agement-— are known on the basis of examination of stomach contents of
very few fish, and these mostly adult.

Magnitudes of population and fishing mortality cannot be determined on
the basis of the present inadequate records of catch and effort, and no data
are available for estimating trends in average size or age composition of the
commercial catch. ^ We do not have the information on which to determine
whether or not the present fishing intensity and commercial catch represent
a wise utilization of the finfish resources.

The following recommendations are made for future study of the finfish
in North Carolina waters:

MIGRATIONS. More observations should be made of the movements of
fish after they leave the inside waters in the fall. Do they move south or do
they spend the winter off the North Carolina coast, and if so, where? Knowl-
edge of location of the winter grounds may open up new possibilities for
the industry. Limited trawling operations in the Cape Lookout area during
early 1949 produced some fair catches of croakers, spot, flounder, trout,
and sea mullet. We must know more about the extent of the winter popula-
tion. Are more fish to be found in deeper waters? Present trawling is com-
monly limited to about 20 fathoms. Are the fish located in other areas of
trawlable bottoms? Answers to these questions should be sought.

FOOD OF FISHES. Studies should be made of the food and feeding habits of
the commercially important species at various stages of growth. To what
extent is each utilized as food by other fishes? How many young shad and
alewives are eaten by striped bass, and how many shrimp by gray trout?
Is it wise economy, on any reasonable assumption as to what the food con-
version factor is,^ to protect the predatory species; or would it be advan-
tageous to promote the exploitation of them as indirect protection of those
species in the food chain which are closer to the basic production? Detailed
food and growth studies should clarify these interspecies relationships.

ABUNDANCE. It is desirable to know more about the quantity of fish avail-
able to the industry and what fluctuations in abundance occur. We have for
certain years records of the catch, but as indication of the effort used in

2. The best indication of an over-fished population is a decrease in catch per unit effort.
Lacking catch per unit effort data, the size and age composition of the catch may be used as
criteria. A population which is being over-fished will yield smaller and younger fish.

3. The usual assumption is that it takes 10 pounds of food to produce a pound of fish —
although this figure is only an estimate and undoubtedly varies considerably according to species
and individuals.

136 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

the industry in this region we have only the numbers of operating units
(i.e., boats and the different kinds of gear) without any data on the extent
to which they are used. The catch of all fish, food and non-food, per fisher-
man in North Carolina has increased during the 50 years to 1940 (see Part
III, Table 24), but the menhaden industry is wholly, or at least in large
part, responsible for this increase. Fishermen believe that the last few years
have witnessed a decrease in other finfish. Such may be the case, inasmuch
as the State's Commercial Fisheries Division reports a 33 per cent decrease
in production during the 1946- 1948 biennium, as compared with the 1944-
1946 biennium. It is not definitely known whether this decrease is the result
of weather conditions, decreased effort, or decrease in available fish. This
situation points to a need for a statistical study of production such as can
only be made by obtaining better records of fishing effort and production.

Are such fluctuations in production the result of changes in abundance of
fish, or other factors? Are fluctuations in abundance due to natural or man-
made factors, or both? In addition to the well known fluctuations of species
are there also fluctuations of the whole fisheries of the region collectively?
What, if anything, can be done to insure a continuous and adequate supply
of fish? Or should we fish intensively while prices are high and let the
population, if decreased, be restored while prices are low? — i.e., to what
extent should we substitute efforts of deliberate control for the natural self-
regulatory forces of supply and demand? These are questions which apply
to the fundamental philosophy of fisheries management and should be con-
sidered with the economic interests of the industry in mind.

FISHING METHODS. Perhaps this is not a strictly biological problem. But
we should try to develop more efficient methods of finding and catching
fish. The industry has made few advances in fishing methods since the devel-
opment of the otter trawl; we are either setting or dragging nets, hoping
that fish will be caught. Could we use the reactions of fish to light, sounds,
odors, or chemicals in attracting them to nets or other enclosures? In order
to answer this, we must first know how fish react to these various stimuli.
Such a study might also throw light on diurnal and seasonal migrations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bean, Tarleton H.

1884. On the occurrence of the striped bass in the lower Mississippi Valley.
Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. 7, 1884, p. 242-244.
Bigelow, Henry B., and William W. Welsh.

1925. Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Bufl. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XL, Pt. I,
1924 (1925), 567 p., 278 figs., extensive bibliog. (Doc. 965, 1925).

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 137

Cobb, John N.

1906. Investigations relative to the shad fisheries of North CaroHna.
N. C. Geol. Surv., Economic Paper No. 12, 1906.
Cole, Leon J.

1905. The German carp in the United States. Rept, U. S. Bur. Fish., 1904
(1905), p. 523-641, 3 pis., extensive bibliog. (Doc. 592, 1905).
Earll, R. Edward.

1887. North Carolina and its fisheries in 1880. In Goode and associates
(1884-87) (which see below). Sec. II, Pt. XII, p. 475-497.
Eigenmann, Carl H.

1901. Investigations into the history of the young squeteague. Bull. U. S.
Fish. Com., Vol. XXI, 1901 (1902), p. 45-51 (Doc. 477, 1901).
Ginsburg, Isaac.

1929. Review of weakfishes (Cynoscion) of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts
of the United States, with a description of a new species. Bull. U. S.
Bur. Fish., Vol. XLV, 1929 (1930), p. 71-85 (Doc. 1058, 1929).

193 1. On the difference in the habitat and size of Cynoscion arenarius and
C. nothus. Copeia, 193 1, No. 3, p. 144.
Goode, G. Brown (and a staff of associates).

1884-87. The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States.
V Sections (7 volumes). Sec. I, Text and Plates, 1884; Sees. II, III,
IV, and V (Vols. I and II and Plates), 1887, U. S. Comm. of Fish
& Fisheries.
Gowanloch, J. N.

1933. Fishes and fishing in Louisiana. State of Louisiana, Dept. Cons.,
Bull. No. 23, 1933, p. 208-213.

Gudger, E. W.

1913. Natural history notes on some Beaufort, N. C, fishes, 1912. Proc.
Biol. Soc. Washington, Vol. XXVI, 1913, p. 97-110.
Gunter, Gordon.

1945. Studies on the marine fishes of Texas. Pubs. Inst, of Mar. Sci., Vol. I,
No. I, 1945, 190 p.
Higgins, Elmer, and John C. Pearson.

1927. Examination of the summer fisheries of Pamlico and Core Sounds,
N. C, with special reference to the destruction of undersized fish and
the protection of the gray trout, Cynoscion regalis (Bloch and
Schneider). Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish, for 1927 (1928), Appendix II,
p. 29-65 (Doc. 1019, 1927).
Hildebrand, Samuel F., and Louella E. Cable.

1930. Development and life history of fourteen teleostean fishes at Beau-
fort, N. C. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLVI, 1930 (1931), p. 383-488,
loi figs. (Doc. 1093, 1930).

1934. Reproduction and development of whitings or kingfishes, drums,
spot, croaker, and weakfishes or sea trouts, family Sciaenidae, of

138 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

the Atlantic coast of the United States. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish.,
Vol. XLVIII, 1940 (Bull. 16, 1934), p. 41-117.
1938. Further notes on the development and life history of some teleosts
at Beaufort, N. C. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLVIII, 1940 (Bull.
No. 24, 1938), p. 505-642.
Hildebrand, Samuel F., and William C. Schroeder.

1928. Fishes of Chesapeake Bay. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLIII, Pt. I,

1927 (1928), 366 p., 211 figs. (Doc. 1024, 1928).
Huntsman, A. G.

1944. Fishery depletion. Science, Vol. 99, No. 2583, 1944, P- 534-535-
Jordan, David Starr, and Barton Warren Evermann.

1896-1900. The fishes of North and Middle America. Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus.
No. 47, Pts. I-IV, (1896-1900), 3313 p., 392 plates.
Longley, W. H., [edited and completed by Samuel F. Hildebrand].

1 94 1. Systematic catalogue of the fishes of Tortugas, Florida. Carnegie
Institution of Washington. Papers from Tortugas Laboratory, Vol.
XXXIV, Pub. 535, 1941, 331 p., 7,3 photos., plates.
Merriman, Daniel.

1941. Studies on the striped bass {Roccus saxatilis) of the Atlantic coast.
U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Fish. Bull. Vol. 50 (Bull. 35, 1941),
77 p., 23 tables, 36 figs., extensive bibliog.
Mitchill, S. L.

18 1 5. The fisheries of New York, described and arranged. Transactions,
Literary and Philosophical Society of New York, 181 5, Vol. I,
P- 355-492, pis. I-VI. New York.
Nichols, J. T., and Charles M. Breder.

1926. Marine fishes of New York and southern New England. Zoologica:
Scientific contributions of the New York Zoological Society, Vol. IX,
No. I, 1926, p. 1-192.
Parr, A. E.

1933. A geographic-ecological analysis of the seasonal changes in tempera-
ture conditions in shallow water along the Atlantic coast of the
United States. Bull. Bingham Oceanog. Coll., Vol. IV, No. 3, 1933,
p. 1-90.
Pearson, John C.

1929. Natural history and conservation of the redfish and other commercial
sciaenids on the Texas coast. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLIV,

1928 (1929), p. 129-214, 44 figs. (Doc. 1046, 1929).

1938. The life history of the striped bass, or rockfish, Roccus saxatilisi.

(Walbaum). Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLVIII (Bull. 28, 1938),

p. 825-851, 26 figs., extensive bibliog.
Pratt, Joseph Hyde (compiler).

1906. Report of Committee appointed by Governor R. B. Glenn to

investigate the fishing industries in North Carolina. N. C. Geol.

Surv., Economic Paper No. 13, 1906, 75 p.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 139

Ryder, John A.

1882. Development of the Spanish mackerel (Cybium maculatum). Bull.
U. S. Fish Comm., Vol. I, 1881 (1882), p. 135-172, 4 plates.
Smith, Hugh M.

1907. The Fishes of North CaroHna. N. C. Geol. & Econ. Surv., Vol. II,
1907, 453 p.
Stevenson, Charles H.

1899. The shad fisheries of the Atlantic coast of the United States. Rept.
Comm'r. U. S. Fish., 1898 (1899), p. 101-269.
Townes, H. K., Jr.

1937. Studies on the food organisms of fish. A biological survey of the
Hudson River watershed. State of N. Y. Conserv. Dept., Biol. Sur-
vey No. XI, Supplemental to 26th Ann. Rept., 1936, p. 217-230.
Truitt, R. v., and V. D. Vladykov.

1937. Striped bass investigations in the Chesapeake Bay. Trans. Am. Fish.
Soc, Vol. 66, 1936 (1937), p. 225-226,

Vladykov, V. D., and D. H. Wallace.

1938. Is the striped bass (Roccus lineatus) of Chesapeake Bay a migratory
fish? Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 1937, Vol. 67, 1938, p. 67-86.

Wallace, David H.

1941. Sexual development of the croaker Micropogon undulatus, and
distribution of the early stages in Chesapeake Bay. Trans. Am. Fish.
Soc, Vol. 70, 1940 (1941), p. 475-482,
Welsh, William W., and C. M. Breder, Jr.

1923. Contributions to the life histories of Sciaenidae of the eastern United
States coast. Bull. U, S, Bur. Fish., Vol. XXXIX, 1923-24 (1924),
p. 141-201, 60 figs. (Doc. 945, 1923).
Worth, S. G.

1882. The artificial propagation of the striped bass (Roccus lineatus) on
Albemarle Sound. Bull, U, S. Fish Comm,, Vol, I, 1881 (1882),
p, 174-177.

1883, A poor season for shad hatching in North Carolina, Bull, U, S, Fish
Comm., Vol. II, 1882 (1883), p. 54.

1903, Striped bass hatching in North Carolina. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc,

Vol. 32, 1902 (1903), p. 98-102.
Yarrow, H. C.

1874, Notes on the shad as observed at Beaufort Harbor, North Carolina,

and vicinity. Rept, U, S. Comm. Fish and Fish., Part II, 1872-3

(1874), p. 452-456.
1877. Notes on the natural history of Fort Macon, North Carolina, and

vicinity. Proc Acad, Nat, Sci, Philadelphia, Vol. XXIX, No, 3,

1877, p, 203-218.

THE OYSTER AND OTHER MOLLUSKS
IN NORTH CAROLINA

BY Alphonse F. Chestnut

Institute of Fisheries Research, University of North Carolina

COiNTENTS

Page

Page

The Oyster

141

The Scallops

169

Introduction

141

Introduction

169

History of the Industry

143

Natural History

170

Natural History

145

Ecology

172

Sanitary Regulations

151

The Scallop Industry

174

Food Value of the Oyster

152

The Sea Scallop

177

Oyster Culture

152

The Calico Scallop

178

The Oyster Industry

155

The Soft-shell Clam

178

Discussion

157

Introduction

178

The Hard Clam

160

Natural History

179

Introduction

160

Ecology

180

Natural History

161

Soft-shell Clam Culture

180

Ecology

163

Discussion

i8i

Clam Culture

165

Miscellaneous Mollusks

182

The Clam Industry

165

Bibliography

185

Discussion

168

THE OYSTER

Ostrea virginica (Gmelin)

INTRODUCTION

Our native eastern oyster is one of nearly a hundred different species of
oyster found throughout the world. It is distributed from the Gulf of St.
Lawrence to Mexico and is the only species of commercial importance on
the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. In 1940, according to Federal statistics, the
harvest from these coasts amounted to 78.4 million pounds valued at 7.7
million dollars. Attempts to introduce the eastern oyster to the West Coast,

141

142 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

first tried about 1872 (Moore, 1898) and in England, have not been very
successful. The industry on the West Coast is dependent upon two different
species, the native Olympia oyster (O. lurida) and an imported species, the
Japanese or Pacific oyster (O. gigas). The commercial oysters of England
and Europe are the European oyster (O. edulis) and the inferior Portuguese
oyster {Gryphaea angulata).

Oysters have long been known and used for food. In historical interest
they probably antedate all our commercial shellfish. They were highly
valued by the ancient Greeks for therapeutic purposes as well as for food.
At the height of the Roman Empire oysters were often gathered from the
English coast for the famous banquets and feasts held in Rome. The
Romans are believed to have been the first to cultivate oysters in Europe.
Along the Atlantic coast of this country the many shell mounds or kitchen
middens testify to the use made of oysters by the early American Indians.
Perhaps the most famous of these shell mounds, located at Damariscotta,
Maine, has been estimated to contain 8 million bushels of shells (Pease,
1932). Similar mounds were located on Harkers Island and Cedar Island
in North Carolina. These were used as fill for road beds in the surrounding
countryside during the decade following 1932.

It has been said that the oyster is scientifically the best known marine
animal in the world (Clark, 1920); however, Galtsoff (1947) has recently
pointed out the many gaps in our knowledge. Perhaps more has been written
about oysters than of any other marine invertebrate, for the literature, both
scientific and popular, is extensive. A recent annotated bibliography
(Baughman, 1947) contains references to approximately 2,400 papers of
scientific interest.

In North Carolina, as in many neighboring states, the oyster is the most
valuable of the commercial mollusks and often exceeds in production all the
other mollusks combined. However, in most states the production when
compared to yields of fifty years ago has seriously declined. In the Ches-
apeake Bay area, for example, the average production of the past fifteen
years has been but one third that of the decade between 1880 and 1890. The
general decline in production is true for North Carolina. Concern has re-
cently been expressed for the future of the industry in the southern states
(Chipman, 1948). Through over-fishing, pollution, and lack of manage-
ment of public oyster grounds, a shortage of this resource has developed in
many states. The shortage has undoubtedly resulted in a decreased per
capita consumption of oysters and a possible loss in popularity.

Since 1880 at least four surveys have been made of the waters of North
Carolina with reference to their possibilities for oyster culture (Winslow,
1886; Grave, 1904; Coker, 1907; Galtsoff and Seiwell, 1928). The surveys
express an opinion that potentialities exist for the development of a great

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 143

industry. The industry has been slow to adopt modern methods of oyster
culture through private enterprise or as a public venture, and many acres of
potentially productive bottom continue to lie idle with little or no increase
in total production. In the discussion that follows, an attempt will be made
to point out the factors responsible for the general decline in production
of oysters over the long period of years and for the neglected development
of a potentially great industry.

HISTORY OF THE INDUSTRY

Oysters were undoubtedly an important part of the diet of the early
settlers in the coastal regions of North Carolina. The oysters were harvested
for a local market and supplied the needs of the small cities within access of
the coastal regions. According to Ingersoll (1887), Wilmington and New
Bern were the two important market centers for oysters prior to 1880.
Winslow (1886) states that the beds in the region about Ocracoke Inlet are
probably the most important in the State and supply chiefly the needs of
the New Bern market. Other markets existed at Beaufort, Washington, and
other small cities in eastern North Carolina. The lack of rapid transporta-
tion facilities and distance from the large centers of population were
undoubtedly factors in keeping the industry from developing. Oysters were
not shipped from North Carolina to the northern areas, for the abundance
of oysters in Long Island Sound, Delaware Bay, and Chesapeake Bay
supplied the needs of such cities as New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore.

The industry in North Carolina did not become of importance until 1889,
when a scarcity of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay region led to the estab-
lishment of a number of branch houses at various points in the coastal areas.
With the branch houses came the experienced Chesapeake oystermen and
their dredging fleet. The influx of these oystermen had a marked influence
on oyster production in Pamlico Sound through the introduction of the
more efficient dredging and tonging methods used in INIaryland and Virginia.
The production figures for INIaryland and North Carolina for this period
show the decline in Maryland to coincide with the sudden increased produc-
tion for North Carolina (Table i).

The exploitation of Pamlico Sound by the northern fleet was brief, for
laws were immediately passed shortening the season and prohibiting non-
residents from dredging in the State. A marked decline in production re-
sulted for the seasons of 1893 and 1896, probably because of the restrictive
legislation, plus the depression of 1893. Meanwhile, local residents adopted
the dredging methods that had been introduced. When the season was
lengthened in 1897, production of oysters greatly increased. In 1898,
according to Grave (1904), new and extensive beds were discovered two
miles or more offshore in Pamlico Sound. More oysters were harvested that

144

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

TABLE 1
Oyster Production — Maryland and North Carolina — 1880 to k

Year

1880
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1897
1899
1900
1 901
1902
1904
1908

Maryland
10,600,000 bushels
8,148,217
8,531,658

10,450,087
9,945,058
7,254,934

North Carolina
170,000 bushels
212,980
204,703
1,001,620
807,260 (2,700,000 est.f)

5,685,561

4,326,415
5,830,000

858,818
2,450,000 1

1,900,000 t

1,022,813

753,500

* Statistics, except those marked t, revised by the U. S. Bur. Fish., to exclude, so far as possible,
seed oysters, from Fishery Industries of the United States, 1930.
t Grave (1904).

season than ever before or since in the history of the industry. The supply
seemed inexhaustible, and increased preparations were made for the next
year. When the season of 1899 opened, oysters were scarce and the oyster-
men found it difficult to secure as bountiful a harvest as during the previous
year. Grave (1904) states, "On the beds where a dredger could take 400 to
800 tubs of oysters per day during the season of 1898-99, the same men
with the same equipment in December, 1900, could average but about 50
to 100 tubs." From personal experience while working in Pamlico Sound,
Captain John A. Nelson, Commissioner of Fisheries for North Carolina,
recalls the great abundance of oysters in 1898 and the relative scarcity the
next fall. Some attributed this scarcity to over-fishing; others, to the severe
storms that occurred in August and October of 1899, which were the most
violent and destructive to the coast of North Carolina for many years.
Grave (1904) investigated the area to determine the causes of the dimin-
ished catch and found that 23 per cent of the oysters were sanded in exposed
areas. He concluded that "close and indiscriminate dredging has done more
damage to the Pamlico oyster grounds in the past two seasons than any such

storms as those of August and October, 1899 "

Federal statistics from 1900 to 1927 are spaced at intervals of from 2 to
8 years; the general trend in production through the intervening years was
downward and reached a low in 19 18. Between 19 18 and 1923, production
increased nearly threefold. There may be several reasons for this rise. The
beds, possibly lying idle or worked at a minimum during the war years,^ had
an opportunity to recuperate and to build up a natural supply in excess of

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 145

the drain. During the early 1920's, the cull laws were more rigidly enforced,
shell plantings were conducted, and many areas temporarily closed to fish-
ing were opened at spaced intervals. During Governor Morrison's adminis-
tration from 192 1 to 1924, one and one-half million bushels of oysters and
shells were planted. This shell planting program apparently had an influence
on the rise in production in 1923 and was expected to be of continued
benefit. However, following the 1923 production of 560,000 bushels, a
decline occurred to a little over 400,000 bushels in 1928. There are perhaps
two reasons for this decrease in production. In 1924 an epidemic of typhoid
fever occurred in some midwestern cities which was presumably caused
by the consumption of oysters. The panic which resulted in the oyster mar-
ket along the eastern coast had a marked effect on production figures for
the next few years. Scallops were rapidly gaining a ready market in North
Carolina; therefore many of the small fishermen undoubtedly devoted their
efforts to gathering scallops instead of oysters. The slight gain in production
in 1929 was probably correlated with the prosperity of the times. Follow-
ing the onset of the depression, production of oysters fell to an all-time low.
The hurricane of 1933 caused untold damage to the outer banks, completely
ruined the oyster beds in the Harbor Island region, and caused serious
damage in other localities. In 1934 the State transplanted 825,000 bushels
of seed oysters and planted 78,567 bushels of shells under the direction of
Dr. H. F. Prytherch (Higgins, 1936). All the replanted areas were then
closed for a period of two years. The opening of these areas in 1936 resulted
in an increased production to the level of 1929. Since 1936 there has been a
gradual decline until the period 1942 to 1946, when production gained
slightly, presumably because of the unusually high prices received for
oysters throughout the war years. During 1947 there was a gradual decline
in production possibly because oysters were in a poor condition until late
in the season. In the fall of 1948, with the opening of the season, oysters
were in good condition and the market was favorable. There was some
concern about a scarcity of market-sized oysters in Pamlico Sound after
the season had been open for a month; however, production increased over
the 1947 season.

The production figures, from available State and Federal statistics, for
oysters through the years from 1880 to 1945 are tabulated in Table 2. The
general trend in production with a maximum just before the turn of the
century and a gradual decline in the ensuing years parallels the trend for
the Chesapeake region.

NATURAL HISTORY

An understanding of the biology and life history of the oyster is impor-
tant in oyster culture in order to carry out successfully a conservation

146 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

TABLE 2
Oyster Production of North Carolina, 1880 to 1948

1880
1887
1888
1889
1890
1894
i8g6
1897
1899
1900
1902
1903
1904

1905
1906
1908
1910
1918
1923
1927
1928
1929
1930

1931
1932

1934
1936

1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942

1943
1944

1945
1946

1947

Bushels *

Value

170,000

$ 60,000

212,980

48,353

204,703

46,129

1,001,620

194,272

807,626 (2,700,000

est.) t 175,567

60,000 t

40,000 t

858,818
2,450,000 t
1,900,000 t

241,099

1,022,813

268,363

658,769 t

505,1411:

459,485 t

291,846 t

753,500

227,300

332,257

63,405

216,962

70,280

559,628

229,576

434,375

200,742

414,241

167,490

512,395

245,533

411,354

155,148

251,352

92,061

210,395

51,339

208,011

53,092

500,101

160,631

351,612

112,051

334,170

98,468

313,234

72,965

204,260 §

52,560

276,095 § II
235,272 § II

484,332 § II

508,670 § II

554,254

400,210

391,521 § II
200,323 § II

223.680 § II

* Production figures from Federal statistics.

t Grave, 1904.

t Coker, 1907.

§ Yield from public grounds only.

II Figures based on tax return to N. C. Division of Commercial Fisheries.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 147

program. Through trial-and-error methods and observation, oystermen have
discovered the most favorable times to plant shells, to secure seed oysters
and transplant young oysters. On a long-range basis the activities may coin-
cide more or less with the events in the life history of an oyster; but for
precise information, scientific observations are necessary each season to
achieve the greatest efficiency in the management of public areas. In the
brief review of the biology of the oyster, an attempt will be made to point
out the importance of knowledge of the life history in regulating the various
activities.

SPAWNING. In the late spring and early summer the reproductive organs
or gonads of oysters become greatly distended and milky white in color;
such oysters are designated "in milk." The sex of an oyster cannot be
distinguished externally or from the extrusion of the sex products, as is
often done in some species of fish. It is necessary to examine the sex prod-
ucts with the aid of a lens or microscope. Our native eastern oysters are
generally considered of separate sexes.

Spawning occurs when the animals are physiologically ripe. The season
of actual spawning varies with the ecological conditions of localities. In
general, spawning first occurs in North Carolina in April or May and may
continue until November (Grave, 1904). It was believed that spawning is
directly correlated with water temperatures; however, in recent years evi-
dence has been presented to show that such factors as salinity, tidal cycles,
hydrogen-ion concentration, pressure, and phases of the moon may influence
spawning activities. Temperatures at which spawning first occurs may vary
from 16.4° to 25° C. (61.5° to 77° F.) (Nelson, 1928; Galtsoff, 1938;
Loosanoff, 1939-b; Stauber, 1947).

Active spawning has been described as observed in nature and in the
laboratory. During spawning, the shells of the female rhythmically open and
shut about once every thirty seconds, expelling a fan shaped cloud of eggs.
In the male the valves gape open slightly and a thin stream of sperm issues
forth. In confined areas the surrounding waters may soon turn milky. The
time of spawning is important, for preparations can be made for planting
of shells. Some oysters spawn out completely in the early summer and may
develop new sex products to spawn again in the same season, while other
individuals may spawn over an extended period throughout the entire
summer.

EARLY DEVELOPMENT. The development of larval oysters from the egg to
the setting stage has been described by many workers (Brooks, 1880;
Ryder, 1884; J. Nelson, 1910; Stafford, 1913; T. C. Nelson, 192 1 and
others). For a detailed account, reference should be made to these publica-
tions. The liberated eggs and sperm unite in the water each fertilized egg to
form, in about four hours, a microscopic mass of cells capable of locomotion.

148 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Within one day a complete animal with a shell and all necessary organs is
developed. Gradual changes in size and shape of the larval oyster take place
through approximately two weeks, after which the oysters cement them-
selves to various objects by means of a secretion from a gland in the foot.
The attachment ends the free-swimming state of the oyster, and locomotive
structures, such as the foot and swimming organ, disappear.

SETTING. The period of attachment or setting of the larval oysters is most
important to the industry. At this time, shells or similar materials are
scattered about to provide a solid substrate to which larval oysters may
attach themselves. After the set or "spat" (as the young oysters after attach-
ment are called) have been secured, the oystermen may transplant them to
more favorable locations or allow development to an adult or marketable
size to take place where attachment occurred.

Through microscopical examinations of water samples for the presence of
larval oysters the period of setting can be accurately predicted. This informa-
tion is of value when heavy sets are desired in order to have the shells or
other collectors function most efficiently. Indiscriminate planting of shells,
too early or too late in the season, may result in the shells becoming covered
with various animal and plant life or with fine sediment, or failure of the
oysters to secure the necessary substrate. Many studies have been made on
the periods and intensities of setting. A comprehensive review of the litera-
ture on the subject was recently prepared by Korringa (1940).

RATE OF GROWTH. The rate of growth varies considerably with the locality
and environmental factors. Salinity, food conditions, temperature, chemical
constituents, type of bottom, and probably heredity all play an important
role in controlling growth. Moore (1904) states that in South Carolina
oysters not more than six or seven months old may reach a length of 2>4
inches, and in some warm sounds of North Carolina an oyster may grow to
i^ inches in length in from two to three months. In the southern states a
marketable sized oyster of from three to six inches may grow in less than
three years. In northern areas, it may require four to seven years for oysters
to reach the same size. An unusual growth rate was recently noted in North
Carolina waters. Oysters which had set on shells planted in Bay River, a
tributary of Pamlico Sound, during the summer of 1947 were found to be
three to four inches long after 18 months. Information on periods and rates
of shell growth are important in determining the most favorable times when
oysters can be transplanted.

TEMPERATURE. Temperature plays an important role in the physiology of
feeding, respiration, spawning, and shell growth, and has a direct bearing on
the sanitary control of the industry. Experimental studies by Galtsoff (1928)
have shown that at temperatures of5°C. (4i°F.) and below, oysters cease
to function normally in their feeding and growth and go into hibernation. The

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 149

optimum temperature for functioning of the gills is believed to be between 25°
and 30° C. (77° to 86° F.), Through these gills water passes continuously
when the shells are open; oxygen is absorbed; carbon dioxide diffuses out;
and food is strained from the water. Above 30° C. (86° F.) the rate of
pumping begins to decrease and ceases at about 40° C. (104° F.). Since these
results were obtained experimentally in the laboratory, it is possible that in
nature the normal activities may cease or decrease within different tempera-
ture ranges. During extremely hot weather oysters are believed to go into
estivation — that is, summering, the opposite of hibernation or wintering.
From observations in North Carolina waters it appears that growth rates are
greater in the spring and fall.

SALINITY. Oysters are found growing in a wide range of salinity. Churchill
(1920) gives the range from about 2.5 to 33 parts of salt per thousand and
states that oysters cannot withstand salinities below 9 parts per thousand for
prolonged periods. He places the optimum salinity between 14 and 28 parts
per thousand. Hopkins (1936) has shown the effects of significant changes
in salinity upon the feeding mechanism. He places the optimum salinity
above 20 parts per thousand and possibly as high as 30 to 35 p.p.t. The rate
of water pumping is generally higher at salinities of about 28 parts per thou-
sand. The effects of salinity changes depend upon the degree of change and
the conditions to which the animal has become accustomed through genera-
tions. From the point of view of the industry the minimum range of salinity
is perhaps the most important.

TYPES OF BOTTOM. Although oysters are found growing on various types of
bottom ranging from mud to hard sand, they survive best upon a firm bottom.
Since oysters are immotile in the adult stage and cannot move about as clams
and scallops do, bottoms which tend to shift or are of too soft a consistency
might result in the smothering of the oysters. Oysters are occasionally found
partly buried, with but a small portion of the shell extending above the
bottom. This small portion is sufficient to allow the passage of water currents
between the shells and enables the oyster to feed and grow. The organic and
chemical constituents of the bottom may contribute necessary elements for
growth of various food organisms.

FOOD AND FEEDING. The problem of what an oyster can utilize as food has
attracted interest for over fifty years. Martin (1923) states that three
theories exist regarding the nature of the food of oysters : namely, that plank-
ton organisms constitute the principal source of nutriment; that nourishment
is derived from detritus, the finely divided constituents of plant and animal
cells; and that dissolved organic matter may be directly utilized. Of the three
theories the first two are still prevalent, and possibly both are important.
Many factors are involved in the physiology of feeding, such as the size of
the particles, concentration of food, tj^es of organisms, and proportion of

150 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

inert matter ingested. Oysters are capable of pumping as high as 34 liters of
water per hour while feeding for 94 per cent of a 24-hour period (Loosanoff
and Nomejko, 1946). Thus, the concentration of food organisms is of impor-
tance in feeding.

Within the past decade the artificial enrichment of the waters through the
use of various chemicals to stimulate growth of minute organisms (collec-
tively known as plankton), has received a good deal of attention. Some
promising results have been obtained in fish ponds. Production of oysters
may possibly be increased through similar means. Studies of fattening
methods are of importance since criteria of value have changed. The weight
and volume of meat content are concerned in the evaluation of the product
rather than bulk measures of oysters in the shell. The proportion of meats to
the whole oysters may vary considerably. Poor oysters yield as low as three
or four pints of meats per bushel; good oysters may yield up to eight pints of
meats per bushel and in unusual cases yield as high as 12 pints per bushel.
The significance of increased yields per given unit is evident.

SEX REVERSAL. The important phenomenon of sex change was first shown
in the European oyster by Orton (1921) and in our native eastern oyster by
Needier (1930), Burkenroad (1931), and Coe (1932). The studies have
shown a correlation to exist between size of the oyster and sex, and between
the age of the oyster and sex. Small oysters are predominantly males, Coe
has shown that in the first year of maturity the percentage of males varies
from 70 to 95 per cent. A differential rate of sex reversal appears with in-
crease in age, resulting in an approximate equality in sex ratio. One signifi-
cance of these studies to the industry may be in the cull laws that exist. Many
states require the return of small oysters to the beds in order to insure a
future supply of oysters. Such a procedure may possibly result in the removal
of a greater percentage of large oysters which proportionally produce more
sex products as well as the removal of a greater percentage of females. Thus
a natural balance may be upset in some localities.

"coon" oysters. In the waters of North Carolina and throughout the
south there are found great masses of oysters growing in clusters on natural
reefs along the shores. From the typical elongated, narrow shape they are
commonly called "cat's tongue" or "coon" oysters. The name "coon" prob-
ably had its origin from the word raccoon, and is applied to these oysters sup-
posedly because raccoons frequently feed upon oysters that grow on reefs
exposed between tides. Grave (1904) says that the name is applied to the
oysters because they resemble, in shape, the paw of a raccoon.

Although many believe that these oysters constitute a different variety,
there is no definite basis for the belief. The elongated shape, which is gen-
erally in a vertical position, is attributed to the crowded conditions under
which the oysters live or attempt to keep above the surface of the bottom.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 151

Glaser (1904) showed that young "coon" oysters, when separated and given
ample space, quickly recover from the elongated shape and grow into well-
shaped oysters. The shape and condition of the oysters appear then to be due
to environmental effects.

The presence of these oysters in waters of high salinity in North Carolina
seems to indicate that some correlation exists between high salinity and the
shape or condition of the oysters. Coon oysters are generally considered as
worthless and inferior, and are used for the lowest grades in canning. They
are, however, indirectly valuable to the industry in providing a source of
spawn to replenish the seed supply in the immediate area.

ENEMIES. North Carolina is fortunate in that the enemies of the oyster are
not as numerous as in many other oyster producing areas. Pamlico Sound is
virtually free of predatory forms except crabs and some species of fish. The
destruction by oyster drills, starfish, and conchs in Core, Bogue, and other
sounds is perhaps small in comparison with that in other states. The boring
sponge, Cliona, is known to cause damage to oysters in the North and New
rivers area. Old (1941) reports five species of Cliona in the Beaufort area.
The mud worm, Polydora, is prevalent in oysters from widely distributed
areas in North Carolina. Heavy infestations are found in oysters from Bogue
Sound and at Ocracoke Inlet. The various species of this worm have been
described by Hartman (1945) for North Carolina. In the Beaufort area,
Prytherch (1940) has reported oysters heavily infected with the sporozoan
parasite Nematopsis ostrearum. The extent of damage by this parasite has
not been reported. The occurrence of the parasite Bucephalus, the cercaria
(larval form) of a trematode parasite G aster ostomum, has been found in
oysters from Pamlico Sound and Newport River (Grave, 1904; Tennent,
1909). This parasite prevents the formation of reproductive elements and
renders the host incapable of withstanding adverse conditions.

SANITARY REGULATIONS

From the standpoint of sanitary regulations the oysters sold for public
consumption are among the purest food products on the market. Following
the epidemic of typhoid in some midwestern cities which was presumably
caused by eating oysters, strict rules and regulations were formulated by the
Federal Public Health Service and the various state Boards of Health. North
Carolina adopted the set of rules and regulations formulated by the United
States Public Health Service in 1925. Within the past decade some remark-
able advances have been made in the State toward the building and main-
tenance of sanitary shucking houses. The North Carolina State Board of
Health surveys the waters of shellfish growing areas for indices of pollution
and periodically examines the packing houses. According to Mr. N. McK.

152 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Caldwell, Shellfish Sanitarian, over 27,000 acres of shellfish growing areas
were restricted during 1948, chiefly in areas that are heavily populated.

FOOD VALUE OF THE OYSTER

Shucked oysters are one of the few animals that can be eaten in their
entirety, either raw or cooked. In nutritive value, the oyster is fairly close to
milk, which is often called the most nearly perfect food. Both are nutri-
tionally balanced and contain the three classes of food stuffs: fats, carbo-
hydrates, and proteins, but in different proportions. One pint of milk with a
caloric value of 310 calories very nearly equals in caloric value (340 calories)
one pound of high grade oyster meats (Pease, 1932). A combination of the
two foods as in an oyster stew containing six oysters and eight ounces of milk
contains Y^ of the vitamin Br, y^ of Vitamin B2; ^ of the calcium; % of
the phosphorus; % of the iron; and % of the vitamin A daily requirements
(Bowes, 1943)-

In addition to the organic foodstuffs and minerals, the oyster is a good
source of vitamins, of which the present generation has become increasingly
conscious. From the food the oyster gathers out of the surrounding waters,
it stores and accumulates in various amounts the following vitamins : vitamin
A, thiamin, riboflavin, ascorbic acid and vitamin D. The amounts of the
various vitamins have been reported as follows per half pound of oyster meats
(Newcombe, 1944):

Vitamins A B^ Bg C

Fresh Oysters 0.3 mgm 0.56 mgm 1.04 mgm 6.8 mgm

The nutritional value of oysters has perhaps been over-publicized as in the
case of many other foods. There are many foods or synthetic preparations
which would supply far more vitamins and minerals than oysters.

OYSTER CULTURE

Through the application of oyster culture, thousand of acres of once barren
or unproductive river or bay bottom have been converted into valuable
oyster producing areas. Many acres of potentially productive bottom under-
lying the waters of North Carolina are suitable for oyster culture.

The cultivation of oysters was practiced as long ago as the time of the
Roman Empire and has been practiced in countries such as France, Holland,
Australia, and Japan. It is not definitely known when or where oyster
culture was first attempted in America, but as early as 1840 grounds were
taken up in North Carolina for the purpose of growing oysters. Grave
(1904) states that a Mr. Hardesty bedded a small quantity of oysters in
the Beaufort region about the year 1840. Many other plantings were made
until about 1859, but these beds were chiefly used to provide small quanti-

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 153

ties of oysters for family use rather than for commercial purposes. There
were, between 1872 and 1898, a total of 1,200 grants for the purpose of
oyster culture in Carteret, Dare, Hyde, and Pamlico counties. There were
828 grants in Carteret County with an average of nine acres each. Winslow
(1886) reports that following the passage of laws in 1883 there was a great
interest in taking up bottom for oyster culture. This interest died down
until 1889 when, following the completion of Winslow's survey, more area
was taken up than ever before. Winslow (1889) attributes this in part to
the interest he stimulated through lectures given on oyster culture in the
coastal region. Grave (1904) says that the completion of the railroad line
from Jacksonville to Wilmington in 1890 was responsible for the renewed
interest in leasing of bottom in Carteret County. In 1896 there was another
revival of interest in taking up of grounds in Carteret County as a result of
some successful plantings made in North River and Jarrett's Bay in 1891.
It was believed that a good proportion of the bottom that was taken up was
for speculative purposes and that of the number of grounds taken up few
were ever used. The interest soon waned and Grave states that in 1899 there
was not a single bed anywhere in North Carolina that he was able to deter-
mine "which was being cultivated or which was yielding or had yielded its
owner an income in anyway commensurate with the labor and expense put
upon it."

Oyster culture as a private enterprise has not progressed much in North
Carolina since 1900. A number of grants made during this period are still
being held, and a few of these are providing a source of income. The number
of grants or privately leased areas is probably far less than the 1,200 grants
that existed from 1872 to 1898. According to Mr. N. Webb, clerk, as of
June 30, 1948, there were 264 leased areas with a total of 3,232 acres under
the jurisdiction of the Division of Commercial Fisheries. There are in addi-
tion a number of old grants. Since the records of these are available only
from county courthouse records the total number has not been ascertained.
Except for a relatively few grounds under lease, the majority are being used
primarily for the same purpose as fifty years ago, merely to keep a small
amount of oysters to supply the family needs. There has been a renewed
interest in the past six months (July, 1948, to January, 1949), in leasing
small portions of bottom for oyster culture.

It would seem, as Grave expressed it in 1904, that oyster cultivation had
been given a fair trial, had proved a failure and was a thing of the past, so
far as North Carolina was concerned. The failure was more apparent than
real in most cases and Grave sums up the causes for the failure as :

"i. Those individuals engaged or who have engaged in it, have, as a
rule, had erroneous ideas as to the requirements for successful oyster
culture

154 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

"2. Many of those who entered grounds for oyster planting did so with
the expectation that large profits would be immediately forthcoming and
were not sufficiently interested to continue in the work

"3. The laws framed for the encouragement and protection of oyster
culture were defective or have not been observed."

Grave (1904) conducted further experiments in the North and Newport
rivers to ascertain thoroughly the possibilities of oyster culture. He states
that on the whole the experiments were satisfactory but pointed out that the
lower parts of the two rivers were not suitable for cultivation of market
oysters but could be valuable for securing seed. The upper parts of the
rivers are well adapted to oyster planting, but the industry could never be
extensive on account of the limited area. Both areas have through the years
continued to produce small quantities of market oysters from the upper
regions of the rivers. The lower portions have not been utilized except for
the gathering of "coon" oysters for the canneries.

One of the causes of the failure of oyster culture was, as Grave stated,
that those engaged in oyster culture had an erroneous idea of the require-
ments for such a venture. Oyster culture consists of more than the mere
shifting of oysters from a natural bed to an area under lease and keeping
them until they grow or a favorable market develops. This practice is
common in many areas and often is profitable. There are three distinct
businesses which are recognized as oyster culture. These have been de-
scribed in various ways but fundamentally they are: the production of seed;
the growing of oysters from seed to marketable size; and the preparation
of oysters for market.

Each of the three businesses may consist of several different activities.
The production of seed requires preparations to secure a set of oysters.
Spawning sanctuaries containing adult oysters are necessary to provide a
source of spawn. At the right time it is necessary to plant shells or other
material in the most effective manner.

The growing of oysters necessitates: first, the clearing of the ground
upon which the oysters are to be raised; second, the transplantation of the
seed to growing areas, usually to waters of a higher salt content than the
area where the setting occurred. In growing oysters, the control of enemies
is a vital factor in determining the ultimate yield that will be realized. The
theoretical yield from a heavy set would probably exceed 50 bushels of
market oysters from a bushel of shells planted. In the Delaware Bay region,
oystermen who do not control enemies secure one to two bushels of market
oysters for every bushel of seed planted. Those that practice some means of
control realize a yield of four or five bushels of market oysters. In the Long
Island Sound area, yields up to 8 bushels of market oysters are obtained
from a bushel of seed planted when enemies are controlled. With new

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 155

methods some oystermen are expecting to double this yield and secure from
14 to 15 bushels of market oysters per bushel of seed planted.

The preparation of oysters for market involves different procedures.
Oysters for the shell trade may require the production of a uniform smaller
sized oyster than those designated for a shucking house. Transplantation
may be necessary to an area where a desired flavor will be obtained. Oysters
going to shucking houses present the problem of securing the greatest yield
of oyster meats from a given measure. Thus, it may be necessary to trans-
plant oysters to areas that are rich in food organisms. Such areas may be
produced in the future through artificial enrichment of the waters by adding
necessary constituents to stimulate the growth of food organisms.

In areas where successful oyster culture is carried on, the methods differ
considerably. The industry cannot be governed in its practices by any set
of rules. In North Carolina, where oyster culture has not been extensively
carried on, it would be necessary to determine which methods best satisfy
the local conditions and, if necessary, to modify the procedures that are
successfully being employed elsewhere.

THE OYSTER INDUSTRY

North Carolina has maintained a rather modest position in oyster produc-
tion over the past fifty years. In 1940 North Carolina was third from the
bottom of the list of oyster-producing states along the Atlantic and Gulf
coasts. However, production in 1945 markedly increased to place North
Carolina in sixth position among the same list of states (Table 3).

The bulk of the industry is located in the Pamlico Sound area. Although
production of oysters has been of significance in Core and Bogue sounds
and their tributaries, over four-fifths of the oysters are produced in Pam-
lico Sound and its tributaries. This is to be expected when one considers the
vast area of Pamlico Sound, over 1,140,000 acres as compared to 105,000
acres for Core and Bogue sounds combined (Winslow, 1889). Only a small
portion of this total area, however, is actually producing oysters. Winslow
(1886) calculated over 10,000 acres as consisting of natural beds and
estimated that between 609,000 and 807,000 acres were of possible and
probable value for oyster culture. The acreage of natural oyster beds as
given by Winslow is probably low, for Grave (1904) states that the natural
beds of Hyde County, as determined by Stevenson from inquiries, were
from 18,000 to 36,000 acres in extent. This apparent discrepancy was due
to unawareness, at that time, of the existence of beds that were located
nearly two miles offshore in Pamlico Sound, which were not discovered until
nearly ten years after Winslow's survey. Many of the beds in the Pamlico
Sound area that existed in Winslow's time are still more or less productive.
A survey comparable to that conducted by Winslow has not been attempted

156

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

TABLE 3
Oyster Production, Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, 1940 and 1945

1940

1945

State

Pounds *

Value

Pounds *

Value

Massachusetts

383,600

$ 170,164

169,100

$ 101,680

Rhode Island

1,749,600

342,306

915,500

406,588 t

Connecticut

3,857,000

538,754

1,393,500

554,644

New York

7,067,200

1,403,068

5,073,500

2,067,276

New Jersey

5,941,800

711,610

7,747,800

3,065,625

Delaware

974,200

67,227

732,000

218,725

Maryland

19,743,200

1,644,497

15,033,500

5,261,725

Virginia

17,713,900

1,542,750

17,536,400

6,359,353

North Carolina

690,400

52,5601:

1,707,100

400,210

South CaroHna

2,202,700

81,817 t

722,100

117,147

Georgia

264,800

i5,i78t

255,100

50,026 t

Florida

877,300

61,898

1,633,300

780,026

Alabama

936,000

101,151

1,605,700

717,007

Mississippi

2,270,100

147,157 t

265,200

119,842 t

Louisiana

12,412,200

694,785

9,884,100

2,829,007

Texas

1,297,200

108,204
$7,683,126

718,800

232,361 t

Total

78,381,200

65,392,700

$23,281,242

* Edible meats, exclusive of shells.
t Yield from private grounds only.
I Yield from public grounds only.

since, but from many indications the changes would not be expected to be
very great.

The oyster resources and industry of the State have been in more or less
a static condition and present a problem peculiar to the area. When the
industry of the State first became of recognized importance, the oysters
were marketed through branch houses established in the area by Ches-
apeake dealers and canneries. These oysters were shipped to the Chesapeake
area and sold chiefly through the Baltimore market as "Chesapeake
oysters" (Grave, 1904). Although this procedure undoubtedly benefited the
area economically at the time, it is perhaps unfortunate that this develop-
ment occurred, for it has kept the North Carolina oyster from standing on
its own merits. The bulk of the oysters produced at present continue to be
marketed through the Chesapeake dealers.

The industry in North Carolina is virtually a free fishery and a seasonal
occupation. There are few individuals that are wholly dependent upon
oystering for their livelihood. This has a marked effect upon oyster produc-
tion, for the individuals engaged in oystering depend upon fishing, shrimp-
ing, clamming, crabbing, and farming for their income. Although the oyster
season comes when the other activities are temporarily curtailed by weather

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 157

conditions, there is some overlapping between seasons. The individuals
engage in the occupation that offers the greatest immediate financial returns.
The Pamlico Sound area is exceptional in that there is no concentration
of the industry in any one locality. There are at present approximately 25
shucking houses in a variety of locations. Some are found along small creeks
in remote places, others at some distance from good navigable waters and a
few in good locations from the standpoint of a harbor and transportation
facilities. The industries in the north have been developed, on the whole,
around a central location. To cite a few examples, in the Chesapeake Bay
area Baltimore was the first marketing center; then the Hampton Roads
area in Virginia and Crisfield, Maryland, were developed as marketing
centers. In the Delaware Bay area, the oysters have been marketed for
many years through Bivalve, New Jersey, where at present there are located
15 shucking houses within the radius of one m.ile. Circumstances have
dictated the use of much hand labor in carrying out some of the activities
concerned with the industry in North Carolina, because of the locations
and lack of facilities, and thus prevent the use of labor saving devices and
mechanization.

DISCUSSION

Many factors favor North Carolina as an oyster producing area. The
first and perhaps most important is an abundance of seed. This has been a
factor in limiting the supply of marketable oysters in other states. The
abundance of available sets of oysters in Core and Bogue sounds and other
localities has not been utilized and remains undeveloped. The natural beds
have in general been supplied by a natural restocking.

The quality of oysters is generally good and compares favorably with
oysters from the northern areas. Winslow (1889) says of the oysters in the
New River area, "Probably no better stock can be found anywhere in the
world." Galtsoff and Seiwell (1928) state that the beds along the Neuse
River produce oysters of good quality and from the Point of Marsh area,
"the oysters are well shaped and appear to be of excellent quality." Condi-
tions have changed in some of these areas but many beds at present produce
high quality oysters.

North Carolina appears to be ideally situated, geographically, for oysters.
It is located about midway between the extremes in the range of distribu-
tion. The winters are not severe, nor are the summers extremely hot. These
conditions have a definite relationship to the growth and feeding of oysters.
It is possible to produce an oyster of marketable size in two years or less.
This growth rate is close to the minimum. Although oysters throughout the
south are in general not as firm in body as northern oysters, the North
Carolina oyster can compete with northern oysters. The fact that North

158 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Carolina oysters have since 1890 been sold as Chesapeake oysters is testi-
mony that should not be overlooked.

The relative absence of the many enemies of the oyster in its waters
favors North Carolina as an oyster-producing area. It is necessary in such
oyster-producing regions as Long Island Sound and Delaware Bay to
practice control of enemies if a maximum production is to be attained.
North Carolina has indeed been fortunate not to be concerned with pollu-
tion in Pamlico Sound. During 1948 there were no areas closed to oystering
in Pamlico Sound because of pollution.

The conditions briefly discussed above all point to the possibilities that
exist for the development of a great industry. Since the time of Winslow's
survey, the potentialities have been frequently noted with an emphasis
upon private leasing for oyster culture. This is the supposed solution to
the problem of increasing oyster production and development of the indus-
try. The repeated failure of private oyster culture appears to be discourag-
ing. The conclusion could be drawn that future attempts would not be
successful. The industry in general has not made much progress, in spite
of the favorable conditions that appear to exist for the area. Perhaps many
explanations are to be offered.

The lack of education concerning oysters had undoubtedly much to do
with the failure of oyster culture in the past. However, all the answers to
the practical problems of the oyster planter are not known (Galtsoff,
1947). The scientific workers have been too few and have often had too
little time to devote to the necessary studies. The public and the industry
are often too impatient for results and for authoritative advice to allow
the scientists time to complete their studies.

Oystering requires a good deal of experience and common sense in
applying the known information. Good results can be secured through
trial and error, but many persons have undertaken oyster culture without
the necessary experience and knowledge of water conditions, type of
bottom, and other pertinent information. The necessary capital for initial
investment has often been lacking to those that might be interested in
cultivating oysters. This is true in fishing, shrimping, and crabbing, but
in these activities the returns are more or less immediate and the dealers
often will risk short-term loans for nets, gasoline, and supplies. Since
oyster culture, because of past failures, does not have a good reputation
and doubt exists as to its practicability, individuals may find it difficult to
secure long-term loans for engaging in it.

A man must have a strong incentive to engage in such a business as
oyster farming. Many facts may readily discourage such attempts. The
present regulations are restrictive in nature with limits placed on -the
number of acres an individual can lease in North Carolina. In Pamlico

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 159

Sound the maximum acreage that can be leased by an individual, firm, or
corporation is two hundred acres, but leasing of bottom is prohibited
within the waters of Pamlico and Hyde counties. In the various tributaries
the maximum is fifty acres. The Department of Conservation and Develop-
ment has the authority to specify the acreage any one person may lease in
Pender, New Hanover, and Brunswick counties. It is doubtful that
developing such small plots of ground as fifty acres could be profitable.
Many who are interested in leasing bottom and attempting oyster culture
will not do so because of the lack of protection afforded to their holdings.
Persons living close to the water's edge have leased bottom, where they
can readily watch the area, but too often such locations are not the best
suited for grov/ing oysters. The number of areas that fulfil) this pre-
requisite are naturally limited.

Other causes contribute to the static condition of the industry in North
Carolina. With its first development in 1890 to 1900, oysters were shipped
to the Chesapeake area and marketed as Chesapeake oysters, as already
stated. This condition still exists and the majority of the oysters produced
in Pamlico Sound are sent to Baltimore markets for reshipment. The
Pamlico Sound area has been depending in the past upon a market that
would come to it, rather than aggressively striving to create a market of
its own. This attitude has placed the oystermen in a position where they
are more or less dependent upon the weather. When severe winter weather
makes it difficult to harvest oysters in the north, a market demand arises
in North Carolina. During warm weather, the oystermen engage in activi-
ties on land or in fishing until a demand for oysters is created. In some
instances the oyster dealers have recognized the disadvantages of this
situation and are attempting to create markets for their products.

The position of North Carolina in the south creates a condition that is
not always desirable. Oysters may develop their sex products to spawn in
the fall months, with the consequence that they are in poor condition
immediately after spawning, and yield a low volume in meat content. A
month or longer may be required to recover from spawning, so that the
first oysters to go to market in the fall may be in poor condition and cause
the dealers and buyers to seek other sources.

The oyster industry in the northern areas, where it is chiefly controlled
by private enterprise, has become highly mechanized, with new methods
and ideas constantly being applied. The result is that greater investments
are incurred and an effort is made to produce high quality products in as
great a quantity as possible. In areas such as North Carolina, the emphasis
is more on quantity than quality, and in order to compete with quality it
is necessary to undersell and thus offer a lower grade product to the ulti-
mate consumer. The effects of this are often disadvantageous.

160 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

An undesirable feature of southern oysters is the presence of pigmenta-
tion on the mantle which causes a dark color. Similar oysters are some-
times encountered in Chesapeake Bay but they are common in North
Carolina and become more prevalent further south.

The natural beds of North Carolina differ markedly, in one respect,
from those in many northern areas in that there is very little substratum.
The beds are situated on the surface of a sandy or firm muddy bottom with
very little depth of shells. Intensive dredging of the beds soon removes this
layer, and the recovery becomes a slow and prolonged process, unless shell
plantings are made and oysters returned to the bed to build up a future
supply.

In spite of the many obstacles that present themselves in the path of the
development of a great industry, the North Carolina waters appear to
contain potentialities. In a consideration of the many factors involved,
oyster culture has not been given a fair trial. Many unproductive, barren
areas lie idle and undeveloped. In some cases, production could un-
doubtedly be increased from five- to tenfold if efforts were made toward
this end. From the biological point of view, Pamlico Sound offers a
promising field and appears to be favorable for developing a much greater
industry than now exists. In order to promote and achieve this aim, a
coordinated effort will be needed through a program of education, dem-
onstration, and continued study of the problems peculiar to the area. Some
changes may be necessary in the existing legislation in order to assure
progress toward a greater oyster industry in the State.

THE HARD CLAM

Venus mercenaria (Linnaeus)

INTRODUCTION

The hard clam is known by various names: "little neck," quahaug or
quohog, hard-shell clam, round clam, and "cherrystone." Its specific name,
mercenaria, is believed to have originated in the use of the shell by Indians
for wampum. The shells were cut to divide the purple and white portions,
the purple color being the more highly valued. Although the hard clam is
essentially a southern or warm-water form, the bulk of the production is
from New England and Long Island Sound. The total production of hard
clams from the Atlantic coast in 1940 amounted to nearly 13 million pounds
of edible portions, exclusive of shells, valued at nearly two million dollars
(Table 4).

According to Dall (1889) there are twelve species of Venus along the
southeastern coast, eight of which are reported from the waters of North
Carolina. The species mercenaria is the only one of commercial impor-

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY

161

TABLE 4
Atlantic Coast Production of Hard Clams *

1940

1945

State

Pounds *

Value

Pounds *

Value

Maine

5,000

$ 425

489,400

$ 91,942

Massachusetts

2,411,100

336,251

2,295,600

675,338

Rhode Island

1,978,000 t

237,311!

1,910,900 t

524,365 t

Connecticut

59,000

9,734

41,800

14,797

New York

2,807,700 t

478,800 t

3,401,700 t

2,068,370!

New Jersey

2,366,300!

340,101 t

4,837,700!

1,629,469 !

Delaware

33.400 t

4,380 t

3i,ioot

9,352!

Maryland

78,900

17,250

119,300

62,036

Virginia

1,764,100 t

352,460!

1,010,400 f

525,408!

North Carolina

530,200

45.067

502,200

151,447

South Carolina

2,900

203

1,300

375

Florida

707,800

67,368
$1,889,350

690,700
15.332,100

173,425

Total

12,744.400

$5,926,324

* Edible portions, exclusive of shells.

t Includes yield from private grounds.

$ Exclusive of ocean quahaugs — 1,311,900 pounds, valued at $109,387.

tance, although Venus mortoni is the form commonly harvested in the
Florida waters (Fiedler, 1943). The range of the hard clam is from the
Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, where it was first reported in
Louisiana by Kellogg (1905). In North Carolina, clam beds are located
in the sounds near the inlets in relatively saline waters.

In comparison to the oyster, the literature on hard clams is meagre.
Kellogg (1900-a, 1901, 1903) and Belding (1909, 1912) were among the
pioneer workers in the field. Since then there has been little published on
this form except for Loosanoff's studies on gonadal changes and spawning
(i937-a,b, 1939-a). Recently there has developed a stimulus for research
on hard and soft shell clams along the Atlantic coast as a result of appro-
priations from the Federal Government and of private grants. Little or no
scientific studies on hard clams or the clam industry in North Carolina
have been published. However, the known information on the biology of
the clam would hold true in general for clams native to North Carolfna
and would form a basis for future studies.

NATURAL HISTORY

The sexes in the hard clam, as in the eastern oyster, are separate; but
also as in the native eastern oyster, clams are capable of changing their
sex. Nearly all the young clams first develop as males, approximately 50
per cent becoming females during the second year (Loosanoff, 1943)- The

162 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

development of spawn in the clam has been described in detail by Loos-
anoff (1937-a). Soon after spawning has ceased in the fall, the sex products
commence to develop, often reaching maturity by mid-winter, but because
of cold temperatures, spawning of the new generation is delayed until the
next spring. Normally the ovaries and testes are white in color, but in old
clams they may have a reddish or yellow tint (Kellogg, 1903). Spawning is
believed to be directly correlated with temperature, but other factors may
exert an influence making it as complicated as it is in the oyster. Belding
(1912) found spawning to occur in Massachusetts from mid- June to mid-
August, commencing at a temperature of 76° to 77° F. (23-25° C).
Loosanoff (1937-b) found spawning to occur earlier at about 73° F. and
to continue for a longer period in Long Island Sound. Studies have not
been conducted in North Carolina to determine the period of spawning
but it would be expected that spawning occurs earlier in North Carolina
and continues longer than it does in the north. Some practical clammers
and dealers believe that hard clams may spawn throughout the year in
North CaroHna, especially during mild winters.

Sexual maturity in the clams occurs at a very early age. Loosanoff
(1943) states that young clams may spawn at an age of three or four
months, but the majority spawn after they reach their first year. Belding
(1912) found on an average, that clams must be two years old before they
spawn. He states that "little necks" and "blunts," or old clams, do not
spawn and that only the small "sharps" (2^ to 3 inches) and large clams
(3 to 3^ inches) spawn, although both "little necks" and "blunts" con-
tain varying amounts of spawn.

The embryology and early development of the clam are similar to that of
the oyster. The sex cells are extruded into the mantle cavity and pass out
of the animal through the excurrent siphon (Belding, 1912; Loosanoff,
1937-b). After fertihzation of the eggs in the water, cell division occurs
and continues until a small mass of cells capable of swimming is developed.
Within 36 hours a small shelled animal called the veliger results. Increase
in size continues during the next 6 to 12 days, when free swimming ceases
and attachment of the larval clam occurs. Meanwhile, a byssal gland has
developed in the foot. This gland secretes a substance which hardens on
contact with the water to form a tough thread, called a byssus, by means
of which the larval clam attaches to or "sets" upon such objects as sea-
weed, stones, and shells. This attachment marks the transition period
between the free swimming stage and the beginning of the adult.

The primary function of the byssus is believed to be protective, for the
young clams are liable to be covered by fine silt and mud or be washed
ashore during strong winds. Attachment in a suitable location thus protects
the small clams and affords them an opportunity to grow to a size when

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 163

they burrow in the sand and are said to "set." Since setting frequently
occurs below the low tide level, "sets^' often pass unnoticed. There is a
need for the development of commercial methods for collecting clam sets
during these periods.

In the adult stage the hard clam differs markedly from the oyster in that
the clam retains power of locomotion. The adult clam possesses a well
developed foot which it uses to burrow, to crawl for short distances, and to
turn over. Although hard clams can crawl, there is little migration of the
clams from the areas where they set. Belding (1912) shows that the
average distance traveled in 38 days was two inches, with a maximum of
six inches, from the spot where the clams were first bedded.

The adult clams do not bury themselves very deep, for they feed through
siphons which extend to the surface. The siphons are short (about one
inch), in comparison to those of the soft clam (Mya), which extend about
six inches. Hard clams rarely bury themselves to a depth greater than the
length of the shell. The depth to which clams burrow appears to be cor-
related with periods of feeding, water temperatures, and tidal cycles.

ECOLOGY

CURRENTS. Many of the early investigators of oysters and clams (Lotsy,
1895; Moore, 1898; Kellogg, 1900-b, 1903; Grave, 1904; Belding, 1909,
1912) emphasized the importance of water currents, which they correlated
with feeding. Presumably the greater the current, the more food is avail-
able to the animal. Nelson (1947), however, has recently shown the
importance of the bottom microorganisms in the food supply. Currents do
play an important role in replenishing the oxygen supply and in carrying
away the metabolic waste products.

DEPTH OF WATER. Belding (1912) reports that hard clams live as well
in the intertidal zone as at depths up to 50 feet. They are most frequently
found on the flats in relatively shoal waters, a few feet below the low tide
zone.

SOIL. Clams grow in a variety of bottoms ranging from sand to gravel
and rocks. A bottom consisting of an equal mixture of mud and sand is
considered the most favorable. Such a bottom not only makes it easier for
the clam to burrow but greatly facilitates harvesting of the crop. Soils that
contain organic acids may cause corrosion of the shell and retard the
growth of clams.

SALINITY. There appears to be a rough correlation in North Carolina
between the distribution of clams and salinity. Clams are confined to areas
of higher salinities than the oyster and are rarely found in the western and
northern Pamlico Sound areas where the salinities range from 8 to 20 parts
per thousand. Belding (1912) states that salinity has little effect on clams.

164 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

He reports clams growing in waters of densities ranging from 1.009 to
1.026 with no apparent differences in rates of growth. Loosanoff (1943)
reports that natural clam beds occur in brackish water with salinity ranges
from 10 to 28 parts per thousand and that clams can tolerate wide fluctua-
tions over short periods.

Following the hurricane of 1933, which caused great damage to the
outer banks of North Carolina and ruined the oyster beds in the Harbor
Island region, a great abundance of clams appeared in the vicinity. Prior
to 1933, clams did not exist in commercial quantities in the northern part
of Core Sound from Atlantic to Wainwright Island. The appearance of
clams in this area seems to be correlated with the increase in salinity due
to the new inlets cut through the banks, particularly Drum Inlet. Galtsoff
and Seiwell (1928) report the average salinity for this locality as 23 parts
per thousand. In August and September 1948 the salinity in this area was
32 parts per thousand. The increased production of clams in 1936 is
attributed to the abundance of clams in this region. In recent years these
clam beds have been productive and of importance because of their acces-
sibility to the marketing centers.

GROWTH, Hard clams grow more slowly in northern waters than the
other economic mollusks. In the New England area, the average size of a
clam at the end of the first growing period (i.e., from the fertihzation of
the egg to cold weather) is less than a quarter of an inch. About four and
one half years are required to produce a clam three inches in length.
Kellogg (1903) states that the growth of clams is greatest in the intertidal
zones where they are exposed for intervals each day. However, Belding
(1912) says that clams which are covered constantly by water grow more,
for they are able to feed for longer periods, Belding's experiments show
that 14-millimeter clams have the greatest growth rates; that above this
size the amount of new shell laid down diminishes with increase in age.
Crowded conditions may result in competition for food and space; but
often under such conditions clams are forced out of the bottom and
exposed to enemies, Belding (1912) found that "sharps" do not result
from the planting of "blunts" and concluded that shell growth once re-
tarded, as in "blunt" clams, does not readily recover.

TEMPERATURE, In the coldcr waters, shell growth does not occur during
the winter months, Belding (1912) showed that shell growth commences
when the water temperature reaches 49° F. (9° C.) and ceases when
temperature declines to about 45° F. Loosanoff (1939-a) has confirmed
this, showing that hibernation begins soon after the temperature decreases
to S to 6° C. (41 to 43° F,).

ENEMIES, The youngest stages are exposed to more enemies than the
adults. Fish, crabs, various snails, and starfish prey upon the young clams

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 165

before they have an opportunity to bury themselves. The adult clams are
protected by their shells and by their location below the surface of the
bottom. Among the enemies that attack adult clams are the clam borer
(Polynices), conchs (Busycon), and starfish.

CLAM CULTURE

There is no evidence that attempts have been made to cultivate clams in
North Carolina. At present several beds which are used solely for clams
are under lease, but these areas are for the temporary bedding of surplus
clams until a favorable market develops. Many areas exist in the State
where cultivation of clams could be successfully carried on for these clams
are hardy and capable of living on many types of bottom at various depths.

The decreased clam supply in the northern states has provided an incen-
tive to cultivate clams in that region to augment the decreased natural
supply. Since this condition has not been prevalent in North Carolina,
little attention has been given to cultivation.

In those states where clam culture has been attempted, it has not become
as highly developed as oyster culture. The many factors to be considered
for such a venture to be successful are similar to the requirements for
successful oyster culture. Two alternative methods of clam culture can be
considered. It may be carried on by the State through seeding of public
areas or by private interests in the development of an industry. The success
of clam farming depends upon the selection of locations that fulfill certain
prerequisites. The grounds should be accessible to good roads or marketing
centers. The depth of the water should be considered in determining the
methods to be used in harvesting the crop. It is necessary to locate the
beds in areas protected from adverse climatic conditions, and sometimes
the problem of pilfering becomes a serious one. Other desired features are
the nearness to a seed supply, distance from sources of pollution, and the
flavor of the clams from the particular locality.

In cultivating clams, the planting of seed would normally be the first
procedure. The local conditions regulate the number of clams to be planted,
with an average of 20 small clams planted per square foot. The expected
yield, according to Belding (1912), from a planting of 20 clams per square
foot would be about 1200 bushels of 2^ inch clams per acre.

The desired aim of clam farming is to produce clams that are uniform
in size and to maintain a population of various size groups that command
the best prices.

THE CLAM INDUSTRY

In North Carolina the bulk of the clams are produced in Core and Bogue
sounds. The clams are sold chiefly in the shell and graded according to size.

166 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Four grades are generally recognized: Cherrystones, little necks, large,
and chowders. Since cherrystones and little necks usually command the
highest price, this represents a situation that differs markedly from the
marketing of the other commercial mollusks in that usually the larger sizes
are desired. Clams for shucking purposes are generally sold by weight in
North Carolina; a basket weighing ninety pounds is the usual measure.
The price received by the clammers depends upon the market demand, size
of the clams and condition of the meats.

Hand labor is used in the harvesting of clams in North Carolina. Clams
are gathered by raking in shoal areas or by the use of tongs in waters up
to 2 0 or 2 5 feet deep. In some cases the clams are treaded; that is, the;
clammer will go overboard to feel the clams with his feet, and pick them
up by hand. In other areas along the Atlantic coast clams are harvested by
dredging. Dredging is permitted in Carteret County of North Carolina,
but very little is done because the area does not lend itself readily to the
usual dredging methods. An illegal method often employed by fishermen
with small motor boats is to anchor the boat by the stern, in shoal water,
and wash the clams out by the propellor wash. This method can be quite
effective, but often causes considerable damage to clam beds and should
not be encouraged.

The clam producing areas of North Carolina are confined to the regions
coming under the influence of the various inlets through the banks. The
clams are marketed chiefly from Atlantic, Williston, Beaufort, Davis,
Swansboro, Wilmington, and Southport with a limited number from the
Hatteras area marketed through Englehard. In recent years the largest
dealer in clams markets fresh shucked clams destined for the manufacture
of clam chowder by food processing concerns. The bulk of the crop
harvested in Core Sound and from the Ocracoke area is handled by this
firm.

The production of clams in North Carolina, according to Federal statis-
tics, shows a peak production of clams about the year 1902 (Table 5).
This large production is attributed to the establishment of a firm at Ocra-
coke by Mr. J. H. Doxsee.

The following information concerning the Doxsee plant was supplied by
Mr. R, S. Wahab, Ocracoke, North Carolina, who was employed at the
plant during 1903-1904. Mr. J, H. Doxsee, Sr., came to Ocracoke in 1898
from Long Island and established a clam factory at the entrance to Silver
Lake. Clams were bought at forty cents per bushel from Bogue Sound to
Hatteras Inlet and processed at the plant as clam juice, clam chowder, and
whole clams. Many of the cans were labeled as quahaugs with the origin
as Islip, Long Island. Mr. Wahab estimates that as many as three thou-
sand bushels of the clams were canned from March i to October i during

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 167

TABLE 5
Hard Clam Production, North Carolina, 1880 to 1948

Pounds *

Value

1880
1887

^ T /-\ /~\r\r\

<f;

3 i 0,000

78,000

3,233

1888

148,000

6,150

1889

155,000

8,265

1890

226,000

12,090

1897

938,000

53,703

1902

1,175,000

86,662

1908

726,000

82,000

I9I8

197,000

46,598

1923

263,000

64,064

1927

315,000

70,940

1928

324,000

61,168

1929

380,000

59,843

1930

317,000

40,680

I93I

332,000

30,775

1932

261,000

17,278

1934

338,000

33,647

1936

839,000

75,326

1937

430,000

34,343

1938

358,000

27,756

1939

628,000

50,360

1940

530,000

45,067

1,302,000

(170,:

!64U.S.bu.) t

I94I

502,000

(65,5c

)2U.S.bu.) t

1942

260,000

(34-OC

.5U.S.bu.)t

1943

343,000

(44,82

-5U.S.bu.)t

1944

1945

502,000

151,447

1946

227,000

(29,71

;7U.S.bu.)t

243,000

(31,878 U.S. bu.)t

1947

1948

207,000

(27,110 U.S. bu.) t

* Production figures of edible portions from Federal statistics except as noted.
t Figures based on tax returns to N. C. Division of Commercial Fisheries, bushels converted to
pounds by the factor of 7.65 lbs. per bu.

the peak of operations. After about three years of apparent success, the
clam supply diminished and the plant moved to Witt (now Sea Level),
North Carolina, just shortly after Mr, Doxsee died. The business was then
taken over by his son, Harvey Doxsee. Later the plant moved to Marco,
Florida. Following this period, production in North Carolina gradually
declined until 19 18 and remained below 400,000 pounds until 1934. Imme-
diately after the hurricane of 1933 clams appeared in great abundance in
upper Core Sound, as mentioned above.

The production of clams appears to be influenced by other fishing activi-
ties to a considerable extent. The amount of hand labor and difficulty of
working conditions often discourage local fishermen from clamming

168 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

except as a last resort. Weather conditions exert a profound influence in
the local area, for the men usually gather clams while wading on the flats,
often in water up to their armpits, during the summer months.

DISCUSSION

The potentialities for increased production of clams appear to be great
in North Carolina, the resource being virtually untapped in some areas.
A limiting factor is the lack of ready transportation facflities from such
isolated areas as Ocracoke and Hatteras, where reports indicate that a
bountiful supply of clams exists. In addition to the transportation problem,
a constant supply cannot be depended upon because of the methods used
in harvesting and the unreliability of the clammers. Ingersoll (1887) states
that some years previously, Virginia dealers sent boats to the sounds of
North Carolina, particularly to Ocracoke Inlet, to buy clams, but the
venture proved unprofitable because of the long voyage and because
clammers could not be relied upon to secure clams when a vessel arrived.
Dealers at present often complain that they are not able to fill orders
because of the unreliability of clammers. The uncertainty of labor could
be overcome by employing some of the new mechanical methods that have
been developed recently, such as the Brown Shellfish Harvester and the
Jurisich Oyster-Clam Harvester.

The clam does have several distinct advantages over the oyster in the
marketing problem. The "R" month tradition has a marked influence on
the oyster market during the summer months, whereas clams are salable
throughout the year and provide a non-seasonal occupation. The meat
content of oysters is greatly influenced by the spawning periods, for the
meat volume immediately after spawning is below the minimum to market
oysters profitably. This condition exists in the clam to a limited extent,
but by the presence of the muscular foot, the volume of meat is kept at a
higher level.

In the past the bulk of the clams was marketed through brokers or
were shipped to the Baltimore market for reshipment. In recent years the
larger dealers have attempted to create their own market for their product,
but their lack of knowledge in marketing methods often is a handicap. The
sale of clams for the shell trade requires careful grading of the various
sizes, for grading has a definite influence on the price received for the
product. The various grades are chowders, cherrystones, little necks, and
large clams. These in turn command the following price ranges, to illus-
trate from prices at New York in March, 1949: chowders — $2.50 to $3.00
per New York basket; cherrystones — $5.00 to $5.50; large — $4.50; little
necks — $6.50 to $7.50. The wholesalers and large retail dealers are more
familiar with the methods of grading than the clammers and small local

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 169

dealers who often do not receive the maximum market price because of
poor grading.

Future scientific studies are necessary before recommendations can be
made concerning clams and procedures in clam farming. The hard clam
resources of North Carolina represent perhaps the most promising field
for immediate development if a steady market could be established. Clams
are abundant in many localities but are not harvested because of the lack
in market demand and often because rigorous labor is involved. Potential
clam dealers should be encouraged to engage in the industry and progres-
sive individuals could readily overcome such a problem as uncertain labor.

THE SCALLOPS

Pecten species

INTRODUCTION

The scallop has been said to rival the oyster in historical interest. The
beauty of the shell has probably attracted more attention than the edible
portions contained within, for the shell has been copied for ornamental
purposes since medieval times. The shells found in kitchen middens show
that the edibility of the scallop was known to the early American Indians.

Throughout the world there are a number of different kinds of scallops.
Some of the European species are distinct from those along our Atlantic
seaboard and on our west coast. Seven species have been reported from the
waters of North Carolina (Dall, 1889). The two species gathered for com-
mercial use along the Atlantic coast are commonly distinguished as the bay
scallop {Pecten irradians, Lamarck) and the giant or sea scallop {Pecten
grandis, Solander.) The distribution or location of these two forms is indi-
cated by the common names, one being found in the shoal waters of protected
bays and estuaries while the other is found in the deep waters overlying the
continental shelf off the coast. This review is concerned primarily with the
bay scallop, the only species that has been of commercial importance to
North Carolina.

The bay scallop is a marine bivalve mollusk with roughly rounded shells
containing a series of ridges spreading fanlike from the long, straight hinge.
The shells are secured at the hinge by a flexible ligament and a small cartilage
which tend to keep the shells open. This action is antagonistic to the adductor
muscle, located nearly in the central region of the shell, which when con-
tracted keeps the shells closed in the living animal. The adductor muscle
comprises the scallop meats marketed for consumption. This is often the only
portion of the scallop with which the average person is familiar.

The range of the bay scallop is from Nova Scotia to Texas (Dall, 1889;
Kellogg, 1905). Commercially, the northern limit of the scallop is at Cape

170 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Cod and the southern limit at Florida, However, not all the states within
these limits market scallops. Commercial quantities of bay scallop are
gathered in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Virginia,
North Carolina, and Florida.

Since 1930 the production of scallops has been small and in many areas,
including North Carolina, the industry has become virtually non-existent.
There appears to be a definite correlation between the disappearance of
eelgrass {Zoster a) from the coastal regions and decline in production of
scallops during this period. Table 6 contains the production figures for the
Atlantic coast during the years 1929, 1937 and 1940. Production has declined
in all states, except Florida and Rhode Island.

TABLE 6
Production of Bay Scallops

1929

1937

1940

North Carolina
Florida
New York
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
Connecticut
Virginia
Maine

Pounds *

686,220

24,094

619,626

1,498,240
98,948

Pounds

61,900
118,600
36,000
1,292,100
99,400
89,600

Pounds

33,800
128,400

19,300
870,300
222,500

38,600

1,145,598

71,400

Total

4,072,726

1,769,000

1,312,900

* Weights of scallops refer to edible portions, exclusive of shells.

NATURAL HISTORY

The early development of the bay scallop is essentially the same as the
other bivalves discussed herein, the oyster and clam. Since both sex products
are present in a single individual, it is a hermaphroditic form. The ovaries
and testes are located in separate places and self-fertilization is believed to
occur seldom. In the process of spawning the scallop usually discharges one
kind of sex cells at a time, although Belding (1910) reports a few instances
when a mixture of both eggs and sperm were observed on the first discharge.
Spawning occurs under natural conditions when the water temperature rises
to 61.5° F. in June (Belding, 1910). However, Outsell (1931) found spawn-
ing to occur in North Carolina when the water temperature was declining in
the autumn, and to continue until January. Both authors report that spawn-
ing generally continues over an extended period rather than a complete dis-
charge of the sex products within a brief time. Although self-fertilization is

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 171

supposed to occur but rarely, both Belding and Outsell were successful in
securing fertilization experimentally from the sex products of one individual.

Fertilization of the egg occurs in the water. Differential development takes
place during the first hours after fertilization, followed by the earliest larval
stage (trochophore) which resembles an annelid or worm larva. At this stage
the animal is capable of some locomotion with the aid of fine hairs (the cilia
and a flagellum). The velum, a ciliated swimming organ, soon develops, and
the animal is then in its veliger stage. During this stage the shell (prodis-
soconch) quickly develops and covers the animal, forming the typical
straight-hinge larva of the bivalve mollusks. Belding obtained the straight-
hinge stage in 17 to 40 hours. Outsell did not obtain this stage until 42 to 48
hours at 25° C. In four or five days some marked changes occur, such as the
appearance of a well developed foot, complete alimentary tract and changes
in the shell to resemble the adult. The characteristic ribs of the shell appear
when the animal has reached a size of about one millimeter (1/25 inch).

At this stage (dissoconch) the animal begins a crawling habit and can
attach by means of fine threads, or byssus secreted by a gland in the foot.
By this means a "set" of young scallops results when attachment is made to
eelgrass, stones, shells, or other similar material. The young can cast off or
break the byssus at will to spin another. Thus, the early life consists of a
series of attachments and breakings free, with intervening periods of crawling
and swimming. The young scallop swims with its foot extended until contact
is made with an object to which the byssus is attached. The attachment is of
great significance when the young scallops are subjected to rough weather
conditions. If they were not attached to some object, the waters would soon
cast the scallops on the shores to perish.

The ability to swim develops soon after the young reach a few millimeters
in size. The power of swimming makes the scallop unique among the com-
mercial bivalves. The whole animal is modified for this purpose, with a strong
light shell, powerful adductor muscle, a well-developed cartilage in the hinge,
and the margins of the mantle provided with infolded ridges and circular
muscles. Swimming is effected through coordinated efforts of the various
components. In swimming, the animal moves forward, hinge aft, as though
biting the water, rather than hinge foremost as might be expected. The mantle
edges close together preventing the water from escaping along the free edges
of the shell so that the water is forced hingeward and out of an aperture on
each side of the hinge when the powerful adductor muscle closes the shells.
Scallops are able to swim to the surface and along the surface for short
distances. When suddenly disturbed, the shells may snap shut and the animal
will dart along the bottom in the opposite direction, with the hinge foremost.
Other movements have been described, such as those of turning over, rotating
horizontally, and a sort of "sculling" movement. Although scallops are able

172 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

to swim, it is doubtful that this ability is used to any great extent among the
adult animals or that distinct migrations occur. As a result of the swimming
habit, the adductor muscle develops to a large size, thus rendering economi-
cally feasible the practice of utilizing only the muscle.

Another unique character of the scallop is the possession of eyes of deep
blue color, located on short stalks among the tentacles of the mantle. The
eyes have been the object of much study and discussion. Each eye contains a
cornea, lens, iris, retina, and optic nerve, and is capable of perceiving motion
of objects. To see the metallic glitter of the eyes in a bright light is a striking
sight.

ECOLOGY

DEPTH OF WATER. Scallops are found at various depths and are apparently
not influenced by the depth. Deep water affords a protection in northern
areas during severe winters, for freezing often causes considerable mortality
among populations found in shoal water and areas that are exposed during
the ebb tide. Deeper water also protects scallops from such enemies as the
herring gull.

CURRENTS. The water currents are of importance in the dispersal of the
larvae. In the adults, which are filter feeders, the currents may play an im-
portant role in the food supply. In concentration of large numbers of scallops
in a localized area, the exchange of the water replenishes the oxygen and
carries away the metabolic wastes.

SALINITY. Scallops are confined to more saline water than oysters and
clams. Outsell discusses the minimum salinity, indicating a salinity of 20
parts per thousand as the minimum tolerated by scallops over prolonged
periods, but adult scallops are able to endure salinities as low as 13 parts per
thousand for brief periods.

TEMPERATURE. On exposcd flats and in shoal water extreme winter
weather often causes considerable destruction of scallops. Freezing weather
is probably of greater significance in the northern states than in North Caro-
lina, although Outsell reports that the chilling of water in North Carolina
below freezing was responsible for the mortality of many scallops in 1928.
Temperature also influences feeding, growing, and spawning. Belding states
that the minimum temperature for growth is 45° F.

BOTTOM. The type of bottom on which scallops are found varies from mud
to hard sand. A grassy bottom is generally considered necessary for the
growth of scallops. The bay scallop is confined largely to areas where an
abundance of eelgrass (Zostera) occurs. In the early 1930's when a
wasting epidemic disease killed off the eelgrass, scallops disappeared from

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 173

many areas shortly afterwards. Since that period wherever patches of eel-
grass have appeared scallops have soon followed. Many studies have shown
a possible positive correlation between the abundance of eelgrass and bay
scallops, but as Marshall (1947) points out, the relationship is complex and
indirect. Forms other than scallops disappeared from some areas following
the eelgrass. Stauffer (1937) describes the absence, five years after eelgrass
disappeared from an area, of nine out of thirteen species that had been
found in a former typical eelgrass habitat. Marshall (1947) reports scallops
flourishing in the absence of eelgrass in Long Island Sound. Belding (1910)
and Outsell (1931) both suggest that eelgrass was important in offering a
surface for attachment of young scallops and afforded some means of pro-
tection to the adult. The presence of any suitable grass, algse, or other
surface for attachment would be expected to serve the same purpose. Scallops
do occur in commercial quantities in New England, presumably because
the rocky, weed-covered bottom offers a surface for attachment and some
protection. A few young scallops were recently found attached to old shells
and bryozoa in Core Sound, North Carolina. Market-sized scallops occur
sporadically in the vicinity of Hatteras and the western end of Bogue Sound
usually correlated with the appearance of some eelgrass.

GROWTH. The growth of the scallop is rapid in comparison with the oyster
and the clam. A marketable size of three inches in diameter is attained in a
year or even less in the waters of North Carolina. According to Outsell
commercial crops are of an age group between 12 and 20 months. Belding
reports that few scallops live to be 2 years old but found a few living to
an age of 30 months. In controlled experiments Belding showed that un-
molested scallops in their second year begin to show signs of physical de-
cline by slower growth, thickening of shell, and degeneration of the adductor
muscle, and by becoming more susceptible to adverse conditions. Twenty
per cent of the scallops reach the two-year mark and probably less than 10
per cent pass it. This factor has been the justification for protecting scallops
less than one year of age, for they spawn to provide future seed. Spawning
may occur in the second year, but the majority of the scallops die before
their second spawning.

Orowth lines or annual rings corresponding to the one-and two-year
periods are characteristically found on the shell. Belding attributes the for-
mation of the annual ring to cessation of shell growth during the winter
months. Outsell says that the ring is formed in the North Carolina waters
usually in the fall and thus is not correlated with cold weather. Risser
(1901) showed that the growth line corresponds well with the spawning
period. The most plausible explanation of the growth line appears to be
the correlation with spawning.

174

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY

THE SCALLOP INDUSTRY

The scallop fishery in North Carolina has been chiefly confined to
Carteret County, in both Bogue and Core sounds, A limited number of
scallops are gathered in the vicinity of Ocracoke and Hatteras. The industry
at present represents but a mere vestige of a once important fishery in North
Carolina. In 1928 North Carolina marketed more pounds of bay scallops
than any other state. After the disappearance of eelgrass from the area
during the early 1930's and following the hurricane of 1933, the production
dropped from a total of 686,220 pounds of meats valued at $37,960 during
1929 to 91,458 pounds for 1934 valued at $6,560.

HISTORY. The scallop industry first developed at Beaufort, which was
then a popular summer resort, reaching its height about i860. The first
shipments of scallop meats were made about 1870 by Mr. George N. Ives
from Connecticut who started to ship the meats by rail from North Carolina
to northern markets. The height of this shipping was reached about 1876-77
when several thousand gallons of meats were shipped to the northern
markets. Marketing of scallops was temporarily curtailed when a southeast
gale in August of 1879 destroyed many scallops.

Shortly after 1880 Mr. J. H. Potter of Beaufort began shipping scallops
to the New York markets. After 19 10 the industry became firmly estab-
lished and well organized. The road building programs led to the develop-
ment of shipping points along Core Sound at Marshallberg, Atlantic, and
other points.

In 19 18 the scallop industry was described as one of the leading shellfish
industries of the State. Production increased steadily until 1928, when
nearly 1,400,000 pounds of meats were harvested from North Carolina.

The bulk of the shipments about 1928 were made to New York and
Boston and small quantities were shipped within the State. The competition
from other scallop-producing areas affected the price locally, and conversely
the production from this area of North Carolina was great enough to affect
the market prices in New York and Boston.

Table 7 shows scallop production from North Carolina, as determined
from statistics compiled by the Federal Government. In the decade 19 18 to
1928 production of scallops increased more than threefold. The reason for
this is not certain; probably several factors are responsible. Increased
fishing intensity undoubtedly resulted in greater production, and was prob-
ably stimulated by the economic condition of the country with increased
demand. The typhoid epidemic of 1924 nearly ruined the oyster industry,
and potential oyster consumers may have turned to other fishery products
such as scallops. The production for 1929 and 1930 dropped to the level, of
1 9 18. This decline was probably due to the unusually cold weather that

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 175

TABLE 7
Scallop Production,* North Carolina, 1880 to 1948

Pounds Value

1880
1887
1888
1889
1890

1897
1902
1918
1923
1927
1928
1929
1930

1931
1932

1934
1936

1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942

1943
1944

1945
1946

1947
1948

7,000

^

4,000

160

4,000

180

16,000

700

18,000

800

118,000

5,653

13,000

980

423,000

31,618

554,000

46,214

835,000

119,767

1,394,000

125,845

686,000

37,960

432,000

53,923

495,000

50,250

91,000

6,560

36,000

6,000

99,000

14,175

62,000

11,680

30,000

7,971

33,000

6,660

34,000

3,685

5,600

(7<

DO gal.) t

12,320

(I,

540 gal.) t

22,000

7,770

2,888

(361 gal.) t

48,816

(6,

,102 gal.) t

* Production j&gures from Federal statistics except as noted.

t Figures based on tax returns to N. C. Division of Commercial Fisheries.

occurred in December, 1928. Outsell (1931) states that "the considerable
scallop mortality which followed (late in December, 1928) was due to
unusual chilling (of the water) . . . accompanied by extreme ebb tides that
left the scallop flats exposed for considerable intervals." Following the dis-
appearance of eelgrass in the early 1930's and the severe hurricane of 1933,
production of scallops dropped to less than 100,000 pounds and has never
regained its former magnitude.

INDUSTRY. Scallops are harvested by raking or dredging. A raker wades
over the flats, generally through the low tide period, to rake the scallops by
hand. The rake resembles a potato or peanut digger with 6 tines fitted with
a small wire basket to aid in retaining the scallops. Dredging is done from
various small boats up to 35 and 40 feet in length.

176 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

The quantity of scallops caught per day depends upon their abundance.
Outsell (1929) quotes prices, wages, catch and other facts concerning the
industry from which the bulk of this information is taken. A harvest of 40
bushels is (or was, in the 1920's) considered a good day's catch for one
man dredging. A raker could gather from 8 to 15 bushels a day. The price
received for the scallops depends upon their size and the grade of meats
shucked and the total production. Usually the scallops are shucked by the
fisherman and his family. In some cases, others were hired to do the shuck-
ing. The only part of the scallop utilized is the adductor muscle which is
proportionally large but represents less than one-half of the bulk of the
animal. The remaining parts are discarded as waste, a small amount of which
is used for fertilizer. The U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service has recently been
advocating the utilization of scallop waste for fish bait, particularly to
stimulate interest among the sea scallopers to save their waste and thereby
realize an additional source of income. In some countries all the soft parts
are used for human consumption. They are discarded in this country, pre-
sumably because of their conspicuous coloration and the tough mantle
margin.

The yield of meats from a bushel of scallops depends upon the size of
the animal. Small scallops yield from two and one-half to a little over three
pints of meat per bushel. Large scallops may yield one gallon of meat per
bushel. An expert opener can shuck about a bushel of scallops an hour.
Scallops are graded into various size groups: small, medium, extra mediums,
large, and jumbos. Outsell (1929) made some actual counts of the number
of adductor muscles in the various grades and found considerable differ-
ences. In one case he found 113 and in another case, 63 in a quart of large
grade. At different seasons of the year such discrepancies may be expected,
for a mixed population would undoubtedly continue growth at parallel rates
for short-time intervals. Thus scallops that were small at the beginning of
the season may grow in a few months to mediums or even large-size meats,
but correspondingly those scallops that were large at the beginning of the
season would also continue growth.

CONSERVATION. The scallop presents a problem that is more complex
than that of the oyster or clam. For many years conservation has been a
matter of legal regulation which may be considered restrictive conservation.
Knowledge of the life history simplifies to an extent the problem of proper
regulatory measures. The open season for scallops is in accord with the
findings of Outsell (1931) insofar as the spawning season is concerned.

In attempting constructive conservation, problems arise which are pecu-
liar to the scallop. Its ability to swim and move about may hinder cultivation.
It would not be expected that the animals would migrate from favorable
grounds, but if certain areas are closed for conservation purposes, it is

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 177

possible that the scallops would move out beyond the arbitrary limits.
The short life span of the scallop makes impracticable such measures as
the establishment of spawning or breeding sanctuaries except for brief
periods.

Attempts have been made to cultivate scallops in Massachusetts, but the
results have not been certain. Some success has been achieved by trans-
planting scallops from heavily populated areas to depleted beds or by
moving them from shallow to deeper waters as protection from severe cold.
In transplantation the scallop presents a difficulty in that it does not survive
for extended periods out of water, and must be transplanted rapidly. Small
scallops appear to be hardier than old scallops.

The possibilities of restoring the scallop fishery of North Carolina should
not be completely abandoned. Although the industry is almost non-existent
in comparison to former production, over 22 thousand pounds of scallop
meats were marketed in 1945. Scallops continue to appear sporadically
in localized areas, often following the appearance of eelgrass. It might be
that scallops would become re-established by the introduction of a vegeta-
tion to substitute for eelgrass.

The bay scallop has been in demand and has been preferred to the sea
scallop. In March, 1949, the price received on the New York market for
bay scallops ranged from $8.00 to $10.50 per gallon as compared to $4.25
per gallon for sea scallops. The restoration of the bay scallop fishery in
North Carolina to its former productivity appears to merit serious con-
sideration. A program designed toward increased scallop production would
economically benefit the fishermen, since a demand exists for such a product.

THE SEA SCALLOP

The majority of sea scallops {Pecten grandis) are harvested from the
deep oceanic waters of the north overlying the well-known fishing "banks."
This scallop has never been of commercial importance to North Carolina.
Fishing trawlers and draggers working off the coast from Cape Hatteras
northward report catching an occasional sea scallop in their nets. It may be
possible that some extensive scallop beds do exist. Since some nets fish the
waters above the bottom, they may pass over the scallops, the presence of
which would not be known.

Little is known at present of the life history of the sea scallop. It differs
from the bay scallop in that the sexes are separate. Drew (1906) reported
sea scallops to spawn in August. Since Drew was working with scallops that
had been moved from their natural habitat and kept in floating cages, a
change in environmental conditions may have initiated spawning. It is
perhaps significant that these scallops had not spawned under natural con-
ditions until August. Casual observations of the scallop fishermen working

178 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

in deep waters indicate that migrations of the sea scallops are more extensive
than those of bay scallops.

THE CALICO SCALLOP

A small scallop frequently caught by fishing trawlers in depths over ten
fathoms in the vicinity of Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras resembles the
bay scallop, except for the bright coloration of the shell in the former.
The distribution of the small calico scallop (Pecten gibbus) is from North
Carolina to Florida. The calico scallop is about two inches in diameter and
the meats are reported to compare favorably with those of the bay scallop.
It is possible that calico scallops could be marketed as bay scallops if they
are present in the offshore waters in commercial quantities. The trawler,
"Penny," on a survey cruise for the Institute of Fisheries Research, April,
1949, located an abundance of these scallops in ten fathoms of water off
New River Inlet. However, the small size of the calico scallop, even if
present in commercial quantities, may not make it feasible to shuck the
scallops for market. It is recommended that further investigations be con-
. ducted to determine the abundance and distribution of the calico scallop in
North Carolina waters and that some preliminary determinations be made
of the amount of meats yielded per bushel of scallops.

THE SOFT-SHELL CLAM

My a arenaria (Linnaeus)

INTRODUCTION

The soft-shell clam is commonly known as the "mananose" ("maninose,"
"nanynose") in North Carolina. In other places it is known as the "long
neck," long clam, or soft clam. These clams are not harvested in commercial
quantity in North Carolina and many of the fishermen, clammers, and oyster-
men are unaware of their presence. In the numerous tributaries of Pamlico
Sound, at Swanquarter Narrows, Rose Bay, Bay River, Pingleton Shoal,
and Beaufort Inlet, shells of soft clams have been dredged up during the
summer and fall of 1948. A large bed of these clams was known to exist south
of Hatteras Inlet, on the shoals in Pamlico Sound, before the hurricane of
1933, which destroyed this bed.

The distribution of Mya is principally along the Atlantic coast from
South Carolina to Canada (Dall, 1889). Belding (1930) states that Mya
is scarce south of Cape Hatteras. Soft clams are found in greatest abundance
along the New England coast. New York, and New Jersey, and have become
established, after introduction, on our Pacific coast and the coastal areas
of England. The industry has been confined to the northern states frpm
New Jersey to Maine, with Massachusetts as the leading producer and

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 179

Maine a close second. The total production from these states amounted to
over sixteen and one-half million pounds of edible portions, valued at over
one million dollars in 1940 (Table 8).

TABLE 8
Production of Soft Clans, Atdantic Coast States

1940

1944

Public

Public

State

Pounds *

Value

Pounds

Value

Maine

6,278,500

$ 266,571

4,275,900

$ 606,222

New Hampshire

403,200

50,720

226,700

60,272

Massachusetts

8,598,100 t

832,138!

4,547.000

1.351,557

Rhode Island

75,000

6,105

62,300

10,902

Connecticut

28,200

4,580

17,200

3,486

New York

436,900

36,49s

484,000

149,800

New Jersey

780,400

47,357

717,400
10,330,500

141,370

Total

16,600,300

$1,243,966

$2,323,609

* Net edible meats, exclusive of shells.
t Includes catch from private areas.

NATURAL HISTORY

In the early development the soft-shell clam does not differ markedly
from the other economic mollusks. Spawning is believed to be directly
correlated with temperature. Belding (1930) reports spawning as occurring
at 70° to 74° F., but Nelson (1928) places the spawning temperature at 10°
to 12° C. (50° to 54° F.). Loosanoff (1943) finds that spawning begins
when water temperatures reach 55° to 60° F. and continues from three to
six months. The sexes are separate and fertilization of the egg occurs free
of the parent. Following the embryonic development, the free swimming
stages extend ten to fourteen days, after which attachment of the larval
clam occurs. Kellogg (1900-b) describes the attachment of young clams by
means of a byssus to various seaweeds. {Enter omorpha, Ulva), eelgrass
(Zostera), stones, and other objects. The byssal thread may be broken at
will to allow the small clams to move a short distance to another location.
This attachment of the small clams serves as protection against washing
ashore during storms; the sand grains and pebbles to which the young are
attached function as anchors.

As the young clams increase in size, they develop the ability to bury
themselves. Small clams under two millimeters in length are not able to
burrow, while clams between two and eight millimeters can work their way
downward sufficiently to cover themselves. Young clams of two or three

180 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

centimeters in length can dig to depths of five or six inches. During these
stages they frequently wander short distances on the surface. Once an
adult clam buries itself, it rarely comes out on the surface again. The
anterior end containing the mouth is buried deepest while the posterior end
is upward, the siphons extending to the surface through which the clams
gather in their food and exchange water.

ECOLOGY

TYPE OF BOTTOM. Soft clams grow best in a bottom composed of a firm
mixture of mud and sand in which they burrow with some ease. Loosanoff
(1943) considers a mixture of fine sand and mud in a ratio of two parts
of sand to one part of mud as the most desirable type of soil. The con^-
sistency of the bottom should be firm enough to prevent ready shifting.
Clam flats are sometimes composed of various types of bottom from sand or
hard clay to rocky or gravel beaches. The young clams often work their
way down between roots of grass or other vegetation making it difficult to
dig them out.

SALINITY. The soft clam can endure salinities ranging from brackish to
salt water. It is found growing in waters of a salinity as low as six to eight
parts to as high as twenty-eight parts of salt per thousand. Adult clams can
apparently be transferred from one extreme to the other without detriment.

RATE OF GROWTH. A marketable clam of more than two and one-half
inches can be produced in two years in the New England region. Shell
growth may occur throughout the year in some localities, but in New
England the most rapid growth is during the summer months. The age
limit of soft clams is estimated to be ten to twelve years (Loosanoff, 1943).

SOFT-SHELL CLAM CULTURE

These clams are hardy and lend themselves to cultivation which has been
successfully carried on to a limited extent in New England. Unproductive,
barren areas can be restored or replenished with small clams. Circulation
of water is essential for a supply of oxygen, and a good current is necessary
for rapid growth. A knowledge of the clam's life history and microscopical
examinations of the water aid in getting the suitable materials overboard
at the proper time to allow clams to attach. After a set of clams has been
secured, it is necessary to move them before they begin to burrow. The
natural set is usually sufficient to supply seed. These are gathered by sifting
the clams out of the sand, digging shallow trenches into which the tide will
wash them or by transporting both soil and clams from areas with thick sets.
The bottom should be cleared of weeds and softened by raking to allow
the clams to burrow more easily. About two hundred and fifty bushels of

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 181

seed clams planted per acre is considered sufficient (Kellogg, 1900-a).
Belding was able to obtain a yield of eight quarts of clams for every quart
of seed clams planted.

Protection of the small clams against enemies and adverse weather is a
vital factor in farming, but little can be done other than selecting locations
for beds in sheltered areas. The young clams are most vulnerable before
they bury themselves. Oyster drills and snails, crabs, horseshoe crabs, and
starfish destroy small clams. Skates and sting rays excavate clams from the
beds. The writer found the stomach of a sting ray from Delaware Bay to
contain about a cupful of Mya siphons. Bottom feeding fish may devour
numerous small clams before the latter bury themselves. There has been
some concern in northern areas over the destruction of young clams by
ducks feeding on the flats.

Clams are at depths from a foot to two feet below the surface and are dug
by hand labor, raking or digging. Mechanical means might be devised if the
industry were expanded sufficiently to demand more efficient methods. The
soft, fragile shells require careful handling and present an additional prob-
lem in employing mechanical devices.

Clams are marketed either in the shell or as shucked meats. A bushel of
soft clams will yield about 16 pints of meat.

DISCUSSION

Although soft clams have never been harvested in marketable quantities
from North Carolina, this fact should not discourage the investigation of
such a possibility. Scattered clams are found throughout some of the areas,
and extensive beds of these clams may exist. They are dug for home con-
sumption by persons living along Core Sound and Bay River and at Ocra-
coke. At least one bed of soft clams of unknown size exists in Bay River.

Where there are tides clams are generally found in the intertidal zone
on flats and beaches. A difficulty in Pamlico Sound is that it is practically
devoid of tides; any beds that exist are below water and the clams are not
so easily dug, nor by the same methods, as they are on mud flats at low
tide. In the regions adjacent to the inlets where a rise and fall of tides
occurs, a simple survey of the exposed flats would readily determine the
presence of these clams.

The decline and scarcity of soft clams in the New England states has
stimulated research and appropriation of funds for rehabilitation of this
resource. An economic result of the decreased supply has been a higher price
for clams. The presence of native clams may be an indication that clam
farming could be successfully carried out in North Carolina and should be
investigated. The establishment of successful soft clam farming would

182 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

provide an additional source of income to the residents and revenue to the
State.

MISCELLANEOUS MOLLUSKS

A great variety of mollusks are found in North Carolina, perhaps because
Cape Hatteras forms a natural boundary between the southern and northern
forms. Many of the mollusks are of little interest commercially but their
presence may indicate a dormant potentiality, since a number of species in
North Carolina waters are harvested in commercial quantities farther north
or south. A few species of commercial importance are mentioned briefly.

RIBBED MUSSELS

The ribbed mussels, also known as horse mussels {Modiolus plicatulus,
sometimes listed as M. demissus) grow in the intertidal zone, imbedded in
the bottom between the roots of marsh grass held together by a byssus in
clumps or "tumps." The little meat content, characterized by a yellow-
orange color, is generally regarded as not edible, although many local people
along the coast steam the mussels or make fritters and report them to be
"rich" with an excellent flavor. Prior to and during the war years chemical
concerns extracted from the meats a provitamin D which was converted
to vitamin D by ultra-violet irradiation. Apparently the demand decreased
when spinal cords from meat packing plants were found to be a more satis-
factory source. In the Beaufort area, a cannery steamed these mussels for
the market that existed, but the industry was short-lived perhaps because
of an exhausted supply. The mussels are gathered in considerable quantity
on the eastern shore of Maryland and in Virginia, New Jersey, and South
Carolina. The range of the ribbed mussel is from Nova Scotia to Georgia.

SEA MUSSELS

Sea mussels (Mytilus edulis), known as blue or black mussels, have be-
come of significant importance in the New England area, where they are
steamed and canned. The potentialities of this industry are great in the
northern states where this mussel is abundant. Sea mussels are circumpolar
in distribution, and are considered a cold water form; however, the south-
ernmost limit is South Carolina and it may be that beds of these mussels
grow off the coast. They have been popular in Europe for many years, and
some progress has been made toward making them more popular in this
country. For an account of the sea mussel in all its most important aspects,
the extensive paper of Field (1922) should be consulted.

The state of Maine was the leading producer of sea mussels in 1945.
The catch by states in 1945, according to Federal statistics was as follows:

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY

183

Pounds *

Value

Maine

2,733,400

$ 72,146

Massachusetts

49,800

9,486

New York

429,600

86,696

New Jersey

3,600

450

Virginia f

49,500

7,073

South Carolina f

43,000

5,375

Total

3,308,900

$181,226

* Edible portions, exclusive of shells.

t Inquiries have shown that there is no known production of Mytilus edulis in Virginia. This
figure probably represents the production of Modiolus plicatulus, the ribbed mussel. This may
be the case in the South Carolina for Mytilus edtilis is not gathered in commercial quantities
in that state.

SURF CLAMS

The surf clams or skimmers {Spisula solidissima) have long been known
to grow in abundance along the beaches of the northern states. Their chief
market was for fish bait and more recently as minced clams and chowder.
They grow in the hard sand of beaches and are often washed out of the
sand in great quantities during storms. In the process of feeding, the clams
accumulate considerable quantities of sand which must be thoroughly
washed out in processing them for chowder. It is reported that only the large
foot is used and that the gills and viscera are discarded. The abundance of
these clams along the coast of North Carolina is not definitely known. The
distribution of the surf clam is from Labrador to North Carolina. However,
a southern variety, Spisula solidissima similis, replaces the northern form
in southern waters. The production in 1945 for the various states was as
follows :

Pounds *

Value

Massachusetts

263,800

$ 80,935

Rhode Island

7,900

1,986

New York

3,982,200

499,670

New Jersey

526,500

47,000

Total

4,780,400

$629,591

Edible portions, exclusive of shells.

RAZOR CLAMS

Razor clams (Ensis and Solen spp.) are commonly found in North Caro-
lina and may possibly exist in commercial quantities. The greatest harvest
of these clams is on the Pacific coast. Production figures for 1945 along the
east coast show Massachusetts (11,900 lbs.) as the only producer in com-
mercial quantities.

184 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

CONCHS

The most common of the several species of conchs in North Carolina is
Busycon caricum. A limited market exists in North Carolina, but the ma-
jority of the conchs are gathered in the northern states, the New York
market bringing the highest prices. The meat is reported to be of an unusual
flavor and possibly a better market might be developed for it. Conchs were
selling locally in the Beaufort area at a dollar a dozen dressed, in December,
1948, but the demand was not great. Production in 1945 along the Atlantic
coast was as follows:

Pounds *

Value

Massachusetts

100

$ 6

Connecticut

12,200

1,409

New Jersey

9,700

540

New York

400

67

Maryland

9,000

2,250

Virginia

13,600

5,260

Florida

18,200

3,965

Total 63,200 $13,497

* Edible portions, exclusive of shells.

SQUID

The market for squid (Loligo, Illex, spp.) as a food is limited to the foreign
populations of large cities and to the export trade. The chief use of squid
is for fishing bait. They are taken commercially from South Carolina north-
ward, small quantities being harvested on the North Carolina coast, often
of insignificant amounts. The total yield for the Atlantic coast is often as
high as 4 to 6 million pounds. Production in 1945 was as follows:

Pounds

Value

Massachusetts

1,217,200

$ 60,320

Rhode Island

273,100

13,573

Connecticut

161,700

16,865

New York

640,200

62,730

New Jersey

599,700

41,979

Delaware

600

42

Maryland

47,200

6,473

Virginia

102,200

5,110

North Carolina

2,300

230

Louisiana

3,900

78

Total 3,048,100 $207,400

The possibilities of developing squid commercially should be considered.
The sporadic occurrence of squid in the New England and Middle Atlantic
regions often causes considerable concern among the fishermen, who de-

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 185

pend upon this bait. During periods of scarcity surveys for their presence
in North Carolina waters may prove of direct economic benefit. Squid are
voracious destroyers, especially of the young, of many species of fish.

PERIWINKLES

These small snails (Littorina sp.) from one-half to one inch in height,
abound in great numbers in the intertidal zone on exposed flats. Littorina
Uttorea is believed to have been introduced accidentally from Europe about
1857 in Nova Scotia and has spread southward to New Jersey. In Europe
tons of these small snails are roasted and sold from push carts. They are
sufficiently abundant along the Atlantic coast for commercial exploitation.
However, the demand would probably be small in North Carolina, for the
demand of foreign population in the northern cities can readily be supplied
from more northerly sources. Production of periwinkles in 1945 (including
cockles) was as follows:

Pounds * Value

Maine 51,000 $ 6,128

Massachusetts 2,300 650

Rhode Island 112,500 28,125

Total 165,800 $34,903

* Edible portions, exclusive of shells.

COQUINA

These small, wedge-shaped clams (Donax variabilis) are found on the
beaches from North Carolina to Texas. They burrow in loose sand in the
intertidal zone, frequently in large numbers. Despite their small size, about
three-fourths of an inch long, they are gathered and used to make "coquina
chowder." Florida was the only state reported to market these clams in
commercial quantities in 1945, with a production of 54,000 pounds valued at
$13,500. Coquina clams are abundant on some beaches of North Carolina
and it is recommended that a survey be conducted to determine their dis-
tribution and abundance.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson, A. W., and E. A. Power.

1949. U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Fishery Statistics of the United States,
1945. Statistical Digest No. 18 (1949), 372 p., illus.
Baughman, J. L.

1947. An annotated bibliography of oysters, with pertinent material on
mussels and other shellfish and an appendix on pollution. The Texas
A. & M. Research Foundation, 1947, 794 p. College Station, Texas.

186 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Belding, David L.

1909. A report upon the mollusk fisheries of Massachusetts. Boston:
Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1909, 243 p.

19 10. A report upon the scallop fishery of Massachusetts, including the
habits, life history of Pecten irradians, its rate of growth, and other
facts of economic value. Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co.,
1910, 150 p.

191 2. A report upon quahaug and oyster fisheries of Massachusetts, includ-
ing the life history, growth and cultivation of the quahaug {Venus
mercenaria) , and observations on the set of the oyster spat in
Wellfleet Bay. Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1912, 134 p.

1930. The soft-shelled clam fishery of Massachusetts. Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, Department of Conservation, Division of Fish &
Game, Marine Fisheries Section, Marine Fisheries Series, No. i,
1930? 65 p., 7 pis. Boston.

Bowes, Anna DeP.

1943. Nutrition needs today. Address given at Annual Convention of
Oyster Institute of North America, National Shellfisheries Assn.,
Philadelphia, June 2-3, 1943, mimeographed. The Oyster Institute of
North America, Washington.
Brooks, W. K.

1880. The development of the oyster. Studies Biol. Lab., Johns Hopkins
Univ., Vol. 4, 1880, 106 p., 10 pis. Baltimore.
Burkenroad, Martin D.

1 93 1. Sex in the Louisiana oyster, Ostrea virginica. Science, n.s. Vol. 74,
i93i,p. 71-72.

Chipman, Walter A., Jr.

1948. A serious situation confronting the oyster industry, Comm. Fish.
Rev., Vol. 10, No. 6, June, 1948, p. 7-10.
Churchill, E. P., Jr.

1920. The oyster and the oyster industry of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.
Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish, for 1919 (1921), Appendix VIII, 51 p.,
29 pis., bibliog. (Doc. 890, 1920).
Clark, A. H.

1920. The Smithsonian Institution, its functions and its future. Science,
n.s. Vol. 63, 1920, p. 147-157.
Coe, Wesley R.

1932. Sexual phases in the American oyster {Ostrea virginica). Biol. Bull.,
Vol. 63, No. 3, 1932, p. 419-441-

Coker, Robert E.

1907. Experiments in oyster culture in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina.
N. C. Geol. & Econ. Surv., Bull. 15, 1907, 74 p., map, 11 figs., 17 pis,
Raleigh.
Dall, William Healey.

1889. A preliminary catalogue of the shell-bearing marine mollusks and

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 187

(1903) brachiopods of the southeastern coast of the United States, with
illustrations of many of the species. Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 37,
revised reprint of 1889 ed., 1903, 203 p., 95 pis.
Drew, Oilman Arthur.

1906. The habits, anatomy and embryology of the giant scallop {Pecten
tenuicostatus, Mighels). The University of Maine Studies, No. 6,
1906, 71 p. Orono.
Fiedler, R. H.

1943. U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Fishery Statistics of the United States,
1940 (1943). Statistical Digest No. 4, 225 p.
Field, Irving A.

1922. Biology and economic value of the sea mussel, Mytilus eduUs.
Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XXXVIII, 1921-22 (1923), p. 127-259,
132 figs., extensive bibliog. (Doc. 922, 1922).
Galtsoff, Paul S.

1928. Experimental study of the function of the oyster gills and its bear-
ing on the problems of oyster culture and sanitary control of the
oyster industry. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLIV, 1928 (1929),
p. 1-39, 12 figs., bibliog. (Doc. 1035, 1928).
1938. Physiology of reproduction of Ostrea virginica. II. Stimulation of
spawning in the female oyster. Biol. Bull., Vol. LXXV, No. 2,
1928, p. 286-307.
1947. Oyster the unknown. Southern Fisherman, Vol. VII, No. 3, 1947,
p. 176-177, 248.
Galtsoff, Paul S., and H. R. Seiwell.

1928. Oyster bottoms of North Carolina. U. S. Bur. of Fish., Econ. Circ.
No. 66, 1928, II p.

Glaser, O. C.

1904. Observations and experiments on the growth of oysters. Rept. U. S.
Comm'r. Fish, for 1903 (1905), p. 329-341, i pi., i chart.
Grave, Caswell.

1904. Investigations for the promotion of the oyster industry of North
Carolina. Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish, for 1903 (1905), P- 247-315, 6 pis.
Outsell, James S.

1929. Scallop industry of North Carolina. Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish, for
1928 (1929), Pt. I, Appendix V, p. 173-197, n figs. (Doc. 1043, 1929)-

1931. Natural history of the bay scallop. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLVI,
1930 (1931), p. 569-632, 32 figs., extensive bibliog. (Doc. iioo, 1931).
Hartman, Olga.

1945. The marine annelids of North Carolina. Duke University Marine
Station, Bull. No. 2, 1945, p. 1-51, 10 pis., bibliog., index. Durham.
Higgins, Elmer.

1936. Progress in Biological Inquiries, 1934 (oyster investigations, p.
372-380). Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish, for 1935 (1936), Appendix III,
P- 331-399-

188 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Hopkins, A. E.

1936. Adaptation of the feeding mechanism of the oyster (Ostrea gigas)

to changes in salinity. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLVIII, 1940,

p. 345-364, II pis. (Bulletin 21, 1936).
Ingersoll, Ernest.

1887. The oyster, scallop, clam, mussel and abalone industries. In The

Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States, by G. Brown

Goode and a staff of associates, Section V, Vol. II, Part XX, 1887,

p. 507-626, United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries.
Kellogg, James L.

1900-a. The clam problem and clam culture. Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., Vol.

XIX, 1899 (1901), p. 39-44, I chart.
1900-b. Observations on the life history of the common clam, Mya arenaria.

Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., Vol. XIX, 1899 (1901), p. 193-202, 3 figs.
1901. Clam and scallop industries. Bull. New York State Museum, Vol. 8,

No. 43, 1901, p. 603-631. Albany.
1903. Feeding habits and growth of Venus mercenaria. Bull. New York

State Museum, Vol. 10, No. 71, 1903, p. 3-28. Albany.
1905. Notes on marine food mollusks of Louisiana. Gulf Biologic Sta.,

Cameron, La., Bull. No. 3, 1905, 43 p., issued by La. State Bd. of

Agric. & Immig. Baton Rouge.
Korringa, P.

1940. Experiments and observation on swarming pelagic life and setting

in the European flat oyster, Ostrea eduUs. Arch. Neerland, Zool.,

Tome V, 2e livr., 1940, p. 1-249.
Loosanoff, Victor L.

1937-a. Seasonal gonadal changes of adult clams, Venus mercenaria (L).

Biol. Bull., Vol. LXXII, No. 3, 1937, p. 406-416.
1937-b. Spawning of Venus mercenaria (L). Ecology, Vol. 18, No. 4, 1937,

P- 506-515.
1939-a. Effect of temperature upon shell movements of clams, Venus

mercenaria (L). Biol. Bull., Vol. LXXVI, No. 2, 1939, p. 1 71-182.
1939-b. Spawning of Ostrea virginica at low temperatures. Science, Vol. 89,

No. 2307, 1939, p. 177-178.
1943. Soft and hard clams of the Atlantic Coast of the United States.

U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Fishery Leaflet 13, 1943, 11 p.
Loosanoff, Victor L., and Charles A. Nomejko.

1946. Feeding of oysters in relation to tidal stages and to periods of light
and darkness. Biol. Bull., Vol. 90, No. 3, 1946, p. 244-264.

Lotsy, John P.

1895. The food of the oyster, clam and ribbed mussel. Rept. of U. S.
Comm'r. Fish, for 1893 (1895), p. 375-386.
Marshall, Nelson.

1947. An abundance of bay scallops in the absence of eelgrass. Ecology,
Vol. 28, No. 3, 1947, p. 321-322.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 189

Martin, G. W.

1923. Food of the oyster. Bot. Gaz., Vol. LXXV, No. 2, 1923, p. 143-169.
Moore, H. F.

1898. Oysters and methods of oyster-culture (with notes on clam culture).
In Manual of Fish Culture, Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish, for 1897
(1898), p. 263-338 (notes on clam culture, p. 339-340), 18 pis.
(Manual of Fish Culture revised and separately published, 1900).
1904. Anatomy, embryology and growth of the oyster. Rept. U. S. Comm'r.
Fish, for 1903 (1905), p. 317-327, pls.
Needier, Alfreda Berkeley.

1930. Sex reversal and rate of growth in the eastern American oyster
(Ostrea virginica). Ann. Rept. Biol. Bd. Canada, 1930, p. 24.
Nelson, Julius.

19 10. The influence of climate on oyster propagation at Barnegat, N. J.
Report of the Biologist for 1909 (1910), p. 223-266, 5 pis.
Nelson, Thurlow Christian.

192 1. Aids to successful oyster culture. I. Procuring the seed. Bull. N. J.

Agric. Exp. Sta., Bull. No. 351, 1921, 59 p.
1928. On the distribution of critical temperatures for spawning and for
ciliary activity in bivalve molluscs. Science, Vol. LXVII, No. 1730,
1928, p. 220-221.
1947. Some contributions from the land in determining conditions of life
in the sea. Ecol. Monog., Vol. 17, 1947, p. 337-346.
Newcombe, Curtis L.

1944. The nutritional value of seafoods. Virginia Fisheries Laboratory of
the College of William and Mary, and Commission of Fisheries,
Educational Series No. 2, 1944, 17 p. Richmond.
Old, Marcus C.

1941. The taxonomy and distribution of the boring sponges (Clionidae)
along the Atlantic coast of North America. Chesapeake Biological
Laboratory, 1941, 30 p. Solomons Island.
Orton, J. H.

192 1. Sex-change in the native oyster (O. edulis). Nature, Vol. 107, 192 1,
p. 586.
Pease, Herbert D.

1932. The oyster — modern science comes to the support of an ancient
food. J. Chem. Education, Vol. 9, 1932, p. 1674-1712.
Prytherch, Herbert Francis.

1940, The life cycle and morphology of Nematopsis ostrearum, sp. nov.,
a gregarine parasite of the mud crab and oyster. Jour. Morph., Vol.
66, No. I, 1940, p. 39-65.
Risser, Jonathan.

1901. Habits and life-history of the scallop (Pecten irradians). Thirty-first
Ann. Rept., Commissioners of Inland Fisheries, State of Rhode Island
and Providence Plantations, p. 47-55, i graph, 15 pis. Providence.

190 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Ryder, John A.

1884. The metamorphoses and post-larval stages of development of the
oyster. Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish, for 1882 (1884), p. 779-791.
Stafford, J.

1913. The Canadian Oyster. Its Development, Environment and Culture.
Commission of Conservation, Canada. Committee on Fisheries, Game
and Fur-bearing Animals. Ottawa: Mortimer Co., 1913, 159 p.
Stauber, Leslie A.

1947. On possible physiological species in the oysters, Ostrea virginica.
Anat. Rec, Vol. 99, No. 4, 1947, p. 58.
Stauffer, R. C.

1937. Changes in the invertebrate community of a lagoon after disappear-
ance of eelgrass. Ecology, Vol. 18, 1937, p. 427-431.
Tennent, D. H.

1909. Account of experiments for determining the complete life cycle of
Gasterostomum gracilescens. Science, n.s. Vol. 29, 1909, p. 432-433.
Winslow, Francis.

1886. Report of the waters of North Carolina, with reference to their
possibilities for oyster culture ; together with the results obtained by
the surveys directed by the resolution of the General Assembly,
ratified March 11, 1885 (1886), 151 p. Raleigh.
1889. Report on the sounds and estuaries of North Carolina, with reference
to oyster culture. Bull. U. S. Coast & Geod. Surv., No. 10, 1889, 136 p.

<XX><><><^00<><><XX>C><><^<X><><^^

THE SHRIMPS IN NORTH CAROLINA

BY Carter Broad

Institute of Fisheries Research, University of North Carolina

CONTENTS

Page

Page

Introduction

191

Natural History

196

The Shrimp Fishery

192

Larval Development

196

Gear

192

Adults

198

Vessels

192

Migratory Movements

200

The Fishery

193

Habits

200

Names and Classification

193

Discussion

201

Distribution

195

Legislation and Regulation

203

Bibliography

203

INTRODUCTION

Although small elongate marine crustaceans are caught and sold as human
food under the name "shrimp" in New England, California, and Alaska,
the shrimp fishery of the United States is virtually the property of the
South Atlantic and Gulf regions. Here, three species of a single family of
shrimps contributed, in 1945, 98.8 per cent of the catch and 99.6 per cent
of the value of an industry worth twenty-one million dollars to the fishermen
of the nation. Within the South Atlantic and Gulf regions, the shrimp fishery
comprised 39.2 per cent of the total value of all fisheries in 1945.

North Carolina, situated at the northern limit of abundance of the com-
mon commercial shrimp, lands but a small percentage of the shrimp taken.
In 1945 North Carolina's share of this fishery was 10,614,000 pounds, or
5.5 per cent of the total catch, and $849,160 or 3.97 per cent of the total
value. Within the State shrimp ranks second to menhaden in value among
individual fisheries and third in value if edible finfish are grouped as a single
resource (data from U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 1949).

191

192 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

THE SHRIMP FISHERY

GEAR

Shrimp today are taken largely by otter trawls although other types of
gear are used. Johnson and Lindner (1934) list haul seines, cast nets and
night trawls as gears of minor importance. In North Carolina, a special
gear, the channel net, has proved successful under local conditions.

Shrimp trawls vary in width, the average in North Carolina being about
50 feet. They are made of 2 -inch stretched mesh webbing and consist of a
bag for collecting the catch and wings for guiding the shrimp into the bag.
Trawls are held open by otter boards or "doors" which function in water
much as a kite does in air. The boards, secured to the trawler by lines, hold
the net open and against the bottom when the net is pulled through the water.

Haul seines vary from 150 to 300 fathoms in length and are made of i-^
inch stretched mesh (Johnson and Lindner, 1934). Night trawls are of
comparatively recent origin. They consist of two trawls or bags of %-inch
mesh mounted in rectangular frames and secured at right angles to the
hull of the boat. They fish the upper meter of water and are used exclusively
at night.

Seines, night trawls, and cast nets are not used commercially for shrimp
in North Carolina.

A channel net is a shrimp trawl anchored at the surface of the water.
Otter boards are not used, but the net is held open by three or four poles
secured to the lead and cork lines. Extra floats keep channel nets at the
surface. One end is usually secured to an anchored boat; the other end is
held in position by a separate anchor. The net is fished by emptying the
cod end or bag into a skiff. Channel nets are fished only on ebb tides during
the hours of darkness. The use of this gear is limited to a local spring fishery
in Back and Core sounds.

VESSELS

Shrimp trawlers vary in tonnage, motive power, and size. During heavy
runs of shrimp virtually every type of boat able to pull a trawl is pressed
into service. According to Johnson and Lindner (1934) the boats range in
size from 5 to 30 tons, the majority less than 5. The two types most prevalent
in North Carolina are the Florida trawler and the Core sounder.

Florida trawlers, which average about 50 feet in length, are usually pro-
pelled by about 100 horsepower diesel engines with power take-off driven
winches. These trawlers are equipped for several days' uninterrupted fishing
and have considerable hold space for shrimp and ice. Florida trawlers oper-
ate chiefly in the outside waters. They are usually owned by shrimp dealers
who employ crews to operate them.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 193

Core sounders are smaller boats, usually under 40 feet in total length.
Their hull design is of a type developed for use in North Carolina's extensive
inside waters. Core sounders are usually powered by gasoline engines of
about 100 horsepower. They may or may not be equipped with winches.
Often the catch and ice are carried in boxes stowed on deck. Boats of this
type are usually owned by the men who operate them.

THE FISHERY

In late spring shrimp begin to appear in comercial quantity in North
Carolina. An early run in Core and Back sounds is fished with channel nets,
the shrimp taken often being designated as channel shrimp. The intensity
of trawler activity in the spring is governed by the size of the early popula-
tion. By mid- July, the season is in full swing and continues until late fall,
when the shrimp disappear from the coastal waters. The season in Pamlico
Sound is usually somewhat earlier than the season in the outside waters.

During the season, extending roughly from July to December, fleets of
shrimp trawlers leave port daily in the pre-dawn hours. The length of
the trawling day, regulated by law, is from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The
duration of a set varies from one to two hours depending upon the antici-
pated size of the catch. Population density is sometimes sampled by try-
nets while the trawls are overboard. At the end of the set, the trawler heaves
to, the net is hauled, and the catch dumped on deck. Another set is made
before the catch is sorted. Shrimp, edible fish, and hard and soft crabs are
culled and iced. The remainder of the catch is shovelled overboard. The
catch is landed daily. The boats return to port or sell their shrimp to "buy-
boats," floating agents for dealers that carry out gasoline, ice, and cash and
return with shrimp, fish, and crabs.

In the United States shrimp are sold fresh, canned, frozen, dried or
cooked, and peeled. In some localities the heads are dried, ground, and sold
as shrimp bran, a stock feed. Almost all of the North Carolina catch is sold
fresh, there being virtually no processing facilities in the State. Until re-
cently, shrimp heads were discarded, but there are now several reduction
plants making meal from shrimp heads and scrap fish. That portion of the
North Carolina catch destined to be canned or frozen is sold as fresh shrimp
to processors outside the State. Shrimp landed nightly in North Carolina
are headed by hand, iced in boxes and delivered by trucks to markets, chiefly
Baltimore and New York. The trucks leave the State within 24 hours after
the shrimp have been caught.

NAMES AND CLASSIFICATION

Shrimps of commercial importance in the southeastern United States belong
to five species. Weymouth, Lindner, and Anderson (1933) list machrobra-

194 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

chium sp., a fresh-water shrimp taken in Louisiana; Xiphopenaeus kroyeri,
a small, marine shrimp; Penaeus setiferus, the common commercial shrimp,
and Penaeus brasiliensis, the grooved shrimp. Since 1933, P. brasiliensis has
been shown by Burkenroad (1939) to be actually three species: P. brasili-
ensis, P. aztecus, and P. duorarum. All but mac hro brae Mum are members
of the family Penaeidae and, together with certain other genera belonging to
the same family but of incidental importance, constitute the shrimp catch
of the South Atlantic and Gulf regions.

Mac hro brae hium does not enter the fishery in North Carolina. The occur-
rence of Xiphopenaeus, and Sicyonia, another peneid, are incidental. The
species of Penaeus are the only shrimps of commercial importance. All of
these have been recorded from North Carolina, but the possibility exists that
the single specimen of P, brasiliensis recorded from off Cape Hatteras (Bur-
kenroad, 1939) was a stray, this species being rare if existing at all in this
State.

Penaeus setiferus (Linnaeus), the common commercial shrimp of the
South Atlantic and Gulf regions, occurs in North Carolina as far north as
Cape Hatteras. It is taken in all shrimping areas of the State, but is most
abundant in the region of the Cape Fear estuary. Females with maturing eggs
are taken in the spring. Following an early summer slump, P. setiferus fur-
nishes the bulk of the fall catch in the outside fishery. Penaeus aztecus (Ives)
(restricted) has been the most abundant shrimp in North Carolina in recent
years. It furnishes a large summer fishery in Pamlico Sound and the other
inside waters of the State. P. aztecus appears in late spring and disappears
in the fall before P. setiferus. Penaeus duorarum (Burkenroad) occurs in lo-
cal abundance in the early spring, especially in Core and Back sounds, where
it is taken in channel nets almost to the exclusion of other species (see
above). Following a disappearance during the summer months P. duorarum
is again encountered in the fall at about the time of the disappearance of
P. aztecus. Small specimens of this shrimp are frequently taken by oyster-
men during the winter months (see below). Fishing trawlers operating off-
shore in the vicinity of Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout frequently take
large specimens of P. duorarum, but rarely in quantity. Penaeus brasiliensis
(Latreille) (restricted) has been identified but once from North Carolina
waters.

The various species of Penaeus may be distinguished from one another in
the field, although positive identification requires examination by a special-
ist. Burkenroad (1934, 1939) has divided the genus into two divisions.
Shrimp of Division I lack grooves on the head (extended adrostral carinae,
post ocular crest present). P. setiferus, the only local species of Division I,
is therefore readily recognizable by the lack of grooves on the head. This
shrimp, known locally as the white shrimp, is whitish opaque to translucent

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 195

(smaller specimens) in color. The tail is edged in green. Its antennae and
"horn" (rostrum) are comparatively longer than those of the other species.
Two species belonging to Division II are taken by North Carolina fisher-
men: P. aztecus and P. duorarum. P. aztecus is the most common of the
grooved shrimps. In color it is brownish to orange, although the color is
often so light as to make the shrimp seem white. Its tail is usually edged
in purple to red-purple. Although F. duorarum may be indistinguishable
from P. aztecus in color, it often is somewhat blue to blue-gray in hue. Its
tail is usually edged in blue. A character relied on locally by the fishermen
to differentiate between these species, "channel shrimp" and "brown shrimp"
is a more or less distinct red or blue spot on each side of the third abdominal
segment. This may be a valid field diagnostic of P. duorarum, for such a spot
is certainly lacking in P. aztecus.

As has been implied, P. aztecus and P. duorarum seem to be relatively
more abundant in North Carolina in recent years than they have been in the
South Atlantic and Gulf regions as a whole. The only available estimate
(Weymouth, Lindner, and Anderson, 1933) places the percentage of all
shrimp other than P. setiferus at about 5 per cent of the total catch with
P. setiferus accounting for the remaining 95 per cent. An estimate for North
Carolina for the year 1948 based upon tax collection figures places the per-
centage of P. setiferus at less than 50 per cent, with the bulk of the catch
made up of P. aztecus. Although it is possible that the grooved shrimp have
become more abundant generally in recent years, population percentage
figures from the various states are not available.^

DISTRIBUTION

The geographic distribution of the Atlantic species of Penaeus is listed
by Burkenroad (1939). Adults of P. setiferus are found from Fire Island,
New York, to Louisiana, Texas, and Vera Cruz, Mexico, and in Cuba and
Jamaica. The records of the three species of grooved shrimps show con-
siderable difference in distribution of the various forms. P. duorarum alone
occurs in Africa; P. aztecus alone occurs north of Cape Hatteras and south
of Rio de Janeiro. P. brasiliensis is absent from the northeastern Gulf of
Mexico.

Burkenroad (1939) finds a preference for low salinity (or a greater de-
pendence of post larvae upon low salinity nursery grounds) in P. aztecus
and P. setiferus; a high salinity preference (independence of brackish nur-

I. Since this section on the shrimp was written, a new and very productive fishery for one of
the grooved shrimps, P. duorarum (North Carolina "channel shrimp") was discovered in Feb-
ruary, 1950, in the Tortugas region west of the Florida Keys in the Gulf of Mexico. (See Clarence
P. Idyll, New Fishery for Commercial Shrimp in Southern Florida. Comm. Fish. Rev. Vol. 12,
No. 3, Mar. 1950, p. 10-16).

196 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

sery conditions) in P. brasiliensis. P. duorarum seems more adaptable to
salinity differences than the other shrimps.

Shrimp are warm-water forms. Weymouth, Lindner, and Anderson (1933)
list the limits of temperature within which P. setijerus is taken as 9° to 31° C.
(48° to 88° F.). Burkenroad (1939) suggests that temperature higher than
20° C. (68° F.) during some time of the year may be necessary for the
maintenance of the various species.

NATURAL HISTORY

LARVAL DEVELOPMENT

In studies of shrimp, as in studies of most animals which contribute to
the world's fisheries, too little attention has been given to the developmental
stages. Yet the success with which the various larval stages meet is the
prime determinant of the fishery. Each stage in the life history is as im-
portant as the adult, for each must be passed by each generation. Shrimp
do not hatch from eggs as miniature adults, nor do the habits of these larval
stages resemble those of mature shrimp. Thus, knowledge of the larvae
(their food, habitat, natural enemies, tolerances, and tropisms) is as much
a part of the natural history of the various species as is an understanding
of the adult animals.

Published information on shrimp larvae is, however, limited. Of our
Atlantic species, the development of P. setijerus has been described (Pear-
son, 1939), but there is no account of the larvae of our other species of
Penaeus. Since the various commercial shrimps are closely related, similarity
may be expected in their larval histories. At the same time, the differences
in morphology, behavior, and distribution of the adults should have their
counterparts in the larvae. The lack of information regarding shrimp larvae
is, therefore, a serious deficiency in our understanding of the natural his-
tories of the various species.

Of P. setijerus, Pearson (1939) reports ten distinct stages, falling into
three general headings, between the egg and the post-larva or subadult.
The eggs are found only at sea, and the ten larval stages live as plankton
or floating small-life in the open ocean.

Shrimp belonging to the family Penaeidae, do not carry the eggs about
as do most crustaceans, but lay them directly on the bottom where they
are left to hatch. The eggs of P. setijerus are about 0.28 mm. (1/90 inch) in
diameter and are described by Pearson as having a "characteristic purplish-
blue" color. They are demersal (that is, they sink) in sea water. A female
may lay as many as half a million eggs in a single spawning. "Nearly all" of
the eggs found by Pearson were in late developmental stages. Of those that
hatched, all did so within twelve hours.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 197

The creature that hatches from a shrimp egg is a tiny, pyriform (pear-
shaped) individual having three pairs of appendages. This stage in the life
history is known as a nauplius and is typical of all Crustacea, although
usually passed in the egg among higher forms. These nauplii measure from
0.30 to 0.56 mm. (1/80 to 1/45 inch) in length. They lack eyes but have a
simple, light-receptive organ which will disappear in later development.
They swim feebly, thrashing upward enough to offset sinking. They do not
feed, but live on stored yolk material from the egg. There are five naupliar
stages, each successive moult being accompanied by growth and develop-
ment. The entire naupliar period is passed within 36 hours (Pearson 1939).

The fifth nauplius moults to yield the first protozoea, the next stage in
development. There are three protozoeal stages measuring from 0.80 to 2.6
mm. (1/30 to i/io inch) in length. The protozoeae have eyes and are active
swimmers. They feed by filtering smaller organisms from the plankton.
At the third protozoeal stage, the larva has 8 pairs of appendages.

The third protozoea moults to yield the first mysis. There are two develop-
ment stages listed under this heading. The second mysis has the adult
number of 19 appendages. These forms are strong swimmers and continue
to feed by filtering. They measure from 3.2 to 4.4 mm. (1/8 to 1/6 inch) in
length.

The second mysis moults to the first post-larva or subadult. The post-
larvae generally resemble mature shrimp, although further changes, chiefly
in proportions, will accompany maturity. Usually the second post-larva
enters an estuary and begins a demersal or bottom existence, specializations
in structure of appendages having made it impossible for the post-larva to
continue the larval mode of life. At this time, the post-larva is about 7 mm.
long (}i inch).

On the basis of observed growth rates, Pearson has estimated that the
duration of larval life for P. setiferus is from two to three weeks, and the
post-larvae enter the brackish inside waters about that length of time after
the eggs from which they developed were spawned.

Very little is known of the ecology of larval shrimp. They are members
of the ocean plankton and, after the nauplius stages, probably feed largely
on diatoms, one-celled floating plants. Presumably their enemies include the
herrings and other filter-feeding organisms of the sea as well as smaller
animals which may prey on individual members of the plankton. Quantitative
analyses of these relationships have not been attempted and, indeed, much
further groundwork is necessary before such can be tried. Pearson (1939)
has observed a "positive, though probably complicated" phototrophism
(attraction to light) of nauplii and protozoeae of P. setiferus. Nothing is
known of the mechanism of transfer of the larvae from their oceanic habitat
to the brackish estuaries which are the habitat of the post-larvae and young

198 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

adults, although recent hydrographic researches may shed some light on this
interesting problem (see below).

The distribution of the larval stages yields certain key information about
the natural history of the species. Pearson found eggs of P. setiferus off the
Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida coasts, in limited numbers in St. Augustine
Inlet but only on flood tides, and not in inshore plankton tows. The distribu-
tion of the larval stages agrees generally with that of the eggs, the only
inshore record being that of three myses taken at St. Augustine Inlet. During
May and June maximum seasonal numbers of post-larvae are found at
inlets where flood tides sweep them into brackish nursery areas. Here they
adopt a demersal life and commence feeding on bottom organisms. Growth
of post-larvae is rapid, increments in length of P. setiferus as great as 29
mm. (1-1/6 inch) in 43 days being recorded in aquaria by Pearson (1939).

ADULTS

The growth which follows larval development is accompanied by regular
migration back toward deeper water of high salinity. Weymouth, Lindner,
and Anderson (1933) state for P. setiferus, the common white shrimp:

During July, at an average length of about 99 mm (4 inches), they (shrimp
from eggs laid during the preceding spring) enter the commercial catch, ap-
pearing first in bays, creeks and other ''inside" waters and later outside.

They continue in the fishery furnishing all of the fall catch with its peak in
October until the following spring and summer, when the survivors spawn and
disappear at the age of one year. By late fall they have reached a length of
about 120 mm (4% inches) which they maintain during the winter. Resuming
growth in the spring, they show a rapid and striking differentiation in the size
of the sexes and spawn at lengths of 130 to 170 mm (5^^ to 6% inches) for the
males and 135 to 190 mm (5^ to 7^ inches) for the females. Their fate is un-
known, but their complete disappearance from the fishery is undoubted.

The breeding season is characterized by (i) development of the sex organs;
(2) a rapid differentiation in size between the sexes; (3) a difference in the
behavior of the sexes so that the proportion of sexes, uniform during the winter,
shows wide fluctuation. Far more mature shrimp of both sexes are found out-
side than inside the sound.

The shrimp is most abundant in shallow coastal waters near river mouths or
deltas.

This summary outline is based principally on length-frequency data ob-
tained chiefly in Georgia by examination of thousands of shrimp during a
period of 19 months in 1931 and 1932.

Burkenroad (1934) interprets the disappearance of year-old shrimp
from the coastal feeding grounds as a spawning-migration to waters farther
offshore. He points out that disappearance of mature adults occurs without

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 199

"any indication that these individuals have already spawned." He further
states that the disappearance of adults from the inshore waters is not suffi-
cient evidence to conclude that the life span is only one year.

In 1939 Burkenroad published the results of field observations beyond
the range formerly investigated. He found white shrimp in water as deep as
40 fathoms and grooved shrimps in even greater depths. Shrimp taken in
deeper water were more than one year old and, in at least one specimen,
showed definite evidence of repeated spawning. Mating was found to bear
no close relationship to spawning, many impregnated females having 'Very
unripe" ovaries.

King (1948), in describing the reproductive organs of P. setijerus, states
that the spawning season in Louisiana offshore waters extends from March
through September and that a single female may spawn more than twice
during that season. King also refers to unpublished manuscripts (by Lind-
ner, Anderson, and King, 1948) indicating that i)^ years is the age limit at
which one year-class can at present be distinguished from another. The
normal life span of the individual shrimp is a matter still undetermined.

The information regarding the natural history of the grooved shrimps is
far less extensive than that for P. setijerus. Burkenroad's (1934) state-
ments about P. brasiliensis probably refer to P. aztecus. His later (1939)
findings seem to confirm this probability. Small individuals are found in
some abundance in coastal and inside waters in the summer. Larger indi-
viduals are taken offshore. The small inshore population is made up of
immature shrimp, males and females occurring in about equal numbers.
They are brownish-gray in color. Considerable size difference between the
sexes is evidenced in the offshore population, as is excess in the numbers of
females over males. The color of specimens from the outer littoral zones
tends to orange. Since the offshore males are all mature and since the size
difference between immature males and females is not as striking as is that
between mature animals, Burkenroad suggests a greater longevity for
female P. aztecus than for males. Again, there is evidence of repeated
spawning. The time of mating is correlated with the time of shedding,
females being impregnated while soft.

The occurrence of P. aztecus off the Atlantic coast of southern New
Jersey during only September and October indicates (Burkenroad, 1939)
a "northward dispersal of juveniles and subadults from more southern areas
of spawning and metamorphosis, possibly followed by a successful return of
the maturing individuals."

The only reference to the natural history of P. duorarum (Burkenroad,
1939) states that since only small, sexually immature adults are taken
inshore, the species probably "retires permanently to deeper water after a
littoral youth."

200 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

The occurrence of P. brasiliensis in this country is probably very rare.

MIGRATORY MOVEMENTS

As has been shown, there is a general offshore movement of shrimp coin-
cident with maturity. The spring run of "lobster shrimp" in Louisiana is
interpreted by Burkenroad as a shoreward migration of individuals that
have spent the winter in deeper waters.

It is of especial interest to determine the mechanics of the migration of
planktonic larvae from the deep-water spawning grounds to the inlets and
estuaries where they enter the inside waters. Since the larvae are plank-
tonic, this migration must be made possible through shoreward-moving cur-
rents. Bumpus and Wehe (1949) have postulated a series of such currents
from Cape Hatteras to the Florida Capes on the results of recent hydro-
graphic studies.

Higgins (1937, '38, '39, '40) has reported coastwise migration of white
shrimp in the western Atlantic. Shrimp tagged at the northern extremities
of the geographic limit of abundance have been recovered farther south, indi-
viduals sometimes being recovered as far as 200 miles from the place of
tagging. A southward migration during fall and winter is followed by a
northern migration in the spring. This migration is recorded as extending
from North Carolina to Florida. Burkenroad's (1939) mention of the
appearance of P. aztecus off the coast of New Jersey in early fall suggests a
similar migration for this species.

HABITS

No systematic examination of stomach contents has been reported. The
shrimp is, however, according to Weymouth, Lindner, and Anderson (1933)
a "voracious and well-nigh omnivorous feeder." They list worms, Crustacea
(not excluding shrimp of the same species), small mollusks and plant debris
as items in the diet of adult shrimp. Considerable amounts of mud and sand
are usually present in the intestine, and it seems not unreasonable to assume
utilization of contained organic matter. In aquaria, shrimp have been ob-
served to attack and devour small fish and other shrimp of the same species
(Weymouth, Lindner, and Anderson, 1933) and to feed upon beef liver
and oyster meats.

Shrimp move about in three ways. The periopods, or walking legs, are used
in walking about on the bottom. In swimming, the walking legs are flexed
under the cephalothorax, or "head," and the animal is propelled through the
water by rhythmic beating of the pleopods, or swimming legs. When the
shrimp is alarmed, the abdomen is flexed rapidly, the uropods and telson, or
fantail, serving as a fin to propel the animal backward through the water.
Several repeated backward flips may carry the animal a distance of thirty

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 201

feet or may, if it be near the surface, result in repeated and haphazard back-
ward leaping from the water. Except when alarmed, shrimp swim forward.

Although usually found on the bottom, shrimp do swim near the surface,
often at night. The effectiveness of the night trawl and channel net (see
above) depend upon the shrimp's presence at or near the surface.

The conditions under which shrimp bury themselves in the mud have not
been studied, but this phenomenon is mentioned by Weymouth, Lindner,
and Anderson (1933) and reported by oystermen and clam diggers in
Pamlico Sound, where specimens, presumably from the mud, can be
collected during the winter months. Examination of these "mud-shrimp"
reveals a high percentage of P. duorarum.

DISCUSSION

Since most of the published information regarding shrimp is based on
observations made largely in the Gulf of Mexico and almost entirely outside
of North Carolina, application of the present knowledge to local conditions
presents certain problems and leaves many questions unanswered. The fish-
ing season for P. setiferus in North Carolina agrees generally with that
listed by Weymouth, Lindner, and Anderson (1933). A slightly earlier dis-
appearance of this species suggests a southward migration as reported by
Higgins (1937, '38, '39, '40). Specimens of P. setiferus measuring 150 to
190 mm. in length are taken frequently in the fall. These must represent
shrimp spawned during the preceding year (see section on adults, above)
and are probably migrants from farther south. The spring run of P. setiferus
most certainly is made up of ripening individuals entering the local waters
from outside the State. The disappearance of these shrimp in early summer
seems to be a spawning migration. The possibility that these large shrimp
entered the fishery from the deep waters offshore seems remote.

Migration of shrimp from North Carolina to the south during the fall
suggests their absence from these waters during a part of each year. Out-of-
season trawling by the "Pelican" in 1940, the Reliance in 1948, and the Penny
in 1949 has failed to reveal the presence of more than a few shrimp in North
Carolina in early spring. Although the bathymetric (depth) limit attained
by the latter two vessels is less than that at which shrimp were taken by
Burkenroad, the "Pelican" made hauls covering the entire continental shelf
in March of 1940. That year, however, failed to produce a spring fishery.
The possibility, therefore, that shrimp in off season may exist in the deeper
waters off North Carolina must be admitted, although the weight of evi-
dence is against it. P. duorarum (see below) is an interesting exception.

No information has been published on the geographic distribution of
larval forms, and spawning areas have not been located in the Atlantic

202 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Ocean off North Carolina. The absence of shrimp from North Carolina
during a part of the spawning season suggests the possibility that spawning
does not occur in this state's offshore waters. Preliminary examination of
specimens from offshore has failed to yield evidence of mating activity.
The possibility must therefore be admitted that our shrimp population may
be a migrant one, the young being supplied from breeding areas to the south
and this young population being augmented by the spring and summer
migration of larger individuals from southern waters. At the same time, the
presence of a spring run suggests the possibility that spawning activity may
occur in the southern waters of this state or in the waters of South Carolina.
Information fixing the northern or southern limit of spawning areas is not
available; yet the data on migration suggest that such limits may exist.
If this be so, the fall migration may then end in an almost complete disap-
pearance of shrimp (P. setiferus and P. aztecus) from these waters until the
spring run. While this hypothesis is suggested by the available literature,
contradictory evidence is lacking insofar as P. setiferus is concerned.

P. aztecus is a species of considerable value in North Carolina, possibly
more so here than in any other state. Weymouth, Lindner, and Anderson's
1933 figures represent the only available estimate of the percentage of P.
aztecus in the total catch of the United States. This species has become
more abundant in the catches of recent years, but percentage estimates are
not available. In North Carolina, however, this species has been shown to
be of considerable economic importance. The season starts and ends before
the season for P. setiferus, large individuals being common in Pamlico
Sound as early as July. Since no growth rate data for this species exist, it
is impossible to designate the age or source of these individuals.

The large specimens of P. duorarum taken frequently by fishing trawlers
in all depths up to 30 fathoms in the vicinity of Cape Hatteras suggest a
resident population of this species. The absence of these large individuals
from the inshore waters concurs with Burkenroad's observations (see
above). Small individuals of this species are taken in the spring inshore.
There is evidence indicating a winter residency of these forms in the Sound
waters. Except in the early spring runs, the percentage of P. duorarum
taken is low. In the offshore waters, however, P. duorarum has been taken
almost to the exclusion of other species during the winter of 1949- This fact
not only indicates the permanent residency of P. duorarum in North Caro-
lina, but also strengthens the hypothesis regarding the migratory nature of
the other species.

The data on fecundity, growth rate, and duration of life of shrimp
indicate considerable ability to withstand exploitation. A single female may
lay as many as a million eggs in a season. Within six months, these eggs
will have produced marketable shrimp and spawning shrimp within a year,

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 203

Such production potentials are not uncommon among marine Crustacea.
Depletion of the population by natural causes is, of course, great, and
shrimps are a highly prized food item of fish as well as man. The relation-
ships between the various stages and their environments are complex. Quan-
titative analysis of these relationships has not been attempted, and is, indeed,
at the present time, impossible.

LEGISLATION AND REGULATION

The regulations specifically governing the shrimp fishery in North Caro-
lina limit the size of nets used to 50 yards in length and ^ inch bar mesh
in the counties of New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender. In all other coun-
ties, bar measure must be at least % inch. The length of the trawling day is
designated, it being illegal to trawl from 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. or on
Sundays (N. C. Dept. Conserv. & Develop., 1948). In February, 1950, a
closed season from January i to July i was imposed on the shrimp fishery.

The literature reveals no indication of danger to the species. Indeed,
Anderson, Lindner, and King (1949) assert that ''in the states for which
there are records complete to the present time it is impossible to detect
what might be called 'definite signs of depletion' of the resource." At the
present time the various important relationships between the shrimp and its
environment are too little understood to offer a program of management.
Such a program can be derived only from quantitative studies of production
potentials, predation rates, food requirements, and population studies of the
shrimp and its predators. Fisheries management programs not based upon
such knowledge tend to confuse the general picture and may delay the
eventual enlightenment which leads to intelligent utilization of a natural
resource.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson, A. W., and E. A. Power.

1949. Fishery Statistics of the United States, 1945. U. S. Fish & Wildlife
Service, Statistical Digest No. 18 (1949), 372 p., (pictorial section,

p. 355-372).
Anderson, W. W., M. J. Lindner, and J. E. King.

1949. The shrimp fishery of the southern United States. U. S. Fish & Wild-
life Service, Commercial Fisheries Review, Vol. 11, No. 2, 1949,
p. 1-17.
Bumpus, D. F., and T. J. Wehe.

1949. Hydrography of the western Atlantic. Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution, Reference 49-6, 1949 (technical report).
Burkenroad, M. D.

1934. The Penaeidae of Louisiana with a discussion of their world rela-
tionships. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. 68, 1934, p. 61-143.

204 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

1939. Further observations on Penaeidae of the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Bull. Bingham Oceanog. Coll., Vol. VI, 1939, p. 1-62.
Higgins, E.

1937. Progress in biological enquiries, 1935. Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish,
for 1936 (1938), App. IV (1937), P- 381-452.

1938. Progress in biological enquiries, 1937. Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish,
for 1938 (1940), App. I (1938), p. 1-70.

1939. Progress in biological enquiries, 1938. Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish,
for 1939, App. I (1939), P- 1-81.

1940. Progress in biological enquiries, 1939. Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish,
for 1940, App. I (1940), p. 1-96.

Johnson, F. F., and M. J. Lindner.

1934. Shrimp industry of the South Atlantic and Gulf States. U. S. Bur.
Fish. Investig. Rept. No. 21, 1934, p. 1-83.
King, J. E.

1948. A study of the reproductive organs of the common marine shrimp,
Penaeus setijerus (Linnaeus). Biol. Bull., Vol. 94, 1948, p. 244-262.
North Carolina Department of Conservation and Development.

1948. Rules and regulations of the Department of Conservation and De-
velopment relative to the commercial fisheries of North Carolina.
50 p. Revised July 29, 1948. Morehead City.
Pearson, J. C.

1939. The early life histories of some American Penaeidae, chiefly the com-
mercial shrimp, Penaeus setijerus (Linnaeus). Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish,,
Vol. XLIX, Bull. No. 30 (1939), p. 1-73.
Weymouth, F. W., M. J, Lindner, and W. W. Anderson.

1933. Preliminary report on the life history of the common shrimp, Penaeus
setijerus (Linnaeus). Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLVIII (1940),
Bull. No. 14 (1933), p. 1-26.

<x>c><><><^<><><x><><x><><><x><^^

THE BLUE CRAB IN NORTH CAROLINA

BY John C. Pearson

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

CONTENTS

Page

Page

History

205

Fishery (cont.)

Distribution

207

Areas and Seasons

209

Natural History

207

Gear

211

Fishery

208

Intensity of Fishing

211

Types of Crabs

208

Future Development

217

Bibliography

218

HISTORY

The edible crab, CalUnectes sapidns (Rathbun) of the Atlantic and Gulf
coasts of the United States was first observed in North Carolina waters in
1588 by that historian of the Roanoke Colony, Thomas Hariot, who noted:
"There are also in many places plenty ... of sea crabs, such as we have in
England." During the brief life of the Lost Colony, John White, a prom-
inent leader in the English settlement, portrayed in color the blue crab along
with some dozen fish and shellfish found in the shallow waters of Croatan
Sound.

Over a century later, in 17 14, John Lawson, a chronicler of colonial North
Carolina, remarked:

"The smaller flat crabs I look upon to be the sweetest of all the species.
They are the breadth of a lusty man's hand, or rather larger. These are
innumerable, lying in most prodigious quantities all over the salts of Caro-
lina. They are taken not only to eat, but are the best bait for all sorts of fish
that live in the salt water. These fish (crabs) are mischievous to night hooks
because they get away all the bait from the hooks."

Later, in 1737, John Brickell brought out a natural history of the State —
a description of natural resources to large degree copied verbatim from John
Lawson — and called attention to the soft-shelled crab. He unwittingly

20s

206 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

described the mating behavior of this crustacean, in which the soft-shelled
crab is seized and fertilized by the hard-shelled male. Brickell said:

"These sorts (crabs) cast their shell every year at which time they make
holes in the sand and cover themselves, or those with hard shells lie on them
till their shells harden; otherwise they would be destroyed by other fish.
These sort have the same virtues that the former."

This outline of the early recognition and utilization of the blue crab in
North Carolina may be concluded here by quoting a record of the establish-
ment of a modern fishery for crabs within the State. Townsend (1900) in a
report of the United States Commissioner of Fisheries in 1899 (p. 179)
informs us:

"A comparatively new industry in Carteret County since the former
investigation (1890) is that of shipping soft-shell crabs to the Northern
markets, the total number shipped in 1897 being 13,600 dozen. This busi-
ness is growing steadily."

The blue crab, along with the shrimp, supported a minor fishery in the
i88o's, when statistics began to be collected, and well into the 1890's. With
the turn of the century, the blue crab fishery, especially that of Chesapeake
Bay, far outstripped the general run of fisheries in rate of growth in relation
to human population, as did the shrimp to an even greater extent. Table i
summarizes this growth for the blue crab.^ The growth of the fisheries for
these two crustaceans, the blue crab and shrimp, taken together, has been

TABLE 1

Growth of the Blue Crab Industry, Atlantic and Gulf States,
New York to Texas, inclusive

Hard

crabs

Soft crabs Total crabs

Pounds

Dollars

Pounds Dollars Pounds Dollars

(000)

(000)

(000) (000) (000) (000)

I890-I

13,006

457

(soft and hard crabs combined) 13,006 457

I90I-2

23,005

197

6,894 346 29,899 543

1908

38,265

421

10,299 359 48,564 780

1929

61,616

1,204

4,819 523 66,435 1,727

1930

67,475

2,206

8,860 789 76,335 2,995

I93I

66,877

914

6,119 497 72,996 1,411

1932

65,684

695

5,587 391 71,271 1,086

1937

74,623

1,430

5,622 549 80,245 1,979

1938

76,228

1,279

6,497 627 82,725 1,906

1939

82,335

1,414

6,499 532 88,834 1,946

1940

72,513

1,408

4,389 418 76,902 1,826

1945

95,975

4,837

6,118 3,011 102,093 7,848

I. For further statistical treatment of the blue crab (in comparison with shrimp and oysters),
see Part III of this Survey, Table 22, and the accompanying text.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 207

one of the phenomenal developments of the fisheries industries of the coun-
try. They are almost exclusively confined to the Chesapeake, South Atlantic,
and Gulf regions.

DISTRIBUTION

The blue crab occurs in most estuarine waters from New York to Texas.
While more crabs have always been taken from Chesapeake Bay than from
other areas of our coast, the commercial yield from South Atlantic and Gulf
regions has been steadily increasing, suggesting a natural abundance of
crabs in these waters far greater than hitherto known. Unlike its relative,
the shrimp, the blue crab is only occasionally found in the open sea off
North Carolina, as elsewhere, but prefers shallow bays, sounds and river
estuaries, where it thrives in waters ranging from ocean saltiness to brackish
or even fresh. However, it is recognized that heavy freshets in coastal
streams, such as the Neuse and Pamlico rivers, often drive crabs out of the
rivers toward the more saline waters of Pamlico Sound. Blue crabs usually
seek shallow inshore areas in warm weather and retreat into the deeper
channels in winter.

NATURAL HISTORY

The life history of the blue crab is best known in Chesapeake Bay be-
cause the fishery there has been long established, and extensive biological
research has accordingly been undertaken. However, the general features of
the life history are probably quite similar in all sections of the coast.

Each year between April and August a new generation of blue crabs is
produced in North Carolina. Sometime during this period the adult female
or sook crab extrudes from i>4 to 2 million eggs, each egg about Yioo inch
in diameter, and these together form a large mass known as the sponge,
which is firmly attached to the abdomen of the crab. The eggs hatch in
about 15 days in the saltier waters adjacent to the inlets and ocean. Sub-
sequently, a second sponge of eggs may be produced in the same season by
the female crab. The newly hatched crabs are quite unlike their parents in
appearance; they pass through two stages of metamorphosis in neither of
which do they have any recognizable resemblance to adult crabs as we know
them. The first of these is called the zoea, about ^5 inch in size, free-
swimming or drifting about helplessly in the water. The zoea molts several
times, believed to be six, and is transformed at its last molt into the next
stage, the megalops. This stage, no larger than the first zoea, about ^5 inch,
begins to take on at least a little more resemblance to the crab as we know
it; at the megalops' first and apparently only molt at about one month after
hatching of the egg, it becomes a crab in general appearance, and settles to

208 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

the bottom, which it inhabits throughout the rest of its life. Thereafter the
young crab molts or sheds its shell about 1 5 times before reaching maturity.

Crabs, being confined in rigid shells, do not grow at a steady rate of increase
in size but only by a series of quick expansions mostly within an hour or
two while in the soft state at each of these molts. After the shell hardens
each time, it remains of constant size until the next molt, but of course the
crab inside increases in weight. Most crabs attain their full growth and
mate during their second summer, when from 12 to 14 months of age.

Young crabs, hatched near the sea, begin a movement up the sounds and
rivers into brackish waters. Cold weather in the first winter interrupts this
journey, and the young crabs settle to the bottom to remain dormant until
conditions become more favorable. In the spring movements are resumed
and growth proceeds rapidly until they reach maturity in summer or early
fall. The female crab is fertilized during this last molt or growth stage and
subsequently tends to move from brackish water to more saline areas nearer
the ocean. The adult male usually remains behind. In the following spring
the females move out of the deeper waters where they have passed the
winter and seek shallow inshore areas to spawn. Most female crabs reach
their life span after the end of the first spawning and die when from 2 to 3
years old. While the first spawning is known to occur in the third summer
in Chesapeake Bay, it is possible, in a milder temperature, that spawning
may occur as early as the second summer in more southern regions. A sig-
nificant feature in the life of the blue crab is the fact that this crustacean,
like the shrimp, is a short-lived creature, seldom living more than two full
years. Blue crabs are available to any fishery only during the last half of
their customary two-year life cycle. ^

FISHERY

TYPES OF CRABS

Both adult and immature crabs are taken in the commercial crab fisheries
of North Carolina. Adult crabs provide the major source of hard crabs and
are sold alive by weight or volume to processing or picking houses at the
end of each day's fishing. Adult crabs average 3 to 4 individuals to the
pound and are generally marketed in 100-pound barrels. From 10 to 15
pounds of edible crab meat may be extracted from 100 pounds of crabs —
the amount varying with the skill of the picker and on the size, sex, and
physical condition of the crab. Male hard crabs are most sought after
because of their higher yield of meat. Crabs, soon after molting, are known

2. Additional information on the details of the life history of blue crab will be found in Hay
(1905) and Churchill (1919) and, on the zoological classification of the crabs, shrimps, etc., in
Hay and Shore (1918).

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 209

as buckrams and provide little marketable meat. Crab meat is graded and
usually classified for the market as claw, flake, and lump. Present (1948)
North Carolina law sets the minimum commercial size of a hard crab at
5 inches measured from tip to tip of the spines on the shell or carapace.
Egg-bearing crabs are also protected at all times. ^

Immature crabs are sought for the soft-crab industry and are taken either
as soft crabs or more generally as peelers or young hard crabs preparing to
shed their shells within several days. Peelers and soft crabs average from
3 to 5 to the pound and are sold to the shedding houses on a numerical rather
than on a weight basis. Peeler crabs furnish the bulk of the stock which
provides the soft crab of commerce. These crabs are impounded in floats
and tended carefully until they have become soft and suitable for shipment.
A variable mortality of immature crabs occurs during this time. The degree
of this mortality, which may range from 20 to 60 per cent of the catch,
varies according to natural conditions of weather and salinity as well as
according to the skill with which the crabs are cared for in the floats. Soft
crabs are marketed by the dozen and are often graded by size (width of
spines) as jumbos, hotel primes, primes, mediums, and culls. The entire
body of a soft crab is edible although the gills and abdominal segment are
usually removed before cooking. Legal measures in North Carolina restrict
the commercial size of a soft crab to a minimum of 3 inches from tip to tip
of the spines (1948).

AREAS AND SEASONS

Hard crabs are available to fishermen in North Carolina throughout the
year although relatively few crabs are taken from November to February.
Owing to a less intensive fishery for blue crabs in North Carolina compared
to Chesapeake Bay, a greater proportion of male crabs are sought and
utilized in the State than in the Chesapeake. The fishery is prosecuted most
vigorously in the more brackish water areas along the western shore of
Pamlico Sound and in the lower Neuse and Pamlico rivers. An early spring
fishery occurs in Core Sound, the most southerly point in the State at which
any considerable volume of crabs is taken. The fishery in Carteret County
reaches a peak in March but falls to minor proportion after May. The
fisheries in the more northerly regions of the coast do not reach a peak until
mid-summer but have a full five months of productivity from May to
October. The seasonal catch of hard crabs in the major producing counties
of the State, based on the monthly percentage of an 8-year catch, is given
in Table 2. Beaufort County surpasses all other sections in the volume of
catch.

3. Additional information on the commercial blue crab fishery and industry will be found in
Roberts (1905) and Churchill (1919-a).

210

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

TABLE 2

Monthly Yield of Hard Crabs in the Major Producing Areas of North Carolina,

Expressed as the Percentage of an 8- Year Catch in Each Area from 1939 to

1946. Catch Calculated on Basis of State Tax Collections on Each Barrel

Containing about 100 Pounds of Live Crabs

Carteret

Pamlico

Beaufort

Dare-Currituck

Month

County

County

County

Counties

Percent

Percent

Percent

Percent

Jan.

2-3

Feb.

4-3

.1

March

57-2

4.6

3-4

2.2

April

27.4

6.8

3-9

4-9

May

13-0

10.9

4.0

June

2.2

14-5

I5-0

16.4

July

2.0

19.4

23-S

19.8

Aug.

23-7

24.1

21.0

Sept.

4-1

13-7

12.3

10.4

Oct.

2-3

3-2

5-2

14.6

Nov.

•3

■4

1-3

3-7

Dec.

•5

.2

•7

Total

catch in

barrels

39,704

58,347

183,005

34,090

TABLE 3

Monthly Yield of Soft Crabs in Carteret County Expressed as the Percentage of
Total Yield from 1939 to 1946. Catch Based on State Tax Collections

Month

Jan.

Feb.

March

April

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Total catch in dozens

Percent

.6

.6

9.9

19.6

30.2

iS-o

13.6

5-6

3-2

1-7
.1

341,19s

Immature crabs, upon which the soft-crab fishery depends, are taken
principally from April through July and largely in Core Sound, where exten-
sive shedding of peeler crabs is conducted. The general region of Core

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 211

Sound provides an excellent environment in which young crabs may molt
and grow, and the shallow, clear waters of the sound enable fishermen to
capture young crabs in greater commercial quantities than elsewhere along
the coast. The monthly catch of soft crabs, based on an 8-year production
record in Carteret County, is given in Table 3.

GEAR

The baited trot-line is generally employed to catch blue crabs in North
Carolina. A colonial seaman, Samuel Kelly, who visited the Carolina coast
in 1782, described the use of this type of fishing gear:

"There is a blue and yellow crab here about the size of a man's hand,
and they are plenty. The way to catch them is to get into the boat alongside
with a line to reach the bottom and to which any animal substance may be
fastened. After lying at the bottom a few minutes, it is drawn up softly and
you will find the crabs fast to the bait, which they will hold fast to the
water's edge. Then, having a cabbage net extended on a small hoop, you
place this gently beneath the crabs and secure them, for they always quit
their hold on being lifted out of the water."

Essentially the same method for catching crabs is in use today. The
common form of trot-line consists of a ground line of ^ inch Manila rope,
1,000 feet or more in length, that is baited with pickled tripe or salted eel.
The line is run over a roller that extends from the side of a small power
boat. Crabs hold on to the bait and are brought to the surface as the boat
goes forward, forcing the roller under the line. As the crab-bearing bait
approaches the surface of the water, a dip-net is used to take up the crabs.

The patent dip trot-line gear is also widely used and differs from the
former type in that a large conical bag made of netting is suspended below
a metal frame which is situated under the roller in such a way that the crab
automatically drops into the entrance of the net when it releases its hold
on the bait. Thus, dipping by hand is not required. This rig may employ
over a mile of line and can be operated from a larger, more seaworthy boat
than the simple trot-Hne. Baits are generally fastened on the line from 2 to
3 feet apart and the line is laid down in a locality where crabs are known or
believed to be abundant.

INTENSITY OF FISHING

North Carolina ranked fifth among twelve seaboard states in the produc-
tion of blue crabs in 1940. The trend of the annual yield within the state
has been upward during the past thirty years. Since 1930, the catch has
always exceeded one million pounds annually, reaching a peak of 6,375,000
pounds in 1936. Table 4 presents the annual production and value of blue
crabs in the State.

212 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

TABLE 4
Production and Value of Blue Crabs in North Carolina, 1887- 1945

Crabs, hard

Crabs,

soft

Quantity

Quantity

pounds

Value

pounds

Value

(000)

dollars

(000)

dollars

1887

47*

1,105*

1888

47*

1,110 *

1889

50*

1,250*

1890

47*

1,185*

1897

40

1,000

987

3,992

1902

3

100

200

14,553

1908

"3

1,100

277

33,000

I9I8

146

1,983

234

23,821

1923

331

5,395

182

27,692

1927

956

19,512

269

44,257

1928

847

16,821

629

96,365

1929

855

15,170

351

52,620

1930

1,160

18,995

379

57,068

I93I

1,852

25,211

311

46,586

1932

1,848

18,448

309

33,921

1934

4,544

67,238

251

36,210

1936

6,375

132,316

216

60,486

1937

3,246

51,538

142

22,600

1938

3,830

72,455

124

18,652

1939

2,854

53,574

173

26,030

1940

4,008

75,957

286

42,900

1945

5,696

284,820

184

55,290

* Hard and soft crabs not separated.

An outstanding characteristic of the crab fishery in North Carolina has
been close relationship with, and dependence until recent years upon, the
older established industry in Chesapeake Bay. Each year, in March and
April, before crabs readily seek the bait in Chesapeake Bay, it has been
the practice of packers in Maryland and Virginia to buy nearly the entire
production of hard crabs in Carteret County, These crabs are trucked alive
to processing plants on Chesapeake Bay. Likewise, in late summer and fall,
large exports of crabs from Dare and Currituck counties are sent to the
Chesapeake region to augment the local supply, especially during periods
of scarcity. Production of soft crabs in Carteret County is stimulated in
large measure by the Chesapeake Bay packers.

There is an inverse correlation between the annual catch of crabs in Ches-
apeake Bay and in North Carolina according to comparable statistics from
1929 to 1942. Data in Table 5 indicate that years of low production in Ches-
apeake Bay, such as prevailed in 1934, i94i> and 1942 (due largely to

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY

213

decreased natural abundance of crabs), were accompanied by relatively high
yield in North Carolina. Years of high yield in the Bay, like those from
1929 to 1932 and in 1939, were periods of low production in North Carolina.
It is certain that when natural abundance of crabs in Chesapeake Bay is
low and insufficient economically to satisfy the industry, imports of both
hard and soft crabs from North Carolina will increase. Again, local pro-
ducers of crab meat in North Carolina tend to procure larger markets for
their products when competition from Chesapeake Bay is reduced.

The inverse correlation in yield between Chesapeake Bay and North
Carolina has given rise to a belief among many crab packers that a high
natural abundance in one region is accompanied by a low abundance in the
other and vice versa. Although any relationship in natural abundance of
crabs in the two regions cannot be ascertained with available catch data,
there is more reason to believe that varying intensity of fishing in North
Carolina as influenced by economic pressure accounts for the correlation.
Table 6, for example, shows that the catch in Carteret County was at a high
level in 1940 and 1941 at a time when low natural abundance of crabs was
known to prevail in Chesapeake Bay and at a low level in 1946 when a high
natural abundance of crabs occurred in the Bay.

TABLE 5

Total Annual Catch of Hard Crabs in Chesapeake Bay Compared with Total

Annual Catch in North Carolina. Figures for 1929 to 1940 Based on Data from

Fish & Wildlife Service. Chesapeake Bay Catch for 1941 and 1942

Based on Fish & Wildlife Service Records; North Carolina Catch

for 1 94 1 and 1942 Based on State Tax Collection Records

Catch in Chesapeake

Catch in North

Year

Bay in milhons of

CaroUna in millions

pounds

of pounds

1929

55-8

•9

1930

60.6

1.2

1931

58-9

1.9

1932

564

1.8

1933

50.6

1934

36.1

4-5

1935

37-0

1936

39-4

6.4

1937

44.1

3-2

1938

49-4

3-8

1939

51-0

2.9

1940

38.0

4.0

1941

27.7

5-2

1942

32.7

4-5

214

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

TABLE 6

The Annual Catch of Hard Crabs in Barrels in Several Counties of North Carolina

from 1939 to 1946. Based on State Tax Collections on Each Barrel of Crabs

(Amounts Are Probably Under Actual Production But May Be Proportionate

from Year to Year). Multiply the Number of Barrels by 100 to Obtain

Pounds of Crabs

County

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

1946

Beaufort
Pamlico
Carteret
Dare and
Currituck

15,429
1,747
5,144

26,819
3,506
6,758

4,947

33,605
7,424
9,396

1,262

28,629
4,411
4,925

7,216

9,991
9,147
2,958

3,689

21,954

15,663

3,067

5,518

28,670

8,659
4,568

5,472

17,908
7,791
1,158

5,986

Totals

22,320

42,030

51,687

45,181

25,785

46,202

47,369

32,843

Although a large part of the annual production of crabs in North Carolina
depends upon the variable supply of crabs in Chesapeake Bay, many fisher-
men believe that natural fluctuations occur in the abundance of crabs in
North Carolina coastal waters. While fluctuations in year-class abundance
of blue crabs have been found to prevail in Chesapeake Bay (Pearson,
1948), essential information is lacking to determine the presence of fluctua-
tions in North Carolina. Only by some constant unit of measurement of
the crab stock (e.g., catch per unit of fishing effort) can variations in natural
abundance of crabs be determined over a period of years.

Again, adequate catch records are not available to compare the density
of the crab population in North Carolina with that in Chesapeake Bay.
However, a broken series of daily catches based on the number of pounds
of hard crabs taken per man-day by trot-line operated in Core Sound and
Hampton Roads will serve to indicate the degree of monthly and annual
variations in the abundance of crabs in the two regions (see Table 7).
Natural abundance of crabs was apparently higher in Core Sound in March
and April, 1942, than during the same period in 1944. The April catches
during 1942 and 1944, as well as the summer catches in the lower Pamlico
River in 1944, were substantially lower than in February and March. This
condition appears due largely to the fact that while many female crabs with
eggs are taken by crabbers in April, they must be excluded by law from the
market catch. In early season, before the female crabs have produced their
egg sponge, a larger proportion of female crabs enters into the market catch
than occurs from April to September.

The smaller daily catches in Hampton Roads during April, 1944, than in
the following summer months are accounted" for by the fact that water
temperatures in this area are generally too low in April to encourage active

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY

215

TABLE 7

Catch Frequencies of Hard Crabs Taken by Trot-Line in North Carolina and

in Chesapeake Bay at Various Periods in 1942 and 1944. (In Percent of Total

Number of Man-Days). Catch in North Carolina from February Through

April Taken in Core Sound; from June Through September in Lower

Pamlico River. Catch in Chesapeake Bay from April Through

September Taken in Hampton Roads Area *

North Carolina

Chesapeake

Bay, Va.

Daily catch
per man in

Feb.

March

April

Jun<

Sep

April

June-
Sept.

pounds of crabs

1944

1942

194

4 194

2 194.

i 194

4 1942

1944

1944

percent

percent

perce

nt perce

nt perce

nt perce

nt percent

percer

It percent

I-IOO

II. 7

2.7

9-

2 6

5 26.C

' 7

5 4-8

14-3

II-5

101-200

13.0

3-3

21.

7 40

3 26. c

) 42

5 14-3

48.C

) 9.0

201-300

II. 7

14.7

25-

0 15

6 24.e

) 32

5 38.0

14-3

17.9

301-400

5-2

15-3

19.

0 19

5 lo.S

! 10

0 19.1

4.J

! 9.0

401-500

3-9

15-3

13-

2 7

8

5

0 14-3

4.i

! 9.0

501-600

1-3

12.7

5-

3 6

5 9-:

2

5 4-8

9-!

' 16.6

601-700

9.1

lO.O

2.

6 3

9 3-1

51

701-800

9.1

6.7

2.

0

4-8

4.5

5 S-i

801-900

2.6

3-3

2

0

5-1

901-1000

10.4

5-3

2.6

lOOI-IIOO

6.5

2.7

3-8

1101-1200

6.5

4.0

1201-1300

3-9

2.7

1-3

1301-1400

1-3

1-3

1401-1500

2.6

2.6

1501-1600

1-3

.6

2301-2400

.6

Total

lOO.I

99.9

100

0 100

.1 99.

J 100

.0 lOO.I

100.

5 99-9

Number of days

77

ISO

15

2

77 6

5 ^

\0 21

2

I 78

* Catch during June-September in North Carolina and during April-September in Chesapeake
Bay based on a single fisherman; catch during February-April in North Carolina based on a
variable number of fishermen.

feeding by crabs. Incidentally, the crab stock in the region is composed
largely of adult females that are taken and marketed in all breeding stages.
It is evident that differences both in the environment and the economic
requirements of the fishery in the two regions make it impossible to compare
with accuracy the natural abundance of blue crabs in North Carolina and
in Chesapeake Bay. The distribution of the catch frequencies of crabs taken
by the same unit of fishing effort in the two areas suggests, however, that
the actual density of the stock of crabs may not differ widely in areas with
somewhat comparable environmental conditions.

216 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

As shown in Table 4, the annual production of soft crabs in North Caro-
lina has steadily declined over the past twenty years. The decrease, ex-
amined on the basis of yield from 1935 to 1946 (see Table 8), was halted
appreciably only in 1941. Quite significantly, the latter year was a period
when the production of soft crabs in Chesapeake Bay was extremely low
because of a natural scarcity of crabs in the Bay (Pearson, 1948). As the
principal producer of soft crabs, the industry in Chesapeake Bay has sought,
by buying soft crabs in Carteret County, to supply their trade at least a
month earlier in the season than is possible through production in Ches-
apeake Bay. When a period of scarcity of soft crabs, as well as hard crabs,
occurs in the Bay, a larger production of crabs in North Carolina is required
than would otherwise be necessary.

TABLE 8

Production of Soft Crabs in Dozens in Carteret County, North Carolina, from
1935 to 1946, Based on State Tax Collection Data

Carteret County —
Year of Production in

catch dozens

1935

74,092

1936

117,857

1937

76,49s

1938

68,539

1939

63,157

1940

45,866

1 941

57,830

1942

40,889

1943

44,414

1944

36,654

194s

25,738

1946

27,251

The steady decline in annual yield of soft crabs in North Carolina appears
due solely to economic rather than biological factors. If depletion by over-
fishing were responsible for this decrease in production, it would probably
be reflected in a similar decline in the yield of hard crabs taken in the same
general region. This condition did not prevail according to available catch
statistics (see Table 4). The exact economic conditions, other than the
variable annual demand from Chesapeake Bay packers, which have been
responsible for the drop in production of soft crabs are unknown. However,
a general decline in consumer popularity of soft crabs, increasing market
competition with Chesapeake Bay, and, since 1940, a shortage of adequate
labor for catching and shedding peeler crabs are possible reasons for the
continued decrease. It is significant in this respect that market limitations
have prevented any appreciable growth of the soft-crab industry in Ches-
apeake Bay in recent years.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 217

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

There is no sure way to determine the biological limits of the blue crab
population in North Carolina except through unrestricted exploitation by
the fisheries. Full exploitation has not occurred up to the present day be-
cause of economic restrictions. The magnitudes of both the hard- and soft-
crab fisheries have been dependent in varying degree upon the available
supply of crabs in Chesapeake Bay. The crab industry in North Carolina
has been one based in large measure on primary raw-material production
rather than manufacture. For example, compared to some loo crab-picking
houses in operation on Chesapeake Bay in 1946, only 16 houses operated
in North Carolina during this period and, prior to 1930, probably not more
than a half dozen crab-picking houses were to be found along the entire
coast of the State. Significantly, crab packers on Chesapeake Bay have not
found it desirable to open subsidiary crab-picking plants in North Carolina,
apparently finding it more economical to buy live crabs within the State and
bring them to Chesapeake ports when market requirements necessitate. The
future expansion of the crab industry in North Carolina depends pri-
marily on the procurement of new markets for crab products by both
primary and secondary producers. A most promising step in this direction
was the recent establishment (1943) of a crab meat canning industry in
Beaufort County.

Since the most promising market for blue crab products lies in the heavily
populated East and Middle West, it is essential that costs in the pro-
duction of crab meat and soft crabs be made substantially lower in North
Carolina than in Chesapeake Bay, which is the region not only of heaviest
yield but also closest to major marketing centers. Lower costs may be
obtained by the use of cheaper raw materials (live crabs) and labor (crab-
meat pickers). Complex economic and social factors will determine the
extent to which costs can be reduced.

The statistical history of the fishery fails to show that the blue crab
resource has been fully utilized in North Carolina. The biological limit of
the commercial yield of the crab fisheries is undoubtedly higher than past
production indicates. While the crab population, dwelling year-round in the
shallow sounds and rivers of the State, appears unlimited so far as the
present intensity of the fishery is concerned, it must be remembered that a
restricted market now prevails for the relatively high-priced sea-foods of
crab meat and soft shell crabs. More efficient ways to catch, to process, and
to market blue crabs must be sought to overcome present handicaps to a
greater utilization of the crab resources of the State.

218 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Binford, Raymond.

191 1. Notes on the life history of Callinectes sapidus. The Johns Hopkins
University Circular, No. 230, p. 14. Baltimore.
Brickell, John,

1737. The Natural History of North Carolina. Dublin, Reprinted at
Raleigh, 191 1, p. 215-250.
Churchill, Edward Perry.

1919. Life history of the blue crab. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XXXVI,

1917-18 (1921), p. 91-128, 8 plates (Doc. 870, 1919).
1919-a. Crab industry of Chesapeake Bay. Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish.,
1918 (1920), Appendix IV, 25 p., 12 plates (Doc. 868, 1919).
Hay, W. P.

1905, The life history of the blue crab, Rept, U, S. Bur, Fish., 1904 (1905),
P- 397-413, 4 plates.
Hay, W, P,, and C, A, Shore.

1918. The decapod crustaceans of Beaufort, N. C, and the surrounding
region. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., XXV, 1915-16 (1918), p, 369-475, 15
plates (Doc, 859, 1918),
Hariot, Thomas
1588, A brief and true report of the New Found Land of Virginia, London.
Reprinted in the Principal Navigations, etc. By Richard Hakluyt,
Everyman's Library edition. Vol, 6, p, 182, London, 1907,
Kelly, Samuel,

1782, Published as Samuel Kelly, An Eighteenth Century Seaman. Edited
by Crosbie Garstin, p. 54. New York, 1925.
Lawson, John.

1 7 14. History of North Carolina. London, Reprinted by North Carolina
Society of Colonial Dames of America, p, 162, Richmond, 1937.
Pearson, John C.

1948. Fluctuations in the abundance of the blue crab in Chesapeake Bay.
U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Research Rept. 14, 1948. 26 p.
Roberts, Winthrop A.

1905. The crab industry of Maryland, Rept. U. S. Bur. Fish., 1904 (1905),
p, 417-432.
Townsend, C, H,

1900, Statistics of the fisheries of the south Atlantic states, Rept, U. S.
Comm'r. Fish., 1899 (1900), Pt. XXV, p. 171-227.

<X><><><><><J<><>C><S<XX><S>C^^

THE DIAMOND-BACK TERRAPIN
IN NORTH CAROLINA

BY Robert E. Coker

The University of North Carolina

CONTENTS

Page Page

Value and Local Fishery 219 Natural History and Propagation 226

Kinds of Terrapin 223 Summary 229

Experimental Propagation 225 Bibliography 230

VALUE AND LOCAL FISHERY

Of marine and estuarial turtles only the diamond-back terrapin has had
significant commercial history in North Carolina. Occasionally the valuable
green turtles are taken, particularly the smaller ones, or "chicken turtles";
but the green turtle is here near the northern limit of its normal range.
Pope (1939) says, however, that it was abundant in the North Carolina
sounds before it was "decimated by turtle-hunters during the nineteenth
century." The generally large loggerhead turtles are much more common
but are not a market item. Some persons locally eat and esteem them. The
loggerhead is the only sea turtle that habitually lays eggs on the beaches of
our region. Its interest to North Carolina is for the material it readily affords
for scientific studies of development and growth. The smaller Kemp's gulf
turtle or "bastard turtle," sometimes, unfortunately, called "hawksbill,"
is found occasionally but is not valued. The true hawksbill, or tortoise-shell
turtle, valued for its heavy covering of richly colored shell, has rarely been
recorded from the Carolinas. The largest of all turtles, the trunk turtle or
leatherback, is rare in our waters and without known commercial value in
this country.^ We are not concerned here with the freshwater snapping

I. In Fishery Statistics of the United States, 1945, green turtle was reported from Florida
(12,800 pounds, valued at $1,280) and Louisiana (9,300 pounds, valued at $i,395)- Loggerhead
turtle was reported as a commercial product from Florida in the small amount of 15,000 pounds,
valued at $1,645, and Virginia, 7,400 pounds, valued at $400. The hawksbill was marketed from
New Jersey in the amount of 800 pounds, valued at $8. However esteemed "green turtle soup"
may be, it is evident that sea turtles are commercially insignificant.

219

220 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

turtles, used for "snapper soup," or with strictly freshwater terrapin, or
"sliders," although the latter are sometimes improperly substituted for
diamond-backs (Coker, 1906, and Pope, 1939).

The diamond-back terrapin is primarily an estuarial species, occurring
along the entire Atlantic and Gulf coasts in brackish water and even occa-
sionally in the rivers above the reach of salt water. It is our only turtle
characteristic of brackish waters. It is not found in the sea. All evidence
gained from observation in nature and from breeding experiments indicates
some dependence upon fresh water. There is as yet no fully satisfactory
explanation of its restriction in distribution to brackish water and to only
the lower reaches of the fresh waters of certain rivers. Possibly it is a matter
of feeding habit, its accustomed food being such as is dependent upon
the presence of salt water and the flow of tidal currents. Hay (1904) re-
ported that terrapin have been found in the Potomac as far up as within four
miles of Washington. The terrapin themselves are not dependent upon salt
water surroundings. I and others have had them live and thrive in captivity,
in pens supplied only with water from an artesian well, but in such case
they were fed with salt water fish. On the other hand, I have tried to keep
them in Mississippi River water in Iowa, where they were fed only fresh-
water foods; the terrapin survived only a few months (Coker, 1920).

At one time large diamond-back terrapin were per pound the most val-
uable food product from coastal waters (in the retail market). Measure-
ment of size is by the length of the under-shell, called the plastron. It is a
large individual, and always a female, that has the undershell 6 inches in
length. Such terrapin might sell at $50 or $60 a dozen. Hildebrand and
Hatsel (1926) reported the Boston market price as one dollar per inch of
bottom shell; this gives a rate of $72 per dozen for 6-inch terrapin. Larger
terrapin up to 7 or 8 inches would bring higher prices. The length of 8 inches
on the bottom shell is rarely exceeded and the maximum is believed to be
about 9 inches. A leading dealer in the Baltimore market told me of selling
two terrapin to a regular customer, whom he named, for $25. Value in the con-
noisseur market depends not only upon the size but also upon appearance.

Standards of appearance are not precisely describable, but are based
primarily upon recognition of the so-called "Chesapeake" type, with the
top shell (carapace) flaring behind (widest behind the middle), the head
small and relatively pointed, coloration rich and usually dark, the concentric
markings on the plates (scutes) of the carapace evident. A terrapin of equal
size to the "Chesapeake" but with more nearly parallel sides, larger head,
generally lighter or dull color, and smoother shell, would bring a substan-
tially lower price. This would be branded a "Carolina" type, although, as
will be seen below, both types occur in North Carolina and probably in the
Chesapeake.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 221

What has been said about market values was more generally applicable
before World War I. The war, with its immediate inhibitions in respect to
luxury foods, and prohibition, with its discouragement of gourmanderie,
came together, but the latter long outlasted the War. At any rate, the use of
terrapin stew as the gourmet's delight has never come back in full force and
the fancy market for terrapin seems not to have had a complete revival. By
those who know, however, the superior flavor of the meat of select terrapin
is not generally questioned.^ Consequently, there remains the possibility
that diamond-back terrapin will sometime come back into high favor, if not
to its former place of topmost esteem. In the North Carolina fishery at this
time the terrapin is without significance.^

Emphasis has been placed upon size in respect to price. Larger terrapin
have greater weight, of course, but the higher value of large terrapin is
based not so much upon poundage as upon presumed quality. It has always
been assumed, whether correctly or not but probably correctly, that quality
of meat and its flavor improves with age and size. Either younger or smaller
terrapin, although highly toothsome, are relatively inferior in flavor. All
male terrapin, being small, are thus excluded from the selects. The largest
male of record in the terrapin experiments at Beaufort was reported as
having a length on the bottom shell of 4^ inches, and the largest wild male
found measured 4^ inches. The average undershell length of males was
about 4 inches, a substantial proportion being smaller. It is doubtful if any
male ever attains the "legal" minimum length for capture and sale — 5
inches.

It is a long time since there was in North Carolina a particular fishery
for terrapin (Coker, 1906). Occasional individuals are taken by chance in
seine hauls or sighted in passing. At the time of the beginning of the experi-
ments in terrapin breeding at Beaufort (1902), there was only one man in
the Beaufort region known particularly as a "terrapin hunter." Working in
a small skiff he would pole his boat through the creeks and marshes, look-
ing with keen eyes for a terrapin under water or a head projected above the
water and capturing terrapin now and then with his dip net. In his own

2. Not everything served as "terrapin stew," or even as "diamond-back stew," is made from
diamond-back terrapin. "Sliders," and sometimes even "chicken," may be substituted for the more
expensive diamond-backs.

3. In the Government statistics for 1945 (Anderson and Power, 1949), diamond-back terrapin
were reported as marketed from the following States:

Maryland 370,000 pounds $108,000

/ Virginia 27,500 " 6,875

North Carolina 2,700 " 675

South Carolina 500 " 125

Georgia 7,500 " 5,625

Florida 5, 400 " i)3So

Obviously, the price per pound to fishermen is figured at 25 cents, except for Georgia (75

cents) and Maryland (about 29 cents).

222 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

words, and in good Elizabethan and original coastal English, he spent his
life "perusing the creeks and progging the marshes." In earlier times in
North Carolina the "drag-net" was employed in taking terrapin. In South
Carolina I have been told of dogs trained to hunt terrapin in the marshes.
Another method was to sail small boats through "creeks" or sloughs in the
marshes, knocking occasionally on the bottom of the boat and looking for
any nearby terrapin to raise its head above the surface of the water, pre-
sumably to look for the source of the sound. According to local informants
terrapin are now fairly numerous in the Beaufort area, being taken fre-
quently in shrimp nets used in inside waters. They are usually liberated for
lack of local markets.

Terrapin caught by chance or as the result of search were taken to a
dealer. Paid for at small prices, these were kept alive in boxes or barrels
or, rarely, in pens, until shipping time in the fall. Even undersized terrapin,
including the males, called "bulls," and the small females, known as "hens,"
were not excluded from shipment to bring profitable if not fancy prices, say
$12 to $15 a dozen. So far as I could tell, the unrealistic legal restrictions
with respect to sizes and to holding in confinement during the breeding
season (April 15 to August 15) were not observed.

In the conditions under which terrapin were generally kept, feeding was
hardly practicable. Since terrapin can live without food for long periods of
time, the lack of food probably caused little if any harm other than to
prevent the slight increase in size and value which the very slow-growing
animals might have gained if kept under proper conditions. It would have
been better, however, if the law had sanctioned and the dealers been in-
cHned, to keep, feed, and water the terrapin in open ranges, used in other
states and known as pens, pounds or, more commonly, "crawls." There were
then extensive "crawls" at Crisfield, Md., and at Savannah, Ga. Sub-
sequently, in 19 13, State authorization was received for the establishment
of the Beaufort Terrapin Farm at Beaufort, N. C, under the leadership of
Dr. Charles Duncan. This company, to quote Dr. Hildebrand (1929, pp.
26,27):

" built concrete pounds and a terrapin nursery house and provided

itself with all the facilities necessary for raising terrapins. A large brood
stock was obtained, and within a few years from 15,000 to 20,000 terrapins
per annum were being hatched. This farm progressed nicely until the begin-
ning of the World War and the adoption of the eighteenth amendment to
the Constitution. The cost of labor was more than tripled locally, the
market value of terrapins dropped, owing to the general curtailment of the
use of luxuries during the war, and it seems to have been believed by the
manager that under prohibition terrapins never again would be in demand
or command the fancy prices paid for them prior to prohibition and the war.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 223

In view of these seemingly adverse circumstances, the breeding terrapins
as well as some of the young that had attained a marketable size were sold,
and in 191 8 the plant virtually was abandoned. The Beaufort Terrapin
Farm was patterned after the experimental plant of the Bureau of Fisheries,
and the success attained in raising terrapins compared very favorably with
that of the Bureau of Fisheries."

A contributing cause for discouragement to the company was the fact
that the heating system for the nursery house was designed for use of
anthracite coal, which was unobtainable in Beaufort during the war.

As regards the deprivation of food for terrapin during long periods of
confinement, it may be remarked that it is a condition of the preparation of
terrapin for the table that they should have been starved for a considerable
period, in order that the digestive tract may be entirely empty. Before cook-
ing or serving, terrapin are cleaned only on the outside by scalding for
removal of the outer skin and the horny covering of the shell and jaws;
after further cooking, bottom and top shells and the head are removed to
be used for the soup; only the gall bladder is then discarded; all the re-
mainder goes into the stew.

KINDS OF TERRAPIN

Diamond-back terrapin occur along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from
Buzzard's Bay to Texas, but systematists have recognized distinct species
on the Atlantic coast and the Gulf coast and several subspecies. The
species Malaclemmys pileata (knobbed terrapin) occurs along the Gulf
coast with fairly distinct subspecies for, respectively, the region of the
west coast of Florida, an intermediate zone westward to the mouth of the
Mississippi and the westernmost territory from the Mississippi to and
including the coast of Texas. All the Gulf coast terrapin can be distin-
guished from terrapin of the Atlantic coast south to Florida by the prom-
inent knobs or tubercles on the plates of the middle part of the upper shell.

On the Atlantic side the species Malaclemmys centrata (Latreille) occurs
from Buzzard's Bay, Massachusetts, to Florida; but two subspecies are rec-
ognized in this area. The species centrata proper is found from the region
of Cape Hatteras to Florida. The range of the subspecies M. centrata con-
centrica (Shaw) is from the Hatteras region northward to Massachusetts.
The estuaries of North Carolina are therefore within the ranges of both the
southern species proper and the northern subspecies: both "Chesapeake"
and "Carolina" terrapin are native to the State. The species centrata is
believed to have been described from terrapin from Charleston, S. C,
concentrica from examples from Delaware Bay.

It must be understood that there is no sharp line of division between the

224 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

described subspecies. Apparently the diamond-backs have to a considerable
extent developed characteristic ecological forms or varieties in response to
environmental difference or to geographic isolation. Dealers have always
recognized geographic varieties: "Connecticuts," "Long Island terrapin,"
"Delaware Bays," "Chesapeakes," and "Carolinas" (Hay, 1905). South
Carolina terrapin are considered inferior to North Carolina terrapin, and
Florida terrapin are still less prized. The term "Florida terrapin" in the
market has, however, generally been applied to the Gulf species found on
the west coast of Florida. I have been told by a well-informed dealer that
historically the Long Island terrapin were the premium terrapin of the
market. As the limited supply was depleted, Delaware Bay terrapin assumed
first rank. Somewhat later, but perhaps a century ago, the less exhaustible
supplies of the Chesapeake areas of Maryland and Virginia came to the
front and have held top rank ever since.

How extensive was the practice, it cannot be said, but it was certainly
not uncommon in the past for terrapin to be sold from Georgetown, S. C, to
a dealer in Wilmington, then passed from Wilmington to a dealer in the
Beaufort, N. C, region and thence to Crisfield, Md. Thus, terrapin from
South Carolina might finally reach the city market as "Chesapeakes."
Doubtless the more expert fanciers, being able to recognize the varietal
distinction, were not always misled. In later years the "Carolina" terrapin
gained in market favor, particularly those not markedly different from
terrapin of the Chesapeake area, and shipments were generally made direct
from North Carolina dealers to the largest city markets (Coker, 1906, and
Hildebrand, 1929, p. 28).

The distinctions between "Chesapeake" and "Carolina" diamond-backs
have been given on page 220. In regard to their respective distributions,
several qualifications must be made. In the first place, the terrapin of any
region are so variable in form that strictly dependable classification of
individual terrapin is often impossible: both "Chesapeakes" and "Caro-
linas" occur outside of their respective "book" ranges. Second, since the
supposed limits of the subspecies are within the State of North Carolina,
terrapin of either type would be expected to be native to the State. Thirdly,
through long periods of years southern terrapin have been shipped in
quantities from southern to northern coastal points to be held for months
in captivity, and many escapes must have occurred to give opportunity for
the mixing of tj^Des beyond that provided by nature. Finally, in the culture of
terrapin at the U. S. Fisheries Laboratory at Beaufort, large numbers of
Chesapeake terrapin have been imported and bred and have been allowed to
hybridize with native North Carolina terrapin (Hildebrand, 1929 and
1933)- The young reared from both stocks and their hybridization have
been widely distributed to all coastal states from Delaware to Alabama, and

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 225

to Louisiana, New Mexico ( ! ) and California.* The immediate geographic
source of a terrapin brought to market is now, therefore, even more than in
the past, no reliable indication of its type.

EXPERIMENTAL PROPAGATION

The question of exhaustion of a self-reproducing actual resource is not
always one that is easily answered with assurance. It would, however, seem
unnatural if an animal as highly valued and as eagerly sought as the
diamond-back terrapin, as limited in distribution (to estuarial areas), as
weak in reproduction, as slow in growth and as helpless against man, had
not suffered serious depletion in two centuries of search, capture and de-
struction. While exact quantitative data were not available, it was not
doubted at the turn of the century that the more northern areas of fishery
had been depleted of terrapin for many decades, that even the extensive
Chesapeake area had long had greatly reduced population, and that the
North Carolina terrapin were reduced almost to the vanishing point. At any
rate, at the beginning of the present century, two definite moves were
undertaken to replenish the supply by propagating terrapin under artificial
conditions.

In 1902, studies and experiments were begun at two places — in the Ches-
apeake Bay area at Lloyd's, Md., in charge of Dr. W. P. Hay, and at
Beaufort, N. C, under the direction of the present writer assisted by Mr.
Charles Hatsel. These were prompted by the late Dr. Hugh M. Smith, in
charge of Scientific Inquiry in the United States Fish Commission ^ and the
late Professor Joseph A. Holmes, State Geologist and Director of the North
Carolina Geological Survey.^ The experiments and studies at Beaufort were
at first supported cooperatively by the Federal Government and the State.
The early studies at Beaufort resulted in part in the publication of Bulletin
No. 14 of the Geological Survey (Coker, 1906). In 1904 the support of scien-
tific work at the fisheries station by the State was discontinued. Although the
small terrapin stock at Beaufort was kept and maintained by the custodian
of the laboratory, Mr. H. D. Aller, and Mr. Hatsel, the Government's em-
phasis was shifted temporarily to the Chesapeake. In 1909 the activities and
breeding stock were transferred to Beaufort, Dr. Hay continuing to give
general direction until 19 15. During this period Mr. Aller planned and carried
out the significant new undertaking of winter-feeding of yearling terrapin in
warmed nursery houses. Guidance of the work was later in the hands of the
successive Directors, Lewis Radcliffe, S. F. Hildebrand, R. L. Barney, and

4. Letter of Dr. Paul E. Thompson, U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Aug. 12, 1949.

5. Part predecessor of the present U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

6. Later, North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey, part predecessor of the present
Department of Conservation and Development.

226 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

H. F. Prytherch. All concerned with the undertaking would subscribe fully
to Dr. Barney's statement (Barney, 1922):

"The large share of credit for the continuity and the accuracy of the
observations of the entire experimental terrapin propagation project is due
to Mr. Hatsel for his exceptionally careful, energetic, and faithful work."

In all, the Fisheries Station at Beaufort, up to August, 1949, had hatched
and distributed 249,313 young diamond-back terrapins. Distribution was
very wide, as previously mentioned. At the recent close of the experiments
older terrapin including brood stock were distributed.

Although many questions in regard to the terrapin remain to be answered,
a vast amount of information has been gained in the long-continued experi-
mental and propagational work at Beaufort. The results are embodied in
the papers cited in the bibliography by Hay (1904 and 1917), Coker (1906),
Hay and Aller (19 13), Barney (1922), Hildebrand and Hatsel (1926), and
Hildebrand (1929 and 1933). Only a brief summary of results need be
included in the following paragraphs.

NATURAL HISTORY AND PROPAGATION

The diamond-back terrapin lives in the zone between pure fresh water
and pure salt water. It can pass into and out of the water, but seems habitu-
ally to live in the water, coming on the beaches principally in the season of
laying to form nests for its eggs on the sand. Without such strong jaws as
have the freshwater snapping turtles or the loggerhead sea turtle, it must
feed upon such small mollusks, Crustacea and other small animals as it
can find (Coker, 1906; Hildebrand, 1929). A readily available food in the
marshes and along shore in brackish waters is the periwinkle, a small snail,
and this was the chief item of food found in the stomachs of wild terrapin
that I have examined. Hay, 1904, says that shoots and rootlets of marsh
plants are eaten to some extent, as well as insects when available in time of
high tides. There are needed more extensive studies of the food of terrapin,
as this may well have much to do with the peculiar and esteemed flavor of
the meat.

In the breeding pens at Beaufort practicable feed has been found to be
chopped fresh fish, including menhaden and low-priced or unsalable food-
fish of various kinds, crabs, shucked reef oysters and clams. The cost was
found to be about 6 cents per head for a year. Small mollusks and fiddler-
crabs were also eaten. Salted mullet was not taken unless the terrapin had
been starved. Vegetables of various kinds were tried but they were not eaten
by the terrapin. It was thought advantageous to supplement the usual fresh-
fish diet from time to time with oysters, clafhs, and crabs. A supply of
fresh water for drinking seemed desirable.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 227

Egg laying is accomplished on sandy beaches — which generally are not
too abundant in areas of salt marshes. In late spring or early summer (May,
June, and July at Beaufort in the artificial pens) the female using her hind
legs excavates a jug-shaped cavity about 3 inches in diameter and 6 to 8
inches or more in depth. In this she deposits a number of eggs. Five to
about 15 eggs have been found in a nest, but a female may lay 4 or 5 times.
The cavity is then filled, the eggs being covered to a depth of several inches,
and the sand tamped down. After the female makes the nest inconspicuous
by crawling back and forth over it, the eggs are left to their fate. Hildebrand
concluded that, under good conditions of terrapin culture, about 12 eggs
per female per year may be expected.

In the experimental pounds terrapin may begin laying at about 6 years
of age and continue to do so for at least 10 j'-ears. Annual mating is not
required, since female terrapin have facilities for retaining sperm in good
condition for several years. Females isolated from males after mating pro-
duced fertile eggs for four years, although the proportion of fertile eggs
diminished rather rapidly after the second year. Since a male may fertilize
several females, it is not necessary to keep for breeding purposes an equal
number of males and females: one male to 5 females seems to be adequate.
As a matter of fact, in the breeding pens at Beaufort the sexes, without
selection, developed in about this proportion.

The period of incubation of the eggs is about 90 days, varying with tem-
perature and other conditions. The exact duration is difficult to determine,
since the young do not usually emerge from the nest until several days after
hatching. The newly-hatched young, about 1M2 inches (27 mm.) on the
bottom shell are relatively helpless, and may fall easy prey to crabs, fish,
birds, and rats. What the survival rate during the first year may be in nature
is quite unknown. In respect to survival in the experimental pens, under
conditions of substantial protection from most enemies, Hildebrand (1926)
reported, that about 60 per cent of the terrapin hatched came to maturity,
a reasonable proportion in comparison with the survival rate in poultry
production. The mortality rate in nature may be presumed to be much
higher.

The chief causes of mortality in pens were disease and unpreventable
depredations of enemies, chiefly rats; some possibly escape. The common
diseases were described as "sores," referred to by Hildebrand as cancerous,
"soft-shell," associated with failure to eat and subject to rapid recovery,
and "limber-neck," a form of paralysis from which recovery is rare.

Young terrapin in nature or in confinement, unless kept warm, were not
observed to eat; there is, then, no growth in size until the spring of the
following year. It was found at the Beaufort Laboratory, however, that
if the baby terrapin are kept in warmed nursing houses during the first

228 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

winter, they would mostly remain active, feed and grow during the winter.
By the following spring they were about the size of year-old terrapin and
had thus been put forward about one year toward maturity. They could be
kept from hibernating in following winters and fed as during the first winter,
but the gain after the first winter was not considered sufficient to justify
the expense.

In rearing terrapin in open pens, space requirements will depend in part
upon the nature of the area, and especially upon the clearness of the water
and the regularity of its change by tidal action or other cause. "The main
consideration," says Hildebrand (1929, p. 66), "is the provision of sufficient
room to furnish the necessary sanitation," He thought that under the con-
ditions existing at Beaufort 100 animals could safely be grown to maturity
in a pen 5x22 feet. This would allow about 1.6 square feet per terrapin.

The sexes are externally indistinguishable in the first few years of life,
although adult males and females are markedly different in size and form.
While females may attain a length on the lower shell of 7 or 8 or even
nearly 9 inches, males rarely exceed 4^ inches in such measurement. They
are thus quite diminutive in comparison with the larger females with which
they may mate. Males are also flatter, and the top shell is rather more
wedge-shaped behind. The heads are smaller and more pointed, and the
tails are very much larger and heavier because of the included penis. It is
only when males are about four years old, with an undershell more than
three inches long, that they are readily distinguishable.

Males grow more slowly, but females are too variable in growth for size
at a given early age to be a criterion of sex. In a particular brood, that of
19 12, about one-eighth of the females had attained the "legal" length of 5
inches (125 mm.) in the sixth year, when the largest male was 4 inches.
A little over 50 per cent of females had a 5-inch undershell in the eighth
year and 82 per cent in the thirteenth year. The smallest female of the lot
in that year was about 4% inches (115 mm.). A length of 6 inches was first
attained by a female in the thirteenth year. The gain in undershell length
per year after the eighth year is measured in millimeters, one or two. Unless
the rate of growth in nature is much more rapid than it is in confinement
with regular feeding, it may be assumed that a 7-or 8-inch female, rare in
nature, but of highest value in the market, is from 20 to 30 years old
at least. It would seem to require 10 to 20 or more years to add an inch
in length after about the tenth year (data gathered from tables in Hilde-
brand, 1929).

The results obtained with different yearly broods were variable, but gen-
erally not markedly different. In the case of the brood of 19 10, however,
a female (or, perhaps, more than one) was over 6 inches in the sixth year.
Nine years later (1925) the largest female was 6% inches (165 mm.),

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 229

indicating a gain of ii mm in 9 years. Probably North Carolina terrapin
do not often attain an undershell length much exceeding 5^ inches. It is a
well known fact that for many animals there is an inverse relation between
size and temperature during development. Animals of the same species may
attain larger sizes in more northern and colder waters.

On the other hand, among individuals of any given brood, the variability
in growth is extreme. Coker (1906), Hildebrand and Hatsel (1926), Hilde-
brand (1929), and others, have remarked on the extraordinary variability
of turtles in respect to rate of growth.

SUMMARY

1. The diamond-back terrapin, once the most valuable (per unit) food
product of the coastal region, has depreciated greatly in value since the
time of World War I but there are indications of continued esteem and
perhaps of substantial recovery in market value.

2. Presumably in consequence of exhaustive fishery the populations have
been seriously depleted in northern waters and in North Carolina. Produc-
tion in the State is now negligible.

3. The waters of North Carolina in northern and southern parts are
within the respective ranges of terrapin of the "Chesapeake" and "Carolina"
types.

4. Cultural experiments have been conducted at the U. S. Fisheries
Biological Station, Beaufort, N. C, since 1902, but chiefly from 1909 to
1948. Although over-all direction of the experiments has undergone many
changes, and several scientists have contributed substantially to this de-
velopment, great credit for continuity and success must be attributed to
the late Captain Charles Hatsel of Beaufort for most efficient care from the
beginning in 1902 until his retirement in 1947.

5. Terrapin are readily kept in confinement for breeding and rearing at
relatively small expense for food. Data are available in various publications
regarding space requirements, sex ratios, diseases and mortality, and rate
of growth. Keeping newly hatched terrapin in warmed nursery houses and
feeding them during the first winter, not only reduces mortality during the
period of greatest helplessness, but also enables the terrapin to make two
years growth in one year.

6. If a high market price can be depended upon, there is promise in
the breeding and rearing of diamond-back terrapin in privately managed
terrapin farms.

7. In spite of much scientific study, particularly under conditions of
propagational experiments, there is still a paucity of information regarding
the natural history of terrapin in the wild. There is particular need of fuller

230 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

quantitative studies of the natural food in different geographic areas and
the relation of food to flavor.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson, A. W., and E. A. Power.

1949. Fishery Statistics of the United States, 1945. U. S. Fish & Wildlife
Service, Statistical Digest No. 18 (1949), 372 p., (pictorial section,
P- 355-372).
Barney, R. L.

1922. Further notes on the natural history and artificial propagation of
the diamond-back terrapin. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XXXVIII,
1921-22 (1923), p. 91-112. (Doc. 917, 1922).
Coker, Robert E.

1906. The natural history and cultivation of the diamond-back terrapin
with notes on other forms of turtles. North Carolina Geol. Surv.,
Bull. No. 14, 1906, 69 p., 23 pis. Raleigh.
1920. The diamond-back terrapin, past, present and future. Scientific
Monthly, Vol. 11, 1920, p. 171-186.
Hay, William Perry.

1905. A revision of Malaclemmys, a genus of turtles. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish.,
Vol. XXIV, 1904 (1905), p. 1-19, 12 pis.
Hay, W. P., and H. D. Aller.

19 13. Artificial propagation of the diamond-back terrapin. U. S. Bur. Fish.,

Econ. Circ. No. 5, 1913, 14 p., 3 figs.
19 1 7. Artificial propagation of the diamond-back terrapin. U. S. Bur. Fish.,
Econ. Circ. No. 5, revised 1917, 27 p., 5 figs.
Hildebrand, Samuel F.

1929. Review of experiments on artificial culture of diamond-back terrapin.
Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLV, 1929 (1930), p. 25-70. (Doc. 1060,
1929).
1933. Hybridizing diamond-back terrapin. Journal of Heredity, Vol. 24,
No. 6, p. 231-238. Washington.
Hildebrand, Samuel F., and Charles Hatsel.

1926. Diamond-back terrapin culture at Beaufort, N. C. U. S. Bur. Fish.,
Econ. Circ. No. 60, 1926, 20 p., 3 figs.

1927. On the growth, care and behavior of loggerhead turtles in captivity.
Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., Vol. 13, No. 6, p. 374-377. Washington.

Pope, Clifi^ord H.

1939. Turtles of the United States and Canada, xviii + 343 P-, pis., ex-
tensive bibliog. New York and London: A. A. Knopf, 1939.

<><X><><><XXX><^S><>OC><><>0<^^

THE SEAWEED RESOURCES OF
NORTH CAROLINA

BY Harold J. Humm.

Duke University Marine Laboratory *

Introduction

Brown Algae

Red Algae

Chemical Nature and Physical

Properties of Agar
Uses of Agar

The Agar Industry of California
The Agar Industry of North

Carolina

CONTENTS

Page

Page

231

Biology of North Carolina

233

Seaweeds

241

234

Conservation

243

,1

Possibilities of Cultivation

243

234

North Carolina Agars

244

234

The Manufacturing Process

246

a 236

Research for the Future

246

Summary

248

236

Bibliography

248

INTRODUCTION

Seaweeds or marine algae constitute several major groups (phyla) of plants
that are the oldest on earth. It is believed that the ancestors of our modern
seaweeds developed in oceans ages ago, probably before conditions on land
permitted development of plants as we know them today. Seaweeds, which
differ radically from land plants in structure and reproduction, are regarded
as primitive in these respects.

The four major groups of seaweeds are commonly known as bluegreens,
greens, reds, and browns. The classification is based in part on pigmenta-
tion, but the gross color of seaweeds is not always a reliable character for
determining the proper phylum. The red algae are particularly variable.
Although all red algae contain a red pigment in addition to chlorophyll
(green), they are sometimes green or brown in color because the red pigment
may be masked by chlorophyll or other pigments.

Marine algae, like all land plants having green leaves, must have light

* Later, Marine Biological Laboratory, Florida State University.

231

232 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

for growth. Accordingly, their distribution in the sea is limited to depths
to which sufficient light penetrates, as the majority grow on the bottom
attached to stones or shells. Most seaweeds are found along the shore
wherever there is a substratum for attachment, from the intertidal zone
to a depth of 300 feet or more in very clear water. In waters that are not
clear, they may grow no deeper than one or two feet below low tide line.
Coastal waters are relatively rich in nitrates, phosphates, and other nutrient
salts that come from the land by drainage, a circumstance of benefit to
seaweeds.

In general, brown algae are plants of colder waters, especially the giant
kelps, abundant along New England and Pacific coasts. Green algae, though
common in cold waters, exist in greater variety in warm waters such as
those of Florida and the West Indies. Red algae are also of greater variety
in the tropics, and are believed to be able to grow at lower light intensity,
hence greater depth, than most browns and greens. In Florida, however,
some green species grow well at nearly 300 feet.

Many seaweeds are seasonal or annual. Along the North Carolina coast,
for example, many of those present during summer are of sub-tropical
affinity and are replaced by a different flora with northern affinities during
winter. A few species may be present only during spring or fall. As a result
of the effect of Cape Hatteras as a temperature barrier, North Carolina is
the southern known limit (in winter) for a number of species common in
New England, and the northern known limit (in summer) for many species
abundant in Florida.

Only the red and brown seaweeds are of economic importance. A few
of the greens ("sea lettuce," for example) are eaten, but they are not a
significant item of commerce. Bluegreen algae are not utilized as the indi-
vidual plants are microscopic.

The principal economic uses of red and brown seaweeds and their ex-
tractives (phycocolloids) may be classified as follows: in foods, bacterio-
logical media, pharmaceutical preparations, cosmetics, several industrial
processes, dental and other molding compounds, fertilizers, and miscella-
neous other fields. Seaweeds probably have been used for food since pre-
historic times, while their use as medicine and fertilizer must have devel-
oped centuries ago, particularly in the Orient. The growth of science and
industry during the past 100 years has led to many additional uses of seaweed
extractives, especially in the more industrialized parts of the world. New
uses and new t3TDes of seaweed products are frequently announced.

In America, dried seaweeds are eaten on a small scale in New England,
mostly by people whose ancestors came from the British Isles; and along
the Pacific coast, mostly by people of oriental origin. Powdered seaweed is
often used in so-called health foods, in stock feed, and as a condiment.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 233

The real economic value of seaweeds in America, however, lies with seaweed
extractives, principally agar, algin, and agar-like phycocolloids such as
carrageenin from "Irish moss."

BROWN ALGAE

The economic value of brown algae is limited to a subgroup known as
kelps. The principal product is algin, usually sold as sodium alginate. It is
a colloidal carbohydrate that forms very viscous aqueous solutions for which
there is a wide variety of uses, particularly in foods. Algin does not have
the gel-forming property of agar, hence its uses are somewhat different.
Products of secondary importance obtained from kelps include the poly-
saccharide, laminarin, and the complex alcohol, mannitol. In addition, dried
and pulverized kelps are used in health foods and stock feed as a source of
essential trace elements.

In the past, kelps were widely used as a source of potash and iodine,
obtained by burning the seaweed, and of acetone and calcium acetate,
obtained by fermentation. Seaweeds are no longer used as raw material for
these substances, as less costly sources have been discovered.

Since kelps are cold water species, the algin industry of the United States
is located in New England and in the Pacific coast states of California,
Oregon, and Washington. Along the Atlantic coast, kelps do not grow in
abundance of commercial value south of Massachusetts. New Jersey is the
southern known limit of the kelp group.

A genus of brown seaweeds that contains algin is Sargassum or "Gulf]
weed," that occurs off the coast of North Carolina and southwards. The
algin content of Sargassum seems to be somewhat less than that of kelps,
and its quality is said to be inferior. For these reasons and because of its
irregular occurrence on beaches and thin distribution at sea, commercial
collection for algin alone may be too costly.

The plant is characterized by an abundance of small, spherical, berry-
like air bladders distributed along its branches that make it one of the few
kinds of seaweeds that float. The species-groups of Sargassum indigenous
to the Gulf Stream and Sargasso Sea are rarely found growing attached.
Large quantities are washed ashore by east or southeast storms.

The value of Sargassum as a source of algin, trace elements, and other
substances has not been investigated adequately. What appears at present
to be an inferior grade of algin may prove to have characteristics of special
value. It is conceivable that a North Carolina seaweed factory that uses
other seaweeds might process Sargassum whenever sufficient raw material
is available.

234 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

RED ALGAE

Agar and agar-like substances (agaroids) are the important extractives
of red seaweeds. Agar is manufactured on both the Atlantic and Pacific
coasts of the United States. The agaroid, carrageenin, is obtained from
the seaweed, "Irish moss," along the coasts of the New England states and
Canada. A potential source of another agaroid is the seaweed Agardhiella,
abundant in the spring along the North Carolina coast.

Before World War II, Japan had almost a monopoly on agar of com-
merce, and 90 per cent of the agar consumed in the United States was
imported from Japan. Consequently, Allied nations were without an ade-
quate source of agar when hostilities began. Early in 1942, agar was classi-
fied by the War Production Board as a "critical war material" and its use
restricted to bacteriological purposes. As a result, both governmental agen-
cies and private institutions were stimulated to support a search for hitherto
undiscovered sources of agar raw material and to look for agar substitutes.
One outcome was the development of the agar industry in North Carolina.

CHEMICAL NATURE AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF AGAR

Agar is the gel-forming extractive of Gelidium, Gracilaria, and certain
other red seaweeds, a one per cent solution of which in water forms a firm
gel. Chemically it is a complex carbohydrate described as the sulfuric acid
ester of a linear galactan. In hot water (80° C. or above), dehydrated agar
forms a colloidal solution. Gelation occurs at about 40° C, although some
Gracilaria agar may gel as high as 63°. The gel strength of agar is about
eight times that of gelatin so that in culture media where a 1.5 per cent
concentration of agar forms an adequate gel, 12 per cent gelatin is needed
to obtain a semi-solid medium of the same strength.

Agar is a cell wall constituent, along with cellulose, of the seaweeds in
which it occurs, where it probably functions to control diffusion of solutes
into and out of the cell, to reduce loss of water if the plant is exposed at
low tide, and it may serve as a reserve food. It exists as the calcium (or
other metal) salt of the polysaccharide galactan. By means of electro-
dialysis the metallic ions may be removed from agar leaving free agar acid
which may then be neutralized with any base, forming a metallic or ammo-
nium agarinate. When agar is hydrolyzed by heating with dilute acid,
galactose is the principal sugar produced.

USES OF AGAR

The most important use of agar, with respect to human welfare, is in
bacteriological culture media, although there are several other uses equally

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 235

important from the standpoint of amount consumed, as shown in Table i.

TABLE

1

Uses of Agar in the United States

(From Tseng,

1944)

Tons*

Medicinal

50

Culture Media

50

Baked Goods

50

Confections

50

Dentistry

38

Canning (meat & fish)

25

Emulsifier

25

Cosmetics

13

Miscellaneous

25

* Figures are per annum consumption of a typical pre-war year.

The uses for agar may be classified as follows:

FOODS. In fruit cakes, fruit puddings, icings, pie fillings, meringues, and
cheeses to control moisture content and to modify texture; in mayonnaise
and salad dressings as a thickener and stabilizer; in confections, especially
jelly candies and marshmallows; in aspic type salads to provide a gelatinous
matrix; in place of pectin in jellies, jams, and preserves; in canned meats
such as fish, poultry, and tongue to prevent the product from becoming
mushy during transit; in casings for sausages and wieners.

PHARMACEUTICALS. Probably the best known use of agar is as "roughage"
or bulk in constipation therapy. It is also used to stabilize emulsions; to
solidify some glycerin suppositories; to make a formaldehyde gel for fumi-
gation; in wound dressings to absorb moisture or provide a constant rate
of release of antiseptics or antibiotics; as pill coating, especially to control
time of release or rate of availability of a drug; as a vehicle in which a drug
is incorporated so that there is a slow release of a therapeutic agent during
its entire passage through the body.

MOLDING COMPOUND. Agar is the principal constituent of some of the best
dental impression materials, as it is fluid at a temperature that does not
burn the mouth, but will gel at a temperature slightly above that of the
body. Its elasticity permits removal of the agar mold from undercuts with-
out breaking or distortion. It is used in a similar manner for other types
of molding work, such as the making of artificial hands.

INDUSTRIAL USES. Agar is used as a suspending agent for graphite lubri-
cants of dies in drawing tungsten wire for light bulbs and electronic tubes;
in place of gelatin as a vehicle for photographic emulsions; in hectograph
duplicators; as an activator of nicotine sprays; in storage batteries for
submarines; occasionally in tobacco to control moisture; to coat humus

236 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

particles in marketing nitrogen-fixing, root nodule bacteria; it has been
suggested as a constituent of the "mud" used in drilling oil wells.

COSMETICS. Greaseless ointments of various types often contain agar or
agaroid; it serves to stabilize emulsions, as a moisture control agent or
cream-former in tooth pastes, shaving creams, hand lotions, deodorants,
sunburn creams, and other preparations.

MISCELLANEOUS. Agar is important in studies on the physics of hydro-
philic, gel-forming colloids; it is a vehicle for plant hormones for Avena
type tests; it is used in chemistry to flocculate barium sulfate precipitates;
it is valuable as an embedding substance for small pieces of plant or animal
tissue that might otherwise become lost in solutions, and for cutting material
with a freezing microtome.

THE AGAR INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA

Agar was first manufactured in the United States in California in 1920.
The seaweed Gelidium cartilagineum was used, a species similar to G.
amansii, the principal agar source in Japan. The American industry barely
managed to exist for the first 20 years because of competition from low-
priced Japanese agar, a result of the cheapness of labor in Japan. Important
labor-saving improvements in the manufacturing process and production
of agar superior in purity and uniformity to that from Japan were factors
that saved California's industry. The principal difficulty in California is
the necessity of employing divers using a complete suit and pulling seaweed
from the rocks by hand. Collecting is limited to summer months and then
to days of good weather.

The California industry immediately expanded with the outbreak of
war and within a year was producing enough agar to meet our domestic
wartime requirements for bacteriological agar, with some for export to
Allied nations. Since the war, California factories have again closed down.

THE AGAR INDUSTRY OF NORTH CAROLINA

Agar had never been produced along the Atlantic coast of the United
States until 1943 when the Van Sant Company of Beaufort, N. C, undertook
commercial production as a result of the discovery in 1942 at Duke Uni-
versity's marine laboratory that agar could be produced from Gracilaria
confervoides of North Carolina, and that there was an abundance, of com-
mercial importance, of this species near Beaufort. Pilot plant operations
were carried on at the American Chlorophyll Co., Alexandria, Virginia. The
Beaufort factory was originally built by Coca Cola interests for the purpose
of extracting theobromine from cocao shells. War cut off sources of raw

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 237

material and soon thereafter the factory was adapted to agar production.
In 1945, the Van Sant Company was sold to M. Wronker Stansfield and
associates, who had previously held part interest in the firm. The name was
changed to Beaufort Chemical Corporation. Production capacity was in-
creased, methods improved, and strenuous efforts were made to obtain
sufficient agar raw material to keep the factory in operation at full capacity
the year around. A poor year for Gracilaria conjervoides followed, possibly
because of low salinities, and the factory could not operate continuously.
In 1948, the property was purchased at a court sale by Sperti Foods, Inc.
Subsequently, IMr. H. S. Leahy became manager of the factory. In 1948
and 1949 many additional improvements were made in production methods
and equipment, and year-around operation was assured by stock-piHng a
supply of Gracilaria joliijera obtained at Sebastian, Florida, to be used
whenever seaweed was not available from North Carolina waters.

SEAWEEDS UTILIZED

So far, three species of North Carolina seaweeds have been processed at
Beaufort. Gracilaria conjervoides has been the principal plant, but consid-
erable quantities of G. joliijera (synonym: G. midtipartita) have been used,
especially in 1946. During 1946 and 1947, a new type of phycocolloid with
unique properties was made from Hypnea muscijormis. A patent has been
granted the writer and assigned to Duke University relative to a method
for preparing Hypnea extractive.

METHODS OF COLLECTION

All economic seaweeds in North Carolina grow in shallow water in
sounds or bays where the depth is from one to six feet at low tide. Fisher-
men often load skiffs in shallow water by means of forks or rakes, a method
that is rather slow. Greater efficiency in collection of seaweeds could be
accomplished by specially designed nets or trawls. Shrimp trawls have been
used to locate drifting Gracilaria in deeper water but are not entirely satis-
factory for collecting, as a full trawl is too heavy to handle.

In some localities, nets are set across currents to catch drifting seaweed
and the accumulation removed at frequent intervals. Nets are usually effec-
tive during one direction of tidal current only, and after north winds of
fall have caused loose seaweed to move off shallow areas on which it grew.

Considerable quantities of seaweed are collected along the shore. Drift-
ing seaweed in the fall usually washes ashore on a south-facing beach such
as that of Harkers Island. If collected within a few days after reaching
shore, it is of good quality although it may contain a quantity of foreign
material such as eelgrass.

238 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

DRYING OF THE CRUDE SEAWEED

Boat loads of seaweed are towed to drying racks built along the shore or
above shallow water. The racks are constructed of poles with poultry wire
or fish net fastened to the tops. They are about 3 feet wide, 4 feet high,
and of various lengths. Seaweed is spread on them in a layer about 6 inches
thick. From 2 to 4 good drying days are needed for each batch. The seaweed
is usually turned over at least once.

Since fishermen do not wash seaweed with fresh water to remove salt
and mud, about 10 pounds fresh weight make i pound di:y weight. If
washed or thoroughly rained upon, from 15 to 20 pounds fresh weight are
required to make i pound dry weight; thus seaweed bought from fishermen
must be regarded as constituting less than 60 per cent by weight of agar-
yielding material.

YIELD

A factory yield of 20 per cent agar, based on weight of raw material as
purchased, is actually a yield of approximately double that amount because
of the salt, mud, and moisture it contains. By laboratory methods, a yield
of 45 per cent is commonplace, since clean, thoroughly dry seaweed is used.

ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS

Approximate total amounts of dry seaweed collected each year in North
Carolina since processing began are given in Table 2. Fishermen received
10 cents per pound for this material.

In Table 2, figures for 1943 include some seaweed collected in 1942,
when pilot plant production was first undertaken. The great abundance of
seaweed that developed in North Carolina waters in 1942, 1943, and 1944
is not shown by Table 2 since collections during these years did not make
a noticeable decrease in quantities present in the water. Countless tons
washed ashore and decayed. Figures for 1945 and 1946, however, are repre-
sentative of quantities available as fishermen were encouraged to gather all
they could find, and factory production facilities were increased. Unfortu-
nately, the crop was poor both years, probably because of excessive rainfall
and low salinities. Oysters were killed in many localities.

As shown in Table 2, fishermen were paid about $67,200 for 672,000
pounds of seaweed during the first four years of the agar industry in North
Carolina and over 100,000 pounds of agar were produced at a time when
it was classified as a critical war material. Although the value of economic
seaweeds in North Carolina does not compare with that of the more impor-
tant fisheries, its collection, localized between Beaufort and Atlantic, has
seasonal importance. Seaweed is collected during summer and fall. In addi-

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY

239

<

3

C
t— I

^-

0 o
c O

.2 cu

I— ( c

1 O

c3

O S

:^^

c -
o

-SI

o 3
c3 C>

w

>

C •
rt OO

S

'2
O

bC
O

O

On

s

o

u

O,

a.
<

V

0

M

D

0

rO

03

00

rO

>

</3-

od"

00

■*

a^

t-i

in

-a

c

3

0
0

IT)

0^

ro

o

00"

ro

p-(

00

<u

0

0

0

3

0

0

0

0

o_

t^

c3

>

<M

vO

ON

M

tn

0

0

0

TD

0

0

0

C

0

0

0^

3
O

0"

0"

t^

M

C<

Pm

KH

0

0

0

V

0

0

0

3

0^

NO

"^

"rt

^

>

VO

4«-

■^

o

M

^

0

0

0

-a

0

0

0

c

0

0^

0^

3
O

0"

\o

ri-

Pm

H-l

0

0

[5^

rC

>

0

Tt

ifi-

ON

H-l

C
3
0

PlH

0
0

*

<u

Q

^

0

13

0

>

0"

fO

<^

ON

w

in

-a
a
3
0

fin

8
0
0"
0

t— t

(/I

<u

'o
>

n3

>->

;-<

1)

0

<U

C

"~l

0

0
u

0

3

.s

.2

B

'C

'C

^

C3

c

2

0

0

ffi

3 I

c S

. C

o o.

2 S

03 c

en C

^ c

03 5i

03 ^

i-> -1-1

;:3 03

03 ,C

•— "3 <u

^•S

5 E-S

D O .-1

03 60 J3

QJ ClJ P

240

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

tion to the supplementary emplojnment offered to fishermen by the seaweed
market, the work is often a family affair. Men gather seaweed while women
and children spread it to dry. In some localities, women and children gather
seaweed that washes ashore.

Since seaweed is a raw material for a more valuable product, its value
to the State is not represented by the sum paid fishermen each year for raw
material. Each ton of dry seaweed, assuming a yield of only 15 per cent,
produces about 300 pounds of agar. With the market value of agar at about
four dollars per pound (September, 1947), the value of the product derived
from each ton was $1,200.

As long as the market price of agar exceeds $2.00 per pound, one agar
factory can operate profitably in North Carolina under present economic
conditions, assuming that supplementary raw material can be obtained
elsewhere to permit year-around production. On the basis of quantities
obtained in previous years, it would appear that from 150,000 to 300,000
pounds, dry weight, of seaweed can be gathered in North Carolina each
year. However, reliable predictions of abundance of seaweed cannot yet be
made for North Carolina. The total abundance of seaweed varies from year to
year, and at the same time individual species vary independently of each
other.

Of great importance to domestic agar producers is the future outlook
on competition from Japanese agar. Prices paid in the United States for
imported agar from 1925 through 1941 and for domestic agar from 1942
through 1946 are given in Table 3.

TABLE 3

Highest and Lowest Prices Paid in the United States for Japanese Agar Annually
from 1925 through 1941 and for American Agar from 1941 through 1946

Lowest

Highest

Lowest

Highest

1925

$1.25

$1.60

1926

•73

1.32

1927

•53

1. 10

1928

•59

1. 12

1929

1. 00

1-45

1930

.87

1^35

I93I

•65

1.25

1932

•39

i^i5

1933

•31

•52

1934

•35

■56

1935

•37

.70

1936

$ .60

$ •gs

1937

•55

1.20

1938

•63

1.05

1939

.90

1.50

1940

1.40

1.50

I94I

1.50

1.60

1942

3-50

4^75

1943

3^50

3^50

1944

3.00

3^5o

1945

3^50

3^50

1946

3-50

4.00

During the first four months of 1947, Japanese agar registered a low of
$2.00 per pound, followed by a price rise in the summer to $3.85. During
the first half of 1949, the price ranged substantially above $3.00. By mid-

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 241

1950, however, the price per pound had fallen to less than $1.00. Most
Japanese factories are located in the cold, mountainous prefectures of north-
ern Japan. Agar is manufactured only from December through February,
when air temperatures will cause the agar gel to freeze, a vital step in the
dehydration and purification process. Few factories have mechanical refriger-
ation equipment. In 1946, it was estimated that about 600 small agar factories
would resume operations with an average of eight employees each. Virtually
everything is done by hand.

Approximate consumption of agar on the principal continents for a typical
pre-war year (1939) is shown in Table 4.

TABLE 4

Agar Consumed in 1939 on the Three Principal Continents

Tons
North America 266

Europe 660

Asia 611

Since consumption of agar in Europe is more than double that used in
the United States (or even in both North and South America), it would
appear that there is still a great potential market for phycocolloids in the
Americas that has not yet been served.

BIOLOGY OF NORTH CAROLINA SEAWEEDS

Economic seaweeds of North Carolina can be collected from about May
first through December of a good year. The principal environmental factors
which influence growth and variation in abundance from year to year are
water temperature, salinity, and concentration of nitrogenous salts and
phosphates. Factors that control individual species are not known.

Gracilaria jolitjera reached commercial abundance in early May near
Beaufort in 1945. The peak of abundance occurred in June, and in July it
had begun to decline. In 1946 the species developed later, reached much
greater abundance (Table 2), and was collected through September. It
appears to be a species that grows well at lower average salinities than does
G. conjervoides, as salinities were unusually low during August, 1946, and
G. conjervoides failed to develop in quantity. G. joliijera is to be found
farther up estuaries than G. conjervoides. Although all plants of G. joliijera
grow attached at first, large quantities may be found adrift at the peak of
the season. The species is found along the entire Atlantic coast of the
United States.

Hypnea muscijormis overlaps the season of G. joliijera although the peaks
of abundance of the two may not coincide. Collection near Beaufort usually

242 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

begins in May and continues into July, or later. In August, 1947, large
quantities developed in North River where salinities were favorable as
rainfall had not been excessive. All plants grow attached at first but may
drift free when large. The period of abundance is usually short, typically
from six to eight weeks. Mature plants bear spores and then apparently
degenerate, although occasional plants may be found in North Carolina
waters throughout the year. The species occurs from Massachusetts to
Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico.

Gracilaria conjervoides is a fall species in the Beaufort area that rarely
develops in quantity before August, although the earliest plants appear in
April or May. The peak of abundance occurs in October and November
with a rapid decline in December.

G. conjervoides appears to be present in North Carolina waters as two
separate phases. One phase is always attached at first to shells and stones,
the plants developing in the spring from spores shed the previous fall.
Mature plants that have shed their spores degenerate and disappear. In
most parts of the world, the species is present only in this attached, spore-
bearing phase. At Beaufort, plants of this phase have little economic value
as they never reach great abundance, probably because the substratum to
which they can attach is limited. Mature plants often break loose and drift
about in late summer and fall, but should not be confused with the phase
in which the plants are never attached.

The other phase is composed of loose, drifting, sterile plants that appar-
ently never form spores of any kind. These plants survive the winter in
the vegetative state, although in a semi-dormant condition in which frag-
ments undergo partial decay. Plants of the attached, fruiting phase dis-
appear completely in November or December. In the spring when water
temperatures reach 16 to 18° C, portions of loose, drifting plants that have
survived the winter begin to sprout and within two weeks are of fair size.
As they become larger they offer more resistance to water currents and begin
to drift. By July of a favorable year, large bushy plants are adrift through-
out the sounds and they begin to accumulate in masses in areas where tidal
currents and winds concentrate them. Growth continues at an increasing
rate until the water temperature is about 27° C, and continues to be rapid
through September at least.

North winds of fall often cause a general movement of summer accumu-
lations so that large quantities wash ashore or drift out to sea. At times,
shrimp trawlers obtain considerable quantities of Gracilaria in 20 to 50 feet
of water in the ocean. Although growth continues in the ocean as long as
light and temperature are favorable, the parent material of all the drifting
phase found in the ocean comes from the sounds.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 243

By December the general movement of loose Gracilaria has ceased. It has
washed ashore, drifted out to sea, or come to rest in certain shallow, pro-
tected areas where it will remain throughout the winter. When the water
temperature falls below i8° C, growth ceases and there is a slow decay of
plants with fragmentation at decayed spots, and a general settling down of
the entire mass. Part of this material survives the winter and grows the
following spring.

CONSERVATION

The life history of sterile, unattached Gracilaria confervoides indicates
that those areas where the plant survives the winter should be protected
from collecting after growth has ceased in the fall, as this constitutes the
only known "seed material" for the following year's crop. A good tentative
rule is to cease collecting after January i. Extensive collection of winter
dormant Gracilaria by the Van Sant Company during January, February,
and March, 1945, may have been partly responsible for the reduced abun-
dance of the following fall, along with low salinities. Since most of the
Gracilaria that is present in the fall ultimately washes ashore if not collected,
it is doubtful whether commercial collecting in the fall reduces the next
year's crop.

With Gracilaria foliijera and Hypnea musciformis conservation is a
different problem. The abundance of the crop of any given year depends
upon a favorable combination of environmental factors, but even with ideal
conditions, the number of plants is limited by surface for attachment (shells
and stones) for which they must compete with non-economic species. It is
doubtful whether any degree of commercial collecting would reduce the
spores shed to a point where the environment would not be "seeded" with
more spores than it could support. By the time the abundance of these species
makes collecting profitable, spores have been shed by countless millions.

POSSIBILITIES OF CULTIVATION

Cultivation of seaweeds involving the planting of "seed" material and
later harvesting a crop has not yet been accomplished. With Gracilaria con-
fervoides, the reason that the species does not grow in abundance in certain
areas that appear to be suitable habitats may be determined and, if tide
currents do not interfere, it might prove profitable to distribute chopped-up
pieces of plants in June or July. If the absence of the species is due only to
absence of "seed" material, the Gracilaria distributed should increase 100-
fold within a month or two if conditions are favorable. With G. folliifera
and Hypnea, cultivation efforts are most likely to be successful if shells or
stones are distributed over an area when spores are being produced by

244 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

naturally-occurring plants sometime during the summer. The material dis-
tributed would be expected to support plants the following year.

NORTH CAROLINA AGARS

Agars from Gracilaria confervoides and G. foliifera of North Carolina
both meet U. S. Pharmacopoeia requirements. They are similar to but not
identical with agar from Gelidium cartilagineum of California. Gel strength
of Gracilaria agar is more variable than that of Gelidium agar. Gracilaria
agar is somewhat more elastic and exhibits greater syneresis; its tempera-
ture of gelation, also variable, is between 45 and 63° C. as compared to 40
to 45° for Gelidium agar. The temperature of melting is about the same for
both types of agar. Because of the higher temperature of gelation and
greater syneresis, Gracilaria agar is less suitable than Gelidium agar for
culture media. Table 5 presents comparative data on Gracilaria agars from
various parts of the world and "Bacto" ^ agar from California Gelidium.

TABLE 5

Comparison of Properties of Gracilaria confervoides Agar from North Carolina and
Other Parts of the World and California Gelidium Agar. (From Stoloff, 1943)

Concen. Temp, of Gel Strength

percent gelation grams

Grac. confervoides o

from North Carolina i

Grac. confervoides i

from California i

Grac. confervoides i

from Austraha i

Grac. confervoides i

from South Africa i

Difco "Bacto" agar i

from Calif. Gelidium i

113

o . . 407

5 43-59° C 650

o 47 120

5 • • 190

o 46 95

S ■• 167

o 37 187

5 337

0 39 215

5 350

The gel strength given for North Carolina Gracilaria agar in Table 5
represents an extreme. Most samples are nearer the figures given for
"Bacto" agar; some are lower.

Gracilaria agar from North Carolina seaweeds appears to be composed
of a mixture of "fractions," one or some of which gel at about 63° C. and
others at about 42°. Gracilaria agar usually forms an incipient gel at the
higher temperature but complete gelation does not occur until the tempera-

I. A trade name.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 245

ture falls below 42°. Since temperature of gelation is related to rate of
cooling, agar cooled rapidly forms a gel at a lower temperature than that
cooled slowly. Gracilaria agar cooled rapidly may not gel above 50° whereas
the same sample will often gel if placed in a constant temperature oven at
63°. Samples of Gracilaria agar have been observed that did not begin to
gel, even with slow cooling, above 45°. These came from seaweed collected
before September.

Slight differences have been noted between agar from G. confervoides and
G. joliijera of North Carolina, but a detailed comparative study has not
been made. Foliijera agar has a decidedly higher viscosity when liquid than
does confervoides agar.

Agar from Gracilaria collected late in the season has a higher gel strength,
higher temperature of gelation, absorbs less water when soaked, and is
extracted from the seaweed with greater difficulty than that from material
collected early in the season (June, July, August). As the season progresses,
there is a slight decline in agar yield.

The extractive from Hypnea musciformis differs from that of other sea-
weeds in that there must be a solute present that serves as a gelling agent.
Pure Hypnea extractive in distilled water apparently will not gel, but if a
salt or other solute is present, a gel is formed with properties related to the
nature and amount of solute or mixture of solutes. Thus important prop-
erties of Hypnea agar, namely, gel strength, temperatures of gelation and
melting, and viscosity of melted solutions can be controlled. Salts have been
used for many years to increase gel strength of Irish moss extractive, and
are also essential, apparently, to the formation of a gel.

Since the properties of Hypnea agar can be controlled independently of
each other by varying both concentration of agar and concentration and
nature of solute, it can be adapted to almost any conceivable use in which
the presence of a solute is not objectionable. (Agar is rarely used in distilled
water.) Under certain circumstances, Hypnea agar meets U. S. P. specifica-
tions. With Gelidium, Gracilaria, and other agars, physical properties are
fixed within a narrow range.

Hypnea agar in a concentration of one per cent, for example, can be
made to have a gel strength double that of any other known agar in the
same concentration. By virtue of its controllable physical properties, a long
list of new uses for Hypnea agar should be forthcoming, particularly uses
for which no other agar is suited. A more detailed discussion of Hypnea
extractive is given in Bulletin 3 of the Duke Marine Station, and by Humm
and Williams (1948).

246 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Dried seaweed is thoroughly washed in a washing machine with a rotating
inner cylinder such as is used in laundries. Washed seaweed is conveyed to
a cooker to which is added about lo times as much water, by weight, as
weight of the dry seaweed. Cooking is done at a temperature near boiling
for one to two hours by means of perforated steam pipes in the bottom of
the tank. The resulting agar solution is drawn off the residue and pumped
to another tank from where it goes through a filter press, while very hot,
containing a diatomaceous filter aid. The clear agar solution, about 1.2 per
cent concentration, is then run into ice cans, allowed to cool and gel, and
then is frozen. The agar ice is shaved into small pieces and conveyed into
a tank of circulating water. As thawing occurs, the agar loses most of its
water, holding only about as much as dry agar would absorb if soaked in
warm water. Along with water lost, go most of the soluble impurities such
as salts and pigments. Freezing and thawing are steps in dehydration and
purification of agar. After thawing and washing is completed, water is
drained from the thawing tank and the wet agar flakes pumped to the de-
hydrating room where they are spread evenly on screens and dried in hot
air. The resulting rough sheets of dry, purified agar are hammermilled to
obtain a soluble, granular form, or pulverized to a fine, white powder. The
product is then ready for market.

RESEARCH FOR THE FUTURE

Volumes have been written on taxonomy and morphology of marine algae
but only a few papers on their physiology and ecology. Research in the
latter fields is badly needed and will help to expand utilization and to estab-
lish sound conservation measures of seaweed resources.

Further investigations are needed on the ecology of the vegetative phase
of Gracilaria confervoides. Efforts should be made to cultivate it in experi-
mental plots and to transplant it to other parts of the State where it does
not grow at present. With G. foliifera and Hypnea musciformis there is
need for data on season of spore shedding and germination of spores that
results in the spring and summer growth of these species.

Transplantation of economic seaweeds to North Carolina waters from
parts of the world having a similar marine environment should be tried.
There may be valuable seaweeds in India, Australia, South Africa, or South
America that will thrive in North Carolina waters.

Seaweeds of North Carolina should be studied to determine their vitamin
content. Six out of seven seaweeds tested on the Pacific coast (Norris,
Simeon, and Williams, 1937) were found to be good sources of vitamin B,

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 247

and a few species were found equal to lemons in vitamin C content. It is
possible also that seaweeds, if pulverized and added to fertilizers, would
supply essential trace elements to depleted soils.

The uses and value of agar from North Carolina seaweeds will prob-
ably be increased when further technological data are available. Gracilaria
and Hypnea agar should be electrodialyzed to obtain the free agar acid and
then neutralized with various bases to obtain a variety of agarinates. The
properties of each should be studied and compared with various agars
already on the market.

Study of the carbohydrate portion of North Carolina phycocolloids is
needed in order to determine the nature and structural formula of the carbo-
hydrate units. Such studies might lead to methods of preparation of synthetic
agar, or to methods of altering the properties of Gracilaria and Gelidium
agar.

The unique properties of Hypnea agar suggest other fields of study.
Additional data are needed on the remarkable effect of various solutes,
both electrolytes and non-electrolytes, on the behavior of Hypnea extrac-
tive. The nature of the ash of Hypnea extractive has never been studied,
and the amount has been only roughly determined. The slight seasonal
variation of Hypnea extractive has just been realized; nothing is known
of its nature or significance.

Further work on the discovery by DeLoach - that agar precipitated with
ethyl alcohol can be re-dissolved in cold water, if the precipitate is not
permitted to dry, might lead to a special use for this phenomenon. Valuable
data in the field of colloidal chemistry and physics might result from a
comparative study of the swelling of Gracilaria and Gelidium agar in the
presence of various electrolytes and other solutes.

The necessity of the investigator's preparing his own agar from care-
fully selected and identified seaweed for which date and place of collec-
tion are known cannot be over-emphasized. Much work on chemistry and
physics of agar was done on that from Japan, which was almost always a
mixture of extractives from several species of seaweeds. Thus the results
are of very limited value and are scarcely capable of duplication. Even
American commercial agar producers cannot avoid contaminating sea-
weeds that might affect chemical and physical properties of the product.

In addition to the three species of seaweeds already of economic impor-
tance in North Carolina, there are others of potential value. Only prelim-
inary studies (unpublished) have been made on the algin from Sargassum
often available in quantity in North Carolina. Among red algae known to
yield a phycocolloid are Agardhiella tenera, Laurencia tuberculosa, Chondria

2. Bull. 3, Duke Marine Lab., 1946.

248 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

spp., Gigartina acicularis, Gelidium crinale and G. coeridescens. Agardhiella,
often abundant in early spring, yields a phycocolloid similar to that from
Irish moss. Probably none of the others is of sufficient abundance in North
Carolina to have economic value, although all should be studied. Agar from
the two species of North Carolina Gelidium is of exceptionally high gel
strength and clarity.

SUMMARY

Scarcity of agar during World War II led to the establishment in 1943 of
an agar factory for the first time on the Atlantic coast of the United States
near Beaufort, N. C. Three species of seaweeds from Core and Bogue
sounds have been utilized: Gracilaria confervoides, G. joliijera, and Hypnea
musciformis. Agar from all three species meets U.S.P. requirements and is
similar but not identical to Gelidium agar from California and Japan. Hypnea
agar is a new type in which such important properties as gel strength and
temperature of gelation can be controlled over a wide range by addition of
various salts, sugars, or other solutes.

North Carolina's only seaweed factory at the present time requires about
600,000 pounds of dry seaweed per year to operate at capacity. Apparently
no more than half this quantity can now be obtained annually in North Caro-
lina so that the factory must secure part of its raw material elsewhere. North
Carolina fishermen collect and dry seaweed and receive 10 cents per pound
for material of good quality. Gracilaria joliijera and Hypnea are collected
usually from May through July; G. conjcrvoidcs, the most abundant species,
from August through December. Over 763,000 pounds of dry seaweed, for
which fishermen received about $76,300 and from which about 120,000
pounds of agar were made, were collected and processed between 1942 and
the end of 1946 in North Carolina.

Methods of collection, drying, and processing have been described; con-
servation, possibilities of cultivation, and research for the future have been
discussed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adams, C. M.

1947. The Japanese Agar Industry. U. S. Fish & Wildlife Serv., Fishery

Leaflet 263, 24 p., 13 figs., 2 maps, 8 tables, frontisp., Chicago 54.

Sept., 1947.
Duke University Marine Station.

1946. Utilization of seaweeds from the south Atlantic and Gulf coasts for

agar and its decomposition by bacteria. Bull. 3 (7 papers, various

authors, comprehensive bibliog., 14 illustrations), 80 p., Duke Univ.

Press, Durham.
Fox, F. W. and E. Stephens.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 249

1943. Agar from South African seaweeds. S. African Jour. Sci., Vol. 39,

1943, P- 147-149-
Hoyt, W. D.

1920. Marine Algae of Beaufort, N. C, and adjacent regions. Bull. U. S.
Bur. Fish., Vol. XXXVI, 1917-18 (1921), p. 367-566, 3 maps, 47 figs.,
46 pis., gloss., extensive bibliog. (Doc. 886, 1920).
Humm, H. J.

1942. Seaweeds at Beaufort, N, C, as a source of agar. Science, N. S., Vol.
96, 1942, p. 230-231.

1947. Agar — a pre-war Japanese monopoly. Econ. Bot., Vol. i, 1947, P-
317-329, 4 figs.

Humm, H. J. and L, G. Williams.

1948. A study of agar from two Brazilian seaweeds. Amer. Jour. Bot. Vol.
35, 1948, p. 287-292, 8 figs.

Jones, W. G. M. and S. Peat.

1942. Constitution of agar. Chem. Soc. Jour., Vol. 1942, p. 225-231.
Kylin, J.

191 5. Untersuchungen ueber die Biochemie der Meersalgen. Zeitsch. f.
physiol. Chemie, Vol. 94, p. 337-425.
Moore, Lucy B.

1944. New Zealand seaweed for agar manufacture. New Zealand Jour. Sci.
and Technol., Vol. 25 (Sec. B), p. 183-209, 16 figs., 7 tables. Botany
Div. Publ. No. 9, New Zealand Dept. of Sci. and Indus. Research.

Norris, E. R., Mary K. Simeon and H. B. Williams.

1937. The vitamin B and vitamin C content of marine algae. Jour. Nutri-
tion, Vol. 13, 1937, p. 425-433-
Okamura, K.

1933. Uses of algae in Japan. Proc. Fifth Pacific Sci. Cong., Vol. 4, 1933,
P- 3153-3161.
Percival, E. G. V.

1939. Chemical constitution of agar. Pharm. Jour., Vol. 142, 1939, p. 189.
Robertson, G. R.

1930. The agar industry in California. Jour. Ind. & Engin. Chem. Vol. 22,
1930, p. 1074-1077.
Sauvageau, C.

1920. Utilisation des Algues Marines. 394 p. Paris. 1920.
Smith, H. M.

1905. The seaweed industries of Japan. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XXIV,
1904 (1905), p. 133-165, figs., I pi.
Stoloff, L.

1943. The agar situation. Fishery Market News, Vol. 5, p. 1-5.
Tressler, D. K.

1940. Marine Products of Commerce. 762 p. (Chapters 4-7 on seaweed
products, 19 tables, 16 figs., references) New York. Reinhold. 1923.
(Second printing, 1940; revised edition in press, 1950.)

250 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Tseng, C. K.

1944. Agar: a valuable seaweed product. Sci. Monthly, Vol. LVIII, 1944,

p. 24-32, 7 figs.
1944a. Utilization of seaweeds. Sci. Monthly, Vol. LIX, 1944, p. 37-46,

10 figs.
1946. Phycocolloids : useful seaweed polysaccharides. Colloid Chemistry,

Theoretical and Applied, edit, by J. Alexander, Vol. VI, General

Principles and Specific Industries, Synthetic Polymers and Plastics.

1946, p. 629-734, 31 tables, 29 figs., extensive bibliog. New York.

Reinhold.
Wood, E. J. F.

1946. Agar in Australia. Bull. No. 203. Council for Sci. & Indus. Research

of Australia, Div. of Fish., Report No. 12, Appendix I, 43 p., 3 figs.,

4 pis., 1946. Melbourne.

<><^<J><><><&0<><J><>C>0<c><><>^^

A PRELIMINARY SURVEY OF MARINE ANGLING
IN NORTH CAROLINA

BY Francesca LaMonte

American Museum of Natural History and The International
Game Fish Association

CONTENTS

Page

Page

Introduction

251

Faunal Discussion {cant.)

Angling as Recreation and Eco-

Cabio

269

nomic Asset

252

Cero

270

Geographical Discussion

254

Croaker

270

Facilities for Sport Fishing

255

Dolphin

271

Boats

256

Spanish Mackerel

271

Regional Discussion

258

Blue Marlin

272

Nags Head, Roanoke Island,

White Marlin

273

Portsmouth

258

Sea Mullet

273

Morehead City, Swansboro

259

Pompano

274

Wilmington, Wrightsville

Atlantic Sailfish

274

Beach, Southport, Shallotte

260

Tarpon

275

Seasonal Discussion, by Months

261

Sea Trout

276

Faunal Discussion

265

Spotted Trout

276

Amber jack

265

Bluefin Tuna

277

Barracuda

265

Wahoo

278

Channel Bass

266

Incidental Game Fishes

278

Sea Bass

267

Summary

279

Striped Bass

267

Recommendations

280

Bluefish

268

Acknowledgments

282

Bonito

268

Bibliography

282

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this survey is to summarize the present status and future
potentialities of marine angling in North Carolina, with a view to increasing
the recreational facilities and income of the coastal population.

251

252 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

My observations are based on material gathered personally on these and
other angling grounds, or supplied me either by letter or in the small amount
of literature concerning game fishing off this coast. I have also made use of
scientific literature dealing with the fishes under discussion, and the files of
the International Game Fish Association.

Hydrographic, economic, legal, and commercial material, contained else-
where in this Survey, is not duplicated here. Data on sizes of fish, unless
otherwise stated, refer only to sizes of interest to anglers. Anadromous fishes,
when chiefly fished by anglers in fresh water, are omitted. The absence of
certain fishes from angling grounds does not necessarily imply their absence
from the coast in deeper or farther offshore waters, or in seasons or under
some other circumstances preventing angling.

At present there are no laws covering marine fishing in North Carolina,
except when such fishing may infringe upon riparian rights. Beaches are
posted so infrequently that this is a community problem only.

The terms ''sports fishing," "angling," and "game fishing" are generally
understood to refer to rod and reel fishing only. As we are here concerned
with a potential source of income and recreation and not with angling rules,
these terms are here understood to refer to rod and reel fishing, "table"
angling when not in commercial quantity, and recreational handlining. "Big
game fishing" is generally applied to angling for large offshore fishes, such as
marlin, tuna, swordfish, and, usually, sailfish.

ANGLING AS RECREATION AND ECONOMIC ASSET

Angling is universally accepted as a healthy and inexpensive form of rec-
reation, and needs no discussion to support this fact. It is at present the most
popular sport in America and, without much doubt, in the world. Construc-
tion of more bridges and piers for fishing, and cooperation from North Caro-
lina's public schools, both for white and colored people, might be worth while.
The formation of more angling clubs and of clubs in connection with schools
or other educational or public projects will aid materially in furthering the
sport.

A few of the people, industries, and businesses profiting by the presence of
visiting anglers on North Carolina's coast are listed here under the par-
ticular phase of sports fishing with which they are concerned:

BOATS. Carpenters, masons, metal workers, architects, construction workers
of all kinds. Workers and equipment for shipyards, docks, slips, and filling
stations. The necessary purchase, repair and renewal of tools and materials
involved. Fishing cabins and their equipment in personnel and materials.
Bathing beaches and equipment. Oil, gas, food, ice, soft drinks for provision-
ing boats.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 253

Guide captains and mates and their clothing, living, and equipment. Tackle
and scales: Tackle shop keepers and workers and equipment; tackle manu-
facturers and material involved (wood, metal, flax, nylon, feathers, etc.)

PHOTOGRAPHY. Camera and camera supply and processing shops and
equipment.

ACCOMMODATION. Hotels, tourist accommodations of all kinds, restaurants,
food stands and shops, drug stores, liquor stores. The more anglers arriving,
the more renewal of all supplies will be necessary, much of which can be
purchased locally, such as renewal of hotel furniture, linen, china, etc., etc.

GARAGES AND FILLING AND REPAIR STATIONS and workcrs and equipment
involved.

TRANSPORTATION. PubHc and private, including local and out of state with
stations, air fields, taxis, garages, train sheds, bus stops, and docks and all
their workers and equipment.

MISCELLANEOUS. Clothiug, luggage, drug supplies; entertainment places,
special attractions of the State; special products of the State.

Practically all the above necessitate office personnel and equipment. If the
State produces and processes any of the basic materials involved, such as flax,
cotton, wood, etc., there will of course be additional profit.

An outstanding example of what anglers can bring to a community is the
village — population 1,500 — of Wedgeport, near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
Before 1935, this small French Canadian village derived its meagre income
from commercial tuna and lobster fishing. Its general appearance was of a
self-respecting, but not very prosperous community. It had no accommoda-
tion for visitors.

In 1935 one of the world's best-known marine anglers determined to try
fishing tuna off the now famous Rip, and against the auguries of the com-
mercial men, he set out in an old lobster boat with a hand-made swivel chair.
One day's fishing showed everyone just how fine a sport was there. A few
more adventurous anglers followed his trail, but in 1936, the town still had
no inns or other places for anglers to stay. They had to live in Yarmouth,
drive over to Wedgeport, and keep the car waiting while they got a few hours
fishing. However, Wedgeport had secured a professional guide who had set
up headquarters on one of the docks and was training some local men; there
was a guides association; some tackle was available, and a boat or two. A
thin line of cars was to be seen at the dock and a well-known taxidermist had
arrived in town. Meanwhile, in Yarmouth, a very active Government Bureau
of Information man had started publicizing Wedgeport with whatever help he
could enlist and with all the push he could summon. Dominion and local gov-
ernment agencies were with him in the effort, and so was the whole of Wedge-
port. In 1937 Wedgeport was really launched as a fishing center when the
first of the International Cup Matches (for tuna) was held there.

254 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

By 1946 Wedgeport had fifteen angling boats, fifteen captains, thirty-
guides, a guides association, an anghng club, a good dock with attested scales,
a hotel, and much excellent publicity. In this year, 1949, Wedgeport is build-
ing more boats; has three hotels and several private tourist homes, and Roy
Cann of the Yarmouth office of the Nova Scotia Bureau of Information wires
me that the "angling last season aided the community to extent of about one
hundred thousand dollars." The International Matches this September in
Wedgeport will bring teams from the United States, Great Britain, Cuba,
Argentina, and Brazil, with a crowd of anglers from other sections who have
come along as audience or press or to try their luck independently. This, it
must be remembered, was a very small community with no tourist trade of
any sort, for the most part not on maps, not on a railroad, chiefly French-
speaking but in no way "quaint," and without bathing beaches or any other
possible attraction for visitors. It had only the fish and, after its initial push,
the enormous and concerted will to become the famous tuna fishing grounds
it now is. In the case of Wedgeport, the information and publicity service
goes on without pause, and this is extremely necessary. I have in mind two
other small communities, perhaps in themselves more potentially attractive
to tourists, where fish are even more plentiful and the season longer, but
where no information service was maintained, and no concerted effort made.
Eventually what visitors' accommodations had been available were closed;
their few boats were taken elsewhere. The fish are still there but only very
seldom is an angler able to afford the luxury of a yacht there on which he can
live and from which he can fish.

North Carolina, with her beautiful long coast line; with fresh-water fish-
ing, salt-water fishing, and bathing so close together; with a good all year
round climate, a long fishing season, and good hotels and inns, should surely
be able to attract increasing numbers of anglers from those who fish from
piers to those who try for marlin off Hatteras.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISCUSSION

Off nearly the full length of North Carolina's coast, and separated from it
by sounds, are long, low "banks" of sand. The sounds communicate with the
ocean through other sounds or through inlets.

Currituck, the most northern sound, is fresh, and Albemarle into which it
discharges is nearly fresh water. Roanoke and Croatan sounds are separated
by Roanoke Island. Pamlico Sound, into which these four others discharge,
is separated from the ocean by Hatteras and Ocracoke islands which are
broken by Oregon, New, Hatteras, and Ocracoke inlets. To the south of
Pamlico Sound is Core Sound running south to Beaufort, where Bogue Sound
begins. There are numerous smaller sounds to the south.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 255

A general impression that in North Carolina the faunas of the north and
south meet is true to some extent, but is not always, as generally assumed, to
the angler's advantage, as tropical fauna and northern fauna may appear here
only as stragglers. Nor is Cape Hatteras as sharp a barrier as customarily
indicated in angling literature. In summer, the water temperatures south of
there are more or less constant with that of the Florida Straits. In the region
of the Cape they begin to cool, but this is very gradual and a sharply colder
barrier is not achieved until Cape Cod. Therefore in summer there is no real
barrier for southern forms at Hatteras, although tropical stenothermal ^
forms would find one in the cooling water. In winter there is more of a barrier
caused by the cooling of the North and Middle Atlantic Bights at that time,
in addition to the presence of the warmer water of the near-by Gulf Stream
in the region of Hatteras. These matters are discussed in detail by Dr. Nelson
Marshall.'

For many years anglers have believed that the Gulf Stream off North
Carolina was the haunt of some of the more spectacular game fishes, par-
ticularly the blue marHn and the bluefin tuna. This idea appears to be based
on the capture of two blue marlin off Diamond Shoals, and on an impression
that the bluefin tuna must pass North Carolina in migration. No account has
been taken of the fact that such fishes may be part of population units and
may touch this coast only rarely and as stragglers, or that if they pass on a
migratory route, they may do so either at a depth or a distance offshore
entirely inaccessible to anglers.

Dr. Marshall has discussed another prevalent idea that the Gulf Stream is
moving closer to shore. ^

FACILITIES FOR SPORT FISHING

North Carolina has a number of features which should make her coastal
area particularly appealing to anglers. The main roads, rail, plane, and public
transportation services are all good, although some long stretches of lonely
road are in need of service stations. It would also be advantageous to
facilitate transportation from mountain area to shore area in order to attract
to the coast some of the visitors who now go only to the mountainous section
of the State.

Hotels, guest houses, and anglers' cottages are fairly numerous, above
average in comfort and below in cost.

The State could well advertise its coast as an ideal section for learning to
fish. On its reasonably priced party boats, from its piers and bridges, and in

1. I. e., animals which can tolerate or live only within a narrow range of temperatures.

2. For maps, charts, tables, etc., and other geographical and meteorological data of the North
Carolina coast, see Part I of this Survey, by Dr. Nelson Marshall,

3. Loc. cit.

256 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

its protected sounds, bights, and inlets, one can learn and practice all sorts of
angling from handlining to surf casting and offshore rod and reel fishing.
There is a great deal of fine angling for which no boats are necessary, and
much for which small skiffs, with or without guides, may be used. There is
also fine fresh-water fishing and hunting near many of the marine grounds.

Good offshore angling weather averages about three days out of six; the
average is higher for inshore and inside waters.

Although the long, sandy beaches and banks are ideal vacation spots, the
present average stay for anglers is from two days to two weeks. Efforts could
be made to increase this stay by publicizing the less expensive and less stren-
uous methods of angling and featuring this coast as suitable for family
vacations.

A number of small improvements are advisable at the moment: further
marking of the wrecks which are a popular haunt of many game fishes;
further lighting of channels in which night approach is at present difficult;
cutting inlets to give quicker access to the ocean from some already fine
harbors; improvement of some of the yacht basins; more facilities for boat
repair.

Mr. W. A. Ellison, Jr., Director of the Institute of Fisheries Research at
Morehead City, calls my attention to the Coast and Geodetic Survey Charts
No. 1109-A and No. iiio-A. "These are," he writes, "the so-called wreck
charts, issued by the Coast and Geodetic Survey which locate and identify
each wreck, giving the complete history of the wreck. By means of these
charts any competent navigator with an adjusted compass and a knowledge
of currents and winds should be able to locate the wrecks without too much
trouble. I mention this because I think it is important that the sports fisher-
men know about these charts."

Boats taking anglers offshore should certainly be equipped either with twin
engines, ship-to-ship or ship-to-shore radio or, preferably, both.

Available repair facilities are mentioned under their appropriate sections.
There is one, however, which should be spoken of despite its distance inland.
This is the yacht basin now under improvement at New Bern, which will be
a convenience for those who have to go into the shipyard for repair work.

BOATS

There are few dock charges and when they exist they average three cents
per foot per day; less after one month.

The bulk of angling boats in the State are primarily commercials, available
to anglers in off season or on single days when they happen to be free. The
uncertainty of this arrangement is irritating to prospective anglers. Because
of it, and because of the fact that it is basically due to unpredictable natural

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 257

phenomena, no figures can give more than a general picture of the situation.
The establishment of an information center or centers would be helpful.

Menhaden boats, winter trawlers, and deep sea draggers are not suitable
for angling use. The majority of North Carolina shrimpers — which might
be used for angling — follow the shrimp run the year round. They may fish
any day but Sunday between 4 a.m. and 8 p.m., and in any place. Some of
them even go out of the State in the slow season, although this may be
changed by possible future laws regarding the taxation of out-of-state boats.

Boats used in oyster dredging are fully in use from October through March.
The smaller oyster boats are unsuitable for many oft'shore grounds. Large
boats used for flounder fishing are chiefly from out of the State.

The supply of skiffs and small motor boats is at present large enough to
supply both commercial and angling needs for them.

The terms "charter boat" and "party boat" are used arbitrarily in this
discussion. The charter boat, a very important feature in sports fishing, here
indicates a boat used only for angling and equipped for outside, offshore,
and Gulf Stream fishing. Such a boat should be at least 38 feet long,
equipped with twin engines and with ship-to-shore radio. It should have a
fishing chair with rod holders, adjustable foot-rest and movable gimbal for
rod butt, or at least a stool to which rod sockets have been attached. Various
other luxuries adding to its value to anglers would be sleeping accommoda-
tions for at least four people, steering from more than one place, double
rudders, and Diesel motors. Just as important as the boat is the fishing
guide, who must know how to handle the boat, care for the tackle and equip-
ment, rig baits, and instruct the inexperienced angler.

Some of the finest pioneer fishing for the largest game fishes, such as tuna
and swordfish, has been done from dories which are equipped with an out-
board motor and into which seats and supports have been built, or from
launches seemingly more suitable for harbor fishing. However, I must add
that such fishing was done by expert big game anglers accompanied by
equally expert guide captains.

The expense of owning a charter boat is often prohibitive unless there
can be a more than fair assurance of both charter and a sufficient number
of fishing days. Because of the uncertainty of weather for the offshore fish-
ing for which such a boat would ordinarily be chartered, it might be more
practical for such boats in North Carolina to be owned by a guides associa-
tion instead of by individuals. Charter boats seldom take more than four
anglers and usually carry a guide captain and mate.

The term "party boat" is here used to indicate boats other than charter
boats taking more than one or two anglers, but it does not include small
motor boats or skiffs. Some party boats are anchored for still fishing; some
take out thirty or more anglers; some provide overnight sleeping arrange-

258 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

ments; some make more than one trip a day. In North Carolina such boats
have seldom been built or purchased for anglers' use.

Because of physical and faunal conditions which vary with the grounds,
it is probable that uniform boat charges throughout the State would be un-
fair. The present (1946- 194 7) charges run in general as follows:

Charter boats: $60 to $80 per day, often depending on the distance
offshore.

Commercial boats used for individual anglers or not more than six people:
$35 to $60 per day. Many of these boats will not go more than a few miles
offshore.

Party boats: $25 to $80 per day (inshore, $25 to $50), or $3.50 to $8.00
per person per trip; higher prices may include gear, food, or sleeping
quarters.

Small boats for fishing or hunting, with guide, about $15 per person per
day.

Skiffs or rowboats without guide: about $1.50; with guide, $7 per person
per day.

Boat owners are managing to keep their prices to anglers fairly reasonable
by varying them with locality, seasons, and grounds, but in the great major-
ity of cases they are unable to produce any printed statement either of
current prices or of types of boats available. These inevitably vary from
year to year, and the post-war years will see substantial increase in the
number of angling boats. Many boat owners are planning to get charter
boats, or more charter boats, if possible. Whatever the situation, they should
have available in print the information I have mentioned above.

REGIONAL DISCUSSION

It must be remembered in connection with the following material that
the boat situation is a shifting one, from year to year and even from week
to week; therefore figures can only be approximate.

For purposes of discussion, fishing areas may be roughly divided into the
Nags Head-Roanoke Island-Portsmouth section; the Morehead City-
Swansboro section, and the Wilmington-Shallotte section. These sections
are understood to include intervening angling grounds of which there are
many. There are a few communities, like Swanquarter, which although
distant from the ocean have marine fishing and boats available to anglers.
Such places have no boats for outside fishing.

NAGS HEAD-ROANOKE ISLAND-PORTSMOUTH

The most famous offshore fishing grounds for this section is Diamond
Shoals, lying about 19 miles from Hatteras Inlet and 323/2 miles from
Ocracoke Inlet.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 259

This section has bank, sound, inlet and wreck, and offshore fishing. Spring
is a trolling and fall a surf casting season.

ROANOKE ISLAND. There are here about 20 local commercial boats, chiefly
suitable for inlet fishing. Their average length is 35 feet. Some Virginia
boats come down on charter or with their anglers. There is little offshore
fishing.

HATTERAs. The local commercials are suitable for angling use. They are
about 40 feet long and single-engined. One regular charter boat is available.
There are insufficient boats for the double use of commercial and sports
fishing, especially as Ocracoke has to call on Hatteras boats for offshore
anglers. There is no skiff fishing.

OCRACOKE. Skiffs and smaller boats for inside and inlet fishing and fishing
less than five miles offshore are available in adequate number and two twin-
screw boats are available. Although all the Ocracoke boats can be used
commercially, from two to four are kept for anglers during the height of
the commercial season. There are fourteen small boats for hunting and
angling, each taking not more than four anglers. Plenty of guides are avail-
able. The average price per boat at Ocracoke is $20 to $30 per day, and at
Hatteras $20 to $25. "Deep" fishing comes higher: $45 to $50.

There was some alarm when I was in the Roanoke Island-Hatteras-
Ocracoke region at the large number of channel bass of all sizes being
netted for a cannery at Wanchese. Channel bass is the chief attraction for
anglers in that region. This fish sometimes runs as early as mid-March,
through the spring, and again in the fall. Sea trout are caught here from
mid-August into October; the rather rare cabio is taken in- and offshore, and
the amberjack and dolphin are outside around wrecks.

The local commercial boats are most in use in the spring. Winter trawl-
ing in this region is largely by out-of-state boats although recently some
local boats have been engaging in it. A large commercial fishery for croaker
operates from spring into July, when there follows a dead period lasting
from one to two months, during which some of the commercial boats are
freed for angling use. There are not enough boats for anglers in this whole
region, particularly for offshore fishing. The seasons are a fairly long one
in spring and, because of weather and the hunting season limits, a shorter one
in fall.

Additional attractions of the section are the unspoiled beaches and banks,
duck shooting, and the Lake Mattamuskeat Federal Waterfowl Refuge.

MOREHEAD CITY-SWAN SBORO

Here there is bank, inlet, and wreck fishing. Popular grounds are Core
and Shackleford banks. Drum Inlet, and Lookout Bight which is deep and
is well protected from northeasters. There is also some surf casting.

260 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

There are some thirty-five boats available for Gulf Stream angling to
anglers in this whole section. These are 40 to 50 feet long and equipped with
ship-to-shore radio. Most of them are twin screw. Half of these take on
parties for overnight — a special feature of this section. The charge for a
party of six is $75. If the boat supplies gear, the price is higher, as it is per
person for parties of more than six. There are ten boats for inside fishing
and seven or eight commercials licensed to take parties but uncertainly
available for anglers' use. Some Florida boats come up in late spring or
summer. There are several marine filling stations and two good machine
shops in this section. The Morehead City Yacht Basin offers good facilities
for both transient and permanent docking.

Most boats here are equipped for the less expert angler and for large
parties. This is a safer outside fishing section than the more northern regions
but, on the other hand, it is in general much less attractive scenically, and
much less unspoiled.

The best fishing season commercially is September through December,
but due to weather conditions the best angling months are September and
October. A small amount of the game fish fauna here could be fished into
November. There are sea bass, channel bass, some sailfish, and the usual
amberjack and dolphin, as well as both sea trout and spotted trout. This
area reports that the taking of indiscriminate sizes in the commercial nets
is potentially detrimental to the supply.

Additional attractions in the region are the very near-by fresh-water
fishing grounds; the two marine laboratories at Beaufort and the Institute
of Fisheries Research at Morehead City.

The people of the section are enthusiastic on the subject of angling, and
have made some attempt at record keeping.

WILMINGTON-WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH-SOUTHPORT-SHALLOTTE

This section has pier and inlet fishing, some surf casting, and offshore
fishing, particularly on Frying Pan Shoals, which lie some 30 miles off the
point of Cape Fear.

The supply of boats appears to be good here, but is locally reported as
insufficient to meet demands. There are three or four two-engined charter
boats; eight other boats, running up to 60 feet in length and reserved for
anglers; 20 to 25 others usually available; five boats which can go out to
the Gulf Stream (this includes the charter boats above), and many small
boats and skiffs. Most communities can summon boats from others, and
some Florida boats come up in summer. There is an additional although
uneven supply of commercial boats. There is" pier fishing all winter, and a
little surf casting, usually for the common mullet. The fauna is plentiful
and varied. The best season is September and October when the fish run

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 261

largest. Frying Pan Shoals is a concentration spot for dolphin, amberjack,
and some sailfishes. The population of this section are enthusiastic and well
informed about angling and are doing everything possible to publicize their
grounds. The section could easily offer a longer fishing season as it has a
good winter climate. Pier iishing is a feature here. Pier admission is thirty-
five cents in the season; in the winter the admission booths are closed, but
there is still pier fishing.

Local anglers report that the rock shelf outside Wilmington, although
lying deep, should be buoyed. They also feel that if an inlet could be cut at
Carolina Beach, which already has a fine harbor, boats could have easy
access to the twenty-two-mile-distant Gulf Stream.

There are four single screw, 30 to 40-foot party boats at Carolina Beach.
Wrightsville Beach is particularly well equipped as a vacation spot for
anglers. It has five 40 to 50-foot, and nine 30 to 40-foot party boats. The
majority of these are twin screw and equipped for Gulf Stream fishing. Most
of them have radio. There are good local facilities for repair.

Southport, a very popular spot with anglers, has four single screw and
one twin screw boats, the largest 60 feet, the smallest 30 feet. These boats
can go to the Gulf Stream, although considerable good fishing is done from
15 to 20 miles out. One of these boats is in use commercially when there is
a bluefish run. Southport needs improvement of its natural yacht basin and
could well utilize more facilities for boat repair and for living quarters for
anglers.

This whole section has a long fishing season, both marine and fresh water,
and, in addition, some hunting. It is additionally attractive to anglers
because of its annual fishing rodeo, and to tourists because of beautiful
Orton Plantation between Wilmington and Southport.

SEASONAL DISCUSSION, BY MONTHS

This section is included to show conflict or lack of it between use of
boats for commercial purposes and use of boats for angling; also to indicate
what and where fish are present off North Carolina.

JANUARY. Present: channel bass (offshore), sea bass, striped bass, blue-
fish, croaker, flounder, sea mullet, pigfish, spotted sea trout.

Shrimpers and oyster boats are in use; there are minor inshore pound
nets and sink nets taking croakers; occasional seines for flounders and some
gill nets for spotted trout.

There is a negligible amount of angling, almost entirely in inside waters,
for striped bass, bluefish and spotted trout. Some puppy drum are on the
beaches.

262 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

FEBRUARY. Present: channel bass (offshore), sea bass, striped bass, blue-
fish, croaker, flounder, sea mullet, pigfish, spotted trout.

Shrimpers and oyster boats are in use; nets and lines are out for channel
bass; sink nets for croakers. There is a completely negligible amount of
angling and only in the southern part of the State.

MARCH. Present: channel bass (offshore), sea bass, striped bass, bluefish,
croaker, flounder, sea mullet, pigfish, sea trout.

Shrimpers and oyster boats are in use; pound and gill nets are fishing
channel bass, chiefly in the area south of Cape Hatteras; there is line fish-
ing for sea bass; pound and sink nets inshore are fishing croaker; flounder
spearing is going on.

The spring angling season often begins in March, with trolling and surf
casting, especially in the Roanoke Island section.

APRIL. Present: channel bass, sea bass, striped bass, bluefish, croaker,
flounder, sea mullet, sea trout.

Shrimpers and oyster boats are in use. Commercially, there is flounder
spearing, net and line fishing for channel bass, striped bass, bluefish,
croaker, sea mullet and sea trout.

Anglers are trolling for channel bass off the banks in the north, and there
is a little surf casting for this and for sea mullet. Anglers need motor boats
for bass and sea trout fishing.

MAY. Present: amber jack, channel bass, sea bass, striped bass, bluefish,
cabio, croaker, dolphin, flounder, Spanish mackerel, common mullet, sea
mullet, sheepshead, tarpon, sea trout.

Shrimpers are in use. Oyster boats are available. Nets and lines are get-
ting channel bass, striped bass, croaker, Spanish mackerel, sea mullet, sea
trout and sheepshead. Beach seines and runaround gill nets are fishing
mullet.

There is outside angling for amberjack and dolphin off New Hanover
County; sea bass off Carteret County, cabio off Brunswick County. Trolling
for channel bass and bluefish is going on in all areas, and there is a small
amount of surf casting, particularly in the Roanoke Island-Hatteras section.

JUNE. Present: amberjack, barracuda, channel bass, sea bass, striped
bass, bluefish, bonito, cabio, cero, croaker, dolphin, flounder, Spanish
mackerel, blue marlin (reported), common mullet, sea mullet, pigfish, sail-
fish, tarpon, sea trout, wahoo.

Most shrimpers are in use; oyster boats are available. Commercial nets
and lines are out for channel bass, striped bass, bluefish, croaker, sea mullet,
sea trout, Spanish mackerel, flounder and pigfish. Beach seines and run-
around nets are catching mullet.

Anglers can fish outside for amberjack, barracuda (sometimes inshore
also), sea bass, bonito, cero, cabio (sometimes coming inshore), dolphin.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 263

sailfish, blue marlin (?), and wahoo (rare). There is inside and inshore
angling for channel bass, striped bass, sea trout, croaker, sea mullet, tarpon
(rarely hooked), and wahoo (very rare).

JULY. Present: amber jack, barracuda, channel bass, sea bass, striped
bass, bluefish, bonito, cabio, cero (a few), croaker, dolphin, flounder, blue
marlin (very rare), white marlin (reported as present), common mullet
sea mullet, pigfish, sailfish, sea trout, wahoo (rare).

Shrimpers are in use; oyster boats are available. There is commercial
netting for channel bass, bluefish, sea mullet, pigfish, sea trout, croaker,
and beach seines and runaround gill nets for the common mullet.

There should be outside and offshore angling for amberjack, barracuda,
sea bass, larger bluefish, bonito, cabio, dolphin, sailfish, w^ahoo, and perhaps
blue marlin. Inside and inshore there is angling for the smaller bluefish,
sea mullet, and occasionally, a wahoo.

AUGUST. Present: amberjack, barracuda, channel bass, sea bass, striped
bass, bluefish, bonito, cabio, cero (?), croaker (not plentiful), dolphin,
flounder, common mullet, sea mullet, pompano, sailfish, sea trout, wahoo
(very rare); blue marlin is questionably present; white marlin is reported
to be present.

Shrimpers are in use; oyster boats are available. Most of the commercial
gear used at this season requires only the services of small boats which at
this season of outside and offshore angling are in less demand than in some
other months. This is one of the best months for offshore angling in the
northern section and one that could use a larger supply of offshore boats
down the whole coast.

There is outside and offshore angling for amberjack, barracuda, sea bass,
the larger bluefish, bonito, cero, cabio, dolphin, sea mullet, sailfish and wahoo
(rare), and anglers are trying for blue marlin. Inshore angling is for channel
bass, sea trout, smaller bluefish, pompano, and an occasional wahoo.

SEPTEMBER. Present: amberjack, barracuda, channel bass, sea bass, striped
bass, bluefish, bonito, cabio, cero, croaker, dolphin, flounder, blue marlin
(questionably present), Spanish mackerel, white marlin (reported), common
mullet, sea mullet, permit (occasionally), pompano, sailfish, sheepshead,
tarpon, wahoo (rare).

The shrimp boats are in use. There are small net and line fisheries for
channel bass, striped bass, bluefish, sheepshead, flounders, pompano, sea
trout, and common mullet.

Outside angling is for amberjack, barracuda, sea bass, channel bass, larger
bluefish, bonito, an occasional wahoo, a few cero, cabio, dolphin, sea trout,
sailfish. White marlin angling is reported, and there are the inevitable tries
for blue marlin.

264 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

This is a fine month for angling in the Ocracoke section. Boats in all
sections are insufficient.

OCTOBER. Present: amberjack, channel bass, sea bass, striped bass, blue-
fish, bonito, cabio, cero, croaker, dolphin, flounder, common mullet, sea
mullet, pompano, sailfish, sheepshead, spot, tarpon, spotted sea trout, wahoo
(rare). Anglers are vainly trying for blue marlin and bluefin tuna. White
marlin are said to be present.

Shrimpers and oyster boats are in use. Net and line fishing is going on
for sea bass, channel bass, striped bass, bluefish (using small boats), sea
mullet, pompano, spotted trout, spot, sheepshead. Motor boats are servicing
the mullet fisheries. There is flounder spearing. When good, this is probably
the finest angling month for the whole coast, but the weather is beginning
to be tricky.

It is also one of the months in which commercial boats are in very full
use. Outside, offshore angling includes amberjack, sea bass, bluefish, bonito,
cero, cabio, dolphin, sailfish, wahoo. Inshore and surf angling is excellent
for channel bass, striped bass, some bluefish, sea mullet, pompano and sea
trout. Tarpon are present but seldom take the hook.

NOVEMBER. Present: channel bass, sea bass, striped bass, bluefish, cero,
croaker, flounder, common mullet, sea mullet, sailfish, spot, spotted sea trout.
Sailfish and white marlin are said to be present in the early part of the
month, in the southern area.

Shrimpers and oyster boats are in use. The sea bass fishery is serviced by
motor vessels and power boats. Some winter trawling, chiefly by out-of-
state boats, is going on for channel bass, bluefish, flounder, croaker, sea
mullet, spotted trout. There is also a pound net fishery for channel bass,
and seining for the common mullet.

When weather permits, there is outside angling for sea bass, cero, and
sailfish. Channel bass and striped bass are the principal inshore and inside fish.
Because of the weather, this is a poor month for anglers, although the early
part of it is sometimes fairly good, particularly in the more southern areas.
There are sufficient boats available for the amount of angling done in this
month.

DECEMBER. Present: channel bass (offshore), sea bass, striped bass, blue-
fish, croaker, flounder, common mullet, sheepshead, spotted sea trout.

Shrimpers and oyster boats are in use. There is a winter trawl as in
November, net fisheries for channel bass, and seines for the common mullet.

A very small amount of angling is available, chiefly for striped bass, and
more usually inland than marine.

Spring and fall are the best angling seasons in the State, particularly the
months of April, May, early June, September and October. Given favorable
weather, November may also be a good month in the more southern areas.

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 265

Good angling on the northern part of the coast is fairly definitely limited
to the April-June, September-October seasons.

FAUNAL DISCUSSION*

AMBERJACK

(Genus Seriola)

At least two, and probably three, species of Seriola have been identified
from North Carolina, but to anglers they are all amber j ack.

The adults of this southern fish occur from at least as far south as Brazil
to Cape Cod, where they are found as stragglers. Species of this genus are
also found on our own Pacific coast, off Europe, Africa, and Austraha. On
our Atlantic coast it is most numerous off Key West in winter and is there
fished commercially. Off North Carolina it is found from May to October
on the grounds with dolphin, feeding on small fishes and crustaceans and
congregating around wrecks and buoys.

Fifty-pound amberjack are fairly common around Key West, but the
average weight off North Carolina is 12 pounds. The maximum recorded
size for the genus is 134 pounds, and the record rod and reel catch, taken
off Florida, 106 pounds.

Young amberjack have been taken off Beaufort from June through Sep-
tember. Hildebrand and Cable (1930) state that the fry in the vicinity of
Beaufort "occur chiefly at sea where spawning no doubt takes place during
the summer." They further note a female of thirteen inches with somewhat
distended ovaries, showing that the fish may be sexually mature at this
length.

Anglers rate this fish very high as a hard fighter of great strength. It is
one of the most numerous and important game fishes in North Carolina,
especially around the wrecks off Cape Lookout, Cape Hatteras, and Cape
Fear.

BARRACUDA

(Genus Sphyraena)

Here again there is confusion about species. For many years both the
great barracuda, S. barracuda (Shaw) and the northern barracuda, S.
borealis (DeKay), were reported off North Carolina. However, Hildebrand
and Schroeder (1928) reported that the only two species of Sphyraena
recorded from waters north of Florida were borealis and guachancho. This
Hmits barracuda, a typically West Indian species, to a more tropical range.

Barracuda are present in warm offshore waters all over the world and

4. Species marked by an asterisk are further discussed by Dr. Roelofs in the chapter in Part II
on "The Edible Finfishes of North Carolina," beginning on p. 109.

266 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

often run up estuaries for short distances. They are not commercially taken
although their flesh is edible.

Due to confusion of species, the only weight record is for a rod and
reel catch of great barracuda — 103>4 pounds, caught off the Bahama
Islands. S. guachancho seldom runs over two feet; borealis seldom over
one foot. The U. S. Fish & Wildlife Laboratory at Beaufort reports many
barracuda from six to eight inches long, at which size they are mature, off
the Beaufort-Morehead City section, and large schools are reported off
Frying Pan Shoals from June through September, with an average weight
of 5 to 10 pounds. The bulk of the North Carolina run seems to be in this
locality.

Barracuda are fearless, hard fighters. Although their angling rating is
high, their swift, direct approach to swimmers and boats, combined with a
formidable array of long sharp teeth, makes them less popular than other
game fishes. Anglers seldom go out deliberately for barracuda.

CHANNEL BASS OR RED DRUM

Sciaenops ocellatus (Linnaeus)

The channel bass runs from Texas to New Jersey, occasionally straggling
farther north. Centers of abundance are Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf of
Mexico, and North Carolina. The fish moves in large schools; is present
all year round off North Carolina, but more plentifully and more accessibly
in spring and fall, and is the object of large commercial fisheries. It averages
15 to 30 pounds and seldom weighs above 50. Anglers fish for both adult
and young (puppy drum), which are abundant on the beaches. The rod
and reel record, caught off Cape Charles, Virginia, on August 5, 1949, weighed
83 pounds.

Hildebrand and Schroeder (1928) say this fish probably spawns in Chesa-
peake Bay somewhat earlier than off Texas (October). It probably does
not spawn north of Chesapeake Bay.

Channel bass is one of North Carolina's outstanding game fishes. The
regular angling cycle for it in the northern part of the State is trolling and
some surf casting March 15 to June 15; it is then present in quantities and
runs 17 to 55 pounds. At Ocracoke the drum begin to come in the middle of
April and are fished at night April through June. By mid-April, they are
off the bank; by May, at the inlet and in the sound; by September, they
are good on the beach but not in the sound. In October, they are on the
bank again. Hatteras reports them all year, and large loads were coming
in there commercially in January (1947). Reports from commercial fisher-
men at Ocracoke say that none of the channel bass brought in there contain
roe. Carteret County reports the fish on Core Banks and in Drum Inlet
through November, averaging 25 pounds and present in other months but

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 267

running somewhat smaller. Wilmington reports big ones taken from Wrights-
ville Beach to New River Inlet, and much surf casting. There they come
into the inlets at night, close to the shore, and are also caught from boats
anchored in the inlet. Shallotte reports them both inside and in the surf.
An unconfirmed report from the Wilmington region states that channel bass
there often contain roe weighing as much as five pounds.

Whether these fish are spawning off North Carolina or whether North
Carolina is getting the results of the Chesapeake Bay spawning, or both,
it is probable that netting of females with ripe eggs and of indiscriminate
sizes of young will ultimately deplete the supply.

*SEA BASS. ALSO CALLED BLACK BASS OR BLACKFISH

Genus Centropristes

Fishermen and anglers do not distinguish C. striatus from C. philadel-
phicus, both of which are present off this coast. C. striatus is concentrated
around Cape May, where it spawns, and runs down to Cape Hatteras,
probably straggling farther south. C. philadelphkus is concentrated in the
northern part of Florida and its spawning grounds are not known. It appar-
ently runs north to Cape Hatteras and probably farther. The fact that we
are here dealing with two species accounts for the lack of agreement in
reports of angling seasons. The Manteo-Hatteras section reports the fish
as present from July through December. It is known that commercial fish-
eries for sea bass are going on in January and February off Cape Hatteras
by out-of-state boats with out-of-state landings.

The fish averages >4 pound, and some of greater weight have been infre-
quently taken. The ancient rod and reel record, caught off New York,
weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces and is suspect in the two most important ways
— manner of catch and weight!

C. striatus is said to be mature at a length of about five inches. This is
not one of the most popular game fishes, due to its small size and the
customary presence of more popular game fishes on its grounds. It is
generally found around wrecks and over rocky bottom where it feeds on
the bottom on small fish, squid, and crabs.

* STRIPED BASS, ROCK, OR ROCKFISH

Roccus saxatilis (Walbaum)

This anadromous fish is so widely distributed that its presence would
hardly lure anglers from any distance. It is, nevertheless, a very popular
game fish from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and from Oregon to the
southern part of California, In North Carolina it is present all year, and
although sometimes taken in salt water, it is more often trolled in the
Inland Waterway or tidewater streams. The rod and reel record catch

268 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

weighed 73 pounds. It was taken in Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts, on
August 17, 1913.

* BLUEFISH

Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus)

Like the striped bass, this fish is a very widely distributed and very popu-
lar game fish. It occurs in nearly all temperate and tropical waters, moving
in large schools and appearing erratically. It is highly carnivorous and eats
quantities of fishes, crustaceans and worms. The larger individuals run in
outside waters; the smaller enter sounds and run up rivers.

The bluefish is taken by trolling and still fishing and is very popular with
pier anglers. It is also caught by surf casting. It will bite savagely at any
bait and will include in the bite as much of the tackle as possible. Van
Campen Heilner recommends its fishing off any resort between New Eng-
land and Florida where one can get offshore, or in any inlet. He considers
July, August, and September the best months. Off North Carolina the fish
is present all year, but in some months the specimens available to anglers
are small. The larger fish usually run in spring and fall. Mr. Heilner reports
fine fishing at Cape Hatteras in May. The average size is from two to four
pounds. The "rod and reel record," a very old one, is 25 pounds and in all
probability was a handline catch. Popular as this fish is, the International
Game Fish Association seldom receives any claims for record size, showing
that there is seldom any great variation.

Spawning is assumed by most ichthyologists to take place offshore in
spring and summer. The fish is known to spawn between May and July
off New York and southern New England.

"bonito"

Sarda sarda (Bloch). Common bonito

Euthynnus alletteratus (Rafinesque). False albacore; little tuna

Auxis thazard (Lacepede), Frigate mackerel.

Anglers and commercial fishermen are usually capable of distinguishing
among these three fishes, but in speaking and writing of them, both classes
of fishermen are apt to use the term "bonito" for all three. Euthynnus
alletteratus is also referred to as "school tuna." Therefore information on
the bonito is extremely difficult to assign to any one of the three genera.
It appears to apply most often to Sarda sarda. All three fishes are gamey
fighters, and are also valued as bait.

Bonitos (probably S. sarda) occur offshore off North Carolina in summer
and fall, coming in from the ocean to feed. They congregate around wrecks,
and are reported in quantity off Pea Island feeding on minnows, and about

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 269

five miles out of Ocracoke. The Ocracoke boats are too small to go out
for them, but the larger Hatteras boats do so.

This fish is widely distributed in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, off
Europe, Africa, and North America. There is another species in the Pacific
off the United States, South America, and in the Indo-Pacific region. On our
Atlantic coast Sarda sarda runs from Cape Ann south to Florida which seems
to be about the southern limit for the Americas. It is believed to come
inshore to spawn and is abundant in summer from Massachusetts south.
The average weight is four pounds and it is reported to attain twelve.
There is no rod and reel record.

Euthynnus alletteratus runs larger than Sarda sarda, averaging around
30 pounds. This fish has been taken in some quantity off Roanoke Island
where it is called bonito. Unlike Sarda, it is not very edible.

Auxis thazard is occasionally taken around Beaufort. It runs around two
pounds and is not good eating.

The three fishes are easily distinguishable from each other. The conspicu-
ous front teeth on the lower jaw of Sarda sarda, the oblique wavy bands
and spots on the posterior part of the upper sides of Euthynnus, and the
wide separation of the two dorsals of the frigate mackerel should serve as
distinguishing characters to any fisherman.

The bonitos are confused with the bluefin tuna only in name, as all
fishermen and anglers know the bluefin by sight.

CABIO, ALSO CALLED COBIA, BLACK BONITO, AND SERGEANT-FISH

Rachycentron canadus (Linnaeus)

The cabio is a very popular gamefish of no commercial value, although
it is edible and marketable when taken. The genus contains only this species.
It is widely distributed in tropical and temperate offshore waters and runs
into bays, inlets, and channels. The fish occurs at least as far south as Brazil
and straggles north to Massachusetts. It is found in summer in the Gulf of
Mexico, where young a few inches long, obviously of a local population unit,
have been taken in July and August. It has been reported off the East Indies
and Japan, although not present on our own Pacific coast.

Although cabio may be found among schools of bluefish or kingfish, they
are generally solitary and erratic wanderers and are nowhere common. On
our Atlantic coast, they occur most frequently from the Chesapeake Bay
region, in or near which they spawn in summer, southward down the whole
length of North Carolina. Occasionally, large catches are made, such as
the sixteen individuals caught on June i, 1945, off Wanchese, Roanoke
Island. They are plentiful off Mississippi.

The cabio is a voracious feeder on fishes and crustaceans and a hard
fighter when hooked. It is fished by bait casting, trolling, and still fishing.

270 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

In outside waters light tackle is frequently used for it, but closer inshore
heavier tackle is necessary because of the danger of fouling the line on the
rocks or wreckage about which the fish is often found.

The rod and reel record catch weighed 113 pounds; the average weight
is from 10 to 25, but 40 pounds is not uncommon.

CERO, ALSO CALLED KINGFISH AND KING MACKEREL

Scomberomorus cavalla (Cuvier & Valenciennes)

This popular anglers' fish is chiefly taken by trolling. It averages around
seven pounds and is said to reach a weight of 75. The rod and reel record
taken off Bimini, B.W.I. , in February, 1935, weighed 73^ pounds. The
fish is often present among schools of Spanish mackerel (5. maculatus
(Mitchill) and spotted cero (S. regalis [Bloch]), but commercial fishermen
distinguish easily between the commercially profitable Spanish mackerel
and the commercially unpopular cero whose sharp teeth are destructive to
nets. Reports of the cero's edible quality are conflicting.

The cero is a southern fish whose northern limit on our coast is about
North Carolina although it straggles up as far as Cape Cod. It runs south
to the Gulf of Mexico and to Brazil and is reported off Africa. Other
Scomberomorus species are plentiful in the Pacific. Concentration points
are from South Carolina to Key West and the Gulf coast. In winter the cero
is absent north of Florida where it is very abundant. It occurs all along
the North Carolina coast but is most frequently caught off the Beaufort-
Cape Lookout section in spring and fall. Records at Morehead City show
a number of cero taken in October and November and weighing between 15
and 30 pounds. They are said to average about 10 pounds in July in this
region, and about 20 pounds in October. Large runs of them are reported
for the Wilmington-Southport area in October, where it is suggested by
various anglers experienced with Cero fishing in Florida that the North
Carolina anglers are not fishing deep enough for them.

* CROAKER

Micropogon undulatus (Linnaeus)

The croaker is so abundant off North Carolina for such an extended
season that its commercial value is based not so much on its abundance but
on the lack of it; during slack seasons if caught it brings higher prices.
This is a smallish fish, marketable at a weight of >4 pound and reaching
slightly over five pounds. It occurs from Cape Cod to Texas and is most
abundant from Maryland south. It spawns irom August to December in
the northern parts of its range and probably later farther south. Fish with
well developed roe have been found in Chesapeake Bay during October

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 271

and early November. The croaker frequents bays and shallow water over
grassy bottom, feeding on small fishes, crustaceans and mollusks.

The most productive commercial fishing grounds for this fish are off
Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina in spring and fall. It is not popular
enough as a game fish to attract anglers from any distance whatever.

DOLPHIN

Coryphaena hippurus (Linnaeus)

The dolphin is one of North Carolina's most important game fishes. It is
a Gulf Stream fish, occurring on the same grounds with the amberjack and
in sufficiently large and certain numbers to attract offshore anglers. It is
variously reported as good and poor eating, but has no commercial value.
It is particularly abundant on the flying fish grounds off Diamond Shoals.

Although this fish is common in so many places all over the world that an
angler has a wide choice, its presence, combined with other attractions, is
sufficient to attract anglers from a distance. There is also always the alluring
chance of snaring a marlin or a sailfish on dolphin grounds, as well as the
certainty of getting as many amberjack as anyone could want. The dolphin
is very widely distributed all over the world. On our Atlantic coast we find
it running north to Cape Cod, and on our Pacific, north to Oregon. There
are concentrations in Florida and Mexico. It is definitely an outside, off-
shore fish, partial to blue water. Light or medium tackle is used in trolling
for it. It averages in general under 25 pounds, but the rod and reel record,
taken off Oahu, T.H., weighed d^Yz pounds. Off North Carolina its usual
weight is about 12 pounds. Its food consists of flying fishes, mullet, and other
small fishes.

Young dolphin differ greatly in appearance from the adult. Liitken (1880)
figures a series of young. C. M. Breder (1929) reports that dolphin spawn in
spring in the West Indies; Ocean City, Maryland, reports numerous dolphin
in July and August and numerous large schools of small ones; Beaufort re-
ports young of about 12 inches as plentiful in late summer. In general, they
are present from June to October the length of the coast. Both C. hippurus
and a smaller species, C. equisetis (Linnaeus) have been recorded from the
State; the latter off Cape Lookout.

The dolphin exhibits great speed when chasing its favorite food, the flying
fish, and great strength and fighting ability when hooked.

* SPANISH MACKEREL

Scomberomorus maculatus (Mitchill)

This fish is caught only incidentally as an angler's fish in North Carolina
and quite frequently confused with the cero, from which it is easily dis-
tinguished by the relative position of the dorsal and anal fins, and by its

272 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

teeth. The fish is found on both coasts of America; on the Atlantic from
Maine to Brazil. Other species occur in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific.
It is a schooling, warm-water, surface fish going north in the spring and
south in the winter. It spawns in Chesapeake Bay in late spring and early-
summer and is there from May to September, and in quantity in Florida
from November to March. The fish is said to reach a weight of 20 pounds
but is more usually about i;^ to four pounds. There is no rod and reel
record.

BLUE MARLIN

Makaira nigricans ampla (Poey)

The blue marlin, one of the two species of Makaira known to occur in
the Atlantic, is one of the most famous big game fishes in the world. It runs
larger than the white marlin, and averages 200 pounds or more. The rod
and reel record, taken in June, 1949, off Bimini, weighed 742 pounds. There
is no detailed record of its occurrence in other than Bahaman and United
States waters. Although it has been identified as far south as the Leeward
and Windward Islands, its southern limit has not been established. Its
actual northern limit appears to be Bimini, B.W.I. , but stragglers appear
with some regularity off Miami and Palm Beach, and, in very small numbers
and irregularly, are sighted off Bermuda, Maryland, Montauk, Block Island
and Georges Bank. The seasons and places of its occurrence as far as
determined are:

Windward and Leeward Islands: sometime between January and June.

Cuba: April through October, particularly August and September;
rumored to be present all year on both north and south coasts.

Bimini: January through August, especially June and July.

Florida: January through April, increasing in number toward the end
of the season.

Maryland: July and August.

North Carolina: Two blue marlin taken off Cape Hatteras; one in July
1938; one in July 1939, in the Gulf Stream. Other reports unconfirmed.

The blue marlin is known to spawn off or very near the north coast of
Cuba, where females with eggs about to rupture the membrane are frequently
taken in August and September. There is a commercial fishery for it in
Cuba.

The blue marlin seems to be concentrated in the deep column of warm
temperature water between Cuba and the western edge of the Great Bahamas
bank. This column may at times streak to the north, accounting for
stragglers. At any rate, the contrast between! the numbers of blue marlin
present in it, and the small number ever taken or sighted out of it, is too
marked to be ignored. Nor is this a question of where anglers have happened

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 273

to fish with bait that appeals to this fastidious fish. Florida waters and
northern waters have been thoroughly explored for it by expert anglers.
Several well-known anglers believe that the blue marlin is off Hatteras
in numbers sufficient to attract anglers. This idea appears to be based on
the theory that the fish is migratory and passes that point as it goes north
in the Gulf Stream — a theory not in accord with the ideas above. However,
the theory may have been an effort to explain the not infrequently correct
instinct developed by many anglers. At this time, however, it would seem
unwise to advocate the expenditure of much effort or money in trying to
prove the blue marlin's presence in numbers in the waters off Cape Hatteras.

WHITE MARLIN

Makaira albida (Poey)

The white marlin runs farther north in greater numbers than the blue.
It has been reported off Cape Hatteras and at the edge of the shoals off
Southport in September, although there is no confirmation of its presence
in any quantity.

This fish occurs off Cuba in great quantity. Ernest Hemingway says
that it spawns there in May, heading inshore in pairs — the typical spawn-
ing behavior of the speared fishes. He states that in May he has found
female fish full of roe. The fish is plentiful in Cuba as early as March in
some years and usually from April through May. It occurs there as a
straggler in September, one of the most plentiful months for the blue marlin.
The white marlin are in Bimini from December through July; the best
month is May. They are caught off Palm Beach and Miami in March and
April; oft" Ocean City, Maryland, in quantity in late August and early
September. They are off New York and southern New England around the
beginning of July. The grounds off Maryland are stretches of shoal water,
only fifty or sixty feet deep. Marlin taken there weigh an average of seventy
pounds, although one of 130 has been reported. The record, taken off Miami,
weighed 161 pounds. No free eggs and no young of this fish have ever been
recorded although there are constant rumors of young being seen. With
this gap in its life history, no theories as to its distribution can be very
tenable.

This fish is a very popular big game fish which provides spectacular
jumping when hooked.

* SEA MULLET, ALSO CALLED KINGFISH, KING WHITING, ROUNDHEAD,
VIRGINIA MULLET, SEA MINK

Genus Menticirrhus

Three species of Menticirrhus are present in North Carolina waters. The
most numerous, M. americanus (Linnaeus), is a southern form ranging from

274 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Texas to New Jersey but not common north of Chesapeake Bay. M. saxatilis
(Bloch) runs from Massachusetts as far south as Florida, but is not common
south of Chesapeake Bay. M. Uttoralis (Holbrook) ranges from Chesapeake
Bay south to the Gulf coast, but not as far north as either of the other two.
There are other species in the West Indies, South America and the Pacific

The species are all lumped under the name sea mullet by commercial
fishermen. They average about the same size — one-half pound to three
pounds.

The sea mullet has never been a very well known or popular game fish
and there are no rod and reel records. Its presence would not act as a special
attraction to anglers, although it is popular where taken and is good eating.
In January, 1947, sea mullet were being taken on rod and reel off Morehead
City; the more usual season for them in Carteret County, however, is Sep-
tember and October. Angling is possible there from April through October.
Although taken commercially throughout the year, the fish becomes more
scarce in cold weather.

POMPANO

Trachinotus caroUnus (Linnaeus), and others

At least four species of pompano occur off North Carolina. It is found in
the ocean, close to banks, inlets, etc., and is said to come in with the
breakers, T. caroUnus, whose range is Texas to Massachusetts, is the most
frequent of the species in this section. The permit, T. goodei, is only occa-
sionally present and in negligible quantity, chiefly in the Morehead City
section in the fall. There seems to be no rod and reel fishing for the pompano
in this section, chiefly because the largest run is after the sports fishing
season has almost entirely stopped. Commercial and angling fishermen rate
the fish high and it is fine eating. The average size is from one to i>^
pounds.

The other species present are T. jalcatus, the round pompano, a West
Indian form straggling to Massachusetts but uncommon anywhere in the
northern part of its range, and T. glaucus, the gaff-topsail pompano, or
palometa, occurring from Chesapeake Bay to the Caribbean and not uncom-
mon in Florida. This has been reported in quantity from Beaufort in the
past. We have reports of the presence of this fish off the Ocracoke section
and off Cape Lookout from mid-June to August, but no reports of its being
captured by sportsmen. All the pompanos are very popular game fishes
farther south.

ATLANTIC SAILFISH

Istiophorus americanus (Cuvier & Valenciennes)

The genus Istiophorus is world-wide in distribution and one of our most
popular offshore game fishes. It ranks as a big game fish although by no

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 275

means as large or as difficult to catch as some of the others, particularly
in the Atlantic where it averages smaller than in the Pacific. It has no
commercial value, is not very edible, and is often thrown back when caught.

The Atlantic sailfish is present from Brazil to as far north as Woods Hole;
it occurs in quantity off Florida and the Bahamas and is suspected of spawn-
ing off Miami during May and June. It is known to spawn off Port Isabel,
Texas. The early stages of this fish are known and have been figured and
described by Liitken and others. Like other fishes whose eggs are pelagic
and therefore drift to considerable distances, spawning areas are difficult
to locate as young are quite often found at considerable distance from them.

The sailfish does not seem to be plentiful off North Carolina, but neither
does it seem to have been tried for very often or with any persistence. It
would appear to be present in sufficient quantity to attract anglers. It is
fished off Hatteras from June to October and off Morehead City and the
vicinity, from July through September from ten to fifteen miles offshore.
Small ones are sometimes taken in late summer in the Morehead City section.
A few sailfish have been sighted within twelve miles off Wrightsville Beach,
and some taken about forty miles off Southport, between September and
November.

The Atlantic sailfish averages around 35 pounds with a usual topweight
of 60 pounds, but the rod and reel record, taken off Miami Beach weighed
106.

TARPON

Tarpon atlanticus (Cuvier & Valenciennes)

If this very popular game fish could be persuaded to take the hook in
North Carohna waters, it would undoubtedly attract many anglers to its
grounds. North Carolinians are inclined to attribute its refusal of bait to
inexpert angling, but the same situation is true in Bimini, B.W.I., which
is a center for expert anglers. It is possible that the fish will not take bait
in clear water.

The tarpon is a coastwise fish going well up into fresh water and able
to stand considerable temperature variations. It occurs from Nova Scotia
to Brazil and is also found in Queensland, and, in enormous numbers, off
Nigeria and the Gold Coast of Africa. Concentration points are the Gulf
coast of Florida, Texas, and Louisiana; the Rio Encantado, Cuba; the
Panuco River, Mexico; the Chagres River at Gatun Spillway; Lagos,
Nigeria, and the mouth of the Volta River, Gold Coast, West Africa.

The fish travels in schools and there is no evidence of migration other
than a spring drift northward and movement in and out of streams. It is a
voracious fish, feeding on fishes and crustaceans.

Both adult and young are fished for sport; the best season for them is

276 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

supposed to be at the time of the first spawning — usually April through
July. Young up to 25 pounds are fished by fly casting; larger ones by still
fishing or cork fishing from a small boat. Adult tarpon average between 40
and 60 pounds; the rod and reel record, taken in the Panuco River in
March, 1938, weighed 247 pounds.

Most tarpon caught off North Carolina have been netted by chance.
They have been caught off Roanoke Island in September and October and
sighted in the surf there in May and June. They have also been seen in the
Inlet at Hatteras in the fall. In the Wilmington section, two tarpon of
about 35 pounds have been caught by surf casting, and several netted. On
August I, 1927, a 57-pound tarpon was taken in surf fishing in New River
Inlet. Other reports say that the fish is fairly common along the North
Carolina beaches in the fall, schooling in or near the surf. Mr. Aycock Brown
reports that many tarpon are caught in menhaden nets.

* SEA TROUT, ALSO CALLED GRAY TROUT AND WEAKFISH

Cyno scion regalis (Bloch & Schneider)

This game fish occurs from Florida to Massachusetts and occasionally
as far north as the Gulf of Maine. It is found in large quantity in tide rips,
channels, inlets and the surf almost all year from North Carolina south;
north of that it is seasonal. There are big runs from May to October off
Long Island and New Jersey. It is a profitable commercial catch and the
object of large fisheries. Probably more than one species is found off North
Carolina but the only differentiation by fishermen is between this and the
spotted trout, whose winter season somewhat overlaps the tag end of the
sea trout's season.

The fish is known to spawn in Chesapeake Bay.

The average size of sea trout is from two to five pounds, but it often
runs larger. The rod and reel record, taken in September, 1944, in Mullica
River, New Jersey, weighed 17 pounds 8 ounces.

In the Roanoke Island section angling is best for this fish in spring and
fall; April and October are the best months for it in the Morehead City
section and south.

* SPOTTED TROUT, ALSO CALLED SPECKLED SEA TROUT OR SPECKLED WEAKFISH

Cynoscion nebulosus (Cuvier & Valenciennes)

This fish occurs from New York to Texas but is uncommon north of
Delaware. It runs somewhat smaller than the sea trout, with which fishermen
and anglers confuse it. "Sea trout" taken from September on, are apt to be
this fish, although in September some of both kinds are present.

Spotted trout is commercially important from Virginia south and on the
Gulf coast. It is particularly important in North Carolina in the winter months

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 277

when other fishing is scarce, and is present in quantity particularly in the
Beaufort section.

As with other fishes, commercial catches are often possible when angling
is not. In this case, the reason is the cold: spotted trout often become numbed
by cold and can be easily caught in nets, whereas they would not take bait.

BLUEFIN TUNA ,

Thunnus thynnus (Linnaeus)

This fish occurs all over the world, in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
and the Mediterranean and Black seas. On our Atlantic coast, its presence
has been substantiated from various points between the northern Bahama
Islands and Newfoundland but this does not mean that it necessarily occurs
without gap along that entire coast. Concentration points are the Bimini-
Cat Cay section of the Bahama Islands; New Jersey; Long Island; the
Gulf of Maine; the Wedgeport-Liverpool section of Nova Scotia. It is
uncommon off Florida and Bermuda and is reported as formerly common
off Ocean City, Maryland, but not present there in recent years. There are
two records of bluefins near Beaufort; one in 1885 and one in the early
1900's.

The prevailing impression is that the bluefins appear from somewhere
south of Bimini, passing that island in great numbers and very swiftly, in
May and June, and on a northbound migration which finally lands them
in Nova Scotia or the southern part of Newfoundland. The fish are off
New Jersey in August and September; in the Gulf of Maine from June to
September, with the height of the run in July. The rod and reel record of
927 pounds was taken on August 25, 1940 in Ipswich Bay, Massachusetts.
The average size of the fish varies with locality from 60 pounds to over
200.

The bluefin is known to be very dependent on temperature and salinity
conditions; the run in some localities extends for some time and in others
only a very short time ; in some the presence of the fish is irregular and in
others regular enough to warrant a profitable commercial fishery in station-
ary nets, as off Sicily, Sardinia, and Tunis. There are constant rumors of
its presence off North Carolina, probably based on the assumption that it is
migratory and must pass there. It is possible that there is no run of bluefin
there at all, but that this is a case of circumscribed population units. It is
also possible that the fish do pass there but too far out or too deep — or both
— to be noted by fishermen or anglers. ,

The breeding habits of this fish have been studied on various European
grounds and work on sex and growth rates has been done off Long Island.

The fish referred to in North Carolina as "school tuna" does not mean,
as it does elsewhere, bluefin tuna under 60 pounds. It refers to a different

278 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

genus, Euthynnus, which, in turn, is much confused with Sarda sarda and
sometimes with Auxis t hazard.

WAHOO

Acanthocybium solandri (Cuvier & Valenciennes)

This highly rated sports fish does not occur in large numbers anywhere.
Its known 'range is from British Guiana north to Cape Hatteras. It also
occurs in the Pacific where it has been taken by anglers off the Hawaiian
and the Philippine Islands. During the Cuban winter, trolling for wahoo
along the hundred fathom curve is a popular sport, and it is also reported
off Cuba in deep cool waters in summer. The fish occurs both in open ocean
and in bays and inlets, frequenting wrecks and pilings. It spawns off Cuba
and is also said to spawn off Bermuda. Like the swordfish, the male and
female swim together at the spawning season but not otherwise. It does
not school.

The wahoo is fished off the east coast of Florida and the Bahamas from
January through May. Off North Carolina, it has been taken off Hatteras
from June to October and, but very rarely, off Southport in the fall.

The fish averages between 15 and 20 pounds, but many larger ones have
been taken by anglers. The rod and reel record, caught in the Bahamas in
April 1943, weighed i33>4 pounds.

INCIDENTAL GAME FISHES

North Carolina offers a number of fishes, which, while not among the most
popular or famous, are good enough fishing to provide pleasant recreation
during vacations. Most of them are also taken commercially. Flounder,
spot, pigfish, sheepshead, scup, and the common mullet fall into this cate-
gory. The common mullet, although sometimes taken on rod and line, is
not usually considered a game fish, but is very frequently used as bait.
There are usually quantities of mullet in the Beaufort section in September ;
the season of most abundance is April to November. The flounder, of great
commercial importance, is present all year although not always accessible
to anglers. The sheepshead is usually taken by accident while angling for
sea trout; the larger ones are found off the northern part of the coast.,
The spot is not usually considered a sports fish although a prize was given
for a 14^ ounce spot in the 1946 tournament. It occurs in quantity in the
Ocracoke section. The scup and the pigfish are usually only accidentally
taken by anglers. This January (1947) we have had reports of rod and reel
fishing for pigfish off Morehead City.

American anglers differ on whether or not to place any sharks in the
game fish category. In other parts of the world, however, there is no doubt.
The hammerhead shark, Sphyrna zygaena (Linnaeus) is known to occur

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 279

off Beaufort. There is no rod and reel record. Other "game" sharks reported
to be off the North Carolina coast are the following:

The thresher shark, Alopias vulpinus (Bonnaterre). The record, caught
off New Zealand, weighed 922 pounds.

The tiger shark, Galeocerdo arcticus (Faber). The record, caught off
Australia, weighed 1382 pounds.

The three sharks belonging to the mackerel shark family: the porbeagle
shark, Lamna nasus (Bonnaterre), the record of which was caught off
Florida and weighed 1009 pounds; the man-eater shark, Car char odon
carcharias (Linnaeus) the rod and reel record for which was caught off
Australia and weighed 1919 pounds. The third shark in this group, the
mackerel shark, is classified by anglers with the mako, which has been put
into a separate genus by some ichthyologists. Our mackerel shark is hums
tigris (Atwood). The record mako weighed 1000 pounds and was caught
off New Zealand by a young flying officer in 1943. It was the first fish he
had ever caught.

SUMMARY

North Carolina offers anglers good spring and fall, some summer, and a
small amount of winter angling for a large number of inside, surf, inshore,
and offshore fishes.

The small number of so-called big game fishes ever taken off this coast,
combined with the expense and difficulties of fishing their grounds, does not
warrant exploitation of these fishes, although their presence or absence could
be profitably investigated by ichthyologists. On the other hand, the State
has fine angling quantities and good seasons for dolphin, amberjack, cabio
and sailfish, channel bass, striped bass, sea trout, and bluefish, all of which
are first class game fishes, as well as many others.

Facilities in the State are excellent in standard, but lacking in number
and certainty. This is particularly true of boats, the great majority of which
are commercial craft used for anglers only when there is no commercial
run. There is insufficient information on fishes, exact seasons, localities and
quantities of non-commercial fishes, and prices.

While the profit ultimately to be derived from a long-term scientific survey
of game fishes only would not balance the expense of such an enterprise,
the marked absence of any coherent records and the small amount of reliable
information available is a definite deterrent to prospective anglers. Even so,
the general prospects of angling well warrant promotion of North Carolina's
entire coast as an angling-vacation spot for a long season, from May to
November, and, to some extent, as a winter resort. Recommendations follow
with a view to immediate improvement of several conditions now hindering
game fishing in the State,

280 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. A system should be devised to make angling boats available when
needed. This could be done by the establishment of information pools.
Charter boats, more of which are needed, might be joint purchases. Boat
owners should make available printed information regarding their current
prices and the types of boats they are able to supply. Standardization of
prices is not recommended, due to the variance of conditions in different
localities.

2. Known data on the game fishes of the coast should be accurately
compiled at once into an illustrated pamphlet for laymen, to be published
by an unbiased source. Failing such a source book, inaccurate statements,
mistaken identifications, and unsubstantiated guesses will continue to get
into rod and gun columns, club yearbooks, and other publications and from
these will eventually seep into scientific publications and go down through
the years as authoritative statements.

3. Collection of further data is suggested in one of the two following
ways:

A. Undoubtedly the most efficient way to collect reliable data on game
fishing possibilities in North Carolina would be a survey of at least three
years by one or two trained men. Such investigators would travel sufficiently
to keep their information up to date; when necessary they would have at
their disposal boats and gear for investigation of grounds and for the
accumulation of pertinent oceanographic data. At the end of the survey,
time would be allowed for drawing up reports which would be widely dis-
tributed. To such reports supplements would be added from time to time.
As commercial grounds are often completely unsuitable for game fishing,
data taken from commercial fishery statistics are very seldom of more than
the most general use to anglers. This survey would be done entirely from
the point of view of angling.

B. In the absence of funds to support such work, there is an alternative
which would yield some valuable if not very complete information. First, a
small grant might be made to have printed and distributed a layman's
pamphlet as I have mentioned above. Simultaneously record books for
anglers, containing spaces for the data as on the sample sheet on page 281
could be made up and distributed to hotels, docks, restaurants and boat
owners in the marine fishing areas, to be kept in their headquarters, not given
to the angler. Arrangements could then be made for volunteers to pick up
these data at specific times, say every four months. The records should
include the individual angler's entire fishing record, not just his successful
days. If such records could be systematically filed for at least three years, a
fine general picture of the situation could be drawn from it. Such work

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY

281

Check of

official

recorder

(please

initial

and

date)

ANGLERS:

Do not

write

in this

column.

■^

„- o o .£?

Signature
or identi-
fication
mark (if
you do not
care to
sign,
please use
an identi-
fying mark

so that
catches by
the same
angler may
be recog-
nized.)

J. A. Brown,

Richmond,

Va.

pa
<

John Doe,

New York

City

M 13

a %

c

1-1

H

to
c

)-l

H

CO 1«
<J3

CO

30'
cabin
cruiser

r>-. ^

J3

<

-a
o

~->

■-->

Si >^

-^ 'a

c75

Hour of
catch,
strike
or sight
or hours
fished
(if no
catch,
strike

or
sight)

Ph'
CO

<N 0^

?^ CM

c

u
O

o

Wreck

near

Hatteras

Light

2.S

u

0

<U

P

6

o

h-l

lO

h-l

1^

0

vn

H

0
N

u

0

OS

M
M

0)

282 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

would serve as further accurate source for more professional investigators
as well as for the laymen for whom the first pamphlet would be a temporary
source. Cooperation from clubs, and the formation of more angling clubs
would greatly aid such an enterprise.

4. Competitive angling and publicity: Competitive angling, which is on
the increase all over the world, is a splendid publicity method and of great
help to the sport in general. It should, however, be held to the financial level
of an amateur sport. If too great sums of money become involved, either in
the expense of entering such tournaments or in prize money, it can become
a burden to a community and a menace to the ethics of the sport. This is
particularly true in North Carolina where advancement of angling as a
source of profit and recreation to her people depends so largely on keeping
the prices for all facilities involved below the level of adjacent coastal areas
with longer seasons and already highly developed angling facilities.

5. Other recommendations suggested in the body of this text are: more
bridges and fishing piers; more marking of wrecks; improvement of some
of the channels and yacht basins; service stations on some of the long
stretches of road in sparsely inhabited sections; improvement of inland to
shore transportation, and the cooperation of anglers, angling clubs and
educational institutions in furthering angling as a recreation.

ACKNOWI.EDGMENTS

I am greatly indebted to the Department of Conservation and Development
of the State of North Carolina, without whose very material help I would
have been unable to visit the numerous angling grounds of the State. For
post-1947 information, I am most grateful to the Institute of Fisheries Re-
search of the University of North Carolina.

Francesca LaMonte

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson, A. W., and E. A. Power.

1949. Fishery Statistics of the United States, 1945. U. S. Fish & Wildlife
Service, Statistical Digest No. 18, 1949, 372 p. (pictorial section,

p. 355-372).

(Statistics of all important commercial U. S. fishes, by species, regions,
gear, etc., numbers of fishermen, common and scientific names, etc.
Published annually under above title and authors from 1Q42 {No. ii),
and earlier {without illustrations) for many years annually as "Fish-
ery Industries of the United States," by various authors, as appendices
to the Annual Reports of the U. S. Commissioner of Fisheries.)

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 283

Beebe, William.

1941. A study of young sailfish (Istiophorus). Zoologica: Scientific Con-
tributions of the New York Zoological Society, 1941, Vol. XXVI,
No. 20. p. 209-227, 9 figs., 5 pis.
Bigelow, Henry B., and William W. Welsh.

1925. Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XL, Part I,
1924 (1925), 567 p., 278 figs. (Doc. 965).
Breder, C. M., Jr.

1929. Field Book of Marine Fishes of the Atlantic Coast. New York:

G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1929, 332 p., 403 figs., 8 color pis.
1944. Material for the study of the life history of Tarpon atlanticus.
Zoologica: Scientific Contributions of the New York Zoological
Society, Vol. XXIX, Part 4, 1944, No. 19, p. 217-252, 9 figs.
Brown, H. H.

1945?. The fisheries of the Windward and Leeward Islands. Development
and Welfare in the West Indies, undated (1945?), Bull. 20, 97 p.,
tables, maps.
Caine, L. S.

1935. Game Fish of the South. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1935,
259 p., figs.
Camp, Raymond R.

1939. All Seasons Afield with Rod and Gun. New York : Whittlesey House,
1939, 352 p., figs., photos.

Carson, Rachel.

1944. Fish and shellfish of the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts. U. S. Dept.

of the Interior, Office of the Coordinator of Fisheries. Conservation

Bull. 37, 1944, 45 p., 21 figs.
Earle, Swepson.

1940. The white marlin fishery of Ocean City, Maryland. U. S. Bur. Fish.,
Spec. Rept., 1940, 15 p., 4 figs., maps.

Evermann, Barton Warren, and Millard Caleb Marsh.

1902. The fisheries of Porto Rico. Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., Vol. XX, Part I,
1900 (1902), p. 49-350, 112 figs., 49 color plates.
Farrington, S. Kip, Jr.

1943. Salt water fishing from Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
Yearbook International Game Fish Association, New York, 1943,
P- 90-93, 5 photos.
Ginsberg, Isaac.

1929. Review of the weakfishes (Cynoscion) of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts
of the United States with a description of a new species. Bull. U. S.
Bur. Fish., Vol. XLV, 1929 (1930), p. 71-85, 7 figs. (Doc. 1058, 1929).
Heilner, Van Campen.

1937. Salt Water Fishing. Philadelphia: The Penn Publishing Company,
1937, 450 p., pis., photos., figs.

284 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Hildebrand, Samuel F., and Louella E. Cable.

1930. Development and life history of fourteen teleostean fishes at Beau-
fort, North Carolina. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLVI, 1930 (1931),
p. 383-488, loi figs. (Doc. 1093, 1930).
1934. Reproduction and development of whitings or kingfishes, drums, spot,
croaker, and weakfishes or sea trout, family Sciaenidae, of the At-
lantic coast of the United States. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLVIII,
1940, p. 41-117, 44 figs. (Bull. No. 16, 1934).
1938. Further notes on the development and life history of some teleosts
at Beaufort, North Carolina. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLVIII,
1940, No. 24, p. 505-642, 159 figs. (Bull. No. 24, 1938).
Hildebrand, Samuel F., and William C. Schroeder.

1928. Fishes of Chesapeake Bay. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLIII, Ft. I,
1927 (1928), 366 p., 211 figs. (Doc. 1021).
International Game Fish Association.

1945. Organization and rules of the International Game Fish Association,
New York, 1945.
Iselin, C. O'D.

1936. A study of the circulation of the western North Atlantic. Papers in
physical oceanography and meteorology, published by Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
(in continuation of Mass. Inst. Tech., Meteorological papers). Vol.
IV, 1936, No. 4, loi p., 58 figs.

Kaplan, M. N.

1937. Big Game Anglers' Paradise. New York: Liveright Publishing
Corporation, 1937, 400 p., photos., figs.

LaMonte, Francesca.

1945. North American Game Fishes. New York: Doubleday, Doran &

Company. 1945, 202 p., 72 plates, figs.
1944. Note on breeding grounds of blue marlin and swordfish off Cuba.
Copeia, 1944, No. 4, p. 258.
LaMonte, Francesca, and D. E. Marcy.

1 94 1. Swordfish, sailfish, marlin and spearfish. Ichthyological Contribu-
tions of the International Game Fish Association, Vol. i, 1941, No. 2,
24 p., 4 pis., I fig.
Longley, W. H. [edited and completed by Samuel F. Hildebrand.]

194 1. Systematic Catalogue of the Fishes of Tortugas, Florida. Carnegie
Institution of Washington. Papers from Tortugas Laboratory, Vol.
XXXIV, Publ. 535, 1941, 331 P-, 33 photos., pis.
Liitken, C. F.

1880. Spolia Atlantica. Bidrag til Kundskab om Formforandringer hos
Fiske under deres Vaext og Udvikling sserligt hos nogle af At-
lanterhavets H0sj0fiske. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes
Selskabs Skrifter, Kj0benhavn, 1880, 5te Rsekke, Naturvidenskabelig

BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 285

og Mathematisk Afdeling, i2te Bind, p. 413-610, 5 plates. (French
summary incomplete; PI. Ill incorrectly referred to as PI. IV).
Munro, Ian S. R.

1943. Revision of Australian species of Scomberomorus. Memoirs of the
Queensland Museum, Vol. XII, 1943, Pt. II, p. 65-95, 8 pis., 4 figs.
Nichols, J. T., and C. M. Breder, Jr.

1926. The marine fishes of New York and southern New England. Zoolog-
ica: Scientific Contributions of the New York Zoological Society,
Vol. IX, 1926, No. I, 192 p., figs.
Nichols, J. T., and Francesca LaMonte.

1935. How many marlins are there? Natural History: Journal of The
American Museum of Natural History, Vol. XXXVI, 1935, p.
327-330, 5 photos.
Pearson, John C.

1929. Natural history and conservation of the redfish and other commercial
sciaenids on the Texas coast. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XLIV, 1928
(1929), p. 129-214, 44 figs. (Doc. 1046, 1929.)

1931. Sport fishing in Chesapeake Bay. U. S. Bur. Fish., Fishery Circular
No. I, 1931, 19 p., II figs.

1932. Winter trawl fishery off the Virginia and North Carolina coasts. U. S.
Bur, Fish., Investigational Report No. 10, Vol. i, 1932, 31 p.

Sanzo, L.

1929. Contributo alia conoscenza dello sviluppo nei Carancidi: Seriola
dumerili Risso. Bollettino di Zoologia, Anno I, 1929, No. i, p. 33-34-

1933. Uova, larve e stadi giovanili di Seriola dumerili Risso. Memoria R.
Comitate Talassografico Italiano, Venezia, 1933, 12 p., pis., 12 figs.

Schroeder, W. C.

1924. Fisheries of Key West and the clam industry of southern Florida.
Appendix XII, Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish., 1923 (1924), 74 p., 29 figs.
(Doc. 962, 1924.)
Smith, Hugh M.

1907. The fishes of North Carolina. North Carolina Geol. and Econ. Surv.,
1907, Vol. II, 449 p., 188 figs., 21 pis. Raleigh.
Truitt, R. V.

Sport fishing in Maryland. The Conservation Department of Mary-
land, 16 p., photos, (not dated).
Walford, Lionel A.

1937. Marine game fishes of the Pacific Coast from Alaska to the Equator.
Berkeley, The University of California Press (A contribution from
the Santa Barbara Museum), 205 p., figs., 69 pis.
Westman, J. R., and W. C. Neville.

1942. The tuna fishery of Long Island, New York. A survey conducted by
the United States Department of the Interior, Fish & Wildlife Service,
in cooperation with the County Executive and the Board of Super-

286 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

visors, Nassau County, L. I., New York. Issued May, 1942, 31 P-.
12 figs.
Whiteleather, R. T., and H. H. Brown.

1945. An experimental fishery survey in Trinidad, Tobago and British
Guiana with recommended improvements in methods and gear. Anglo-
American Caribbean Commission, Washington, 1945, 130 p., 42 figs.

Wylie, Philip.

1943. Florida fishing. New York: Yearbook International Game Fish

Association, 1943, p. 94-96.

PART III

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES OF
NORTH CAROLINA

BY Harden F. Taylor

CONTENTS

Page

Introduction 289

I. Economic Status and Standard of Living of the Coastal

Region of North Carolina 293

II. Economics of the Fisheries Generally 301

General and Qualitative 301

Production 301

Marketing, Distribution, and Consumption 328

Manufacturing 351

Quantitative Consideration of the Fisheries 363

Comparative Magnitudes of the Fisheries 363

United States Fisheries 371

Resume of Quantitative Fishery Economics 419

III. Economics and Marketing of North Carolina Fisheries 424

Production and Primary Marketing 424

The Historical and Statistical Record 424

North Carolina Fisheries Geographically Considered 433

Primary Distribution of North Carolina Sea Products 437

Inland Consumption, Distribution, and Marketing 445

The Potential Market 445

Mechanism of Distribution 452

Concluding Comments and Recommendations 461

Bibliography 471

Appendix 475

288

INTRODUCTION

It became clear early in this inquiry that any treatment of the economics of
the fisheries of North Carolina, a small part of those of the whole country,
was bound to be superficial and of little value. Viewed in small scale, locally,
and for short periods of time, and dominated by the uncertainties of weather,
erratic markets, and fisherman's luck, the fisheries appear to be capricious and
unpredictable. Yet when viewed statistically in larger perspective of time and
place, regularities or patterns of economic behavior might be expected to
appear, as they do in such other fields as insurance, trade and commerce,
wherein ''large scale order rests on small scale disorder."

Public thinking and official policy-making in the fisheries are usually based
on the assumption that purely biological factors of abundance of fish, or even
of particular species of fish, are the main if not the only determinant of the
welfare of the fishing community. Since the sole motive of all persons engaged
in the commercial fisheries is self-interest in making a living and making
money, and the magnitude of production and sales is determined by how
much fish the public will buy, of what kind and at what price, and sihce
demand by consumers, expressed by prices, must inevitably react on fisher-
men in their choices of what to catch, or try to catch, when and where, it
seems obvious that economic determinants have an importance and deserve
consideration at least equal to those of biological nature. The two sets of
determinants, economic and biological, act, react, and interact upon each
other so as to set the pattern of the whole, and a picture based solely on
biological considerations is bound to be one-sided and often erroneous.

As example, the decrease in abundance of Great Lakes fishes as indicated
by the statistics of catch of all and of particular fishes over a series of years
has created the impression in the United States and Canada that the Great
Lakes fisheries are in a serious state of depletion and threaten to become
worse, or exhausted, and to somebody's disadvantage, if measures of control
are not put into effect — an impression which seems well justified if biological
factors alone are considered and such economic factors as money values, cost
of catching, prices, numbers of fishermen engaged, etc., are disregarded.

Quite a different picture is presented when economic factors are con-
sidered. Our analysis of the data indicates, to the extent that the primary data
used can be relied upon, the following facts: that while the total catch by
United States fisheries in the Lakes is somewhat (15 per cent) less now (avg.
1921-1940) than formerly (avg. 1887-1908), the number of fishermen de-

289

290 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

dined less than it did in the whole United States; that prices advanced to
such an extent that the percentage increase in gross money value of food fish
was a third greater in the Lakes than it was in the whole United States; that
the gross value per fisherman increased by a percentage greater than that of
the whole, or of any other statistical region, of the United States; and that
per fisherman the exchange value of fish for other goods increased in the
Lakes region more than it did anjrwhere else in the country. Scarcity in this
case does not appear to have been a calamity to the fisherman. Under the
operation of purely automatic economic forces the Lakes fisheries adjusted
and regulated themselves in these and several other respects and had far-
reaching reaction in stimulating the production of other fishes both in salt
water of both oceans and fresh water as far away as Lake Okeechobee,
Florida, as will be seen in the details of this report.

What is needed is a clear understanding of the pattern of economic be-
havior generally which must be sought in the study of the fisheries of the
whole country and even of foreign countries. Such a study should try to
identify and measure the factors which fix the magnitude and determine the
internal and external competitive position of the fisheries as a source of
wealth and livelihood; it should try to discover the characteristics of the
market and their influence on the many local fisheries, and reveal sensitive
points at which action can bring about improvement. Above all, it should try
to find general and persistent regularities of behavior which will make it
possible to foresee in some measure the economic as well as biological effects
of whatever actions are taken in the making of public policy or in private
business.

Strange as it may seem, the literature appears to contain few if any such
studies of fisheries economics. The Reports and Bulletins of the U. S. Fish
Commission founded in 1871, and its successor agencies, the Bureau of
Fisheries and the Fish & Wildlife Service, contain much useful descriptive
material on the catching, preparation, and marketing of fishery products, and
also the main body of available statistics; but no economic studies of the kind
above referred to are found therein or, so far as we know, anywhere else.

Accordingly we have felt it advisable, at the risk of appearing to go far
beyond the terms of our undertaking in this Survey of the Marine Fisheries
of North Carolina, to make a beginning of such a study and to go as far with
it as our resources permit, and in the light of our findings to present what
economic data we have been able to assemble on North Carolina fisheries.

This study of general fishery economics is, of course, based mostly on the
United States fisheries, with corroboration of some points by data on certain
foreign countries, and with emphasis on the smaller and more localized
fisheries. It consists of two main divisions, the first devoted to the description,

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 291

mostly qualitative, of the economic nature and characteristics of the fisheries;
the second, to a quantitative consideration of the subject with somewhat
special emphasis on the oyster and the shrimp because of their local impor-
tance to North Carolina. The qualitative division is based largely on the
writer's personal observations, experience, and general reading.

The quantitative division on fish production and values of the United
States, both state and national, is based on the statistical data of the U. S.
Fish & Wildlife Service, and its predecessor agencies. This is done in order to
obtain the maximum of consistency, comparability, and uniformity. For
foreign countries, the data are taken from official sources. General economic
data, not on fisheries, are derived from standard sources, all of which are
cited.

The Government record of fisheries statistics is indispensable, of course,
but much more could be desired of it, both qualitative and quantitative. It is
perhaps idle now to say that data collected without specific purpose in view,
as they were, are almost certain to omit facts that the analyst will need to
answer critical questions, and that economic analysis should run concurrently
with collection of data. It is not now possible to separate seed oysters from
market oysters prior to 1902, nor to arrive at the total production and value
of particular fishes that were included in "all other" in some regions, and
shown separately in others half a century ago; nor is it possible to convert
menhaden oil and scrap to fresh menhaden with any accuracy. We must make
the most of the record as it stands.

The statistical record is defective principally in its failure in many cases
to explain sufficiently what was done and to make clear exactly what the
figures represent, and in the discontinuity of the record. Some of the doubts
arising from insufficient explanation were resolved by correspondence with
the officers of the Fish & Wildlife Service, who upon reexamination of the
record were able to supply some of the missing information. Especial thanks
are due to Mr. Andrew W. Anderson, Chief of the Division of Commercial
Fisheries, Mr. Fred F. Johnson, and Mr. E, A. Power, for their generous and
painstaking compliance with many requests for assistance of this and many
other kinds.

The Government data are all annual totals. It is therefore not possible to
analyze the short-term behavior of production and prices, and, from the
nature of the canvasses as we understand them, it appears that values were
oftener estimates than actual records of sales by fishermen and dealers;
prices shown herein are these values, whatever they are, divided by the
reported quantities.

To overcome the defect of discontinuity of the record it was necessary to
fill in the years of missing statistics by interpolation as the only means of
arriving at a continuous series and at totals for the whole country or large

292 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

parts of it. Further details of the manipulative procedure and tests of validity
of what was done are given in the statistical section.

Although the actual statistical record begins in 1880 and extends to 1945,
the data prior to 1887 were found to be of unsatisfactory comparability with
those of subsequent years. It was decided to end the study with 1940, not
only because of the impact of war-time price regulations and black markets,
but also because data of a general nature for comparative purposes were
obtained from the Census, the last one of which was in 1940. During the First
World War the field data are too sparse to be of much use even by interpola-
tion. It is therefore unfortunate that the economic behavior of the fisheries in
the upheavals of war are not presentable. The period 188 7- 1940 is considered
adequate to the purposes of this study in the search for the behavior pattern
and determinants rather than for the appraisal of the immediate economic
position of the fisheries.

Field data of North Carolina in the coastal region were collected by Mr.
Josiah W. Bailey, Jr., and in the interior by Dr. C. A. Kirkpatrick; consumer
market studies were made in Greensboro by Miss Margaret Edwards, Home
Economics Department, The Woman's College, Greensboro, assisted by Miss
Evelyn Sharpe; in Greenville by Mrs. A. E. Bloxton, East Carolina Teachers
College; in Raleigh by Miss Ellen Brewer of Meredith College. Miss Mavis
W. Gibbs generously cooperated with Dr. Kirkpatrick in furnishing him
information on the marketing of fish in North Carolina, and Professor Dudley
J. Cowden and Mr. Warren W. Webb computed the effective buying income
of the coastal counties for 1939. Miss Minerva C. Billard, in addition to
t5^ing the manuscript and the voluminous statistical tables, performed much
of the tedious work of their compilation and calculation and of proofreading
the manuscript. To all of these grateful acknowledgment for their generous
assistance is here made.

I. ECONOMIC STATUS AND STANDARD OF

LIVING OF THE COASTAL REGION OF

NORTH CAROLINA

Since we are especially concerned in this Survey with the economic welfare
of the coastal region of North Carolina, certain quantitative data concerning
the twenty-one seaboard counties have been assembled from various sources
and are presented in Tables 63 to 67, Appendix. They reflect some of the
economic conditions and standard of living as a background for our more
detailed consideration of the fisheries.

Population. North Carolina has been for many years among the States
having most rapid increase in population, by reason of its high birth rate and
low death rate. The rate of increase in the 21 coastal counties has been
slower in recent years than that of the State as a whole, the population being
12.4 per cent of that of the whole State in 1920, 10.8 per cent in 1930 and
10.2 per cent in 1940. From 1920 to 1940 the population of the United States
increased 24.5 per cent, that of North Carolina as a whole 39.6 per cent, that
of the 79 non-coastal counties 43.1 per cent, that of the 21 coastal counties
increased only 14.5 per cent, and four of the coastal counties declined in
population, including Hyde, which is sixth in value of fish production, while
four others increased less than 10 per cent including Pamlico, which stands
fourth in value of fish production. In the intervening decades, between 1920
and 1930, the population of the coastal counties increased 7.8 per cent, while
that of the remaining 79 counties of the State increased 26.1 per cent, and
between 1930 and 1940 the coastal counties increased 6.2 per cent, the rest
of the State 13.5 per cent. These figures of population consistently indicate a
general failure of the seaboard counties to hold their increment of population
as does the State as a whole, and suggest a general social unattractiveness of
the coastal region. This fact is especially true of some of the counties which
are actually or potentially among the best for fishing operations. The rural-
farm population in 1940 was 48.5 per cent of the whole population of the
twenty-one counties and 10.6 per cent of the rural-farm population of the
State. The density of population per square mile in 1940 in the twenty-one
counties was 36.4; in the whole State, 72.7.

Agriculture. The main source of livelihood of the region is agriculture, in
which the figures of comparison are more favorable to the coastal counties
than are those of population. In comparison with the ratio of population of

293

294 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

the coastal counties of around lo per cent of that of the whole State (10.2
per cent in 1940), the number of farms is 10.3 per cent, the number of
farmers and farm managers 11.3 per cent, and the gross farm income 12,9
per cent; the average size of farms is a little larger than that of the whole
State (75.1 vs. 67.7 acres) and the average value per farm in all the counties
is slightly more than that of the whole State; the amount of mechanization
in farm autos and of trucks and tractors per 100 farms is of the same general
magnitude as that of the whole State, but less than that of the whole United
States, possibly by reason of the generally smaller farms and special nature
of the crops (tobacco, peanuts, potatoes, etc.). The percentage of farm
tenancy is about the same as that of the whole State, which is slightly more
than that of the whole United States; however, North Carolina ranks thir-
teenth highest among the States in percentage of farms operated by tenants
or thirty-fifth in percentage operated by owners. The per cent of farms mort-
gaged is not far from the State and national averages. Considering that the
coastal counties account for their share of agricultural values in proportion
to their percentage part of the whole population and rural farm population
of the whole State, some deductions can be made by examining the agricul-
tural ranking of North Carolina among the forty-eight States.

In the cash marketings of farm crops North Carolina stands third, being
exceeded by California and Texas; in cash marketings of livestock it stands
twenty-eighth; in the value of crops consumed at home the State stands in
first position, and in the value of livestock products consumed at home it
stands second among all the States. Also, in the combined value of cash
marketings and home consumption of crops, North Carolina stands third,
and in livestock products, twenty-second. In total value of all products, plant
and animal, sold for cash and consumed at home, including Government pay-
ments. North Carolina stands thirteenth among the States (eleventh in pop-
ulation). In the percentage of the State total value of farm produce, both
crops and livestock, consumed at home, North Carolina stands eighth in rank
among the States, West Virginia being first and the southeastern cotton States
as a group standing at the top. From all these points of view, North Carolina
as a State ranks agriculturally high among all the States.

However, the States vary greatly in size and population. When, therefore,
we divide the total of all annual farm values, crops and livestock, sold for
cash and consumed at home, plus Government payments, by the rural-farm
populations, North Carolina stands thirty-eighth among the States, with $380
per capita of rural farm population. The States with the highest percentage
of home consumption are the lowest in per capita total farm income, West
Virginia being forty-eighth and the southeastern cotton States occupying
positions from thirty-seven to forty-seven. (Texas is thirty- fifth.) From this
point of view, North Carolina, though largely agricultural, was in 1940 a

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 295

relatively poor State in agricultural income, and the coastal region has its
proportional share of this poor showing.

Some indication was obtained that the region buys more and produces less
of its own food requirements than it needs to, in view of its own possibilities
in kitchen gardens, cows, pigs, chickens, and fisheries, but we were unable
to find quantitative data with which to measure this factor.

Manufacturing. The region is not considered a manufacturing region, but
has in number 9.1 per cent of the State's establishments, does about 2 per
cent of the business, and employs 3.8 per cent of the wage earners. Sawmill-
ing is the chief manufacture of the region outside of New Hanover County,
and menhaden oil, meal, and scrap in Carteret County.

Standard of Living. The standard of living in the coastal region, as meas-
ured by a few selected categories of material comforts, conveniences, facili-
ties, services, and buying power, is generally somewhat below that of the
remainder of the State, though the comparison is not seriously unfavorable.
Outside the towns, the dwellings are mostly without conveniences of plumb-
ing, central heating, and gas; a smaller percentage have been built since 1929,
and more are in need of major repair (as of 1940) than those of the whole
State. In effective buying power the coastal counties increased from 9.4 per
cent of that of the whole State in 1939 to 9.6 per cent in 1944. Most of this
buying power had its origin in agriculture and lumbering. Educational facili-
ties and services are to a large extent provided by the State and cannot be
used as a local criterion of comparison. The number of hospital beds (for
white and colored) is slightly larger in proportion to the total of the State
than is the population. Hospital facilities and public health services, however,
are also regarded more as a State than a local responsibility, and were dealt
with by the legislature of 1947.

Taxes. The 21 counties of the coastal region, having 10.2 per cent of the
population of the State in 1940, accounted in that year for 7.24 per cent of
the individual and 6.95 per cent of the domestic corporation State income tax
returns, and paid 5.29 per cent of the individual and 2.77 per cent of the
domestic corporation income taxes. The individual taxes paid per 100 of
population in the 21 coastal counties were only 56.9 per cent of those of the
State as a whole.

In these comparisons, the coastal region is set against the 100 counties of
the State, including not only the 21 coastal counties themselves but the
mountain counties and certain others of low economic status. If the com-
parison were made between the 2 1 coastal and the 79 non-coastal counties,
the contrast would be even greater. In some of the counties, including the
fishing counties of Hyde, Pamlico, Onslow, Tyrrell, and Brunswick, the
revenue derived by the State from income taxes is negligible.

Fisheries. The average value of the fish production for the five-year period.

296

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

TABLE 1

Comparison of Fisheries with Agriculture, Forestry and
Manufacturing in Coastal Counties

Value

Effec-

of fish,

Gross

Value

Value

tive

Number

Average

farm

of
lumber

added
by

Wages
paid

buying

of

fisher-

Number

Number

1936 to

income

income

of

wage

Counties

1940

1940

1942

mf'r

1939

per

men

farmers

earners

incl.

(est.)

1939

capita

1939-40

Average

1936-40

incl.

1940

1939

$(000)

$(000)

$(000)

$(000)

$(000)

$

Carteret

913

78S

207

645

244

260

2,605

538

463

Dare

297

32

27

15

235

771

15

26

Brunswick

172

1,229

298

949

304

205

660

1,590

531

Pamlico

145

1,163

188

37

7

203

391

736

17

Beaufort

93

4,463

1,641

966

342

285

393

3,220

650

Hyde

66

634

63

210

187

883

Chowan

49

1,456

261

381

179

267

156

862

368

New Hanover

47

758

66

9,121

1,775

494

415

268

2,606

Onslow

46

1,969

204

153

84

206

325

2,440

148

Bertie

39

3,470

1,380

378

212

220

69

3,430

507

Pasquotank

32

1,271

794

2,407

1,001

350

57

757

1,639

Pender

31

1,545

458

186

94

199

165

1,826

226

Currituck

25

843

87

217

156

691

Perquimans

18

1,139

435

364

132

232

77

1,028

230

Tyrrell

13

623

367

57

27

205

97

466

80

Washington

10

1,077

299

285

161

233

93

904

277

Craven

7

2,738

900

1,554

674

298

80

2,210

1,121

Hertford

7

2,410

389

669

307

225

39

1,956

601

Martin

6

4,261

736

1,346

474

254

lOI

2,360

559

Gates

2

1,25s

115

29

20

211

16

1,228

42

Camden

I

781

13

219

15

583

Total

2,020

33,900

8,901

19,553

6,052

280

6,909

27,991

10,091

1936 to 1940, inclusive, was $2,019,632, which may be compared with farm
income of $33,900,000 in 1940. The average number of fishermen was 6,909
(of whom about 1,500 were employed casually) which may be compared with
27,991 farmers and farm managers. While the region is not considered a
manufacturing community, it furnished in 1939 employment to 10,131 wage
earners who received $6,052,000 in wages and added a value of $19,553,000
by manufacture. Thus the fisheries employed (full or part time) 24.7 per cent
as many persons, and produced 6.0 per cent as much value as agriculture, and
employed 69.0 per cent as many persons as received wages in manufacturing
while producing only 32.3 per cent as muchJn gross value as were paid in
wages in manufacturing and 10.2 per cent as much as the value added by
manufacture. In 1942, the 21 counties produced 317,678,000 board feet of

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 297

lumber which at an estimated value of $28 per M. would amount to $8,-
896,000, or 4.2 times the average value of fish production of 1936-40 (4.8
times the 1940 value, $1,865,000, Table 24).

Figures of capital investment are not available, but it is probable that the
wealth produced by agriculture, forestry, and manufacture results from the
emplojonent of both labor and a substantial amount of capital, while that
produced by the fisheries is mainly produced by labor. It is not possible from
the data at our disposal to make a more rigorous comparison of the fisheries
with agriculture, forestry, and manufacturing as sources of wealth. The cost
of operations and the employment of shore labor and the amount of wages
paid in the fisheries on the one hand, and the secondary sales values of fish
and farm, forest, or manufactured products on the other, are not ascertain-
able so as to make possible an over-all comparison of values to the region
with any satisfactory degree of accuracy.

Even though wealth produced locally may diffuse throughout the coastal
region, it is misleading to apply the fishery figures to all the twenty-one
counties, many of which are so situated that they cannot be fishing communi-
ties more than incidentally. If we set up the counties in descending order of
value of fish product as they are in Table i, the comparisons are more
illuminating.

Here we see that the greater part of the value of fish production is in four
counties, Carteret, Dare, Brunswick, and Pamlico. In only two of these,
namely, Carteret and Dare, are the fisheries the leading source of income
from natural resources or manufacturing, and only in Dare is the value of
fish greater than farm income and manufacturing combined. It may be that
the new income from "The Lost Colony" pageant will be an important item
in Dare County, though of doubtful permanency. No figures are available
for the revenue brought into the coastal counties by sports fishermen, which
may be an important item in Currituck, Dare, Hyde, Carteret, and possibly
Brunswick.

Recapitulation. An attempt is made in Table 2 to set up an over-all com-
parison of the twenty-one coastal counties. In this table the ranks of the
counties in fourteen categories of measurement are arranged, those of a
favorable nature in descending order, and those of an unfavorable nature
(per cent of farm mortgages, of farm tenancy, of houses in need of major
repair, and population per dwelling unit) in ascending order, so that "best"
is No. I and "worst" is No. 21 in each column. Since the quantities ranked
are not absolutes, but relatives, i.e., per cents and per capitas, they are not
affected by size or population of counties. No attempt is made here to weight
the various indices for relative importance; the averages may be distorted
by the inclusion of so much data on housing and other characteristics, and the

298

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

a

c3
O
U

<

c

•^

hJ

o

o

Ov

rO

13

On

;-i

crt

•n

vi-i

c

U

rt

t/l

•4->

"1

f/^

CTl

^3

C!

fl

rt

o

}-,

rrt

rt

u

<u

^

t^

o

C3

J^

r/1

«

O

-(->

CO

O

Pi

qsg Suipnpui

t^OOMvOOOC'W H^OO^■*l-lC50VOO^C>O^OO^Ol/^

MMM N MW MMMM MM

t^OOiilO ■^O^vO M M^c) NvOl^O -^M roOViOO m

MCS M MM MMMMM MM

vOOOOOOtJ-Ovoh t^c^oMTj-OONO^rOMt^lOPO

MM M MM CIMMM M MM

Tj-MOO M ONOvt^iH >0 COCOOIONVO 0 WOO rt-l^l/^

MM M MM C^MM MM MM

OfC^O00i-i0i-i*~-0'*'*"'^f^'^00O»M\O>o

M Mm mn m mmmmcjm

OMPO-^nl^OOO 0»0v1^>0Mt^O0)C00MC0»'3
„ MM MM MM MMMM M

ulMMt^C0C>*^O '^OOrO^'^MONOWrOMOO'^

MM MM t-lM MMHMmM

r01^0'<4-ir>OlOM MMT^vOt^O'^OOM^OC^OOH

M MM MmMmMmMM M

rOiOMOO t'-MvO M t— rJ-M roO O^iAO 'I'OO M O ©>

MM M MM MM MM MMH

fOrfiOOvO "d-li^M M M M Ml^O OOO fOO>r^O^00

MM M MM MMMM M MM

OOOOVOOlOl CT^Mrj-OMfOl MtOMCO'^'**^!
M M 1 MM mImMM Wl

lOMC^TtOvTl-t^M VOOO'OOO^t^MOOMOWtO
MM MMM M MMMMMm

M M COOO tJ-OmvO t^M 0 T}-tOl/1ONOVO00I-~COM

M MM MM MMM mmMm

vor^MO OON'^tOO fOrOO ■^O M Miy-iMVO mOOj^

MM MM MM rJMMM Mm

ot-di
'nidro J3d i^npiAipui

ot'6i

ofr-eeei » BjidBD jad

atnoDui auiXnq aAipaga

■a

3
M

•a
•a
'3.

3
u
O

oipEJ qjiAi luaDja^j

}!un jad uoijEindOjj

jauMO
Xq paidnoDO juaojaj

'c

3
bo

■f

X!

<

6261 aauisiimq inaajaj

sjiEdaj
jofEiu paau juaojaj

jaiBAi Suiaanj ^uaajaj

siqgji DijjDaia jnaawj

■jaajEa aSBM lad ajnpBj
-nuEui Xq pappE anjE^

Xanenaj uuej ^naojaj

paSEgjJoin
suiJEj juaajaj

ot'6i 0} oj6i
nonEindod ui asnajoni

■pui ofr-9f6i
qsg aniEA aSBjaAy

HMPOiJ-VivOr^OO O\0i-iMr0'*l'^\Ot^00O0M

MMMMMMMMMMMM

u

U Q pq &H pq W U iz; 0 m d. Pk U A. H > U ffi ^ 0 U

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

299

omission of others, such as property taxes, public debt, etc., but they prob-
ably reflect the over-all relative economic status of these counties.

The average of all the ranks for each county is shown in the last column.
These averages are themselves ranked in Table 3.

TABLE 3

Comparative Welfare of Twenty-one Coastal Counties of North Carolina;

Over-all and Average Rank in 14 Categories of Measurement and in

Value of Fish Production

, Value of fish

Average of 1936-1940
Economic welfare inclusive

Over-all

Average rank in

rank

County

14 categories

County

Rank

I

New Hanover

4.2

Carteret

I

2

Carteret

4-7

Dare

2

3

Dare

5-8

Brunswick

3

4

Craven

7.8

Pamlico

4

5

Pasquotank

7-9

Beaufort

5

6

Beaufort

8.0

Hyde

6

7

Brunswick

10.2

Chowan

7

8

Chowan

10.2

New Hanover

8

9

Martin

II. 2

Onslow

9

10

Hertford

II-3

Berde

10

II

Pender

11.4

Pasquotank

II

12

Washington

11.9

Pender

12

13

Pamlico

12.6

Currituck

13

14

Currituck

I3-I

Perquimans

14

15

Tyrrell

13-5

Tyrrell

15

16

Bertie

13-6

Washington

16

17

Perquimans

13-8

Craven

17

18

Onslow

14.1

Hertford

18

19

Camden

14-5

Marrin

19

20

Gates

14.9

Gates

20

21

Hyde

16.0

Camden

21

This analysis indicates that the fisheries in their present state of develop-
ment serve to put Carteret and Dare counties near the top in rank in
economic welfare, and to lift Pamlico slightly from a place near the bottom
of the list. In commercial fisheries it appears that the counties with best
access to the source are Carteret, Pamlico, Brunswick, Dare, and Onslow,
while Pasquotank, Beaufort, and Craven are well situated as possible pri-
mary market centers. Considering both opportunity in geographical access
to the fisheries, and need of economic betterment, Brunswick, Hyde, Onslow,
and Pamlico call for especial effort to improve the fisheries.

Conclusion. The coastal region may be considered a community of mild

300 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

climate and simple life, where essential physical wants are provided without
great effort or hardship; the facilities in the country and seaside villages are
primitive, but sufficient if wants are few and ambition is low. Judged by
sophisticated standards, life might appear to be unexciting and the region
unable to offer its young people generally sufficient inducement to hold them
in large numbers. It is too easy to seek greener pastures elsewhere. We
made no survey of social conditions. It is now fashionable to assume that
crime, dereliction, juvenile delinquency and general degradation commonly
go along with poverty and overcrowding, especially in large cities. In the
region we are considering there is certainly no overcrowding (density of
population 36.8 per sq. mi.). In some of the counties the density of popula-
tion itself appears to be too low for economic vigor. There may be poverty
in the sense of deficiency of cash income and subsistence farming, but
apparently not to the extent of destitution, since, as has been pointed out,
the natural conditions make simple subsistence relatively easy to find.
If there is malnutrition it can be ascribed not to lack of food or the oppor-
tunity to obtain it, but rather to lack of interest in and knowledge of good
food as the basis of health and a source of enjoyment. There is a noticeable
lack of man-made beauty or signs of pride in habitation, clothes, or sur-
roundings. We made no survey of the state of health or prevalence of disease
of the inhabitants.

The region as a whole has rich natural resources in its farm land, forests,
and fisheries but contents itself mainly with the production and sale of bulk
commodities in agriculture and fisheries, and to some extent the first step
of manufacture, as in rough sawed lumber, without pursuit of the many
opportunities for further enrichment by more advanced manufacture of
finished consumer goods, alertness in the adoption of the many technical
improvements in the production of wealth, or even adequate exploitation of
the natural resources. It can hardly be doubted that the main impediment to
what we call progress is that the human qualities of creative enterprise and
desire and ambition for more and better things have not had adequate stimu-
lation. Whether the spirit of enterprise can be engendered or stimulated by
action from without the region, or whether it must necessarily arise spon-
taneously from within, cannot be decided by any data at hand, but since
it has not already spontaneously arisen to any marked extent, whatever
action is undertaken must proceed in the faith that it can be engendered
by some form of intervention, such as a program of scientific research and
promotion.

<><XX>O<X><><X><><X><^0<><><>^^

11. ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES GENERALLY

General and Qualitative

PRODUCTION

The Ultimate Sources of Production of Fisheries and Agriculture. Nearly
all of the food and raw materials of the earth have been derived from the
29 per cent of its surface occupied by land. Only a small amount by com-
parison is supplied by the remaining 71 per cent occupied by the ocean,
although it contains the great bulk of the world's accessible soluble minerals,
including the fertilizers on which plants and animals subsist. The fisheries
deplete no natural resources, they automatically replenish themselves, and
what they produce is a net return of wealth to the land from which it was
originally lost. As the world's human populations continue to increase,
demanding about 2>4 acres of agricultural land for the support of each
person and with the possibility that agricultural land may in future have
to be used to grow raw materials for the manufacture of liquid fuels, the
need becomes greater to determine what the resources of the sea are and
how to use them.

The first fact of economic significance is that in contrast with agricul-
tural soil a few inches thick which must be maintained, protected from
erosion and fertilized,^ the ultimate source of the fisheries, the ocean and
its content of chemical fertility and its photo synthetic production of basic
vegetation, is inexhaustible and requires no fertilization or maintenance.
The sea is so vast and its water is in such continuous circulation that man
can do nothing by way of addition or subtraction to affect in the slightest
detectable degree the chemical fertility or the production of basic vegeta-
tion except locally and temporarily and on a very small scale. This assertion
applies also, with perhaps slightly more qualification, to the large inland
seas and lakes, and exception must of course be made for smaller lakes,,
ponds, etc. The word inexhaustible here does not mean that the supply of
fish, even at sea, is limitless. There is undoubtedly some limit, as yet un-
known, to the possible yield of fish as natural wildlife even at sea, both

I. 815,000 tons of nitrogen and 1,850,000 tons of phosphorus were used to fertilize the soil in
the United States in 1948. Lodge, F. S. Fertilizers in 1947-48. Chemical and Engineering News,
Vol. 26, p. 18-19, 1948.

301

302 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

locally and generally. Such limit as there is, is in the amount of basic vegeta-
tion that is converted into useful fishes and other animals. There is, how-
ever, no evidence that the ultimate potentials of production are affected by
exploitation even if carried to the point of diminishing returns; there ap-
pears to be no reason to doubt that once the pressure of exploitation is
relieved in heavily fished areas the fisheries would return to their original
state.

Agriculture, the source of most of the world's food and much of its raw
materials, is at its best and most efficient in the production of vegetable
crops; in feeding these crops to animals and in converting them into animal
protein and fat as meat, milk, and eggs, only a small percentage of the food
content is recovered (in terms of calories of energy), varying from 4 to 5
per cent as beef, lamb and poultry meat, 7 per cent as eggs, 15 per cent as
milk, and 20 per cent as pork. (Maynard, 1946.) In addition to this eco-
nomic loss, a great deal of labor and expense is devoted to cultivating the
crops and feeding and tending animals.

The fisheries are at their best in the production of animal proteins and'
fats, the most expensive and most needed classes of food. Nearly all the
vegetation in the sea and larger lakes is microscopic and not now directly
useful to man; it must be transformed into animals large enough to be
useful; in this transformation (often in several steps) there are also large
losses as yet not accurately known, but apparently smaller at each step than
those in land animals.^ Whatever may be the biological efficiency or ineffi-
ciency in the production of aquatic vegetation and its transformation into
animal substance as fish, it may be disregarded for our purposes here since
it involves no labor or expense; from the economic point of view all the
factors of production of the fisheries are provided by nature; we need only
harvest the crop.

Comparative Costs of Fishery and Agricultural Products. We have only
fragmentary data for direct comparison of the over-all costs of production
of meat and fish. In order that a comparison can be made, we assume that
first selling prices are comparably related to costs of production in the two
classes of products. Table 4 shows, for the United States in 1938-39-40,
the primary prices of fish and domestic animals.

The National Research Council^ estimated the cost of production in
man-years for the lowest cost domestic animal food, i.e., growing corn
and feeding pigs in the most productive regions. The figures show 50,000
pounds of pigs on the hoof, or 32,600 pounds of edible pork and lard per
man-year. The exact figures for the most productive fisheries (North Atlantic

2. For critical exposition and review of literature on efficiency of food conversion in fishes, see
Lindeman (1942), and Ricker (1946).

3. Unpublished MS. See Food & Agriculture Organization, (1945).

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

303

TABLE 4

Average Prices in Cents per Pound of Fish (Total U. S. Production) at

Ports of Landing and of Domestic Animals at Local Markets in

the United States, 1938-39-40

YEAR

FISH *

ANIMALS t

Fin

Shell t

AlU

Beef
Cattle

Calves,
Veal

Sheep

Lambs Hogs

Chicken

Eggs

1938
1939
1940

1.78
1.80
2.00

5-72
5-54
5-98

2.20
2.17
2.44

6.54
7.14

7-55

7.90
8.40
8.86

3-58
3-90
3-95

7-05 7-74
7.78 6.23
8.10 5.39

13-5
13-3

12.9
11.8
11.8

Sources:
* Calculated from statistical reports U. S. Bureau of Fisheries and Fish & Wildlife Service,
t Statistical Abstract of the United States, No. 66, 1944-45, Tables 727 and 740.
t Oysters, clams, and scallops included in this column are net meats exclusive of shells.

and Alaska herring, menhaden, and California pilchard) are not available,
but the estimate was made of 500,000 pounds of pilchard per man-year, or
10 times the yield of the corn-pig combination (in the period 1940-4'!).
A more exact comparison can be made with the somewhat more costly
(but still very efficient) New England trawler fishery for cod, haddock,
flounder, etc., in which a trawler with 20 men in crew produces 4 million
pounds whole fish or 200,000 pounds per man-year — four times the yield
of pigs. At 42 per cent yield of edible portions from the whole fish, the produce
would be 84,000 pounds per man-year, or 2.57 times the production of edible
pork and fat in pigs, which ratio is about the same as that of the base prices.
This comparison is superficial, since it takes no account of capital invest-
ment or supplies and services purchased by either farmers or fishermen.
Certainly agricultural livestock production has nothing to approach the low
cost of the 5^ billion pounds of herring, pilchard, and menhaden valued at
^2 cent per pound in the three years, 1938-39-40 combined.

Even though the comparisons now possible are superficial, and more
study is needed, the differences are so great that there can be no doubt that
the bulk fisheries yield food values in protein and fat at far lower cost at the
point of production than that of land animals.

In the search for cheap sources of food protein and fat, the cultivation of
yeast has been proposed and to some extent practiced. A recent report * on
conversion by yeast of sugars prepared from by-product or waste wood
cellulose to protein indicated a yield of about 25 per cent, as compared
with about 5 per cent if the same sugar is fed to pigs. In order to do even
this, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium had to be added and "assuming

4. Chemical and Engineering News, Staff Report, "Yeast Hailed as Aid in World Food Supply
Problem," Vol. 26, p. 3487, Nov. 22, 1948.

304 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

no charge for the by-product wood sugar other than preparation expenses,
raw materials and power costs for wood yeast were estimated ... at about
1.5 cents per pound. Plant, labor and overhead costs would be added to
this figure depending upon the type of installation." Even this hoped-for
source of food does not compare with fish in edible value and cost. Sixteen
countries of Northern Europe in 1938 produced 3,580,000,000 pounds of
herring which were sold in the markets at average price equivalent to 1.02
cents per pound.

In nutritive value fish proteins and fats can be taken as approximately
equal to those of domestic animals; fish generally are at least equal or
perhaps superior to land animals in content of vitamins and calcium, and
certainly superior in "trace" elements, iodine, copper, manganese, fluorine,
and several others, but inferior in fats and higher in water content.^ It can
scarcely be doubted that fish contain all the ten essential amino acids, those
which contain sulphur, viz., cystine and methionine, being especially note-
worthy. Recent works which we cannot review here indicate that fish flesh
is of high biological value as food, and that from the point of view of
national or world nutrition fish could serve as the equivalent, in every way,
of meat.

Earning Power of the Fisheries. With all the advantages of indestructible
source and fundamentally lower cost, fishing does not have the reputation of
being a very profitable business or the source of large fortunes for individual
persons; even moderate fortunes are few and generally made by dealing in
rather than catching fish, and the industry remains small. Such wealth as
the fisheries produce is mostly diffused as livelihood for the fishermen,
dealers, and workers in coastal communities and as a valuable food for the
whole population. Since the fisheries do not offer much opportunity for
ready profit they have never been attractive to large amounts of venture
capital and the enterprise, research, and inventiveness that go with venture
capital on a large scale. They are therefore a relatively backward industry.
The explanation for the low earning power of the fishing business is to be
found not in one but in many of its industrial characteristics, which are
of the nature of handicaps at the source and throughout the distributive
mechanism.

Fisheries an Extractive Commodity Industry. The fisheries are, along
with agriculture, forestry, and mining, an extractive commodity industry.
Manufacturing industries generally have protections of various kinds which
limit competition, such as patents, secret processes, well known brands and

5. For data on food values of fish, see Atwater, (1892); Clark and Almy, (1918) *; Dill,
(1921); Manning, (1931) *; McCance and Shipp, (1933) *; Taylor, (1932) *; U. S. Bureau of
Fisheries (several authors) (1926) * (Those marked * contain bibliographies and further citations
of literature).

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 305

trade-marks, public acceptance promoted by advertising, ownership of
sources of materials, easy accessibility of capital and credit, and numer-
ous others, which make it difficult for newcomers to establish effective
competition.

The extractive industries generally have fewer protections; they extract
the products of nature from the earth, soil, and water; the products are
usually not identified with any particular producer, are sold in bulk with
little or no advertising or special good will, and without benefit of patents,
brands and trade-marks. Generally, one man's produce of a given grade is
as good as another's; the quantity produced is in equilibrium with demand
at prices, which yield small margins of profit, if any, per unit — often no more
than a wage for those engaged.

Yet in all the three extractive industries other than fisheries there is at
least the protective advantage of private ownership of the sources. Property
rights in farms, forest lands, and mines are widely respected and protected
from trespass by public authority. The requirement of an amount of capital
at least equal to the value of the land is a further limitation on the amount
of competition, which makes possible a profit on capital investment.

Fishery Sources not Privately Owned. The sources of fish are not privately
owned or controlled but, subject to public regulation, are free for all with
a few exceptions where, as in leased oyster bottoms, the lessee's rights are
often little respected and public authority often fails to protect them ade-
quately. The compensation of labor in fishing is generally not wages but a
share in the catch. The main characteristic which distinguishes fishing from
all other producing industries, both manufacturing and extractive, is its
communistic nature, that is, the common- or non-ownership of the source-
and a sharing of the catch.

The effects of this determinant run through the entire structure of the
fishing industry. We deal here briefly with the more important of them in
the catching of fish.

a. Minimal Requirement of Capital. Capital investment corresponding to
the ownership of agricultural land is not required in the fisheries. The
fisherman is not tied by investment in, ownership of, and residence on, the
ultimate source of his product as the farmer is tied to his land. Where the
farmer is under practical necessity to plant his acres regardless of prospects
for a slow-growing annual crop which must be planned long in advance of
the market, the fisherman with relatively small investment in movable boats
and gear is free to make quick decisions to fish more or less or not at all
where he is, or to go elsewhere. He is also free to make quick changes in
tools and methods and to seek different fishes. Fisheries production is there-
fore highly mobile and elastic in contrast with the rigidity of agriculture.
As a consequence of this fact, the fisheries are highly sensitive and quickly

306 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

responsive to the forces 0} supply and demand, inflation and deflation, as
will be seen in the Section on quantitative economics.

b. Free Enterprise and Unlimited Competition. Most fishing operations
requiring little of capital, skill, or experience are to a large extent the enter-
prise of individuals or very small groups of people who are free to go fishing.
The fisheries therefore attract as many fishermen as can economically sur-
vive, and competition is at the maximum. A profit to fishermen may be
realized from an occasional coincidence of a number of favorable circum-
stances that give the fishermen a greater return than wages. Such a coinci-
dence occurred in the late World War II, when the scarcity of meat caused
a sudden demand for fish which could not be met with the number of fishing
boats available, the building of additional boats was restricted, and fisher-
men were drafted into the armed services. Prices rose sharply before OPA
could apply controls and fishermen profited handsomely, i.e., their income
was temporarily far in excess of prevailing wages of skilled labor. This
condition, though without price control, continues to some extent in the
postwar period because of the demand for all foods for export. In normal
times, when competitive forces are free and in equilibrium, the rewards to
the fishermen (the catch or a share in it) have some of the characteristics
of wages, but, unlike wages they are not measured alone by the time or
effort expended but in large part by chance both in catching and in the state
of the market.

c. Restrictive Legislation. Until recent years public interest in the United
States has not concerned itself greatly in dictating the use of farm, forest,
or mineral lands. It has rather promoted and assisted at public expense the
exploitation of them as basic sources of wealth, and while the more recent
public policies in agriculture are somewhat concerned with soil conservation,
their general design is to make the land and farm labor more productive of
wealth and to promote the economic welfare of farmers. The fisheries, how-
ever, being public, are in the circumstances above described the subject of
rivalries, fears, and jealousies which give rise to the belief, deeply and
historically implanted in the public mind and not minimized by political
interest and the demands of sportsmen, that the fisheries are to be regarded
less as a source of wealth to be promoted than a limited natural resource in
danger of being exhausted or "depleted." The fisheries are therefore the
subject of all manner of restrictive legislation, much of which is illogical
and contradictory, and which enforces inefficiency and generally interferes
with the free play of economic forces to the disadvantage of the commercial
fisheries in competition with agriculture.

Fisheries literature from the earliest times is replete with recorded beliefs
of which hundreds could be quoted that (i) the yield of the fisheries is
declining; (2) the declines are caused by excessive fishing or by destructive

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 307

methods, and at the wrong times and places; (3) legislation would halt the
declines and restore productivity. For a time (about 1872 to 1915) there
was also great confidence in the efficacy of fish culture.

In Massachusetts 359 legislative acts were passed between 1623 and
1857 involving directly the protection of food fishes. '^ Running throughout
the Reports (from 1872) and Bulletins (from 1881) of the U. S. Fish Com-
mission is a continuous stream of alarms at the diminution and even "ap-
proaching exhaustion" that threatened the fisheries, and every improvement
and innovation of more efficient methods of capture (trawl lines in New
England, pound nets, use of purse seine for food fish, paranzella net in
California, beam- and later otter-trawl, etc.) were met with opposition, often
violent, much of which expressed itself in prohibitory laws.

Implicit in the early literature is the belief that the amount of fish avail-
able is the sole determinant of the number and welfare of the fishermen,
and the belief that fishermen can and will continue to exploit to exhaustion
a fishery after it has reached a point of unprofitable yield. There is appar-
ently no thought of how prices would behave in the event of a scarcity of
fish in general or of particular species. While some skepticism was occasion-
ally expressed in legislative hearings, the consensus of general and official
opinion from 1872 to 1900 was that to perpetuate the fisheries there were
needed more restrictive legislation and extensive fish culture by hatching
eggs. A great program of hatching was carried out over the succeeding fifty
or sixty years (from the 1870's), but hatching seems now fairly well dis-
credited except for stocking lakes, streams, and ponds with game fishes.
While some of the more vulnerable anadromous species have indeed de-
clined in abundance notwithstanding both hatching and restrictive measures
(their habitats in the fresh water streams having been made largely unsuit-
able), the sea fisheries have continued to increase in yield. The catch even
of the Great Lakes fisheries was greater in 1940, 1945, and 1946 than it
was in 1879; New England fisheries have doubled, as have those of the old
Atlantic-Gulf fishery regions as a whole.

It is not possible to determine how the tangle of restrictive legislation has
affected the yield of the fisheries, whether or not it has, in fact, preserved
the supply from "depletion," or whether it has helped to keep the fisheries
industry small by keeping its costs unnecessarily high. In any event the
demand for laws (originating to some extent among the fishermen them-
selves) continues. We have made no survey of legislation in the several
States. The commercial fisheries regulations of North Carolina (1948)
(apparently not including the basic law), contain, on casual count, 148
prohibitions. Instead of permitting the fisherman to sell his produce, what-
ever it is, for the best price obtainable, and the market to say, through price,

6. Rept. U. S. Fish Comm., Part II, for 1872-73, p. 20.

308 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

for what purpose the fish is most needed, "food" fish cannot lawfully be
caught, bought, sold, or possessed for any purpose other than human con-
sumption, nor can food fish be caught by the purse seine (one of the most
efficient implements); California limits the percentage of sardine catch
that can be manufactured into fish meal and oil; trawlers are (or were,
pre-war) limited, as being "too destructive," to four in Nova Scotia, one in
Newfoundland, and none in Norway; power dredges for oysters were for-
bidden in North Carolina until recently; there are many restrictions in all
the fishing States applying to kind, size, mode, and place of operation of
nets, traps, purse seines, etc., prohibitions of night and Sunday fishing,
regardless of the natural movements of fish, size limits, closed days and
seasons, limits on the amount of catch, hindrances to commerce into and
out of States, prohibitions of export of seed oysters, and a great number of
others.

The commercial fisheries are also generally opposed in legislation by
anglers and sportsmen. The commercial fisheries are concerned with what
they can take out of the water ; the sportsman is more concerned with main-
taining a dense population of fish in the water so as to increase his chance
of catching something; the sportsman is interested only in "game" fishes,
i.e., the predators or killers, which, from the point of view of biological
efficiency of aquatic life as a whole, might in some cases better be extermi-
nated than conserved if it is within our power to do either.

Some public supervision of the fisheries in public waters is doubtless
necessary, certainly more than is necessary for operations on privately
owned farms. It is our purpose here only to point out that the existence of
unnecessary and hampering legislation, whatever its origin or motive, is,
to the extent to which it is enforced, an economic factor which must be
taken seriously into account. Regulatory measures, necessary or not, which
forbid the use of efficient methods and compel the employment of excessive
labor for a given amount of production merely suppress the utilization of
aquatic resources. However, human nature being what it is, rational and
scientific legislation is hardly to be expected in a resource which is not
subject to private ownership.

Technical and Industrial Progress of Fisheries and Agriculture. The in-
crease in efficiency of agricultural production of food and raw materials in
the United States is briefly summarized by Cooper, Barton, and Brodell
(1947) from the summary abstract of which a quotation will here suffice:

In all farm production, each farm worker in wartime in 1945 produced enough
agricultural products to support himself and more than 13 others, whereas in
1920 one farm worker had supported himself and 9 other persons and in 1820,
himself and only a little more than 3 other persons.'

7. Call (1929) points out that in colonial times 95 per cent of all producers were farmers, and
that in the first census (1790) 96 per cent of the population was rural (places of 2500 or fewer).

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 309

Each man-hour of farm labor meant 44 per cent more gross production in
1945 than it did in 191 7-21. Half of these savings in hours per unit of product
resulted from mechanization. Other technological developments, primarily
increases in yields of crops and livestock, were responsible for the other half.

Change in pattern of mechanization has been outstanding. Farm horses and
mules have been rapidly replaced by tractors, trucks and automobiles during
the last third of a century. Combines, tractor-plows, tractor-cultivators, me-
chanical corn-pickers, milking machines and other modern farming equipment
are continuing to replace horse-drawn equipment and hand work. A modern
tractor and its associated equipment now saves 850 hours of man labor com-
pared with the time required with the animal power and equipment used a
generation ago.

Thirty per cent of the increase in food supplies for feeding an increasing
population from 1920 to 1942 came from acreages released by the decline in
horses and mules ; 70 per cent came from increased crop and livestock yields
and from decreased exports. Crop production per acre has increased about
one-fourth, and livestock production per unit of breeding stock has increased
about one-third during the last quarter century. But crop averages in 1944 were
about the same as the 191 7-21 average.

These improvements have been effected by a great variety of scientific
advances in addition to mechanization, such as those of soil conservation
and management, genetics, acclimatization of species, combating enemies
and pests, nutrition of livestock, incubation of eggs and battery production
of poultry, and preservation of produce. Agricultural colleges, government
agencies, and industry have all contributed to these advances through
scientific research and technical improvements, and have disseminated
widely a knowledge of agricultural science.

While the fisheries have made progress, too, the improvement is not spec-
tacular. In terms of man-power, agriculture has in the past fifty years met
more abundantly the needs of a rapidly growing population with nearly
the same number (-7.8 per cent) of persons in the labor force. ^ In the
fisheries, the catch of all fishery products per fisherman for most of the
United States about tripled since 1890, but with a decrease of about 30
per cent in the number of fishermen supported by fishing. (See Table 39,
Appendix.)

The larger part of the improvements in the fisheries industries has been
on land in processing, transporting, and marketing. In the production of
fish, while the over-all yield per unit of man power has increased, adequate
study would probably show (if the historical data were adequate) that the
improvement has not been general but to a large extent in the exploitation

8. In 1890, agricultural labor force, 9,938,373, population 62,947,714; 1940, agricultural labor
force, 9,162,547, population, 131,669,275. Cooper, Barton, and Brodell, work cited, p. 4.

310 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

of a few very abundant species such as menhaden and pilchard, with mass-
methods of capture requiring few men.

In the catching of fish, however, some improvements have been made;
steam and diesel power have replaced sail, ice has replaced salt (with a
saving of man power at sea), and the otter trawl introduced in 1905, and
the V. D. modification in the '30's, have increased the efficiency, in terms
of man power, of the ground or bottom fishery in the North Atlantic and
practically created the shrimp fishery of the South Atlantic and Gulf (after
1908). The fathometer has aided the finding of fish, radio communication
has improved navigation and marketing, and some experimental work has
been done on the finding of fish with the aid of sonic echoes. With the
decline of hook and line fishing, the use of man power to produce bait has
greatly decreased.

These improvements, however, are not what they might be. The capture
of fish has had little attention from trained engineers and scientists. A
perusal of History and Methods of the Fisheries (Goode et al., 1887, Sec. V.,
Plates) reveals that almost all the methods then employed are still in use
now, with little change.

Nets are still mere physical barriers or sieves made of vegetable fibres
such as have been in use for hundreds or perhaps thousands of years, and
depend on overtaking the fish by chance, as in trawling and seining, or on
the fish's wandering unawares into a trap or accidentally encountering a
gill net or biting a baited hook. Little exploration has been made of the
possibilities of the new highly resistant plastic materials, some of which
are transparent (nylon, vinylite, cellulose, acetate, etc.), as fibers or sheets
from which nets or other barriers might be made. Nor has extensive or
thorough study been made of the sense-reactions and behavior of fishes;
nor anything more than casual or occasional scientific attempt made to
take advantage of them as positive means of compelling or directing the
mass movement of fish into capture, such as submarine lights and lures,
chemical attractants, under-water sound waves and vibrations, electric
fields (which numerous fishes themselves use both offensively and defen-
sively) to shock, drive, or kill them; nor any biological studies of the habits
and behavior of fishes with the specific view to devising better ways of follow-
ing, finding, and catching them. Indeed the observation could be made
with some plausibility that the use of such improvements if made would
be forbidden by law or labor unions so that there is a general lack of
confidence on the part of inventors that their efforts would be fairly
rewarded even if successful.®

9. Since the above was written, nylon gill nets have conie into use, furnishing a typical example,
as indicated by the following news item from the New York Herald Tribune, August i6, 1949:

"Alarm. Fishermen continue to be impressed and supervisory authorities are reported to be
worried about the superior catching qualities of the new nylon nets, marketed under the name

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 311

Technical methods of handling the catch on boats are generally inade-
quate for products as delicate as fish are. As now caught, fish usually die
in a state of extreme fatigue resulting from the struggle in a net or on a
hook and their flesh is therefore acid (which is known to hasten deteriora-
tion) ; good sanitation, cleanliness and care of the fish are not practiced
as carefully as they should be; pitchforks are still used for handling fresh
fish in New England trawlers, and general rough handling of fish aboard
vessels results often in serious damage and loss of weight by shrinkage, so
that a considerable part of what is caught is so inferior as to injure the
standing of fish in public esteem, rather than to promote it. Colleges or
other institutions of instruction and research in the fisheries are exceed-
ingly few.

These are all evidences of an unprogressive industry which has been
deficient in capacity to generate improvements of its own and slow to take
advantage of opportunities generated elsewhere. The slowness of the fish-
eries industry to improve its methods of pursuit and capture is undoubtedly
due in large part to poor economic incentives and legal hindrances, and,
in addition, to the fact that life for a scientist or engineer is not very
attractive at sea on a fishing boat, where he must be — in order to learn about
the problems and conduct experiments — as compared to a comfortable
laboratory on shore. In another part this backwardness of the fisheries
industry may well be explainable by its odd nature, in which it stands
alone, as an incongruous mixture of communism ^° and capitalism. It is
communistic in the non-private or public ownership and political control
and regulation of the source, but capitalistic in the ownership of the tools
of production and freedom of enterprise, and individualistic in the de-
tached and isolated lives that rival fishermen live, much of the time at
sea. Even when capitalistic in form of enterprise, as when fishermen oper-
ate boats and gear owned by investors not fishing, the actual fishing opera-
tions are communistic, in that labor does not work for hire but for a share
of the proceeds, and operations are remote from control by, and little
subject to, owners, but the product once caught becomes private property.
In its communistic aspects the fishing industry is deficient in the incentive
of profits, and being subject to the political power of regulation, it lacks
the votes to assert itself. With only 125,000 fishermen in the United States,

of "Nylock." Great Lakes conservation officials recently held a conference at Erie, Pa., and
solicited testimony of commercial fishermen who said they are catching three to twelve times
more fish with the new equipment. There is speculation that with wider distribution of the new
nets, it may become necessary to place some restriction on total catches. Conservationists, already
concerned with fish destruction in the Lakes by lampreys, apparently view progress with alarm."
10. The word communism is here used, not in the current ideological and political controversial
sense, but as defined by Webster: "Any ... system of social organization involving common
ownership of the agents of production, and some approach to equal distribution of the products
of industry." In this case, the source of supply, rather than "agents."

312 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

their voting power, even if concentrated in one State, would be small;
diffused as it is over thousands of miles of coast and in thirty-odd States,
it is negligible.

Natural Characteristics of the Supply of Fish. Although the biological
basis of the fisheries of North Carolina is treated in another Part of the
Survey, a brief sketch of the biological foundation is offered here to facili-
tate an understanding of the economics of the fisheries.

The totality of living things collectively on land and at sea begins, as
said earlier, with plants which collect the chemical fertilizers, nitrates,
phosphates, potash, carbon dioxide, water, and several other components
and organize them into the substance of plants which are food for vege-
tarian animals; these vegetarians are prey for somewhat larger carnivorous
animals some of which are prey to still larger ones. In these respects the
web of life at sea is similar to that on land. There are important differences,
however, between land and sea bio-economics. On land nearly all of our
production, i.e., agriculture and animal husbandry, based on life is man-
aged, regulated, and cultivated. The produce oj the sea is derived jroni
wild life under natural conditions to which our operations must conform
with little or no control or management of the productive factors. Since
man does not consume carnivorous land animals for food, the process of
agricultural production is carried only one step from plant crops to vege-
tarian animals which are consumed as food by man. This two-step produc-
tion is possible because land plants are relatively large, and are consumed
by man as such or converted as food directly at one step into large animals,
such as cattle, sheep, and pigs. Marine plants are microscopic or nearly
so in size, and their conversion into animals usually consists of several
carnivorous steps after the microscopic plants have been consumed by
very small vegetarians and some larger fishes. Practically all fishes are
to some extent carnivorous, some of them exclusively so.

The mass of living things collectively at sea on which the fisheries
depend is almost inconceivably complex, multifarious and mutually de-
structive and interdependent. Nearly all marine animals, large and small,
reproduce by laying prodigious numbers of eggs. The eggs which hatch
and survive to maturity to produce another generation are not the rule,
but exceedingly rare exceptions, which have escaped the hazards of exist-
ence— perhaps one in ten thousand or a million. At sea there are no holes
or caves, and few hiding places; life of marine animals is a continuous
round of killing and being killed and consuming and being consumed. The
fishes, starfishes, jellyfishes, sponges, squids, shrimps, crabs, oysters,
clams which we see and myriads of others which we do not see, all consume,
one way or another, the same basic microscopic vegetation; they eat the
vegetation itself or they eat the small quarter-inch vegetarian animals, they

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 313

eat each other's eggs, they eat each other's young, they eat their own young,
they eat one another. As each animal grows to larger size in most cases its diet
changes accordingly, and itself becomes diet for different animals according
to their sizes. Relative size determines, in many cases, which is consumer and
which consumed.

Of the five species, cod, haddock, rosefish, pollock, and whiting, which
together constitute more than half (58 per cent in 1945) of the total
fishery of the New England States, fishery biologists say of each, in effect,
that a catalogue of its direct food would include practically the entire fauna
of the region, and each of the five includes the other four as well as the
young of its own kind, in its diet.^^

A striking example of the way of life of fishes is given by Peck (1896):

The food of the squeteague^- {Cynoscion regale [regalis]) may be charac-
terized perhaps most clearly by a concrete instance. On the morning of July 23
there was taken a large specimen whose stomach contained an adult herring, in
the stomach of the herring were found two young scup (besides many small
Crustacea), and in the stomach of one of these young scup were found copepods,
while in the alimentary tract of these last one could identify one or two of the
diatoms and an infusorian test among the mass of triturated material which
formed its food. This is an instance of the universal rule of this kind of food ;
the squeteague captures the butter-fish or squid, which in turn have fed on
young fish, which in their turn have fed upon the more minute Crustacea, which
finally utilize a microscopic food supply. And the food of the squeteague must
be regarded as a complex of all these factors, a resultant of several life-histories
to the given environment. Moreover, circumstances arising to modify any of
the separate factors cause correlative changes throughout the whole series.

Contemplation of this internecine web of life should reveal the wide-
spread fallacy in the prevalent thinking about fisheries that each species
of fish can be singled out and protected, cultivated, conserved, or exploited
and marketed, and treated as an economic and biological unit as if it
stood alone and apart on its own nutritional foundation. It seems obvious
that this can be true to only a slight extent, and for a few such specific
feeders as the oyster. The catching of competitive finfish of one species
removes some of the competition for other species and for other individuals
of the same species which remain; and also some of itself as food for other
species. The totality of all kinds of fish in a water community should and
apparently does tend to be a constant in accordance with a Malthusian law
of subsistence, or perhaps to vary with the over-all production of basic
vegetable food in the region which might be affected by changes of tem-

11. See, Bigelow and Welsh (1925), feeding habits under the headings of the above named and
other species.

12. The gray trout of North Carohna.

314 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

perature or circulation of the water. This integrated total of fish is a com-
plex network of many equilibria. Many, perhaps all, of these equilibria
are not constant but pulsating. The relative abundance of different species
rises and falls, one being up while another is down.

The whole complex system of life at sea has been represented as a
pyramid, the base of microscopic Hfe being the most abundant, the suc-
cessive consumers being less abundant but larger in (adult) size, the apex
being the very large but not numerous sharks, swordfish, tunas, etc. There
is reason to believe that removal of fishes high up on the pyramid improves
the efficiency of the whole by reducing the average number of transforma-
tions of food with their attendant losses, so that exploitation, certainly up
to a point, improves the productivity of the region. This fact almost
certainly explains in part the failure of the early fears of exhaustion to be
realized. The commercial fisheries are mainly concerned with the end
product, i.e., the larger animals at or near the top.

The integration of the fisheries occurs also, as we shall see, in the mostly
non-selective methods of capture such as the trawl, seine and pound net,
which take an assortment of many kinds of fish that cannot be predeter-
mined, and in the marketing of fish, wherein there are few fishes which
have no equally acceptable substitute in the market; rather, the totality of
most kinds of finfish collectively presses against the total market demand
for any kind of fish. For all these reasons, it is unimportant if not impos-
sible to isolate one kind of fish and treat it as an independent biological
and economic unit.

The economically important matter is the quantity and value of the
total yield of the fisheries, regionally and nationally. Such statistics of
world fisheries as are available suggest that while particular species have
fluctuated in abundance, the yield of the sea fisheries as a whole or of any
considerable region has not only been sustained, but has generally increased
with increasing human populations, and there is as yet no sign that they
will not continue to do so. No single species so far as we know has ever
become extinct, and no regional fishery in the world has ever been exhausted.
The fisheries in North America as a whole and in all its regional parts
(except some inland waters) have never been exploited to the point of
diminishing returns, i.e., where more effort did not produce more fish. This
condition probably obtains in all the world fisheries except perhaps locally
in a few areas such as the North Sea and the Sea of Japan, and the Canadian-
American Great Lakes, in the United States, and perhaps in all the more
advanced countries increased production has been accomplished with a de-
crease in man-power resulting from more efficient methods.

Great Multiplicity of Species or Kinds of Fishes. The most comprehensive
catalogue of the finfishes in and around the North American continent

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 315

(Jordan, Evermann and Clark, 1930) lists 4,137 species and subspecies of
finfishes (fresh and salt water). We have seen no list of all the species
in the world, nor any estimate of their number; we might surmise the total
number to be 12,000 or perhaps many more. A correspondingly large number
of mollusks and Crustacea must be included to cover all of the fisheries.

Man has found use for, and catches practically everything of the range of
one-half pound in size and up, that is sufficiently abundant to be worth while,
and many of smaller size, such as shrimps, oysters, clams, sardines, smelts,
and whitebait. Some, such as jellyfishes, sculpins, sting rays, conchs, star-
fishes, would be used if sufficiently abundant to be caught at low enough cost
for the purpose for which they have a value, and new uses are being found
from time to time. Sharks, which until a few years ago were not used, are
now the basis of a major fishery as sources of vitamins, and to some extent
for leather. There seem to be no useless fishes, though some are not used.
The total number of commercial species in the world might be a thousand or
even more. The great bulk of the commercial catch of fish throughout the
world is in five families (each having numerous genera and species as mem-
bers), viz., the herrings (about 45 per cent of all), codfishes, salmons, flat-
fishes, and mackerels. If we add two or three species of oysters and a dozen
shrimps, with the sharks and rosefish coming into some prominence in recent
years, we have the bulk of the world's production of fish and shellfish.

Of the 4100-odd species in and around North America, the U. S. Fish &
Wildlife Service lists from year to year close to 200 commercial varieties or
"species," some of them consisting of two or more true biological species;
the total number including minor species used might be 500 or more. The
fluctuations in quantity of any one species, even the most important, makes
hardly a significant difference in the whole fishery. Many of these species
are subdivided into trade classifications not shown in the statistics; buck
and roe shad, silver and yellow eels, white and gray halibut, several size
grades each of cod, haddock, halibut, whiting, mackerel, oysters, clams,
shrimps, etc. In variety, the number of species of seafoods in this country
approaches if it does not exceed the total number of species of all other foods
both vegetable and animal used by man. This fact of diversity of kinds and
sizes of fish touches every aspect of the economics of production and market-
ing, and as a determinant is second in importance only to the non-private
ownership of the source.

Movements and Geographical Distribution of Fish. Each species has its
characteristic geographical range, usually within temperature and depth
limits; some are sedentary, others migratory; some spawn at sea, others come
inshore or into sounds and bays or enter fresh water streams or otherwise
become accessible at some particular season and not to be found at other

316 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

seasons; some travel in schools, some move singly, some inhabit the bottom,
and some live at the surface.

In the remoteness from the market of the sources of supply the fisheries
are at a disadvantage with respect to agriculture. Most of the world's human
populations are distributed around and in agricultural areas, where towns
and cities can be supplied with agricultural produce from the surrounding
countryside at relatively small cost. One need only glance at the map of
North Carolina, itself a coastal State, to see the advantage of near-by agri-
culture in supplying the industrial cities and towns with food. This disadvan-
tage of the fisheries is proportionately greater with respect to markets in the
inland States and Provinces of North America, and the inland markets of all
the continents. The great fisheries are all at sea, in many cases long distances
off shore; at the nearest, they are on the fringes of the continents. Some of
the richest bottoms are still too remote to be exploited, with present methods,
costs, market values, and high perishability, so that the presently fished
waters do not represent the total fishery resources of the world; the re-
mote grounds remain unexplored as long as those nearer by can yield their
products at lower cost.

Geographical expansions and contractions of the fisheries have occurred
in various regions. In our earlier days most of our New England fisheries
were near the coast; as these became inadequate (and great fears of ex-
tinction arose), long-range vessels were fitted out and extensively fished
the Grand Bank of Newfoundland, bringing back large quantities of salt
fish. When salt began to yield to ice as preservative, and the steam trawler
replaced sail, new elements of cost were incurred, so that fishing returned
to the nearer-by banks. The more remote banks will again be fished when
and if demands and costs are again favorable. When in the North Sea fish-
eries of Europe the yield per unit of cost declined to a point which made
more distant fishing competitively possible, large trawlers were built and
sent to the fringes of the Arctic Ocean, so that part of the pressure on the
North Sea was relieved. It may be expected that the North Sea will continue
indefinitely to be fished to just the point of cost-price balance with the more
remote grounds.

In a few places in the sea, rich fisheries are situated within reach of great
developed centers, such as Boston, Seattle, San Pedro in the United States,
Hull and Grimsby in England, Bergen, Norway, Shimonoseki, Japan, etc.,
where shipyards build, repair and supply vessels, and organized markets,
freezers, canneries and reduction plants provide all the facilities for eco-
nomical and efficient operation. But apart from such centers, almost all the
waters offshore everywhere provide some fisheries which are scattered along
great lengths of shore line, at villages and small towns remote from con-
suming markets. The aggregate production of such places is or could be

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 317

important, but the lack of concentration, and often the seasonal nature of
supply, present many of the most serious hindrances to development of the
fisheries. These conditions prevail along much of the shore line of the
North American continent.

Selectivity of Methods of Capture. To exploit the complicated source of
wealth in the sea, the fishermen use gear which has varying degrees of
selectivity. A purse seine is quite specific for schools of fish at the surface.
The haul seine catches whatever is larger than the meshes of the net that en-
counters it; a pond net, weir or trap catches some part of anything that hap-
pens to be moving in a way to be intercepted by the leader ; a trawl catches
all the bottom fish which do not escape, in a narrow strip of bottom up to a
height of six to eight feet; hooks catch whatever fish are attracted by the bait
and with mouth big enough to take it; crab trot lines catch only crabs; "pots"
or small cages catch lobsters, crabs, eels, sea bass, etc., depending on where
they are set.

The fisherman is therefore not altogether free to produce and sell what
the market seems to want, especially of finfish. With the catch-all types of
gear he catches whatever happens to be present at the time and place, and
wherever he uses his gear he produces in most cases several or many kinds
of fish, which may not be the most desirable assortment, but which never-
theless he must sell, if he can. "Trash" fish, for which there is no market
or which are not economically worth while, are discarded at sea. If they are,
they may be food for other fishes as truly as they would be if consumed
alive by enemies. For these reasons, among many reasons, the forces of
supply and demand are only weakly operative for particular kinds of fish.
Economically as well as biologically the totality of useful fish of a region
tend to behave collectively.

Versatility of Methods and of Opportunities of Capture. Fishermen, how-
ever, do have some choice of what they catch. In the case of gill nets they
can make the size of the meshes to catch a predetermined size of fish. They
can drift them at the surface or sink them to the bottom. Variation of the
mesh of trawls, seines, pounds, nets, etc., also may allow small fish to escape
dead or alive. Minimum sizes of mesh are in many cases fixed by law.

Perhaps the most important controllable variable is the choice of time
and place of fishing and, of course, appropriate gear and methods. By
experience, fishermen learn that certain kinds of fish are more likely to be
found at certain times and places, and to that extent can increase the produc-
tion of them at will, but selectivity is never complete — "odd varieties" of
fish other than those mainly sought are taken and must be disposed of. We
shall see in the Section on Marketing that many kinds of finfish enter the
same competitive markets, and are substituents one for another; that few
fishes possess peculiar consumer appeal that cannot be substituted by other

318 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

fishes from the same or different regions. Therefore, no one fish without
special appeal of its own, even if it is biologically scarce, can in price get
very far out of line with other fishes of similar quantity and attractiveness.

It does not follow however that at any one place and time these alterna-
tive choices of fish can be caught with the same cost and effort. Any one
species may be at any one time scarce or abundant and therefore dear or
cheap relative to other fishes. Fishermen exercise such freedom as they
have of choice of methods, time, and place of capture, always seeking the
abundant fish that can be caught cheaply and sold at a good price in
preference to those which are for the time being scarce or out of season or
cheap. Also, fishermen are in competition with each other, each always
seeking to exploit opportunities that are neglected by others.

The haddock fishery in New England became very popular in the early
and middle 1920's, rising to a peak of production in 1928 of about four
times what it was in 1922. The fishery then began to diminish in productivity
with corresponding increase in cost, whether from heavy fishing or natural
fluctuation. A considerable part of the effort that had been expended on
catching haddock was now turned to the pursuit of rosefish, which up to
that time had been neglected, and the production of which increased enor-
mously in the next few years. For similar reasons the production of flounders
and soles and whiting of New England has been increasing in recent years.
The total production of these three species or groups in 1887 in New Eng-
land amounted to 2j^ million pounds worth $62,000 (less than one per cent
of the quantity and value); in 1945 they amounted to 271 milKon pounds
valued at $11,500,000, or 32 per cent of the quantity of all fish and 20
per cent of the value. On the North Carolina coast the shrimp fishery was
small for many years until in the middle 1940's with the increasing popu-
larity of shrimp and prevailing high prices many of the fishermen in North
Carolina went into the shrimp fishery. The result was a large increase in
the jdeld of shrimp in North Carolina.

Changes in demand likewise react through prices in the primary markets
to stimulate or depress the production of particular species. For example,
the fading of demand for salt fish and the development of the fillet caused
codfish to decline and haddock to rise in price with corresponding decline
in production of the one and increase in the other. Production, prices, and
total value of mackerel have also decreased, presumably for the same
reason. A decline in price and production of oysters (up to 1940) coincided
with a rise in price and production of shrimp, suggesting not a shortage of
oysters (which would have caused a rise in price), nor abundance of shrimp
(which would have caused a drop in price), but an increase in the demand
for shrimp and a decline in the demand for oysters.

In all this is seen a characteristic behavior of the fisheries under heavy

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 319

exploitation that is often overlooked, namely, that as any one species of
fish is pursued and its abundance diminishes (as a result of fishing or any
other cause), the cost of producing it rises relative to the cost of catching
other species; if the price does not increase to compensate, the fishermen
discover the diminution of returns from this fishery and some of them take
up some other, so that part of the pressure is taken off the "over-fished"
species, a process which amounts to an automatic economic regulation of
the intensity and distribution of fishing. The principle applies also to the
fisheries collectively of a region operating in competition with other regions.
If the fisheries reach a point of diminishing returns in one region, economic
compulsion operates to relieve the pressure in favor of another.

It appears to be impossible to exterminate a species or a fishery for
profit, since the profit disappears before the fish is exterminated. Within
the fisherman's freedom of choice to catch, and selectivity or non-selectivity
of gear, each species or fishery tends to be fished to a point at which it just
yields a wage to those engaged equal to what they could earn by fishing
other species, or by working at some other trade ashore. Equilibrium would
undoubtedly be established at this wage level for each species if natural
fluctuations did not occur in the supply of various species and if market
conditions remained constant. This operation of economic law is such as
to distribute the total fishing effort over the total fishery resources of a
region and to deliver a total of yield into the consuming market just sufficient
to meet total of demand.

Some such law seems also to govern the total number of fishermen en-
gaged. Fishing as a gainful occupation is in competition with all oppor-
tunities on shore. Some men leave shore employment and go fishing in times
when they think opportunities are good and thus increase the competition
among fishermen, produce more fish, and depress the prices, as a reaction
to increased fishing. Theoretically, at least, the total number of fishermen
engaged is self -regulatory, and the distribution of those engaged spreads
itself out over all the opportunities of a region to satisfy the market with
all the available kinds of fish at a price which will move them against the
competition of fish from other regions and of other foods, such as meats
and poultry. The composition of the total catch is regulated by this complex
interrelationship of fluctuations in biological abundance and market demand
and the attempt of the fishing effort to adjust itself to these variations.
There are of course disequflibria due to the lag between the occurrence of
adversity or opportunity and the discovery of, and the response to, either
by fishermen. The tendency to saturate the opportunities also applies to
the investment of capital in the construction of fishing vessels. As many
vessels as can hope to operate at a profit are built, and for all the oppor-
tunities, and with as much versatility of purpose as possible, so that they.

320 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

too, like the fishermen, spread themselves over all the opportunities of the
region up to and often beyond the limit of sufficiency.

Fluctuations in Quantity and Composition of Catch. All fisheries are
characterized by fluctuations caused by weather, wind and tide, vertical
and horizontal movements of the different kinds of fish in search of food
and in response to temperature, light, and saltiness of water and to the
instinct to migrate for the purpose of spawning. These and fisherman's luck
in finding the fish affect the day-to-day results of fishing. Many fishes
perform annual migrations with considerable regularity and most, if not
all, species undergo natural fluctuations in abundance in regular or irregular
cycles of two to five years, or even up to a quarter-century or more, and a
few have shifted their centers of abundance to different regions. The weak-
fish or sea trout, now absent from New England, has appeared there in
commercial quantity and disappeared several times in the past two cen-
turies; the bluefish disappeared suddenly in 1764 and was totally absent
from the New England coast until 1830; the scup was abundant from the
first arrival of the Colonists until some time after 1642 when it wholly
disappeared until about 1794 when it reappeared; " the thimble-eye or
chub mackerel has appeared and disappeared several times; the menhaden
has shifted southward, and the croaker is now centered more northerly
than it was a few years ago; in 1872 the whiting had not been seen in
quantity at Cape Cod in many years (in 1945, 78 million pounds of it were
produced) ; whether the present large production of rosefish is due to
economic demand or whether it is in a wave of abundance after a long
period of scarcity, we do not know. These movements and fluctuations affect
different species differently or at different times, so that not all are present
or absent or abundant or scarce at the same time and place, as will be seen
on examination of the historical record of North Carolina species. Table 91,
Appendix. It is therefore to be expected that the total yield of fish in
quantity and composition will vary much locally and from day to day,
less for larger areas from month to month, and still less for very large areas
from year to year, the fluctuations being lost in the averages. There do not
appear to have been in the historical record any great general biological
scarcities of fish; scarcities are always confined to particular species.

These fluctuations of quantity and composition of catch are, however,
one of the most difficult economic characteristics of the fisheries. They cause
erratic prices and disappointment when good catches have been made, occa-
sional dumpings of the catch in the more remote communities for want of a
market, and interfere with the establishment of pubHc familiarity with the

13. For further details on the long-range comings and goings of various species, see Report of
the U. S. Commissioner of Fisheries, Part I, 1871-72, Sec. IV, Special Arguments for Regulating
Sea Fisheries by Law, p. 73-124; also, same Report, Sees. V, VI and XIV; Baird (1889) and
Appendix; and Bigelow and Welsh (1925) under the headings of the various species.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 321

various kinds of fish and the estabhshment of habits of steady demand for
them.

Unhke manufacturing establishments in most other fields, which can op-
erate on a plan in which all factors of cost, sales, labor, finance, etc., are
known or can be closely estimated and provided for in advance, the fisheries
in all departments are governed by uncertainty and unpredictability in
almost every important factor, so that executives and managers who are best
qualified by experience to solve the complex problem of the industry are too
occupied with day-to-day crises and emergencies to deal effectively with them.

Perishability. Fish and seafood generally are among the most perishable of
all food products. Their flesh is naturally soft, easily damaged physically,
and readily penetrated by bacteria; unlike red meats and poultry which are
improved by the process of post-mortem "ripening," fish quickly develop
odors which though not evidences of unwholesomeness are universally
disliked.

The greatest of all the problems of local fisheries, especially in the lesser
communities without the elaborate technical facilities of a great center such as
Boston, is the combination of erratic and unpredictable production in quantity
and composition of highly perishable products. This difficulty is often aggra-
vated by lack in a given market of immediately current information about the
production of other markets. If any dealer along the coast had exact knowl-
edge of the current yield at other points widely distributed along the coast,
it might be possible to appraise the market prospects, and to take large
catches which occur at times if it were found that production of the same or
market equivalent species at other points was relatively light. Dealers in
communities remote from the big markets rarely have this detailed knowl-
edge and cannot afford to take the risk of buying unusual quantities with-
out it.

Standards of Quality. Clearly defined standards or grades have been estab-
lished for most commodities, such as coal, grain, cotton, tobacco, oils, lumber,
fruits, butter, and many others. Meats entering interstate commerce are
inspected and stamped by government inspectors under Federal law. There
are no quality standards of fresh fish, and the size classifications which have
grown up in practice are generally elastic and unenforceable. Inspection of
fish by government or trade association has never been found practicable
because of the perishability of fish. A lot of fish might be tagged a certain
grade one day and, by deterioration, belie its tag the next day. The individual
fishes constituting a lot are too numerous for practical grading, though they
may vary greatly in quality. The trade manages to get along without stand-
ards, but the absence of standards is just another of the many hindrances in
the way of a more important position of the fisheries in the food supply.

Credit. We have seen that the fisheries tend to be overcrowded, competition

322 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

to be at a maximum, and the rewards to be those of wage earners who often
do not or cannot accumulate from their earnings working capital for their
operations. This is especially true of fishermen in small communities where
incomes are erratic and undependable; they need capital or credit for boats
and gear, for supplies and family living expenses and for financing sales.

Unlike agriculture, wherein privately owned land can be pledged or mort-
gaged for credit, the fisheries cannot pledge the water as collateral. Boats are
insurable, but at such high premiums that small fishing units are often with-
out insurance and therefore not acceptable collateral for mortgage loans.

Frozen inventories are poor collateral for credit. They are subject to the
hazards of spoilage and deterioration; their value is not accurately ascertain-
able or predictable where there are no futures trading markets and no official
standards of grade.

In small communities one of the few sources of credit available to small
fishermen is the shore dealer (or sometimes the remote commission merchant)
who makes advances to be paid back in fish produce, in return for which as
security the dealer usually requires exclusive right to sell the fishermen's
produce until the debt is paid. Often the dealer also owns the boat or a large
share of it. Such loans by the dealers are usually not motivated purely by the
expectation of the return of interest with safety of principal as is bank credit
which does not hamper the borrower's freedom to sell to his best advantage.
The dealer may and often does waive interest on such debts, and, having a
monopoly on the fisherman's produce, is in position to exercise a considerable
degree of control over the prices which the fisherman, who is in poor bargain-
ing position, must accept.

Corporate Form of Business. Most of the corporations in the fisheries are
in the manufacturing and selling business rather than in catching fish, though
some marketing corporations also operate fishing vessels or traps. Where
vessels are separately incorporated, as the larger ones often are, the purpose
of incorporation is usually to limit liability rather than to secure capital. In
the business of catching fish, the problems of capital and credit are not as
well solved by the corporate form of enterprise as they are in many other
industries wherein substantial amounts of capital are obtained from a large
number of investors for the conduct of large-size business. In other businesses
where the corporate form is suitable, adequate capital is obtained, economies
are realized by large scale operation, functions are departmentalized and
performed by experts, the advantages of close management and discipline
are obtained, and research, experimentation, and development can be sup-
ported as they cannot be by small companies. Large scale operation also often
makes possible diversification, which is desirable in the fisheries in com-
pensating for a poor season in one fishery with a good season in another.

In the business of catching fish, the actual fishing is remote from central

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 323

control and not amenable to discipline. Little in the way of benefits from
specialization is accomplished. Few worth while economies are effected by
bigness. Diversification is in fact to some extent realized, but in spite of it, the
earnings (and losses) of large fishing companies are erratic, the historical
record is not good and they are unpopular with investors.

To these difficulties are added that of securing managers for decentralized
operations who are, as employes, able and willing to make the necessarily
quick and risky decisions which are better made by principals.

Cooperatives are discussed under Primary Marketing, p. 327.

Fishing Not Primarily for Subsistence of Fishermen. While fishermen
make use of their own produce as food for themselves and families, fishing is
not primarily an important subsistence industry, as is small agriculture,
where a well-rounded diet can be produced in home gardens and with
chickens, pig, and cow. With only 125,000 fishermen in this country produc-
ing an average of 32,500 pounds of fish per man, it is evident that fish is
mainly a cash crop. In any event, fish could supply only the protein part of
the diet. In some countries, such as Newfoundland and Japan, and in some
of our small communities in this country remote from the big markets, fish is
a more important element in the diet of the fishermen. In some of the larger
fisheries such as trawling for cod, etc., menhaden and sardine fishing, their
own products hardly enter the fishermen's diets at all. The fishermen are
therefore under the necessity, in most cases, of marketing their produce for
cash.

Unions have made very considerable progress in organizing fishermen in
the trawling and other fishing operations where labor can be definitely distin-
guished from capital ownership, even though the fishermen's compensation
is mainly in the lay or share. In trawling there is (or was) a small guaranteed
wage. This and the terms of sharing the catch, length of watch and other
conditions of work, time in port, number of crew members and such matters
are subjects of negotiation between owners and union crews. In New England
the fishermen's union also attempted to control prices by limiting the amount
of catch to 134,000 pounds of fish per trip; unlimited catching would be
perhaps 200,000 pounds average.^* The shore handlers of sundry kinds
including employes in commission markets and processing plants are union-
ized in the familiar industrial pattern. In the Pacific Northwest the Halibut
Vessel Owners Association and the Fishermen's Union deal with each other
and act jointly in marketing arrangements affecting both. This is also true
of the California Sardine Vessel Owners and Fishermen's Union who nego-
tiate the prices of sardines with the canneries and reduction plants. There are
also fishermen's cooperative canneries.

14. This practice was found by a Massachusetts Superior Court on August i, 1947, to be
monopolistic and the Union was ordered to cease and desist fixing prices and restricting catch.

324 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Primary Markets and Selling Arrangements for Fishermen

a. Auction markets. At large fishing centers, especially the landing ports
of trawlers and similar fleets (such as Hull and Grimsby, England, Boston
and Seattle), the fish are sold at public auction for immediate cash settlement.
The selling agency is an independent organization or exchange which per-
forms services for both buyer and seller, the buyers being members or other-
wise privileged to attend the auction and to buy. The leaseholders on the
Boston Fish Pier are privileged to attend the auction and to buy. The esti-
mated quantity of each species by size and grades of a landed vessel is
chalked up on a blackboard, and the captain or his delegate conducts the
auction. The highest bids for all or part of each kind are accepted and settle-
ment is made for cash on the day of sale. The system falls short in a few
particulars of a strictly even-handed, impartial auction in that two or more
buyers may limit competition by combining to bid, and that sales once made
can be revoked for poor quality after the fish are unloaded. Since there are
no recognized standards and enforceable quality grades and no official inspec-
tors, such revocations and "sell-overs" may be for other reasons than poor
quality — for instance, falling market prices. Nevertheless, the system works
well and gives relatively free play to competition and the operation of the
forces of supply and demand.

b. Commission sales. Selling on commission is generally practiced at large
consuming rather than producing centers (London, New York, Chicago,
etc.), and is more often secondary than primary, i.e., the produce has already
been sold once at auction or to dealers at shore points, and re-sold on com-
mission in the commission markets. However, at London, New York, Chicago,
and other cities situated on the water, some primary production by fishermen
is also sold on commission.

These commission markets are open to all producers and shippers. As
example, a dealer or fisherman at Morehead City, North Carolina, has ten
boxes of weakfish. He ices them, attaches a shipping label, consigning to John
Doe & Co., Fulton Market, New York City. Doe pays the express charges,
cartage, etc., if any, and sells directly to buyers from local retail markets,
butcher shops, restaurants, and hotel and restaurant supply houses in person
or by telephone communication; sales are made mostly in original packages,
but some broken-package selling is done. John Doe & Co. finances the receiv-
ables and takes any risk involved therein. Practically all shipments are sold
at some price on the day received, and buyers take their purchased goods
away. Before the day is closed, the clerks make up the "account of sales" of
each shipment received, showing gross receipts, the commission charged
(i2^ per cent in New York) and any expenses, and remit the net proceeds
to the shipper by check. All persons are free to buy and sell in commission
markets through the member dealers, without membership or other restric-

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 325

tions, the only "members" being the merchants who hold leases in the market
buildings. Into such a market, with perhaps forty or fifty established mer-
chants, a great variety of fresh fish and seafoods, and some frozen, from all
sources within reach, are on sale.

Buyers may visit several shops before buying. The commission merchants
are therefore in competition with each other in sales and in soliciting ship-
ments from producing fishermen and shore dealers, often sending personal
representatives or drummers to fishing communities for the purpose. They
also supply a great deal of current market information to shippers, most of
which is by telegraph or telephone, and at the expense, in both directions, of
the merchant, the amount of which is substantial. In New York City the
wholesale dealers jointly maintain a Fishery Council which decorates seafood
trucks with attractive advertisements, does some newspaper advertising and
cooperates with the home economics department of the municipal radio
station in promoting the sale of fish and giving fishery information to the
consumers in New York City. These merchants perform an indispensable
service to producers and the consuming public and at considerable overhead
expense not shown in their accounts of sales.

Nevertheless such markets have been regarded with some suspicion. The
basis of settlement with shippers is the selling price, but no indisputable
proof of what this price was is accessible to the distant shipper. Nor, in the
absence of standards of quality impartially determined, does the shipper have
any proof of inferiority if this is given as a reason for a low price returned.
Further questions have arisen out of the efforts of commission merchants to
avoid embarrassing comparisons of returns for the same kind of fish from one
community shipped at the same time to one or more commission merchants
who have no opportunity to explain to the shippers the many causes for vary-
ing prices for the same kinds of fish in the course of a business day. The
averaging of returns in one way or another may avoid the embarrassing com-
parisons, but in the end, raise other and perhaps still more embarrassing
questions, since any liberty taken with the returns opens the way for suspicion
that returns to fishermen may be arbitrarily fixed and not those actually
realized. The question of returns arises from the many legitimate causes for
lower prices of some shipments, such as arrivals too late in the day for best
prices, the arrival of large quantities of other kinds of fish, and inferior
quahty. Because of these and other difficulties the practice has been growing
of buying "on the floor," i.e., outright purchase by the city dealers, sight un-
seen, of fish at the fishing ports before shipment.

The problems of commission marketing in the big cities are obviously not
yet solved within the present framework of the law and equity to the satisfac-
tion of all interested parties. The established practices now followed have
evolved from long experience of the commission houses, whose actions are

326 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

tempered and restrained by their competition with one another both in
attracting the shipper's offerings and in their sales to the retail trade.

c. Coastal Dealers. Apart from the organized markets at great production
centers, a residue of smaller fisheries in communities scattered on long coast
lines must be provided with immediate primary markets for local fishermen.
Such markets are usually individuals or small companies who receive the fish
and ice, pack, ship, and sell in the various markets, and sometimes fillet,
freeze, and store. Some are aggressive merchants who sell to distant whole-
salers, retailers, hotels, etc., extend credit and finance the sales, fillet, freeze,
and perform all appropriate services, including mere forwarding to commis-
sion houses. In fact, when we have in view the nature of their problems of
dealing with a highly fluctuating supply of perishable produce, competing in
a market everywhere characterized by gluts and scarcities, without quality
standards and with generally weak credits and inadequate market informa-
tion, the local dealer is often by necessity an opportunist, disposing wherever
he can of the current production which comes to his hands. Some dealers
operate retail fish shops or even restaurants. They often own boats or shares
in them; they often advance credit to fishermen for gasoline, bait, ice, provi-
sions and living expenses and usually require in return the right to receive
and sell all the fisherman's catch, all or part of the proceeds to apply against
the loan until it is paid.

Excessive charges by shore dealers made possible by this advance of credit
and other devices may have a far-reaching effect on the whole production-
distribution chain. By returning artificially low prices for fish, fishing as an
occupation is made less remunerative, fishermen tend to be restricted to
those of marginal ability, and the region where this is done is placed at a price
disadvantage with respect to other communities where prices are competi-
tively arrived at. The large margins to dealers attract more people into deal-
ing, so that as fishermen are decreased in numbers, the number of dealers
increases. On the marketing side, the large margin taken by the shore dealer
leaves too little for subsequent wholesalers and retailers and final prices
higher than necessary tend to restrict volume retail sales. Thus, both produc-
tion and final sales are discouraged and the volume handled is smaller than
it might otherwise be. Small volume in turn inevitably means high unit cost
of distribution, which is perhaps the supreme economic problem of the fishing
industry.

The terms on which the shore dealer settles with the fishermen vary. Some-
times he buys outright; sometimes he sells for the fisherman on commission;
sometimes he simply takes the fish on indefinite terms and settles later at a
price to be determined by his sales. When he ships to a city commission
market he may receive cash settlement before he settles with the fisherman,
in which case the first price is made in the city commission market; the fisher-

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 327

man assumes all and the dealer none of the risk in the transaction. The shore
dealer may also receive seasonal cash advance from the commission merchant
some of which he may in turn advance to fishermen. In this kind of business
the shore dealer can do business with little working capital and no risk to
speak of and renders little service to the fishermen. In some communities
there are too many dealers any one or a few of whom with little, if any,
increase in expense could handle the entire production. Multiplication of
dealers adds to the over-all cost. Here, as everywhere, it is easy to point out
the defects of the marketing mechanism, but difficult to show how they can
be overcome.

If the shore dealer buys the fish outright from the fisherman, he makes the
price and takes all the risks of subsequent market prices, weather and spoil-
age, and where he must extend credit on his sales he must furnish the capital
and take the credit risks, too. He will of course minimize these risks as much
as possible, and so will his competitor, by offering the minimum price to the
fishermen. Somebody must furnish the working capital and take the consider-
able risks of both working and invested capital, as well as exert the selling
effort and do all the other work. If the fisherman is not prepared to do these
things himself, he must expect less than if he did.

d. Fishermen' s Cooperatives. Many of the objections to the corporate
form of business apply to fishermen's cooperatives which are often mentioned
as a solution of the capital, management, and selling problems of fisheries
production.

Few fishermen's cooperatives have been tried in this country. During the
NRA days of the 1930's cooperatives were established with Federal Govern-
ment sponsorship and finance at Rockland, Me., Edenton, Morehead City
and Southport, N. C, and Clearwater, Fla. All failed. In the Pacific North-
west, the Halibut Vessel Owners Association and the Halibut Fishermen's
Union jointly manufacture and sell vitamin oil from fish livers through a
cooperative management, but the fish are sold through the Seattle auction.
At Prince Rupert, B. C, a similar arrangement markets the fish (halibut,
salmon, etc.) as well as the livers and liver oil. In both these cases the fisheries
concerned are controlled by international commissions under treaty agree-
ments and the conditions appear to be more favorable to cooperative action
than those of other fisheries generally.

Cooperatives rely on the capital of their members rather than that of
stockholders, and fishermen have no more savings capital for such purposes
collectively than they have individually. Since credit to some extent is neces-
sary to inland distributors, wholesalers and retailers, the cooperative must
exercise the judgment and control of credit, and take the risks involved, or
deal only through commission merchants for cash, and the latter are perhaps
the least satisfactory of all outlets for fish.

328 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

But an even more serious difficulty with cooperatives, which seems to have
been the basic cause of failure of most of those which have been tried, is the
practical difficulty of finding and hiring men with the experience, energy,
imagination and general business ability, of providing them with the incen-
tive to build a sound merchandising organization and to keep the peace among
strongly rival and individualistic members. Men who have these talents are
usually in business for themselves. Fishermen might well be reluctant to pay
the handsome salaries and participation in profits which are necessary to get
sufficiently able management.

e. Marketing by Fishermen for Canneries, Freezers and other Processors.
In a considerable part of the fisheries, the traps, vessels, etc., are owned in
whole or part by the shore plants. Fishermen are engaged to fish the traps
and man the vessels under an arrangement for a season at a fixed price per
pound, barrel or other unit. These transactions are sometimes called sales,
but are actually wages for labor, the amount of compensation being deter-
mined by the catch, at a pre-fixed rate. A considerable part of the time and
labor involved may be constant, the variable being in setting and hauling
nets, unrigging and rigging pound traps, etc.

MARKETING, DISTRIBUTION, AND CONSUMPTION

Place of the Fisheries in the Food Industry. The fisheries are dominated at
the extreme ends of the production-distribution chain by two refractory
determinants; at the source by unlimited competition in the non-privately
owned water; at the extreme opposite, the point of consumption, by the
almost constant per capita requirement for food, which is the main deter-
minant of the food industry. The greater part of the commerce in fishery
products is in human food and subject to this determinant.

Inelastic Demand for Food. The per capita consumption of food of all
kinds, including the water content, bones, husks, fats, and other wastes, is
variously estimated at from 1500 to 1800 pounds per year. The estimates
differ largely in what weights are used and, of course, contain undeterminable
errors. Sherman et al. (1944) estimated on the basis of a house-to-house
canvass that housekeeping families and single persons in the civilian non-
institutional population of the United States consumed at home an average
of almost 30 pounds of food per person per week, as brought into family
kitchens from retail stores, garden or farm, but before further preparation
for table use. They estimated the unavoidable refuse at about 8 per cent plus
undetermined avoidable waste.

Harper (1945) estimated that the per capita consumption of food through-
out the world is also not far from constant:

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 329

Quantities of Food Eaten. The belief prevails that wide differences exist, even
in normal times, in the quantity of food eaten per person in different parts of
the world. We visualize the Chinese, Japanese, and Indians as existing on only
a fraction of the food we eat. But this is not true.^^ Food consumption on no
continent differs more than a few per cent one way or the other from the world
average of about 560 pounds, dry weight, per person.

Why do our ideas on this question differ so much from the facts ? It is partly
because famines in areas like China and India have been over-emphasized. The
periodic famines which occur in these areas are local and temporary. Some
people die, but following the famine, when good crops return, the survivors —
who are most of the people, on a proportionate basis — eat enough extra to re-
build their bodies to about their former weights. The life-time consumption of
the survivors is affected little by the famine.

The difference between overeating and starvation is an amazingly small
amount of food. To illustrate, if an ordinary adult were to reduce the amount of
his food intake by only about three per cent, he would lose about 10 pounds of
weight in a year's time ; if he were to increase it by three per cent, he would gain
about 10 pounds in a year. This change in weight would, of course, be so small
as to be unnoticeable day by day, and hardly noticeable week by week. But in
10 years' time it would amount to a loss or gain of 100 pounds. This amount of
change is conceivable only for a person either seriously overweight or under-
weight, as the case may be, before this loss or gain occurred ; it is unthinkable
on a continuing basis, on a national scale.

The record of the consumption of food in the United States, considered in
a historical annual series from 1909 to 1948, is presented in detail in a report
by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, prepared under the supervision of
Gavin and Burk (1949). For each kind of food consumed in each year the
amount, expressed in customary retail weights, which was available for con-
sumption (i.e., "disappeared") was computed as the sum of ascertained or
partly estimated production, stocks on hand at the beginning of the year, and
imports, less the sum of exports and stocks on hand at the close of the year.
Numerous corrections and adjustments are made (for the details of which
see the publication cited), so as to make the record as accurate and as com-
parable throughout as possible. Summary serial tables exhibit the quantities
by weight of the various classes of foods and of the totals of all foods con-
sumed per capita per annum, and also computations of the annual average
content per capita per day of food energy in calories, the various nutritive
elements in appropriate units, and both of the latter in terms of indexes for
comparative purposes.

15. "Quantity," as used here, refers to the amount of food on a dry basis. To include the full
weight of foods with their varying water contents, from cereals with a low water content to
lettuce having 95 per cent water, is to use a basis for comparison that is meaningless for this
purpose. Perhaps equally satisfactory, and giving essentially the same conclusions as these based
on dry weights, would have been comparisons in terms of calories or total digestible nutrients.

330

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

a

p

o

i-:

*

O

o

O

o

M

u.

o

o

OS

J3

o

<n

a;

U

en

c

-4-1

C/i

>>

T1

WJ

■4-)

aj

n

ID

W

T)

(L>

n

Xi

n

■^

Uh

c

fTl

r!

-I-'

n

o

H

Cu

s

-13
C

p

rt

rfl

c

r/1

O

-i->

U

ton

-73

a;

O
O

^

\^

Oj

rt

03

■gffSS;-''

£c^=^i

o

V a t!

«

o

H

^ J= > ti

r-- 3 <U

«!?«

►J

.•n++

<D C++

tS'^g

^

O 4; S

^

JD

3 ca 3

H-I

^ >>

«,

c 2

J3

c

T)

c*

S i t^*

tn

0th

veg

ables

fruit

■^

•o *

^« O i «

=« s:s '^ ij

-^K^>-S

M ■"

3 1 *

111

J3

H-1

",+

2&«

tn

°-oa

eJ

rt c

§2 ^^

XI - "" 3

!«-o-a

Q^"^

m 6I),„

i2 O^ 3T3 S3

vi

rt 3 U C —

1-1

-b^i

g^ca

^

f* OT3

hJ

O. C

++

M

J3

M

hJ

W

m OCj

.h: 3-a S
MTj 3 t;

J2

Q S'y 3

o-S^

n

><

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

fO'^r^f^fO*^f^<^'^'OPOf')^'^f^'^fO*^f^*^t^'^<^<^t^*^'^(^rO<^

o O O^ w o o

TffO(r)(>0rOfO'^PO

T^-fv^^^Ttf^'^T^T^Tt'

1 -O "^ -o t^ r^

O^OO 1-1 t>.

OoOoo r>*r^oO t^t^r^'^sO *J*ro^fOfOts rofOfOrow c^ O O O O 0^0^0^0^0^

C)O^-lC^OW^^OOOOc^00MO•~'wcoO^^MMPOOO^O»tN•-<f0^»fO*^

Tf-^TfsO to« i-«oO OOO M tr^ m i-^ O f<)(:>0*0oo0 o o t^t>-o f^ c>0 inco rf

O O O O O O CO

O O '-' f^ fO ro '

^ tJ-^O '^ -^ Tf lo '^tO

-00 •-< I-* M

mr--0 t^OOOOO 'Tf^'OsOOoO ^O-OO m *-< »-« »^ i^ w

Ooco lo ^ii^r»r>-oOco

oot>*iooOOO « OnvOO ^O OOO »orOM m m O w t^ioN iniou^O in^Xi >-< ih
OOO loooo r>»0\o t^ooooooooo t^oooooooocooococococo r^ccoooooo oo

OO •-< (N f^rfioO r>.co OO
0\ O O* oo» o^o^o^o>oo*o^

I-" M ro^LoO t^oO 0\0 •-« f*> ro^too r*.oO OO
M fN ci ri "M n (N (s M rO^'^fOf^'^fOfOf^f^^
0000^0>0^0^00^0^0»0*0'0«0^0'00^0*0*

o-^B

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 331

We have arranged as our Table 5 the data in Cavin and Burk's summary
(their Table 38) of apparent annual per capita consumption by weight for
the 3 2 -year period, 1909- 1940, arranged in twelve categories of food, and the
totals of all foods; also included is the series of corresponding calculated
energy contents in calories taken from their Table 39; we have averaged the
columns and computed the percentage of the average of each class of food
on the average total consumption for the period.^*'

In our Fig. i, these data are exhibited in graphic form/' The curves for
the several classes of foods are slightly smoothed by a 3-point moving average
so as to avoid the confusion of crossing over by the wiggles in so many curves
compressed into small space, but the totals by weight and calorific content
are plotted unsmoothed.

For the many important and interesting implications of this study, the
reader must be referred to the original report. For our purposes here it suffices
to call attention to the main points bearing on the economics of the fisheries
as a part of the food industry.

The total amount of food in customary retail weights which disappeared
was almost constant at 1,520 pounds per capita per year over the 3 2 -year
period, 1909- 1940, of turbulent economics which included a depression after
the First World War, an inflationary boom, another and violent depression
and recovery. In this 3 2 -year series, the average annual deviation, plus or
minus, from the average of the entire period was 2.0 per cent; the maxima
of deviation were + 3.4 per cent (1909) and — 3.8 per cent (192 1).

The total energy content was also, for our purposes, almost constant
around the average of 3,368 calories per capita per day; the average annual
deviation from the average of the entire period was 2.6 per cent, with a maxi-
mum in any one year of +6.7 per cent (1928) and —3.4 per cent (1935).

Not only the total weights and energy content per capita, but also the
nutritive elements (protein, fat, calcium, iron and the common vitamins)

16. We have omitted from our presentation the data for the war and postwar period in which
a marked increase in per capita consumption occurred. The total rose rapidly from 1,547 pounds
in 1940 to the unprecedented 1,705 pounds in 1947 and dropped back to 1,581 pounds in 1948.
The largest part of the increase was in dairy products, and a noticeable amount in meats, etc.,
citrus fruits and leafy vegetables. There appear to be reasons for regarding this period as highly
abnormal and the figures misleading for our present purposes, involving such matters as the war-
time demand for milk for the suddenly increased number of babies born, black market operations,
hoarding by consumers, many of whom bought to the limit of ration coupons regardless of need
during the rationing period and the rush to buy when rationing was discontinued on October 15,
1946, shipment of gift parcels to needy persons abroad and the exclusion of the military con-
sumption from the data.

17. A logarithmic scale is used here (as in all of our other graphs) in which, unlike the arith-
metical scale, like relative changes or changes in per cent, cause like deflections or slopes of the
curves, regardless of the kinds or sizes of units used. For example, a 10 per cent change in the
400 pounds of milk will cause the same slope or deflection of the milk line as a 10 per cent
change would cause in the 10 pounds of coffee line. The logarithmic scale also makes it possible
to plot the wide range of quantities from less than ten pounds of beans to the 1500 pounds total
food and the 3400 calories.

332

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

1920 1925 1930

I r I I I I I I I t I I I I I I I I I I I 1 I [ 1 I I I I I 1 I I M

1935

1940

3000

4000

3000

1910

1915

1920

1925

1930

1935

1940

Fig. I. Apparent per capita food consumption, United States, 1909-1940: Food energy
(top curve) in average calories per capita per day; all others in pounds customary retail weights
per year; curves for food energy and all foods not smoothed; all others smoothed slightly by
3-point moving average. Data from Cavin & Burke (1949).

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 333

were remarkably constant, the average annual deviations ranging from 1.7
per cent (riboflavin or vitamin B^) to 4.5 per cent (ascorbic acid or vitamin
C) ; a few of the maxima of deviations were somewhat larger, four out of 20
deviations being more than ±10 per cent from the average; here, however,
the larger deviations mostly result from significant increases in the late 1930's
by the widespread interest in vitamins and minerals in the diet, and by the
artificial addition of them to bread, milk, oleomargarine, etc. Prior to that
time these deviations were smaller, and of the same order of magnitude as
those of weight and energy content.

The figures above are subject not only to the errors of determination,
estimate, and the factors of correction, but include also avoidable and un-
avoidable waste, spoilage, and the amounts fed to cats and dogs.^® The totals
therefore do not represent, in either weight or calorific or nutritive content, the
amounts of food actually consumed, which must have been substantially less.

The total amount of food available or which disappeared in each of the
years and as an average for the entire period considered was well above the
Recommended Daily Allowances^" for the United States population as
a whole in total energy content and in the quantity of each of the essential
protein, minerals and vitamins, indicating that the national dietary, con-
sidered as a statistical average, is adequate in both quantity and nutritive
content. -°

While the classes of foods and even the individual food products exhibit a
remarkable constancy, there were changes among them which were of such
nature as to compensate one another, so that the totals of weight, calorific
content and the composition in nutritive elements showed, over all, little
change from year to year.

The major and persistent changes that did occur were mainly decreases
in grain products and potatoes, of low water and high energy contents, and
corresponding increases in the watery but "protective" citrus fruits and
green, leafy and yellow vegetables ; a sufficient increase occurred in fats and
sugars to make up the difference in energy content between the watery fruits
and vegetables and the high-energy potatoes and dry grains.

This, the only major and persistent change or trend, did not come about
suddenly, capriciously, or accidentally, but was undoubtedly the result of a
long-continued pressure of thousands of articles in newspapers and maga-
zines, lectures, books, advertisements, radio broadcasts, and educational

18. Fish alone was canned for dog and cat food to the extent of 63,783,000 net edible pounds
in 1948.

19. National Research Council, Food and Nutrition Board, Reprint & Circular Series No. 129,
1948.

20. The above does not mean that the total food is uniformly distributed and everybody well
fed. According to Edward Stieglitz (Book review. Science, Vol. 106, July 25, 1947, p. 92), 28 per
cent of the U. S. population were 10 per cent or more over their optimum weight and only 12.8
per cent were 10 per cent or more under their mean normal weight.

334 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

courses over a period of a quarter-century, bringing to the consuming public
awareness of the advantages of a better diet of protective foods.

All the above characteristics of the food market are but reflections of the
underlying determinants of food economics, which are to be found in the
physiological requirements of the animal body and in the factors of economic
geography.

Physiological Basis of Food Economics. The first nutritive requirement
of the human body is for basal metabolism, which is the amount of food
energy required when the stomach is empty and the body is in complete
repose; it energizes the circulation of the blood, respiration, muscle tonus,
and other vital activities, but most of it is dissipated as heat in keeping the
body warmer than its surroundings; quantitatively it is mathematically
related to the weight and surface area of the body, and varies slightly from
person to person; being in adult males about 40 calories per sq. meter of body
surface per hour, and adult females 37 calories, or around 1800 and 1500
calories, respectively, per day. It is not subject to any voluntary variation
(except medication) or economic influence.

In addition to the requirement of food for basal metabolism is that which
supplies energy for work and all other physical activity of the body. For this
use the body acts as an engine which transforms chemical energy of the food
to muscular contraction or work, with a certain amount of loss as muscular
heat in overcoming friction and viscosity of the tissues. This part of the food
intake is directly related to the amount of physical activity; it is proportion-
ately greater in the young than in the old, and greater in people of active
than in those of sedentary habits.

The third major portion of food goes to growth of infants and children into
adults, including extra requirements of pregnant or lactating mothers; it is
the excess of total food assimilated above the requirements of basal metabo-
lism and physical work. In this class may be included the excess fat accumu-
lated by some people, especially adults in middle life. All of the food which
accumulates in growth and fat is accounted for in the end and returned to
nature in the bodies of deceased persons.

The total of the above three requirements of food energy range from about
1200 to 1600 calories per day for infants and young children and 2100
calories for sedentary and aged women, to 2800 for moderately active men
and women (most of us), 3800 for boys in their teens, and 4500 for strong
men in the prime of life engaged at hard labor. Taken as a statistical whole,
the food requirement of the United States population works out at around
2800 to 3000 calories per capita per day, which agrees well enough with the
actual amounts shown in the table after allowance is made for converting
retail weights into food actually consumed, basic digestive inefficiency, etc.

This brief sketch takes no account of the variations from person to person

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 335

in sickness and health, and under various dimates and conditions of life, re-
finements, balancing and possible improvements in the details of diet with
which the science of nutrition is concerned. For our purposes it is sufficient
to note that there is little room for any voluntary expansion or contraction of
the total with more or less money, income, or pressure of advertisement; it
is fixed by the basic requirements of the human body as a machine, and there
is little cause to wonder at the constancy in the national figures of food con-
sumption as shown in the table.

Not only is this true of the gross quantity of food, but also of its individual
components. The human body on the average requires a minimum of about
70 gm of protein per day, of which ten essential amino acids must be present
in certain required amounts, also minima of fats and carbohydrates, iron,
calcium, etc., as well as of several vitamins. On examination in detail of the
historical record above referred to, it will be found that with little or no con-
sciousness on the part of individual consumers, their choices of foods over
the years add up and balance out so as to provide a very close approximation
to the total amount, the energy content and the individual components which
the body requires under the prevailing circumstances of life. Of the thousands
of plants and animals on the earth which man might cultivate and domesticate
for food, he has narrowed the list down to a few hundred (or a few dozen for
the bulk of it), and of these few, his selections from day to day meet, with
remarkable exactness, the basic requirements of his body. Change and im-
provement in diet, projected by scientific research in nutrition, are concerned
with remarkably small differences between what is and what might be con-
sumed, and these changes, as we shall see, are effected only by long continued
pressure against great resistance and inertia.

The above study by Cavin and Burk is based on the situation in the
United States; in all countries the total per capita requirements for energy
and nutritive elements vary but little, but the total gross weight, being
dependent on the kinds of food which make up the bulk, probably varies
somewhat from country to country (Harper, 1945). In some parts of our
country and to a considerable extent in some of the poorer and densely
populated countries, the diet is in greater part the cheaper cereals, beans,
rice, potatoes, and vegetables; in richer ones, the more expensive meats,
poultry, dairy products, eggs, and fruits. In any country the shift may be
toward higher or lower money value quality with prosperity and depression
and with the income and education of the individual. ^^ The total amount of
food, of course, increases with increase of population.

21. For data and discussion of food consumption by families of different income levels, in city,
town, country, regions, etc., see Food and Life, U. S. Dept. of Ag., Yearbook of Agriculture, 1939,
especially Stiebling and Coons, Present Day Diets in the United States, p. 295-320, Yearbook
Separate No. 1682 ; Sherman at al., 1944, How Families Use their Incomes, U. S. Dept. of Ag.
Misc. Pub. No. 653.

336 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

It follows from the above, perhaps oversimplified, considerations that
increases in the per capita consumption of one product or class of products
must have the general effect of causing a decrease in the consumption of
some other products of a similar or equivalent class.

In dealing with the economics of fish products in a national or regional
dietary our main concern is the share in the limited total that can be sup-
plied by fish products, which, being animal flesh and fat, compete, so far as
we know, as the full nutritive equal, with meat, poultry, game, eggs, and
perhaps cheese. The position that fish occupies in the dietary is fixed by
a great number of determinants which dictate how much, where, when, and
by whom, fish is purchased in competition with meats, etc. Many factors,
such as price, national, racial, or religious customs, palatability, availability,
appeal to the eye of the shopper, familiarity, convenience of preparation,
and many others, determine not only how much of all kinds of fish collec-
tively (as of any other kind of food) will be sold, but relatively, how much
of each kind. Any improvement in any of these determinants with respect
to, say, fish, expresses itself in greater demand and more sales. More sales
up to a point result in lower cost per unit of handling, making possible still
lower prices and still further increases in sales until no further increase in
volume handled will result in lower costs. Increases in sales could be ex-
pected to work back to the fishermen, who would then receive more total
money for their larger catch. The dealers would handle more fish and make
more money and under the pressure of competition would be obliged to pass
part of the savings to the fishermen and part to the trade. The larger reward
attracts more fishermen from occupations ashore, and more investments in
boats. The increased number of fishermen and boats divide the increased
revenue, so that individually they are perhaps not greatly bettered, but the
total revenue to the fishing community is increased.

Regional and National Dietary Pattern. The gross composition of na-
tional or regional dietaries is dictated by customs and habits which are
historically made by factors of economic geography. Examples are Italian
paste foods, tomato sauce, cuttlefish, squid, tuna and olive oil; German
sauerkraut, sausages, and pork; Mexican maize, meat and pepper dishes of
Indian origin; Dutch cheese; English roast beef and cabbage, Newfound-
land potatoes and "Nev/foundland turkey" or codfish; Chinese bamboo
shoots and soya beans. The origin and historical reasons for many of these
are known, some are lost in the ancient past. Some of our present forms of
food are hangovers from primitive methods of preservation — smoked and
salt-cured meats and fish, cheese, wine, pickles, etc., the liking for which
still persists long after the need for them Jhas been outmoded by better
methods of preservation, such as canning, 125 years old, and refrigeration,
75 years old. Many of the food habits have become fixed by religious cus-

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 337

torn, law, and tradition, which, once established, are handed down from
generation to generation and are exceedingly stubborn facts in food eco-
nomics. In the United States, the colonists of various national origins
brought their native habits, which were soon altered by new conditions of
economic geography varying with different sections of the country. To the
earliest colonies along the coast, fish, being easily caught, were important as
part of the diet and as export goods for revenue. As the colonists moved into
the interior, long distances, poor roads, and warm climate put them out of
reach of fresh ocean fish, while abundance of rich land and good climate
yielded the greatest plenty of high-quality food of agricultural origin.
Accordingly, a continental pattern of food habits was established on the
products of the farm from which fish was practically excluded everywhere
except on the coastal fringe and around the Great Lakes. The new wave of
immigrants from 1870 to 1914 brought national groups with new influences
and reimposed some of the old-country habits — the Irish to Boston and New
York, the Germans to Wisconsin and Missouri, Scandinavians to Minnesota,
and Chinese to California, to mention only a few.

It is impossible to treat here, except in the briefest outline, the factors
which have made and are still making our national dietary pattern. It is a
spotty regional and local patchwork resulting from imposition of a new
over an old pattern, later modified by improvements in agriculture, the
coming of railroads, refrigerator cars and warehouses, still later by refrig-
erated auto trucks, and now by esthetic and scientific sophistication of
consumers, mechanization of industry and daily life, rapidly increasing
percentage of old people in the population, and many other influences which
fix the gross composition of our diet, and, in particular, how much fish is
included. ^^

Gross Cofnposition of the National Dietary. The amount of fish in the
diet of different countries varies greatly, as shown by production of iii
pounds per capita in Japan, 48 in Great Britain, to 20 in France, 8 in
Mexico and 3 in Brazil. (FAO, 1945; other authors estimate these quantities
at considerably lower, but proportionate, figures; some allowance must be
made for imports and exports which vary from country to country.) The
per capita consumption of meat and fish in the United States for the years
1930-47 are compared in Table 6.

The teachings of the history and economic geography of food are not
only that the total quantity of food per capita is approximately a constant,
but that the composition can and does change but slowly, and in response
only to potent and persistent influence; that the amount of fish entering into
the national or a regional dietary cannot be increased by wishing or hoping

22. For extensive information, treated here in briefest outline, see Yearbook of Agriculture,
1939; also Furnas and Furnas (1937).

338

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

TABLE 6
United States per Capita Consumption of Fish and Meat

Fish Production
gross weights
United States
and Alaska *

Fish Consumption f
net edible portions

Meats, t
dressed weights
exclusive of lard

Year

Fresh and
Frozen

Canned

Cured

Total

Pounds

Pounds

Pounds

Pounds

Pounds

Pounds

1929
1930

1931
1932

1933
1934
1935
1936

1937
1938
1939
1940

234
21.7

18.3
16.4
18.0
21.3
21.7
23-7
234
22.2
22.6
21.4

5-9
5-0

44
4.2

44

5-2
5-2

5-6
5-3
54

5-7

3
3
3
3
4
4
5
4
4
4
4

3
2

4
9
2

7
8
2
8
6
2

1-3

I.O

I.I
0.9
0.9
I.I
1.0
0.9
1.0
0.9
0.9

10.5
9.2
8.9
9.0

9-5

11. 0
12.0
10.7

11. 1
10.9
10.8

129
130
130
138
137
116
127

125
126

140

* Based on adjusted statistics in the Section of this Survey on Quantitative Economics. Weights
are as landed or as usually reported by Fish & Wildlife Service. Cod, haddock, etc., gutted;
mollusks, net edible weights. Production of Mississippi River system considered to be 45 million
pounds in all years. Not adjusted for exports and imports.

t Data from Sherr, Power, Kahn et. al. (1948). Adjusted for exports and imports.

t Bureau of Agricultural Economics.

or sporadic advertising, nor (as seems to be so often assumed), by merely-
catching more of this, or that, or all fish. Any increase in the share of fish in
the dietary (at the expense and against the competition of other items
therein) can be effected only insofar as the determinants of demand are
changed favorably for fish.

Our concern here is therefore with an examination of the determinants of
demand, what they are, how they operate, and to what extent they can be
influenced and how.

Factors which Affect Demand for and Distribution of Fish. In the United
States, including Alaska and the Mississippi River system, for the period
1936-40 inclusive, the annual average total production of fish (4.362 billion
pounds) was approximately a third (31.4 per cent) fresh and frozen, a third
(30.6 per cent) canned, a little more than a third (35.5 per cent) made into
by-products (fish meal, etc.), or used for- bait, and 2.5 per cent cured,
smoked, salted, etc. Those which are canned cease to be fish in the trade
sense and become canned goods ; they pass through a system of brokers and

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 339

wholesalers entirely apart from the channels for the distribution of fresh
and frozen fish. Some of our comments (on religious custom, etc.) apply to
fish in any form, but otherwise we confine ourselves here mainly to the
commerce in fresh and frozen fish.

a. Esthetic Characteristics. The delicacies are mostly shellfish, oysters,
shrimp, clams, scallops, crabs, lobsters, and certain forms of finfish, caviar,
anchovies, sardines, and smoked products, such as herring, whitefish,
salmon, sturgeon, etc. These are mostly expensive appetizers, hors d'oeuvres,
or special dishes. The delicacies as here defined account for a substantial
part of the money value of the fisheries, but a smaller part of the tonnage. In
the United States in 1940 the shellfish alone before any kind of preparation
amounted to about 25 per cent of the total value, and 11 per cent (much of
it wholly edible, without waste) of the total pounds of the catch of fish of the
country. The shellfishes stand in a class by themselves as gourmet items
whose value is mainly esthetic since in quantity they contribute only a trifle
in the total of national nutrition (2.5 per cent as much as all meat and only
about 40 per cent as much as the domestic cheese). They are high in water
content and low in fat and calories and when rated in terms of nutritional
value only are excessively expensive.

Fishery products of the luxury class, including most of the shellfish, and
some finfish such as whitefish and pompano, are sui generis in the market, are
not substitutable by similar products, so that on scarcity their prices usually
rise disproportionately, yielding to the fishermen more money for less pro-
duction. On the other hand, the market for such items is definitely limited
and excessive production will cause a sharp drop in prices. Staple or finfish,
on the other hand, mostly have little or no sui-generis-ness (to coin a needed
word) ; i.e., most of the bulk of common finfishes are ready substitutes
one for another; it is a matter of indifference to the restaurateur and his
guests whether he serves fillet of sole, flounder or haddock. There are a
few differences or price classes, the fat and the lean ones, etc., but generally
consumers can distinguish but poorly between approximate equivalents. For
this reason the bulk of finfishes tend to act as an economic unit, all tend to
move up and down together, and no one can depart far from its particular
level in the general price scale.

Finfish generally are characterized by a fish flavor or odor, to which many
people object, especially that of stale fish which develops quickly and
easily, while meats and poultry are improved in flavor by the post-mortem
process of ripening. Fishy odors are undoubtedly a hindrance to demand;
they are also a troublesome factor in tainting kitchen utensils, refrigerators,
the hands, and the air of kitchens; they are a considerable commercial
impediment in that fish cannot be stored in refrigerated warehouses where
eggs, butter and meats are stored, so that when trade is insufficient to

340 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

support a public cold storage for fish, dealers have to provide their own,
and in smaller places there is none and frozen or chilled fish cannot be held.
Cold storage lockers and deep freeze cabinets are a promising new develop-
ment in this field.

Apart from the fishy flavor, fish generally, especially the less fatty ones,
are somewhat insipid. Pure proteins are practically tasteless; red meats and
game generally owe their high flavors to the blood and "extractives" which
are held in the tissues at slaughter. When slaughtered most fishes hold little,
and some of them almost no, blood and extractives; generally they require
special seasonings to overcome the deficiency of flavor. The bones in fish
cooked whole are exceedingly objectionable. Few people know where the
bones are, or how to eat a cooked whole fish without getting bones mixed
with the flesh (an operation requiring some skill even of the expert). The
consumer often gives up, leaving much edible portion, mixed with bones,
on the plate. This objection is now being overcome by filleting the fish at
some time prior to cooking.

Fish generally is not as belly filling as meats and usually does not give
to the hearty eater as enduring a sense of having eaten a substantial meal.
When one has a stomach-upset or food poisoning, it is almost always ascribed
to fish (usually without proof) if any has been recently eaten. Supersti-
tions about harmful combinations of fish, lobsters, shrimp, and crab with
milk, ice cream, beer, etc., are widespread, and many people seem to think,
without diagnosis, that they are "allergic" to fish. Typhoid epidemics and
sewage pollutions of oysters and clams undoubtedly are a mental hazard
out of proportion to their reality. On the other hand, with our increasing
mechanization and diminishing demand for heavy foods, and with increas-
ing proportion of elderly people in the population, fish is a more and more
suitable source of animal protein and fat in the diet.

b. UnjamUiarity of the Public with Fish. The multiplicity of kinds of fish
(about 150 fin and 40 shell), is undoubtedly a serious impediment to the
sale of fish. We have no statistics on the point, but it seems to us certain
that few American housewives in a typical inland city could identify the
common fishes which they might see on exhibition on ice in a restaurant
window. The same housewives could almost certainly identify all the ordi-
nary cuts of meat, as well as poultry. This unfamiliarity is aggravated by
the profusion of unstardardized common names, and ignorance of seasons
of abundance, and leads to diffidence in purchasing and to deception by
unscrupulous dealers. Being unfamiliar with methods of dressing and fillet-
ing, buyers of whole unpackaged fish leave this somewhat unpleasant work
to the fishmonger who is often himself unskillful, so that a disappointingly
small (and therefore expensive) edible portion is obtained from the gross
weight purchased.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 341

c. Discontinuity of Supply and Consumers' Habits. Habit is well known
to be an important determinant of the choice of foods. Some of our food
habits are temporary, but many or most of them are of long standing,
acquired in childhood and passed from generation to generation. Not only
are the consumers' habits themselves tenacious, but industries, often them-
selves complex, are built around them to supply the demand and become
deeply embedded in the general economy. Any attempt to change or dis-
establish a fixed food habit is sure to be met, not only by the passive
resistance to change on the part of the consumers, but by active fighting
back of the challenged and well established producers.

Continuity of supply is highly important to the establishment or mainte-
nance of a habit for any particular kind of food. In this respect a large
part of the fisheries is at a disadvantage in the discontinuous, fluctuating,
and seasonal nature of its supply. While some of our fishes, such as cod
and haddock, are in year-round supply, and others, such as salmon, are
made regularly available by preservation, a large part of the fisheries is
without either of these aids. This is especially true of the miscellaneous
fisheries for migratory species scattered along the coasts which are sepa-
rately and locally too small to support manufacture and are without the
militant power which would be required to force them into the market
against established habit and competitive opposition. The industry relies
for a large part of its market on the demand for fish of unspecified kinds,
which is obviously not a firm foundation on which to hope to base a new
habit. The motivation for heavy advertising drive is not present for the
obvious reason that the benefits inure only in part to the advertiser of
unbranded commodities; cooperative or trade association advertising is dif-
ficult to maintain, and governmentally subsidized help is certain to arouse
political opposition.

d. Religious Customs and Traditions. The Jewish dietary laws permit
only fishes with both scales and fins (Ginsberg, 1944). The fast days in
Lent, Fridays throughout the year, and certain other days long established
by the Roman Catholic and other churches have been adopted by the trade
and public generally as fish days, with far-reaching effect. Whether the
dedication of a particular day to fish is an advantage to the fisheries or
not is at least doubtful. In effect it provides for 52 (sometimes 53) Fridays,
plus Wednesdays in Lent and several Ember days. Insofar as each week's
business is concentrated on Friday, each Friday represents 2 per cent of
the year's trade. When a feast day, such as Christmas, falls on Thursday
or Friday, that week's business is greatly reduced, even though the Roman
Catholics observe the previous day as fast day. New Year's Day always falls
on the same day as Christmas, and Thanksgiving Day practically eliminates
one week every year, by reason of the left-over turkey; it would benefit the

342 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

fisheries to celebrate Thanksgiving on Tuesday. A detailed study of holidays
in a perpetual calendar would probably show a direct adverse effect of the
fixed Friday on the sales of fish.

Even if one day must be chosen for fish, Friday is a poor day, because
unsold goods may have to be carried over Sunday. By Monday, even if they
are still good, they are always looked upon with suspicion. Dealers are
therefore careful not to order more than they feel sure they can sell, for
the profit, if any, is made on the last few pounds sold.

Friday fish day also has the effect of concentrating the work of distribu-
tion, so that all trucks, help, store space and facilities, and other overhead
items of expense must be adequate to handle peak loads in a short time
with little to do the remainder of the week. This effect would not be serious
if the distributive mechanism were the same as that used for the meats
which are displaced by fish on Fridays. The trucks, etc., would merely
shift from meats to fish. Fish are for the most part moved by their own
distributive system, partly because the odors, etc., may be imparted to other
foods. Prior to 192 1 the "Big Five" meat packers distributed fish, but were
restrained from handling fish by a Consent Decree in the Federal District
Court of the District of Columbia in that year under proceedings in an
anti-trust case. The Decree was reaffirmed in 1929 on petition for rehearing
by the packers. It is easily shown that meat packers could deliver fish locally
along with meats (sales of one being down when the other is up) at a much
lower cost per pound than an independent and separate fish distributing
system could, with smaller volume and all overhead items taken into account.

Expense of Distribution. It was shown in the section on Production that,
on the whole, fish are produced at first cost considerably lower than that of
meat animals. It is a question for future investigation whether, or to what
extent, this differential carries through to the consumer. Such information
as we have suggests that most of the initial advantage is lost. The costs
between the seacoast and the inland consuming markets are undoubtedly
higher for fish than the corresponding costs of, and with fewer compensa-
tions than, meat products, in a number of details, among which are:

a. Value of By-products. At the source, meats gain an immediate advan-
tage over fish in the greater number and value of the by-products derived
from the animal. (See below, section on Manufacturing.)

b. Labor in Manufacture. Meats also gain an immediate advantage in the
larger size of the individual animals, requiring less labor for butchering or
any other manufacturing preparation than the very large number of indi-
vidual fishes that must be handled for the same quantity and purpose.

c. Cost of Distribution of Small Volume. Since the per capita consump-
tion of fish is small, all the overhead items of cost must be absorbed by a
smaller total volume for a given community. In towns of 50,000 to 100,000

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 343

population beef, pork, lamb, etc., may arrive in carload lots by railway and,
being relatively less perishable, may be held in large lots in cool rooms and
locally distributed in large trucks, whereas fish, to the extent of not more
than 15 per cent as much, must be delivered in small lots and disposed
of immediately because of the greater perishability and because this small
quantity, as we have just seen, is concentrated at a peak on one day a week.
In small towns and villages the volume may be too small to be delivered
economically at all.

d. Shrinkage in weight is commonly overlooked, but it may and often does
amount to 10 per cent or more between landed and retail weights of whole
fish, and must be allowed for between the successive dealers. Finfish are
soft and lose weight very readily when handled, or when pressed down
under ice in boxes and barrels. Loss by shrinkage is minimized in fish shipped
as fillets; in fact, when brined, as they usually are in this country, fillets pick
up four per cent or more of weight in the brine bath after they are cut.
The washing or blowing of shucked oysters adds to their weight.

e. Spoilage. The loss of fish by spoilage in process of distribution is un-
doubtedly greater than that of meats. Losses must be and are reflected in
the final prices in the long run, regardless of who is chargeable for them in
a particular case. The jear of loss is perhaps a more potent deterrent than
realized loss, especially in summer when all dealers minimize purchases to
their estimates of sure sales rather than run the risk of loss on goods that
might have to be carried over a week-end. In some products, a little pressure
on a merchant by fear of loss sometimes promotes volume of sales, but in
the case of fish, fear of loss seems to have the contrary effect of causing
him to avoid the risk. Meats, of course, are carried over with little risk.

f. Credit Losses. Theoretically at least, a good case could be made for
the proposition that credits should not outlive the goods on which they are
extended, i.e., no credit should be granted on perishable fish which are
either sold and consumed or spoiled and dumped, and cannot be repossessed,
within a few days after shipment. Nevertheless, such credits are commonly
extended, often 30 days, or tenth proximo, or indefinitely, resting only on
the general credit rating of the dealer. In times of depression fish dealers
and restaurants usually have little equipment, inventories, receivables, or
other assets of value. Hotels are notoriously slow pay and the average life
of the independent retail establishment is short. Credit losses, like those
caused by spoilage, must be in the end provided for in the cost of distribution
and reflected in final prices.

g. Excess Weights Shipped. In the case of whole fish, and oysters, clams,
etc., in the shell, the shipping weights are excessive in proportion to the
edible parts. Meats are always shipped dressed. Whole fish, on the average,
are probably not over 40 per cent edible, and often less, as filleted by

TABLE 7

Values at Farm and Retail, Marketing Margin, Fifty-eight Foods,
Hourly Earnings and Freight Rates ||

Year

Farm
value *

Retail
value *

Margin

Farm

value as

percentage

of retail

value

Index of hourly
earnings of

wage workers t
1926 = 100

Index of
freight rates

on farm
food

products
1926 = 100

Current
purchasing

Constant
purchasing

power

power §

Dollars

Dollars

Dollars

Per cent

Per cent

Per cent

1913

134

252

118

53

44

63

67

1914

137

258

121

53

45

66

67

1Q15

134

258

124

52

45

65

67

1916

155

285

130

54

48

56

67

1917

223

370

147

60

56

48

68

1918

245

424

179

58

71

54

85

1919

267

470

203

57

80

58

85

1920

272

S14

242

53

102

66

no

1921

179

404

22s

44

95

97

108

1922

170

374

204

45

91

94

lOI

1923

173

384

211

45

95

94

lOI

1924

170

381

211

45

97

99

100

1925

198

410

212

48

99

96

100

1926

202

418

216

48

100

100

100

1927

190

406

216

47

lOI

105

100

1928

194

407

213

48

lOI

104

98

1929

195

415

220

47

102

107

98

1930

171

391

220

44

100

116

98

1931

121

322

201

38

95

130

97

1932

88

270

182

33

81

125

98

1933 t

92

264

172

35

78

118

97

1934 t

108

295

187

37

88

117

95

1935 t

138

331

193

42

90

112

92

1936

152

342

190

44

92

114

91

1937

160

353

193

45

lOI

117

92

1938

130

321

191

40

102

130

96

1939

126

311

185

41

102

132

96

1940

132

314

182

42

104

132

96

Estimates of annual purchases of foods by a typical workingman's family were obtained from
the 1918-19 Cost of Living Survey made by the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 58 foods
include meat, dairy and poultry products, bakery and cereal products, a number of fresh and
canned fruits and vegetables, and several miscellaneous items.

* Retail price data are from the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, farm price data are prin-
cipally those estimated by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics.

t The index of hourly earnings excludes agricultural workers and was published through 1934
by the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The indexes for years after 1935 have been estimated
from hourly earnings in selected industries.

t No allowance is made for processing taxes on wheat, rye, rice, hogs, corn, peanuts, and sugar,
which, on the quantities of these products included in annual family purchases, amounted to
about $2.00 in 1933, $10.00 in 1934, and $11.00 in 1935.

§ In terms of the All-Commodity Wholesale Price Index, 1926 = 100 (B.L.S.)

II U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Bur. of Ag. Econ., National Nutrition Conference for Defense,
May 26-28, 1941, Sec. 7.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 345

unskilled butchers or retail fishmongers; where the 60 per cent offal plus
ice and box are shipped in less-than-carload lots, the shipping costs are
obviously extravagant. The practice of filleting at the source helps to over-
come this handicap.

h. Excessive Mark-ups in Prices by Shore Dealers, especially in the
smaller fishing communities. In some communities the number of dealers
appears to be out of proportion to the number of fishermen and the amount
of fish to be marketed, so that to survive on the small amount of goods
handled severally by them, the dealers must mark up prices excessively;
on a considerable part of what they sell, a second commission is charged
by the large city wholesalers.

i. General Primitiveness and Crudity All Along the Line, of an industry
which has never been the beneficiary of the scientific research, technical
and engineering improvements in efficiency, expert management and sales-
manship which are necessary to meet its competition squarely, and which
have only feeble assistance from government, universities, and foundations.
We do not even have the basic facts and statistical data from which to deter-
mine definitely where and what the weaknesses and inefficiencies are, and
to measure them.

Fishermen' s Share of the Final Value Compared with Farmers'. The net
effect of all the factors mentioned above, most of them adverse to fish, is a
high cost of distribution which probably cancels most if not all of the low-
cost advantage enjoyed by the fisheries at the port of landing. Table 7,
prepared by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, shows, for 58 agri-
cultural foods, the farm and retail values, the margin between the two in
dollars, the farmers' share as per cent of retail values and for comparison
the index hourly earnings of wage earners, and the freight rates. We have
inserted a column of figures which are the annual equivalents of workers'
hourly wages in money of constant purchasing power, 1926 = 100. The
relation of farmer's share and the other costs of processing and distribution
for certain particular foods and for all (agricultural) foods is presented
graphically in Fig. 2." It is observed that, say, in 1940 the working man's
family retail food bill was $314, of which the farmer received $132, or
42 per cent, with a margin between the two of $182 for all other charges,
expenses and profits. According to the graph, the farmer (in 1934 and 1935)
received 40.3 per cent of the retail value of pork (approximately the same
as the average percentage for all foods in those two years).

We have no statistical data on the average retail prices of fish, but it is

23. The table and graph are reproduced from U. S. Dept. of Agric, Bur. of Ag. Econ., (Hand-
book for) National Nutrition Conference for Defense, May 26-28, 1941, Sec. 7, Distribution &
Processing of Foods, 11 p. See also, A. C. Hoffman and K. V. Waugh, Reducing the Costs of
Food Distribution, in Food and Life, U. S. Dept. of Agric, Agricultural Year Book, 1940, p.
627-637.

346

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

obvious that the cost of distribution of fish is proportionately far more than
it is for agricultural products, and that the fisherman receives a smaller
share of the consumer's dollar spent for fish than the farmer does for each
dollar spent for farm foods, and, as shown in the table, the farmer's share
has tended downward. If the farmer's percentage for pork (40.3 per cent

RETAIL VALUE

DOLLARS
(BILLIONS)

PROCESSIMG

AND

LOCAL

ASSEMBLY

3.0

PAID TO

> MARKETING ^

GENCIES

PERCENTAGE OF CONSUMER'S DOLLAR

— r

TRANSP.
21.8

WHOLE-
SALINS
12.7

RETAILING
19.3

RETAILING

WHOLE-

AND

SALINS

WHOLE.

1.2

25.6

■ROCESSING

15.8

Jn

• 'AGRICULTURAL SITUATION'. APRIL 1941, P. 2»

' 'AGRICULTURAL INCOME INQUIRY' OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. 1917

Fig. 2. BREAKDOWN OF FARM-TO-RETAIL PRICE SPREADS BY MARKETING

FUNCTIONS

The proportion of the consumers' dollar represented by the charges for processing, transporting,
wholesaling, and retailing food products varies widely, depending on the type of the product.
For most food products the retail margin is the largest single element of the marketing spread,
though this does not necessarily mean that retailing is done less efficiently than the other functions
of food processing and distribution.

of the retail price) were applied to fish, then the retail selling price for all
fish and for certain species would be shown as in Table 8.

Without statistical data on fish, we know that fish did not sell at retail
for any such prices in 1940. Freight, express, ice, containers, etc., would
consume most if not all the margin. These charges, as well as other over-
head, being based on weight and not on value would in any event be greater
percentagewise on cheaper goods.

In the attempt to check the above showing quantitatively, we have ex-
amined some of the current newspaper advertising of food stores in New
York City and in North Carolina. They clearly show that extensive market
research is needed before quantitative comparison can be made, since the
net edible portions of fish and meats respectively cannot be ascertained

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

347

TABLE 8

Calculation of What the Retail Selling Price of Fish (1940) Would Be

if Fisherman Received Same Percentage of Retail Value as

Farmer Did for Pork (in 1934-35)

Fisherman's

If fisherman's share

Fish

average price

is

40.3%, retail

1940

price

in 1940 would be

Cents

Cents

Cod

3-05

7.50

Haddock

3-30

8.20

HaUbut

8.60

21.30

Gray trout (squeteague)

340

8.40

Sea bass

2.40

6.00

Mackerel

(northern)

1.60

4.10

All food fish & shellfish

4.60

11.30

for comparison from newspaper advertisements. The indications, however,
are that the edible part of even the cheaper fish costs as much as sausage,
chopped beef, shoulder of Iamb, etc., and when full allowance is made for
edible portions, are equal in cost to the medium-priced cuts, and the more
popular and choice fishes cost as much as choice cuts of meat. Some data
bearing on this question is to be found in Sherman et al. (1944), showing
the relative costs of fish and competitive foods to domestic households in
1942.

Distribution or Accessibility of Fish to the Consuming Public. One of the
most important determinants of the quantity of fish consumed in national
or regional dietaries is accessibility or opportunity of consumers to buy it.
National average per capita calculations in a country as large as ours have
only a limited significance. Actually, the products of the whole world's
fisheries are consumed largely in small areas at high per capita rates, and
very little elsewhere. In the United States, the distribution has been and
still is extremely "spotty," though slightly less so now than it was thirty
years ago. New York City is estimated to consume more than 20 per cent
of the entire national production of food fish marketed fresh or frozen.
No recent data on local per capita consumption of fish have come to our
attention. During the 1920's the Bureau of Fisheries made marketing
surveys in a number of cities, indicating, in edible portions, 32 pounds per
capita in New York, 18 in Jacksonville, 11 in Atlanta and Pittsburgh, 9 in
St. Louis and 6 in Louisville.'* If fish were equally accessible and attractively

24. See (New York) Fiedler and Matthews, Rept. Coram. Fish, for 1925, (Doc. 996) ; (St.
Louis) Fiedler, Rept. Comm. Fish., 1927 (Doc. 1026); (Atlanta) Fiedler, Rept. Comm. Fish.,
1928 (Doc. 1039) ; (Jacksonville) Fiedler, Rept. Comm. Fish., 1928 (Doc. 1036) ; (Louisville)
Hopkinson, Bur. Fish. Econ. Circ. No. 50; (Pittsburgh) Econ. Circ. No. 52.

348 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

presented everywhere, it cannot be doubted that the national per capita
demand would increase. One pound per capita per year increase in edible
portion would be equivalent to nearly half a billion pounds of whole fish or
a third of the present production of fresh and frozen fish.

Local Preferences for Particular Species. Further study of distribution
reveals the preference in certain localities for certain particular kinds of
fish. For example, mullet and red snapper, though popular in the South,
are rarely seen in New York; New England whiting for many years enjoyed
sale in only one market in the United States, namely, St. Louis, later Kansas
City, and still later, some of the other mid-western cities — notably in Louis-
ville and Nashville; cod is preferred in New York and Detroit, haddock in
Boston, catfish is primarily preferred in the South; "ocean perch" or rose-
fish seems to be preferred in Des Moines, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Mil-
waukee and St. Louis; flounder is popular in Philadelphia except when
shad is available; the Jewish population of New York is strongly inclined
to fresh water species — carp, perch, etc. — and the fresh water fish trade of
New York is almost entirely in the hands of the Jewish fish merchants.

The geographic influences which we mentioned earlier do not explain
these and many other local preferences. The latter are undoubtedly caused
by historical events which have initially created persistent local demand,
but failed to be recorded and are lost to history. The catch of whiting and
rosefish from New England, until a few years ago insignificant or nonexist-
ent in commerce, grew in the past few years to a production of 175 to 200
million pounds, or one-fourth of the total finfish of New England (and
three-fourths as much as cod and haddock combined). This remarkable
development was certainly in part a response to a long established and
persistent demand for small pan fish by the rapidly growing midwestern
population which had overwhelmed the fisheries of the lakes and rivers.
It may also be in part due to a change in the relative abundance in the
water and in cost of production of the species concerned. Without the
demand the fish would not have been produced, however abundant; and
without the supply the demand could not have been met at costs and prices
that would not kill demand. A comparison of fishermen's prices for these
four species (rosefish, whiting, cod and haddock) shows that even after
allowing for the differences in recovery of edible portions (cod, haddock
and whiting 40-42 per cent, rosefish 27 per cent) the fishermen could ad-
vantageously produce these substitute species and sell them at prices to
the consumer lower than those for cod and haddock. This is but one example
of the interaction of biological and economic factors as a self-regulatory
mechanism, and points out the futility of attempt by public authority to
determine, from biological reasoning only, how much of what particular

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 349

fishes the fisherman should catch and, by corollary reasoning, what fishes
should be sold.

Domestic Household and Institutional Consumption. It is generally con-
sidered in the trade that restaurants, hotel dining rooms, and institutions
are relatively more important consumers of fish than private homes, though
we have no direct statistical data from which to make the comparison.
Sherman et al. (1944) in a national survey of domestic food consumption
(mostly after Easter) in 1942 indicate that the consumption of fish in homes
was 13.3 pounds per capita of the whole country, which can be compared
with upwards of 20 pounds production (we do not have the data for 1942
for all fish). Since the per capita for homes only is less than that for all out-
lets, restaurants and homes, it is inferrible that the per capita of restaurants
is greater than that in homes. The data on which these calculations are based,
however, are none too reliable.

In judging the market potentialities of a region such as North Carolina
with a small urban and large rural population, consideration has to be given
not only to the difficulties and overhead costs of delivering fish to small
communities, but also to the relative importance of restaurants and private
homes.

Resultant Effect of Determinants on Amount of Fish in the Dietary. We
have mentioned a few of the factors favorable and unfavorable which
taken all together determine how much fish on the average people buy, viz.,
the esthetic (or unesthetic) qualities of odors, bones, insipidity, belly filling
satisfaction or lack of it, superstitions and beliefs, direct and indirect effects
of religious customs and traditions, economic difficulties which increase
costs between shore and consumers and minimize volume of sales, spotty
availability, unfamiliarity of the public with the many kinds of fish, dis-
continuity of supply — and such favorable qualities as those possessed by
the gourmet items, lightness and digestibility, suitability for people of
sedentary habits, and escape from monotony of meats — all these factors,
favorable and unfavorable, taken together fix the amount of fish that is
admitted to the inelastic dietary. These factors are objective determinants,
some of which can be, but none have been, measured quantitatively by
economic research; they are no less potent, indeed they seem to us more
potent, in determining the magnitude and prosperity of the fisheries industry
than biological and legislative factors of production. Aside from the effects of
booms and depressions, inflations, deflations and wars, all of which are tem-
porary, there appears in the record so far no reason to expect any spontaneous
events that will help the fisheries of this country as a whole to any higher
degree of prosperity than they now have. The chief problem of the fisheries
industry is to improve its distribution and to develop the markets in regions
where consumption is now far below the national average.

350 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Importance of Technical Improvements and Merchandising Enterprise.
It is known that Kansas City and St. Louis are among the best markets in
the interior of the country for certain kinds of ocean fishes. They were
for years oases in a fisheries market desert. The origin of these markets
was the enterprise of particularly able merchants and their organizations
operating effectively for many years. These examples show clearly that
demand for fish is subject to change, can be created and encouraged by
aggressive effort, and can have an important bearing on the possibilities of
marketing fish in North Carolina.

The most effective development for increasing the share of fish in the
national dietary has been and is the combination filleting-packaging-quick-
freezing-refrigerated cars and trucks and deep-freeze-retail-and-home-cab-
inets. These items and developments here concatenated are one development.

Up to the end of World War I, all fish that were not canned or cured
were shipped whole in boxes or barrels of ice. One hundred pounds of whole
fish with a like amount of ice and 25 pounds of barrel or box weighed
225 pounds and contained 40 pounds of edible fish. This perishable product,
with a bad record for spoilage and refusal, took the highest railroad and
express tariff, and on arrival at city of destination was practically excluded
by its disagreeable nature from favorable location by landlords and zoning
regulations, and from food shops where other goods were sold; it was forced
to some poorly accessible corner of the city market. Finally, when and if
purchased, the housewife often had the problem of disposal of 60 per cent
of the whole as useless and disagreeable waste. The new marketing tech-
nique began in 192 1 in the separation and shipment of edible portions of
fish, followed in 1924 by quick freezing and shortly thereafter (1925) by
unit packaging of not only frozen fish (which could not stand alone in the
market), but also (1927) of fruits, vegetables, poultry, meats, berries, etc.
Soon followed the installation of refrigerated dispensing cabinets (1930),
making possible the marketing of unit-packaged frozen perishables, and
therefore the widespread expansion of retail distribution and finally (1940)
domestic "deep freeze" storage cabinets; and lately (1946) pre-cooked com-
plete meals in frozen form. The prospect for the next improvement is air
transport for the more expensive products."^ These developments have
greatly facilitated and are facilitating the mass distribution of fish (as well
as other perishables) by the great chain store organizations and thousands
of other retail food stores, and have presented fish to consumers to whom
it had been theretofore inaccessible. Fishery statistics of the region (New
England) where these improvements originated and reached their highest
development clearly reflect the benefits in a growth considerably exceeding

25. See Larson, Reitz and Burgum (1948).

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 351

the general Index of Industrial Production. (See below, p. 381, also Figs. 7
and g, and Tables 41 and 48.)

Advertising and the Competitive Position of Fishery Products. Commodity
goods are generally not advertised (though there are exceptions), even
when they have competitors in other commodity goods (coal vs. fuel oil
and natural gas). The benefits of expensive advertising would inure only
in part to a single advertiser of unbranded and unidentified products, the
rest to the benefit of his competitors. Such advertising as is done in the food
field is very largely of branded specialities, i.e., low cost, high price prod-
ucts, with sufficient gross margin to pay for the expensive advertising. The
citrus fruit growers of California and Florida cooperatively advertise their
few kinds of fruit. In the fisheries the competition is internal, i.e., fish vs.
fish of other kinds and places, or of fishermen and dealers with each other
for whatever market exists spontaneously, with little effort to increase the
total of fish vs. its real competitors, meat, poultry, and eggs. The fisheries
are not a single industry but an assortment of allied mutually competitive
industries. Cooperative trade association advertising is frequently under-
taken in some industries, as it has been at one time and another in the
fisheries (one is under way now), but in the past they have always broken
down through failure of support by the many diverse small and competitive
interests for the sustained program on a national scale that would be neces-
sary for real success. Sporadic advertising programs are regarded by experts
as a waste of money.

The fisheries considered broadly have in fact a most excellent story to
tell which would be the envy of many another industry. It has "romance"
in the mysteries of the ocean and fascinating life in the sea, in the vastness
of its depths and areas, in the marvellous round of world chemistry, in
human interest in fishing and fishermen, in the variety of their products,
their low cost and excellent food values. The advertiser of fish would be
embarrassed, not by inability to think of something to say about his prod-
ucts that has not been worn threadbare by repetition, but by the overwhelm-
ing profusion of too many things that could be said.

Competition for a place in the national dietary is severe; every item
in it is struggling for a larger place, and there is no golden rule other than
the well known formula of better goods, more attractively presented at more
places, aggressively merchandised, efficiently delivered at lower cost and
cheaper prices where and when it is wanted.

MANUFACTURING

Effects of Fluctuations in Supply on Employment of Capital and Labor.
Fluctuations and discontinuity of supply of raw material profoundly affect

352 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

the economics of manufacture of fishery products and by-products. Where
the supply is seasonal, both plant investment and labor are idle between
seasons. When the plant is not working, not only is capital unproductive
but the labor force must be disbanded, and reorganized for each new
season. Even where the raw material is in year-round supply, it fluctuates
in quantity and often also in price from day to day. Under the latter con-
ditions, it would be advantageous to buy raw materials only on days of
plentiful supply and low price, and not to buy on days of short supply.
Such operations tend to equalize prices and absorb the full production but
at the expense of a larger number of idle days in the year, and do not
provide continuity and security of employment of labor, so that if the
market cushion is provided for the fishermen, it is to the disadvantage of
shore labor. The fisherman's problem, arising from irregularity of supply,
is to a considerable extent merely transferred to the shore processor.

Limits to Mechanization. Because of the periods of idleness, especially
where manufacture is seasonal, it is necessary to keep the capital investment
as low as possible; machinery must be simple and cheap. The damp and
salty atmosphere at the seashore is highly corrosive and in prolonged periods
of idleness the machinery deteriorates rapidly unless it is made of stainless
materials, which are expensive and involve much capital investment, but
where precision and close tolerances are necessary, stainless metals must
be used.

In the mechanization of manufacture, the fish industry is embarrassed,
as it is throughout, by the many kinds and sizes of fish. It is now possible
to design a machine that will do almost anything the human hand can do,
and feasible if it does the same thing all the time and it is economical to do so,
but then only if the volume of manufacture is large enough to justify the
design and construction of the machines. The problem is difficult and
expensive in the fisheries, even for one species of fish which varies greatly
in size; when to this difficulty is added the requirement of versatility of
machines to work on different kinds of fishes of diverse shapes and struc-
tures, the problems are often beyond economical solution.

Main- and By-products Manufacture. The main products of the fisheries
are used mostly for human food. In canning most of the equipment serves
for fish that is standard for other foods; it is neither delicate nor very
expensive and operates at high speed. The great bulk of canned fish is in a
very few species, salmon, tuna, and sardines, which are known and accepted
in world trade. In this country, a secondary line includes shrimp (inferior
to, and in competition with, fresh shrimp most of the time), mackerel,
oysters, dog and cat food, codfish flakes and- cakes (the latter about two-
thirds potatoes), and clams for chowder, To this may be added a long list

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 353

of appetizers, hors d'oeuvres and tidbits, most of which are "dust catchers"
on grocers' shelves. The business in these items is slow and difficult. Canned
fish are classified in the trade as groceries, and do not move through the
same channels of trade as fresh and frozen fish. If we assume that on the
average canned fish is 60 per cent of the whole fish from which derived,
the total pack is about 29 per cent of the whole catch of fish in the United
States and Alaska in 1940, and 42 per cent of that part of the catch which
is used for human food.

Salting is obsolescent as a preservative, and smoking is of limited im-
portance.

Freezing is now, next to canning, the preeminent preservative, and is be-
coming more important with fillets and other prepared edible portions. The
total of all fish frozen in 1940 was about 5 per cent of the total catch of all fish
in the United States, and about 7.5 per cent of that part of the catch which
was used for human food. These figures are somewhat misleading, since
26 per cent of the total frozen is in fillets, shown separately, and an un-
known quantity not shown separately. If the 26 per cent edible portions
separately shown are converted to round fish on the 40 per cent basis, the
percentages would be 7 per cent and 10.5 per cent respectively. Tables 59
and 60, Appendix, set forth the money values of canned and quantities of
frozen fish in the United States in 1940.

Refrigeration serves several economic needs, (i) to level off short term
fluctuations by relieving temporarily glutted markets; some of this is done
by chilling rather than freezing; (2) to carry over the excess heavy pro-
duction from summer to winter season, which is the season of heavy de-
mand. Table 61, Appendix, shows, for 1945, the monthly production and
disposal of the catch of fish in the United States; 66 per cent of all fish was
produced in the months June to October, inclusive, and 24 per cent Novem-
ber to March, inclusive; (3) to play an essential role in the new system
of distributing "quick" frozen packaged foods at retail. In economic aspect,
one important factor is often (and sometimes disastrously) overlooked in
the location of a general purpose freezer and cold storage, i.e., that these
plants usually best serve their purposes at or near the big city markets.
Whether to freeze or to sell fresh at the market is usually determined by
price on the spot. The shipper, remote by one to three days from the market
is in no position to determine what the price will be when the fish arrive,
and therefore cannot decide whether to freeze or sell.

Filleting. The business of filleting at the source beginning in 192 1 has
grown to such extent that, in 1940, the production was 111,200,097 pounds,
valued at $13,149,372, or 11.8 cents per pound. In addition 14,274,543
pounds of steaks and other edible portions were produced, at a value of

354

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

$791,653, or 5.54 cents per pound. The total of all edible portions manu-
factured at the source was 125,474,640 pounds, valued at $13,941,015,
or I I.I cents per pound, made from 31 trade species of fishes.

The catch of these 31 species was 948,826,000 pounds, valued at $29,-
670,000, or 3.13 cents per pound. We do not know the equivalent in whole
fish of the edible portions. The average edible portions that were recovered
in the laboratory by Atwater (1888) of 63 specimens representing 36
species was 48.22 per cent without skins. This figure is doubtless too high
for an average of commercial filleting by hand as now practiced. Rosefish,
now one of our major items (not used for food in Atwater's time), yields
only about 26 per cent, including skin, but after candling to remove those
fillets which contain parasites; cod and haddock yield about 40 per cent
(of gutted fish) skins off.

At three assumed average percentages of recovery, there are calculated
in Table 9 the equivalent pounds of whole fish required to make the 125,-
500,000 pounds of edible portions, the percentages these quantities of whole
fish are of the total production of the 31 species from which edible portions
were made, and of the total production of fish marketed as fresh or frozen,
and, finally, the cost of raw materials per pound of fillets.

TABLE 9

Production of 125,500,000 Pounds of Fillets and Other Edible Portions 1940; at

Specified Assumed Percentages of Recovery, the Calculated Equivalents in

Whole Fish, the Percentages These Are of Catch, and

the Equivalent Raw Material Costs

Equivalent in

whole fish
million pounds

Percentage of total catch

Assumed
recover\'
percent

Of 31 species

from which

derived *

Of all fish
marketed
fresh or
frozen f

Equivalent of

cost raw material

per pound of fillets

cents

36

38

40

346
330
313

36.S
34-6
32.8

23-7
22.6
21.4

9-7
8.2
7.8

* Total catch of the 31 species from which edible portions were made, 948,826,000 pounds,
valued at $29,670,000, or 3.13 cents per pound.

t Total round fish weight of fish marketed in fresh or frozen form in 1940, 1,461 miUion
pounds, unofficial estimate, U. S. Fish & WildHfe Service.

Although these figures are over-all unweighted averages and at assumed,
probably generous, estimates of recovery, they, give some idea of the narrow
profit margins on which the fillet business is based. With a market value
of I I.I cents per pound, we may compare costs of materials at from 7.83

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 355

cents to 9.7 cents to which must be added costs of labor and supervision,
overhead, packaging, depreciation, sales, bad debts and manufacturer's
profit, if any. The most favorable assumption of recovery allows only 3,27
cents and the least favorable 1.4 cents to cover all these items. It is clear
from these figures how close is the margin on which filleting is done. The
business of filleting, as practiced in ig4o, yields practically no manufac-
turing profit, but it improves the competitive position of fish making a more
convenient and presentable product which is salable through outlets which
cannot handle whole fish. It also affords employment of labor at the points
of production and retains the offal for possible manufacture of by-products.

Filleting can be, and nearly all of it has been, done by hand. It requires
a considerable skill, and some filleters are more skillful than others, so that
the averages of speed and recovery are well below the best. With diminish-
ing size of fish, the cost of filleting mounts rapidly; with increasing size,
the labor cost diminishes up to the point where the individual fillets are
too big and must be subdivided. Filleting machines are just now coming
into use which yield a higher percentage of weight than the average hand
filleting. These machines are complicated, made to close tolerances of
precision, and necessarily made of stainless steels, so that they are expensive.

In places where raw material is available the year round, and volume is
large (as in cod, haddock, pollock and rosefish fisheries of New England),
the more nearly continuous operations are favorable to the employment
of both labor and capital; large and continuous volume also makes feasible
the use of expensive filleting and accessory conveying and other machinery
and leaves a sufficient volume of offal for economical manufacture of fish
meal. All of these things compound the disadvantages of smaller fishing
communities with smaller volume of assorted kinds of fish in intermittent
supply. These disadvantages can be compensated only in part by less con-
tinuous employment of labor and at lower wages. Thus it appears that,
at least with respect to finfish of the coarser varieties, the smaller commu-
nities have been put to a still greater disadvantage by the trend toward edible
portions than they already suffered with whole fish. At the same time,
because of the growing popularity and marketing advantages of fillets,
smaller communities are being put to a certain compulsion to fillet or else
see their present disadvantages further aggravated.

By-products. In value of by-products, fish are undoubtedly at a disad-
vantage in competition with land animal industry. The latter, in addition
to edible meat, yields gelatin, hides, hair and wool, membranes, and a wide
variety of biological and medicinal products of high unit value, such as
insulin, adrenalin; liver, thyroid, and pituitary extracts; hormones, pepsin,
pancreatin, tr3^sin, bile salts, cholesterol from spinal cords, products made

356 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

from blood, and a great many others, as well as lard, suet, brains, liver,
heart, kidneys, sweetbreads, etc., used for food.

Finfish are vertebrate animals, though not mammals. Their bodies are
cold. They have glands, liver, and viscera which produce hormones, enzymes,
etc., but we know relatively little about these substances in detail. Fishes
have thyroid glands, their stomachs and intestines produce digestive enzymes
which are active at very low temperatures, and we know that at least some
fishes produce insulin. It is a common error, however, to speak of fish
broadly in such way as this, as if all fishes were physiologically alike. They
are probably as diverse physiologically as they are anatomically.

Glandular and other biological products of fishes, some possibly of great
value, have so far been commercially unavailable (except the liver oils)
because individual specimens are too small and numerous for economical
recovery of the glands. It is quite practicable to pluck out of hogs on a
conveyor line the pancreas, kidneys, liver, etc. The corresponding organs
in fishes are too small and too difficult to find. Even the vitamin-bearing
liver oil widely prevalent in fishes is economically produced only from
certain large fishes whose livers are very rich, such as cod, halibut, tunas,
swordfish and sharks. The organs of fishes (except, to a small extent, the
roes) are not even used as food.

The by-products so far recovered from fish are relatively few, and
mostly crude and low priced. Among the high priced items are exceptionally
rich vitamin liver oils from certain species, and pearl essence, a minor
product made from the silvery epidermis on herring scales. The glue industry
based on cod skins is successful and well established, as is the shark-skin
leather industry on a small scale, but the tanning of other fish skins has
made little progress. Isinglass formerly made from the air bladders of cod
and hake has been supplanted by other clarifiers of beer and wine, and the
industry based on it has disappeared. It may be that amino acids or protein
hydrolysates made from fish can be something of permanent value, but
they must compete with proteins from animals and especially with skim
milk and yeast, from the latter of which most of the present production is
derived. Just now, one of the amino acids, methionine, of great nutritive
value, found especially in fish muscle, is attracting attention.^'' Protamines,
used in medicine to retard the effect of insulin, have been made from the
milt of salmon. The livers of the tile-fish contain what appears to be an
exceptionally powerful fat-splitting enzyme which might be of commercial
value, but it has not been studied scientifically. Seaweeds yield agar, alginic
acid, carrageenin and other gels and mucilages of importance. In short, the
sea offers a tantalizing assortment of possibilities of fine chemicals and
biologicals, but under the handicap of small size of individual fish, irregularity

26. The synthetic product is (Sept. 1947) on the market at $11.00 per pound.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 357

of supply, the few and poorly equipped laboratories, the non-scientiiically-
minded fisheries industry has done little to exploit them.

By-product Oil and Meal. The leading products of the fisheries other than
human food are oil and the dried substance of fish free, or nearly free, of
oil. The dry substance of edible grade for animals is fish meal, of lower
grade it is scrap used for fertilizer.

Meal and oil are made as by-products from the residues of fish left
from filleting, canning and other preparations. Meal, oil, and scrap are the
main products from the menhaden, dogfish, and shark fisheries, and from
a large part of the production of certain edible fishes, such as pilchard,
herring, and some others caught and processed in their entirety for this
purpose,

a. Fish Oil. It is a singular fact that the oil or fat in fishes is stored in
either the body of the fish, or in the liver, but rarely in quantity in both
body and liver. In the salmon, herring, menhaden, shad, mackerel, mullet,
eel, etc., the bulk of the oil is in the body; in the sharks and codfishes it is
contained in very large quantities in the liver (50 per cent or more) and
the livers of halibut, tunas, swordfish, and several others, contain 10 per
cent to 20 per cent oil. The liver oils are generally rich, and the body oils
relatively poor, in vitamins A or D or both. Accordingly, the liver oils used
for medicinal purposes command a very much higher price than body oils
which are used mostly for industrial purposes. Vitamin A is present in all
fish livers that have been examined, but in greatly varying amounts and
concentration; vitamin D is much less prevalent, being absent from all
sharks and sturgeons (whose bones are not calcified) ; it is found in high
concentration only in the swordfish and tunas. Both vitamins seem to be
most highly concentrated in big fishes and old individuals, and in species
that are high on the chain of life, several stages from the basic vegetation.
These are not only more economical to handle because of their large size
but yield more vitamins. Much vitamin liver oils go to waste in small fishes
because of the expense of collecting the livers.

By far the greater part of vitamin liver oils come from Pacific Ocean
species, both oriental and occidental. The tuna, swordfish and halibut,
found in both the Atlantic and Pacific yield oils of about the same quantity
and potency, but these fishes seem to be less abundant in the Atlantic. The
greatest of all sources of vitamin A are the Pacific sharks (dogfish, soupfin
and hammerhead). Their relatives, the Atlantic spiny dogfish and the South
Atlantic and Caribbean sharks, yield relatively low potency oils.

All of the vitamins were originally found in and derived from natural
foods; all of the common ones are now manufactured synthetically, except,
until recently. A; however, this vitamin may go the way of all the others from

358 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

natural sources to chemical synthesis. Announcement was recently made-^
of the synthesis of vitamin A and the beginning of a pilot plant for com-
mercial manufacture. It is therefore not safe to assume that the fish industry
has a permanent monopoly on vitamin A. Indeed, with the accelerating ad-
vance of the arts of chemical synthesis the days of many natural products in
commerce may well be numbered.

The average U. S. production of fish body oil for the four years, 1940-43,
inclusive, was 22,769,699 gallons of fish body oils (inclusive of menhaden,
but exclusive of whale and seal), valued at $12,009,689, vitamin liver oils
969,157 gallons valued at $11,209,154. The total of all oils was worth
$23,218,843. Those manufactured oils were in value equal to about 17
per cent of the total value of whole finfish caught in 1943.

The statistical position of fish meal, fertilizer and oil manufacture in the
United States in 1940 is shown in Table 62, Appendix.

Fish Meal and Fertilizer. The menhaden is used solely for the manufac-
ture of fish meal, fertilizer and oil; a large part of the catch of Pacific Coast
pilchard or sardines, and some part of the Alaska and North Atlantic herring
are used whole for the same purpose, and in large centers of filleting and
canning, the residues are used for manufacture of fish meal (and oil from
the residues of fatty fishes).

The main use of fish meal is as a protein supplement (5 to 10 per cent)
to cereals as chicken feed. Much careful scientific work has been done on
the rations of chickens. Table 10 presents (hitherto unpublished) data
supplied by. and published here by permission of. Dr. R. M. Bethke of
Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, comparing the nutritive values of
various protein supplements, when fed at the same level of protein content
of the whole feed. The results are expressed in grain feed consumed per gram
of growth of chicks to eight weeks old, and the percentage of mortality.

In the United States there is strong demand for fish meal; in the world
as a whole the demand may well continue for all that can be produced
economically because of the relatively small amount (5-10 per cent) re-
quired to supplement cereal ration for production of poultry, meat and eggs
where, as in human foods, protein is the scarcest fraction. Yet, as in vitamin
A, we cannot take for granted a monopoly in any market. Recent (1948)
discovery and isolation of the cobalt-containing "animal protein factor"

27. Cawley, J. D., C. D. Robeson, L. Weisler, E. M. Shantz, M. D. Embree, and J. D. Baxter.
Crystalline Synthetic Vitamin A. Paper presented at the Section on Enzymes, Hormones and
Vitamins, New York meeting of the American Chemical Society. Sept. 15, 1947. See also Chem.
& Eng. News, Vol. 27, 1949, p. 2106; Helvetica Chemica Acta, Vol. 32, 1949, p. 443-452. Dis-
tillation Products, Inc., began production of vitamin A in_i94S, and in Drug & Allied Industries,
Vol. 36, No. 2, February, 1950, full scale commercial production was announced by Hoffman-
LaRoche, Inc.; and small scale commercial production with full scale in the near future by
Charles Pfizer & Co., and by Merck & Company.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

359

TABLE 10

Rates of Growth of Chickens on Rations Containing
Various Protein Supplements

Average
weight

Average

Average

Supplement in Ration

Trials

Chicks

at
8 weeks

feed per
gram gain

MortaUty

No.

No.

Gm.

Gm.

Pet.

Soybean oil meal (expeller)

8

370

616

3.26

0-54

Soybean oil meal +5% dried skim milk

6

290

652

3-16

0.34

Meat scraps (50% protein)

6

280

556

347

1.80

Meat scraps + 5% dried skim milk

5

240

61S

3-30

0.00

Menhaden fish meal

8

360

658

2.99

0.28

Menhaden fish meal +5% dried skim

milk

6

280

665

3.01

0.00

(vitamin B12) is already (1949) being advertised to reduce the protein
requirement in chicken feed by as much as one-half.

Bethke who furnished the material in Table 10 estimated that the United
States poultry and other animal industry could use about 375,000 tons of
fish meal per year (as of 1942). This amount would be the equivalent of
the entire production of every kind of fish in the United States and Alaska
in 1940.

In 1940, the United States produced 126,736 tons of fish meal valued at
$5,471,557 ($43.20 per ton, average), and imported 39,233 tons valued at
$1,909,531 ($48.60 per ton). It produced 66,508 tons of scrap valued at
$2,362,264 ($35.50 per ton) and imported 6,900 tons valued at $310,586.
The grand total of all production of meal and scrap was 193,244 tons, worth
$7,833,821.

Nearly half of this total production of meal was in very fat fish (pilchard,
menhaden, and herring) which because of the value of the oil can support
fishing operations for meal and oil only; the remainder was largely derived
from residues in tuna and mackerel canneries on the Pacific Coast, the
waste from which yielded a substantial amount of oil; from shrimp can-
neries and from cod, haddock, redfish, etc., filleting operations — material
on hand the cost of which could be charged to the canned or filleted products.

Marine animal tissues and even seaweeds are unsurpassed as fertilizers,
for they furnish not only nitrogen, phosphorus, potash, calcium, sulphur,
etc., but also the exceedingly important trace elements, iodine, boron,
manganese, fluorine, copper, cobalt, and several others, some of which are
essential for plants, others for animals, and still others essential for both
plants and animals.

360 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

The ocean contains and could supply a practically unlimited amount of
meal and fertilizer of highest quality not only from the inedible residues of
fish now caught, but from "trash" fish — such as starfish, sea urchins, skates,
sculpins, horseshoe crabs, sharks, lizard fish, mussels, porcupine fish, trigger
fish, fool fish, leatherjackets, sea anemones, jellyfish, sponges — in fact, all
the odds and ends that are not otherwise useful. Some of the richest agri-
cultural land in the world is the northern coast of France which was fer-
tilized for centuries with seaweed. The utilization of this oceanic material
would go a long way to promote the production of food for man. It might
even be biologically helpful to the fisheries in removing some of the enemies,
and competition for food, of the fishes we most esteem.

The sea could thus not only supply man with edible food, but could
forever furnish replenishment of fertility to the soil for agricultural pro-
duction and the nitrogenous nourishment of animals. It is all a matter of cost.

The sale of fish and other products for human food is governed only in
part by price in relation to scientific calculation of nutritive values; demand
and price are heavily influenced also by such qualities as taste, odor and
appearance of the product, and habits, whims and prejudices of the con-
sumers. Meal is purchased by the chicken grower and farmer solely on very
close and unemotional calculation of cost and performance against the
market prices of their products. The esthetic feelings of chickens and farm
animals are not taken into consideration.

Apart from the oil content, the average water content of fish is about
80 per cent and the flesh-and-bone content about 20 per cent. On the average,
wet fish, less oil, dries to about 1/5 of its weight, so that each one dollar
of cost per ton wet weight becomes $5 on the dry weight. Moreover, oil
itself is generally of value only insofar as it can be economically extracted
and sold as oil; it cannot be extracted economically unless the percentage
is relatively high. Most fishes average about 5 per cent oil content which is
rather low for economic removal by present methods. Five per cent oil in
wet fish is 25 per cent in dry meal, which is objectionable in feed and useless
in fertilizer. The fat content of the residue meal from oily fishes is reduced
to about 6 per cent or 7 per cent by efficient methods of manufacture.

With the average value of fish meal in 1940 less than $50 per ton,^^ the
fish would be worth only ^-2 cent per pound even without cost of preserva-
tive, handling, manufacture, overhead, or profit. It has been found in the
New England trawler fishery that it does not pay to bring in trash fish even
after they are caught because labor cannot be compensated for handling,
to say nothing of preservation, without making the material too expensive
for the manufacture of fish meal. It is therefore a disconcerting fact that

28. These costs and values of 1940 are of course now changed greatly, but their position rela-
tive to the value of the dollar probably remains or will remain unchanged.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 361

in cost and with technical methods now available, the vast resources of the
sea, except those which pay their way with oil or human edible portions,
are economically beyond reach for fertilizer and animal nutrition.

In small communities the fisheries are probably again at a disadvantage
in competition with big centers like Boston. Fish meal manufacture is a
low-price large-volume operation; no satisfactory process has been developed
for making it economically on a small scale. ^^ Though the present outlook
does not seem very favorable, it is perhaps not hopeless that much needed
small and inexpensive plants for converting residues from filleting, trash
fish, etc., into fish meal may be established in small fishing communities,
where the labor would be of the nature of self-employment by fishermen and
their families.

Concentration of Manufacture in Few Species and Places, The data
summarized briefly in this section on manufacture clearly show that of the
two hundred or more commercial species of fishes produced along the ap-
proximately 10,000 miles of general coastline of continental United States
and the southern coast of Alaska, by far the greater part of manufacture
is based on a very small number of species or varieties. Of the canned fish,
92 per cent of the value of product in 1940 was made up of salmons, tunas,
sardines, shrimp, mackerel, and clams; of the frozen fish and fillets two-
thirds of the total was in eight trade varieties; of fish meal, 88 per cent was
made up of five trade varieties, and of fertilizer 96 per cent was menhaden,
and in oils, both body and liver, a small list of fishes yield the greater part.
In each of these manufactures a long list of minor and "other" varieties
taken together contribute a small part of the total. Also it is well known
that the great bulk of the manufacture (detailed data not available) is done
in a few cities or fishing centers — Boston, Gloucester, Seattle, San Fran-
cisco, Monterey, San Pedro, and a few others. The products are manufac-
tured from the species which are in large enough volume and steady enough
supply to justify investment of capital and employment of labor and support
wide enough distribution to build public familiarity and demand; and the
work is done in places where this supply is landed, facilities, skilled labor
and transportaton are all available, and where the raw material accumulates
for the manufacture of by-products.

'^Mother" Ships, Manufacturing, and Processing at Sea. The fisheries of
the United States and, indeed, of all other countries are prosecuted in fresh
water and around the fringes of the land as near to consuming markets as
costs of production permit, but even the near-by ocean fisheries are situated
at a disadvantage in competition with agriculture, a disadvantage which

29. A home-made apparatus with process of operation requiring much hand labor has been
described by the Anglo-American Caribbean Commission (1945) ; it is doubtful that this tech-
nique would be practicable in North Carolina.

362 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

is aggravated by the perishability of the product. Latent fisheries at still
more remote places in the world which might add substantially to the world's
food supply are little or not at all exploited. Various proposals have been
made, and some of them tried, to fillet, package, freeze, can, and otherwise
manufacture or process at sea, to provide "mother" or transport vessels to
service fishing vessels at sea and transport their produce to market, and in
various other ways to ameliorate the difficulties deriving from remoteness
and perishability. Unfortunately most of the experience in this direction
has turned out to be disappointing, for a variety of reasons which cannot
be here reviewed in detail.

In the case of "mother" ships to supply trawlers or other vessels at sea
and to collect and transport their produce to market, there are to be con-
sidered the technical difficulties of transferring fuel, ice, and fish from one
vessel to another in all kinds of weather at sea even if it can be demon-
strated that, on the average, the value of the additional fish caught in the
increased fishing time of the trawlers is not outweighed by the cost of the
transport vessel and crew. In some remote fisheries, such as those for tuna
where the product is of relatively high value and the shore industry based
on it is substantially profitable, the refrigerated vessels can be considered
as economically justifiable transportation not otherwise available. There
seem to be few fisheries having such characteristics.

In the case of proposals to fillet, package, and freeze, or simply to freeze,
at sea it should be understood that a trawler (and nearly any other kind of
fishing vessel) is a highly specialized implement designed on the basis of
long experience for the sole purpose of catching fish. If it must also perform
these other operations it must be a larger and more expensive vessel to
accommodate the additional motive power, fuel, refrigerating compressors
and freezing equipment, packaging machinery, materials and supplies, stor-
age spaces, larger crew and dining and living quarters. Such a vessel is large
and poorly maneuverable, and as a fishing vessel it is inferior to the standard
trawler; as a portable factory and crew it is idle when fish are not caught,
and has none of the advantages of mass production. Unless the operations
are expanded to manufacture fish meal which now seems out of the question,
the offal must be dumped as waste.

The large factory ship of the "hen and chickens" type, i.e., a large fac-
tory, storage, and dormitory ship attended and supplied by a fleet of smaller
fishing vessels, does not have a good history of experience. The Japanese
operated floating canneries for crab and salmon, but European experience
in halibut fishing and freezing in Davis Straits west of Greenland was
financially a failure.

In all such operations — trawlers, mother ships, and floating factories —
among the difficulties are those of finding a satisfactory basis of settling

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 363

with crew, and of exercising managerial remote control. Fishing is tradi-
tionally rewarded by sharing the proceeds of the catch among crews,
captains, and owners, and manufacturing labor is traditionally compensated
by wages. To devise an equitable system of risks and rewards where a
hunting expedition is to be mixed up with an industrial manufacturing
operation would be no simple undertaking. The human problems arising
from the crowding of large numbers of men for long periods of time in
small quarters with little or no recreation, and with the inevitable conflicts
and sicknesses, as well as mechanical and many other kinds of mishaps,
constitute a formidable hindrance to an enterprise which requires large
capital investment and offers only a narrow margin of profit even if success-
ful. Yet herein lie the problems that must be solved if the resources of the
sea as a whole are to be fully put to use. The reason why the remote fisheries
of the world are not exploited is not to be found in ignorance or unaware-
ness on the part of the fish industry, but in the fact that it does not pay
to exploit them. As long as all the fish that the markets require can be
supplied at the cost of fishing near by, no one is going to distant waters at
higher cost to try to supply still more.

Quantitative Consideration of the Fisheries

COMPARATIVE MAGNITUDES OF THE FISHERIES

Presented here are some quantitative data, assembled and calculated from
various sources, which are useful in viewing the magnitudes of the fisheries
in their proper perspectives and relations to other magnitudes, and necessary
to the understanding of the economic position of the fisheries as a whole.

Land and Sea, World Magnitudes. The production of fish in the world,
partly estimated, is 37 billion pounds per year (FAO, 1945); if i5 P^r cent
of this is inedible, the remaining 85 per cent or 31.5 billion pounds is human
food. The population of the world is about 2.2 billion; the per capita wet
weight of whole fish per year is therefore about 14.3 pounds, which may
be compared with about 1500 pounds gross weight per capita consumption
of all food (1520 in the United States); i.e., as a rough approximation, fish
is a little less than one per cent of the total food supply of the world by phys-
ical weight. If fish as landed is on the average 40 per cent edible flesh, then
the amount available for food would be about 5.6 pounds per capita per year.
Fish flesh is about 75 per cent water, 25 per cent solids. On the dry basis, the
gross per capita would be 3.6 pounds and net edible 1.4 pounds per year out
of the annual 560 pounds dry weight per capita estimated by Harper (1945)-
Fish thus supplies about 0.65 per cent of the gross weight, dry basis, of the
food of man. Fish contains, on the wet basis, about 18 per cent protein having

364 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

1 700 calories per pound of protein and 5 per cent of fat having 4000 calories
per pound of fat, or about 500 calories derived from protein and fat per pound
wet weight of fish. If the edible portion is 18 per cent protein, fish would
supply 466 gm. protein per capita per year or about 6.7 days' recommended
allowance of 70 gms. per day.^° Assuming that all fish produce is human
food, the world production of about 5.7 pounds net edible fish therefore
appears to contribute about 2800 calories as a maximum or one day's adult
energy requirement, or 0.27 per cent of the required energy for each in-
habitant of the world each year, at the rate of less than one-half pound per
acre of ocean. This is a small amount of subsistence to be derived from the
71 per cent of the whole surface of the earth which is covered by sea and
receives 71 per cent of the sun's energy arriving on the earth and contains the
great bulk of the earth's fertilizers. The 139,295,000 square miles of ocean
area is 40.4 acres per capita of the world's population, the gross product of
which is only 266 pounds per square mile, or 0.42 pounds per acre.^^' ^^

The 57,655,000 square miles of land area of the earth, 16.8 acres per
capita, supports 2.2 billion people with a little less than 100 pounds of food
per acre, or over 99 per cent of the supply, and in addition the non-food
products of agriculture and forestry. On the average 2^ acres of cultivated
farm land supplies the subsistence for one person. (United States, 2.43
acres.) ^^

Various estimates have been made of the annual production or pasturage
of basic vegetable matter in sea water, one of which is 4,000 tons minimum
per square mile in the English Channel (literature cited and reviewed by
Harvey, 1928). Riley (1941, 1944) summarizes the literature and presents
original findings showing that the average basic production in Long Island
Sound involves the fixation of 375 grams of carbon per square meter of
surface per year which we compute (at C X i3-5 = wet plankton) is equiv-
alent to 14,400 tons of vegetables per square mile per year. For Riley's
estimated average production of the open ocean (340 grams total carbon
fixation per square meter per year) the vegetable production would be 13,100
tons per square mile per year. Riley (1941) reckons the animal plankton in
Long Island Sound at probably o.i to i.o per cent of the vegetables on which
it subsists, or, say, up to 140 tons per square mile, with an absolute maximum
of 17 per cent or 2,200 tons. The larger animals, including fish would, of
course, be a still smaller amount. With these figures may be compared our

30. Nat. Res. Council, Food and Nutrition Board, Reprint & Circular Series, No. 129, 1948.

31. See Taylor (1932) for a summary of the various magnitudes of the ocean.

32. The above reckoning does not include whales, the world catch of which may be estimated
at about 10 per cent as much as the catch of fish. At the present rate of capture, regulated by
international agreement at 16,000 "blue whale units" (unit = i whale 100 ft. long) per year, the
yield is about 2 billion pounds of oil and 3 billion pounds of scrap and bones; about 2 billion
pounds of edible meat could be supplied by whales. Very little of it is now used for human food.

33. See Cooper, Barton and Brodell (1947), p. 24, for details of farm acreage and its produce.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 365

five tons of fish ultimately derived from this vegetation in United States
coastal and inland waters, and only 266 pounds per square mile of the whole
ocean.^^ Riley concludes that the production of vegetation per square mile
at sea is considerably higher than that of forest or cultivated land (160 grams
of C on cultivated land, 200 to 250 in good forests, corresponding to 4;900
and 6,120 tons, respectively, of wet vegetation per square mile).

Comparative Magnitudes of the United States Fisheries. In recent years
the gross yield of the commercial fisheries of the United States and Alaska
has ranged from 4 to 4>< billion pounds or 2 to 2>4 million tons annually,
valued (1940) at about $100,000,000. This amount is about 11 per cent of
the estimated world production of 37 billion pounds.'^ While seemingly large
(and increasing with increasing human population), this gross yield appears
to be small not only by comparison with the fertility, productivity and area
of the waters concerned, but also with the yield of the fisheries in other parts
of the world, with the yield of competing products of agricultural origin on
land, and with numerous other criteria of measurement.

The area of the continental shelf of the United States proper (narrow
under-water offshore ledge or fringe of the continent out to the lOO-fathom
line) is about 300,000 square statute miles; that of the southeast and
southern shore of Alaska (Dixon's Entrance to Attn Island) about 150,000,
and the inland fresh waters including the Great Lakes, about 100,000 square
miles. ^^ In addition, there are sounds, bays, and estuarial inshore waters, and
certain offshore banks of a few thousand square miles.'" Also, some of the
yield from pelagic (surface swimming) species (such as tuna, mackerel,
herring, etc.) is taken at sea beyond the shelf. For a roughly indicative cal-
culation, however, we may take the area of the shelf as our source of fish in
the United States. On this basis, and at an annual total of 2 million tons of
fish, our waters yield about 10,000 pounds or 5 tons of produce per square
mile, or 15.6 pounds per acre, of continental shelf. This quantity, while
small, is much larger than the average of world production if reckoned per
square mile (266 pounds) or per acre (0.42 pounds) of the whole ocean.
This 5 tons of fish per square mile appears exceedingly small when compared
with the estimated 10,400 tons of vegetation per square mile of open sea,
and 14,000 tons in Long Island Sound.

Recalling again Riley's estimate that this production of basic vegetable
food at sea is about twice what it is on cultivated farm land (10,400 tons of
wet vegetation at sea, 4,900 tons on cultivated land), it is interesting to

34. Seiwell (1935) estimates the carbon fixation even of the relatively poor waters of the
tropical western Atlantic (between 14 degrees N. and 3 degrees N. along the 40th meridian) at
278 gm. per square meter per year.

35. Food and Agriculture Organization, 1945.

36. Information supplied by U. S. Coast & Geodetic Survey.

37. The New England offshore banks, including the Grand Bank of Newfoundland, have about
75,000 sq. mi. area.

366 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

compare the amount of agricultural land in the United States with the
amount of productive fisheries bottom area of fresh and salt water.

It is difficult to find a basis for comparison of the amount of agricultural
land in the United States with the area of bottom that is fished or accessible
to fishing. The area of the continental shelf of the United States, south-
eastern Alaska, plus the Great Lakes, etc., as above, is about 352 million
acres, with an indefinite addition in areas at sea beyond the limits of the
continental shelf of which the northeastern banks constitute about 50 million
acres. The agricultural land of the United States is summarized for 1945 as
follows: ^^

In farms (Millions of acres) 1,142

Pasture 529

Not plowable 420

Plowable 109

Crop failure and cropland lying idle or fallow 50

Cropland harvested 353

Farmsteads, lanes and waste 44

Forests and cut-over land 166

Pastured 95

Not pastured 71

It will be noticed that the continental shelf, etc., is almost exactly the same
area as the agricultural cropland actually harvested, not including pasture
land. Nearly all of the cattle and sheep production is based on pasture land,
but pigs and poultry are largely fed from harvested crops, while fisheries at
sea may be regarded as all based on the equivalent of pasturage.

Agriculture supported a farm population of 30,546,911; the fisheries (in-
cluding Alaska) supported, at least in part, 124,795 fishermen (1940), or,
with their families, perhaps 400,000 people; agriculture produced vegetable
crops to the value of $3,470,000,000 ^^ and livestock of $4,873,000,000,^^ both
together $8,343,000,000; the gross value of all fish was $100,000,000. United
States agriculture produced 18,995,000,000 pounds ^^ of dressed meat, which
at 54 per cent, represents 35 billion pounds of whole animals on the hoof, or
nearly equal to the 37 billion pounds of the estimated entire world produc-
tion of whole fish; United States fisheries produced 4,000,000,000 pounds
gross weight of fish, or about 1,600,000,000 pounds of net edible fish flesh;
but about a third of all was used for oil, fish meal and fertilizer. Moreover,
United States agriculture continues to enhance its efficiency of production.
Mechanization alone since the end of World War I has released for produc-
tion of other crops 55,000,000 acres formerly used for growing animal feed.
Each farm worker today produces food for himself and thirteen others; in
1850, himself and three others.*"

38. Statistical Abstract 1948, Table 653.

39. From the U. S. Bureau of Agricultural Economic^ Statistical Abstract 1947, Tables 700
and 731.

40. Cooper, Barton and Brodell, 1947.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 367

The infinitesimal smallness of the draft on the waters by our fisheries is
further shown by the amount of fertiHzing elements which have been ex-
tracted from the water and are contained in fish. At an estimated average
content of 3 per cent nitrogen and 2.2 per cent P2O5 (phosphorus pentoxide),
fish are considered to be good agricultural fertilizer and have been so used.
If the entire production of fish of the United States and Alaska were con-
verted to fertilizer, it would provide only 7.4 per cent of the nitrogen
(815,000 tons N) contained in the supply of commercial fertilizers allocated
to the United States in 1948 by the International Emergency Food Council ''^
and 2.3 per cent of the estimated (1,850,000 tons) phosphate (P2O5)
supply.*^ Indeed, the P2O5 supply in 1948 itself nearly equals the total wet
weight of our annual fish production (2,250,000 tons 75 per cent water), and
the fertilizer elemental fixed nitrogen supply is 36 per cent as much as the
total wet weight of all fish produced. At this rate, if the entire catch of fish
of the United States and Alaska were used for fertilizer, it would take thir-
teen years' fishing to supply one year's requirement of agricultural nitrogen,
and forty-two years for the phosphorus.

If the water over the continental shelf is an average of 50 fathoms or 300
feet deep, the 300,000 square miles of area of continental shelf of the United
States proper would represent 17,100 cubic miles of sea water, and the
150,000 square miles off south and southeast Alaska, 8,540 cubic miles of sea
water, a total of 25,640 cubic miles (not including inland fresh water). If
we assume an average nitrogen content of 80 mg. N., and phosphorus of 20
mg. PvOs per cubic meter, 187 cubic miles underlying 0.73 per cent of the
area of surface would contain all the nitrogen and 548 cubic miles underlying
2.1 per cent of the area would contain all the phosphorus of our entire 4>4
billion pounds of fish per year; at a uniform depth of .01 mile (52.8 ft.) the
corresponding areas of water would be 83 per cent of that of Lake Michigan
for the nitrogen and 1.7 times that of Lake Superior for the phosphorus. That
is to say, the draft on the fertilizer content of the ocean water would be neg-
ligible, even if the supply were not continuously replenished by circulation of
the water.

We cannot here discuss in detail the causes of this unfavorable comparison
of the yield of the water with that of the land. The difference may be found
in part in our failure to make the fullest use of aquatic resources; in another
part the great difference may be accounted for by the losses in the numerous
steps in transformation of microscopic aquatic vegetation into useful
animals. Almost certainly the difference lies, on the one hand, mainly in the
controlled restriction of agricultural production to wanted plants and their
direct conversion into desirable animals, and on the other, the undirected
course of wildlife at sea. In the uncontrolled state on land (as among the

41. Lodge, F. S., Fertilizers in 1947-48. Chemical & Engineering News, Vol. 26, p. 18-19, 1948.

368 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

primitive tribes) it is obvious that by far the greater part of all vegetation
escapes conversion into any form of animal life; a small part is eaten by
insects and their larvae, by grazing animals, rodents, and birds, but most of
it is degraded by molds and bacteria into humus, and eventually oxidized
into inorganic substance, or else formed into peat, lignite, or coal. At sea, it
also appears probable that most of the vegetation fails to enter the animal
chain, but decomposes in the water and returns to the fertilizer cycle, or
sinks to the bottom and there decomposes or is converted to petroleum, while
of that small part which is transformed into animal life, the greater part
assumes forms not useful to man.

Comparative Production of Principal Fishing Regions of the World. Com-
parison of the fish production of the North American continent and its
component parts with that of the North Sea, all of northwestern Europe, and
the Far East, indicates that waters of the Western Hemisphere are relatively
lightly fished in comparison with those of other parts of the world, and that
the more heavily fished waters of the older fisheries are themselves continu-
ing to yield larger quantities than ever, insofar as statistics are available for
comparison with prior years.

Table ii has been constructed for such comparisons. For example, the
North Sea alone, having 210,000 square miles of bottom, less than one-
third the area of the Gulf of Mexico, produced (on the average of 1936-
37-38) of herring 6.4 tons; non-herring 2.3 tons; all fish 8.7 tons per square
mile, a total of 2,846 million pounds, or 63 per cent as much fish as the entire
United States and Alaska, including all fresh water fisheries; and 45 per cent
as much fish as the entire North American continent, in both oceans and
fresh water, Mexico, Newfoundland, St. Pierre, Miquelon, Canada, and
Alaska.

In the North Sea, the volume of production of the last four pre-war years
(1935-38) was the largest for any consecutive four years of record, although
this sea has been fished for centuries, intensively for the past fifty years and
with little benefit of regulatory legislation. While the production of bottom
living fishes as a whole declined, some of the bottom species declining appar-
ently to the point of diminishing returns, the increase in the herring fisheries
more than compensated, so that the yield of the sea as a whole was at a
record level.

The entire North American continent, fresh and salt water, both oceans
and the Gulfs of Mexico and California, produces only 70 per cent as much
fish as the single-ocean fisheries of northwestern Europe from Gibraltar to
the Arctic, but exclusive of Spain and Soviet Russia.*^ It produces only 82

42. For which two countries the figures for the Atlantic Ocean production are not separately
available. For Spain, Atlantic and Mediterranean in 1940 the production was 967 million pounds
(FAO, 194s).

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

369

TABLE 11

Percentage Comparison of Production of Principal Fishing Regions of the World.

All Figures Based on Three-year Averages, 1936-37-38, Except Newfoundland

(1937), Mexico (1940), Soviet Asia (1938), and China (1939).

Quantities in Thousands of Pounds

World *
36,779,900

45

Pacific East Asia,
Indian Ocean excluded:
China, Japan,
Soviet Pacific t
16,724,900

(Example: The production of the North Sea was
41 per cent as great as that of Japan proper).

)roper §
0

25

55

Northwestern
Europe $
9,149,600

19

42

76

Japan i
6,972,9c

17

38

66

91

North America: United States, ||
Alaska, } Canada t J
Newfoundland, §§ Mexico ||||
6,348,500

12

27

49

64

70

Japan coastal
fisheries
only **
4,483,400

12

27

49

64

70

100

United States ||
and Alaska J
4,474,600

10

22

40

52

57

81

81

United States ||
48 States only
3,626,900

8

17

29

41

45

63

63

78

North Sea TT
2,832,524

5

II

20

27

30

42

42

52

66

Canada $+
Newfoundland,
Mexico II II
1,874,500

etc.§§

* Food & Agriculture Organization, (1945).
t Pacific only, excluding Indian Ocean:

Japan proper 6,972,871,000, Supreme Commander Allied Powers, (1947), Average 1936-37-38.

Japan colonial, 4,734,135,000 " " " " " " "

Soviet Asia, 2,127,849,000, (1938) Food & Agriculture Organization (1945).

China, 2,890,000,000, (1939) " " " "

J All countries of Atlantic Northwestern Europe from Gibraltar to the Arctic, except Spain and
Soviet Russia; Greenland and Mediterranean France excepted. Averages mostly for 1936-37-3S,
a small amount 1935-36-37. Source: Cons. Perm., Bull. Statistique, 1938 (i944)-

§ Japan proper ; fisheries based on main islands, including all coastal, inland and overseas
fisheries, but excluding colonial fisheries, aquiculture, seaweeds, whales and other aquatic animals
not fish and shellfish. SCAP, (1947).

II This Report, Appendix, Table 39, average of 1936-37-38, for seven coastal and Great Lakes
regions, plus Mississippi River, including shells, 1931.

# Alaska, this Report, Appendix, Table 52, average of 1936-37-38, exclusive of whale products,
etc.

**Fish and shellfish only; other aquatic animals and seaweed excluded. SCAP, (i947)-
ft Average 1936-37-38. Cons. Perm., Bull. Stat., 1938 (1944).

Jt Average for 1936-37-38, 1,267,819,000 pounds: Fisheries Statistics of Canada, 1045 (1047).
§§ Newfoundland, 1937, 450,000,000, St. Pierre and Miquelon, 1942, 1,638,000. Total 451,638,000
pounds. Food & Agriculture Organization (194s).

nil 1940, 155,100,000. Food & Agriculture Organization, (i945)-

370

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

per cent as much as the fisheries based on Japan proper, exclusive of her
colonial fisheries, and 36 per cent as much as the Pacific coast of eastern
Asia, according to the figures available (FAO). The fisheries of Japan
proper are prosecuted in a coastal strip extending from 30 degrees to 50
degrees N. lat., equivalent to the distance from northern Florida to northern
Newfoundland.

It is a striking fact that the herring family (Clupeidae) supplies almost
the same 45 per cent of the total production of fish and shellfish of each of
the three major fishing areas of the world for which we have statistics,
representing about 57 per cent of the total partly estimated world production
(36,800 million pounds).

TABLE 12

Per Cent of the Total Production of Fish and Shellfish
Supplied by the Herring Family (Clupeidae)

Number

Total Production

Herring family

Per cent

of years

fish and shellfish

pounds

herring

average

pounds (000,000)

(000,000)

family

Northern Europe *

(16 countries), 1935-38

4

8,400

3,870

46.1

Canada, 1941-441

4

1,349

624

46.7

United States and Alaska,

1936-40 t

5

4,384

1,997

45-6

Japan, coastal and off-

shore, 1936-39 §

4

6,690

2,992

44-7

All, above regions

20,823

9,483

45-6

* Atlantic herring, pilchard, sprats.

t Atlantic and Pacific herrings, Pacific pilchard, alewives, shad.

t Atlantic and Pacific herrings, Pacific pilchard, menhaden, alewives, shad, hickory shad.
§ Pacific herring, and other herrings, a sardine {Sardinia melanosticta) , some anchovies {En-
graulis and Etrumeus) .

Summary. The take of fish from the water appears to be exceedingly small
when considered along with a variety of other magnitudes, such as (i) the
basic amount of vegetable food produced per acre of sea, and the basic
production per acre of agricultural land; (2) the water area, compared with
the land area of the world; (3) the amount of fertilizer contained in fish
when compared with the small amount of water which would contain this
amount of chemical nutrients, and also when compared with the amount of
chemical fertilizer actually used each year by American agriculture; (4) for
the United States and the North American continent, the extent and produc-
tion of our fishery under-water areas compared with the extent and pro-
duction of intensely fished areas in other parts of the world; (5) the amount

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 371

and value of fish as compared with the amount and value of agricultural
produce, plant and animal; (6) the small contribution made to the dietary
(about one per cent of either the gross bulk or the food energy in the United
States); (7) for the United States, the number of fishermen and their
families who are provided livelihood by the fisheries compared to the actual
farm population.

When these comparisons are made, the production of fish, and the draft
made upon the waters by the fisheries everywhere, and especially in the
United States, appear to be trifling, and the question urges itself upon us, are
the fisheries really capable of yielding only so little as this, and that little
half herrings? If, at the present level of exploitation, our main concern must
be that even this little may be too much for safety, then the fisheries cannot
be looked upon as a major source of subsistence for man as a whole, and is
of considerable importance in only a few limited spots.

These comparisons carry the implication that the extent and danger of
exploitation at present practiced possibly may not be the main problem of
the fisheries, since depletion has not seriously and continuously occurred in
the fisheries of any region, and the implication also that the real and pressing
problem is to find ways and means of making greater and more effective use
of what the waters offer. The economic data to be found further in this
chapter seem to point to the same conclusion.

THE UNITED STATES FISHERIES

The total quantity, value, and prices of all fishery products and of food
fish of the United States fisheries, and the average numbers of fishermen
engaged therein, all considered broadly and historically, exhibit definite
characteristics and trends. In order to bring these into view, the historical
record of the fisheries of the whole country was examined and, after neces-
sary adjustments, the main data were arranged in tabular and graphic forms,
in which can be seen the working of the main determinants of the fisheries.
These general data will be presented first, and will be followed by a con-
sideration of the fisheries in some of their parts, sections, species, and other
details, wherein will be seen, at least in outline, the mechanism by which
these determinants operate.

Procedure. The data used in this quantitative study, except where other-
wise specifically noted, are those of the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service and
its predecessor Federal Government agencies. For purposes of field statistical
canvasses, the country has usually been divided by the Federal agency into
nine regions, as shown in the calendar and index of such canvasses in Table

372

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

37, Appendix, w^hich we have endeavored to make complete.*' It was found
impracticable to use in this study the statistical record prior to 1887; since
useful data from Alaska are not available with satisfactory continuity and
content prior to 1929, only limited use could be made of the figures from that
territory; the Mississippi River and its tributaries have also been omitted
because they have been canvassed only six times and apparently not always
over the same geographical area, though summary tables of both Alaska and
Mississippi have been included for convenient reference. The main serial
tables which we have constructed and relied on in this report are therefore
made up of data from seven regions — the five Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico
regions, the Great Lakes (American side only) and the Pacific States. The
degree of coverage and the distribution of the canvasses in various time
periods are shown in Table 13.

TABLE 13

Recapitulation and Per Cent Coverage of Regional Statistical Data of

United States Fisheries 1887-1940. (Seven* Regions of

the United States Proper Considered in this Report)

Period

Number of canvasses

required for complete

annual coverage of

all seven * regions

Number
carried out

Per cent of

total annual

coverage of all

seven * regions

1887-91
1892-96
1897-08

35
35
84

22

3

24

63.0

8.6

28.S

1887-08

154

49

31-9

1909-20

84

6

7.2

1921-27
1928-40

49
91

16
81

32.7
89.0

1921-40

140

97

69.0

1887-1940

378

152

40.2

* New England, Mid-Atlantic, Chesapeake, South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes,
Pacific.

In the entire 54-year period, 1887-1940, the seven regions here considered
were all canvassed (or the data otherwise obtained) simultaneously only in

43. Numerous partial and special surveys of regions, States, rivers and particular fisheries,
summaries, etc., and records of vessel landings, are also available. Some of the regional data in
the calendar, especially in late years, were obtained by some of the States and published and
sponsored by the Federal Government.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 373

1908 and the years 1929-32 and 1937-40.'*^ The period between 1908 and
19 1 5 is totally void, and nearly so to 19 18 or 1920. For practical purposes
the whole statistical history covered is therefore in two separated periods,
1887-1908 and 1915-1940, and some of the graphs cover, for the late period,
only the most dependable years, the period 1921-1940. The annual series for
the early and late periods were made continuous by interpolation in the void
years within these p)eriods.

In preparation for interpolation the data for the various States and parts
of States were first assigned consistently, so far as possible, to their proper
regions (as they are not in the original records). This operation required
considerable manipulation. The total numbers of fishermen (not consistently
classified in the record) for the regions and years were abstracted so as to
exclude ''shoresmen" and men on transporting vessels (apparently not fish-
ing), but to include so far as could be determined all those regular and casual,
on vessels or boats, or inshore, who were actually engaged in fishing however
much or little. It is not possible to assign fishermen to the various particular
fisheries such as ground fish, shrimp, oysters, pilchard, food fish generally,
or menhaden, sponges, seaweeds, whales, etc.; such conclusions concerning
fishermen as are admissible at all relate only to total gross quantity and value
of all fishery products produced by them.

Quantities and values of fishery products are arranged in three series of
tables, relating to (a) all fishery products of whatever kind, and all fisher-
men, (b) food fish only, and (c) oysters.

a. All Fishery Products. The quantities and money values of all fishery
products of every kind for all the years canvassed from 1887 to 1940 were
tabulated for each region; quantities and values of seed oysters (since 1902,
before which time they were not consistently shown) were deducted from
the totals as not a proper credit to production, but the seed oyster fishermen
are properly left in as part of the cost of producing oysters. For the original
record of quantities of market oyster meats (reported up to 193 1 uniformly
as 7 pounds per bushel) were substituted the revised figures ^^ prepared by
the Fish & Wildlife Service and based on ascertained regional recoveries
of oyster meats per bushel in the shell. In these regional tabulations of all
fishery products the money values were converted to equivalent money of
constant purchasing power in terms of the All-Commodity Wholesale Price

44. The 1908 canvass of the entire country was done by the U. S. Bureau of Census in coopera-
tion with the Bureau of Fisheries. It has been said by various students of the subject that because
this canvass was carried out by somewhat different methods, the results are not comparable with
those of other years. However, no marked aberrations of that year's canvass were noticed in any
of our tables or graphs.

45. Summary pubhshed in: Status of WildUfe in the United States, Senate Report No. 1203,
76th Congress, 3rd Session, 1940, p. 180-181.

374

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

I8S7 1890 1893 1896 1899 1902 1905 1908 1911 1914 1917 1920 1923 1926 1929 1932 1935 1938 1940

1890 1893 1896 1899 1902 1905. 1908

1932 1935 1938 1940

Fig. 3. Fishermen of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and the quantity and value of their total
product, 1887-1940. Inadequate statistical record 1909-1919.

Index, 1926=100/*^ Annual average prices and average production and
values per fisherman were then calculated, the money items in terms of both
actual and deflated money.

These regional tabulations. Tables 41 to 47 in the Appendix, were then
expanded into annual series from 1887 to 1908 and 1915 to 1940 by straight-
line interpolation of quantities and actual values for the void years. The
actual value for each interpolated year was then converted to constant money
value by the index for that year, and both kinds of prices, as well as produc-
tion and income per fisherman were calculated for the whole series as was
done in the regional tables. The series for the regions as thus expanded by
interpolation (considered as work sheets and not here published) were then

46. U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; see Statistical Abstract, 1947, Tables 318 and 323. The
index is based on wholesale prices of about 900 commodities.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

375

1887 1890 1893 1896 1899 1902 1905 1908 1911 1914 1917 1920 1923 1926 1929 1932 1935 19381940
150,000 =

400 ;
300 ;

__

15 --yf-'-'

■ : .

-?:::::::

1

Fig. 4. Fishermen of the United States, seven regions (Mississippi River and Alaska excluded),
and the quantity and value of their total product, 1887-1940. Inadequate statistical record
1909-1919.

combined into a sub-total for the five Atlantic-Gulf regions, and are pre-
sented as Table 38, Appendix, and into a grand total for the whole country
(seven regions) as Table 39, Appendix. These data are represented in
graphic form as Figs. 3 and 4 in the text.

b. Food Fish (and Shellfish). As a somewhat less heterogeneous (but still
far from homogeneous) presentation, a second series of tables and graphs
was prepared for food fish (and shellfish) only. From the data for all fishery
products, after the oyster adjustments as above indicated had been made,
there were removed all quantities and values of all, or nearly all, items
which were not considered to be used for human food and could be identified
as such. Among these are: all menhaden, whale products, sponges, shells.

376

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

1887 1890 1893 1896 1899 i902 1905 1908 I9II 1914 ' B17 1920 1923 1926 1929 1932 1935 1933 1940

- - ----pgnEjB^iS-Mjjjjt^;'-' i:--::-:i8

1887 I89P 1893 1896 1899 1902 1905 1908 1911 1914 1917 1920 1923 1926 1929 1932 1935 19381940

Fig. s. Food fish production of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, quantity, values, and prices,
1887-1940. Inadequate statistical record 1909-1919. Population Eastern States (28 cis-Mississippi
River States, including Louisiana and District of Columbia).

seaweeds, furs and skins, oils, etc. Of the Pacific coast pilchard, that part
which is represented by the sardine pack (estimated at 120 pounds of fresh
fish per standard case of sardines) was included as human food; the remain-
der was treated as non-food.

After these adjustments had been made, tables were set up in the same
manner as already described for all fishery products, viz., regional tables of
the actual canvasses of food fish only: Tables 48 to 51, Appendix; a table
composed of regional tables expanded by interpolation combined to a sub-
total annual series for the Atlantic-Gulf regions; and a grand total for the
whole country (seven regions). Table 40, Appendix, and Figs. 5 and 6 in the
text.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

377

1687 1890 1693 1896 IS99 1902 1905 1908 1911 1914 1917 1920 1923 1926 J929 1932 1935 19381940.

2500 ry-] ~-

~ ■"■'T^'"^ "^

f-]-\ "■ = ;--

; r • p j 1 1 ;

^" ■ I

[ p" ;■) r f

'T!^7Ti 1

T"*^ "TT

"rr

m"

rn

2000 i i

iEEEEEEE:|EE

l[]-[||4-| -

^-^~B

|E

ee:

:::::|

■

i

i

^T''

m

ISOO-LLyji:!^

iiiiipi:::!

::F00D fish production;
:: UNITED STATES -

::::;|

1

±t

P

#

i^Tp'

5zE±

- —

:-4^y.rrEN^

w-^

^^4ff

— +

4|f-

900 J^'-^^"*-

600 —

700 — - - -

-

°°° ^^Sr!

-r.-j-L-: ji: j ■:.;;• 1 -;-■■■ ;f -;;:.!-----; j-:-- ■ ■\-T^r-;'- = f#--=£Tf:|^=p— .-4-(^Ty: ]^-p^-fff:f-^--jr^-Yr\T^^'~'-' ITI' ' ' T'^^Tfl

1887 1890

1893 1896

899

1902

S05 1908

1911 !9I4

1917 1920 1923

1926

1929

1932

935

19381940

130 g

-I

100 i
90 2
80 3

1890 1893 1896 1899 1902 1905 1908 1911 1914 1917 1920 1923 1926 1929 1932 I

Fig. 6. Food fish production of the United States, seven regions (Mississippi River and Alaska
excluded), quantity, values, and prices, 1887-1940. Inadequate statistical record 1909-1919.

c. Oysters. A similar procedure was followed in summarizing the statis-
tical record of the oyster industry for the Atlantic-Gulf regions only, Pacific
excluded. Since the numbers of oyster fishermen are not separately ascertain-
able, the tabulation shows only quantities, values, and prices of Eastern
oysters in actual and deflated (1926) money. (Table 57, Appendix, and
Fig. 15 in the text.)

d. Corrections Not Made. Seaweeds occur in quantities varying from 115
to 150 million pounds only in New England and in large quantity only for

378 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

the years 1887-1889 and at very low prices; by the time of the next canvass
in 1897 they had declined to less than one million pounds. In interpolation
after 1889 their influence continues with diminishing force to 1897, depress-
ing average prices of all fish and increasing the apparent quantity of product
per fisherman. It would be desirable to remove this item from the data if the
number of fishermen who produced it were known. No adjustment for this
item was made in the tabulation of all fishery products, but seaweeds are of
course excluded from the tabulation of food fish.

Bait, like seed oysters, is not a marketable product of the fisheries, but an
item of cost of production which should be removed for a proper economic
showing. In early years (prior to the coming of the steam trawler in 1905)
it was an item of large volume and low price, but diminished steadily to rela-
tive unimportance in the later period. Bait is not separately shown in the
original records and therefore cannot be removed or estimated with any
accuracy. No correction was made in any of the tables herein for bait.

Salt fish for years prior to 1908, where separately shown, was added in
all the original reports as salted weight, in with fresh weights, to arrive at
totals. In 1908, for the first time, salt fish was converted to, and added into
the totals as fresh weights. In some years and regions it is not separately
shown, and in no case have we found in the early statistical reports factors
for converting salted to fresh weights, though factors for some of the species
were in later years published by the Government agency; nor is it always
clear in the original reports whether the salted fish is a product of shore
manufacture or a primary product of the fishermen. In the early years (1887
and well into the 1890's) salt fish was of great importance; in 1887 it con-
stituted more than 20 per cent, as salt weight, of all New England fish and if
converted to fresh weight and the total adjusted accordingly, it would con-
stitute well over a third. In the Chesapeake, South Atlantic (chiefly alewives
and mullet), and Pacific (cod and salmon) regions it may have been about
20 per cent of the total. It began to decline even before the steam trawler
appeared, and was practically extinct by 1920. During its day it was sold
(much of it in the export market) at prices which if converted to the fresh
weight basis were much cheaper than fresh fish, and involved costs which
are not now ascertainable, but on the salt weight basis it was slightly higher
per pound than fresh. It could not have been sold fresh, if at all, without
greatly depressing fresh fish prices. If we convert salt weights by estimation
to fresh, we distort prices; if we do not convert we convey a false biological
picture of the yield of the water. For the Pacific, in one of the summary
series prepared by the Bureau of Fisheries,^' and used herein, all salt fish
had been converted to fresh weight; otherwise, salt weights are not herein
converted to fresh weights in either series of the main tables.

47. Rept. Comm. 1931, p. 472.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

379

Biologically the total out-take from the water is understated if the adjust-
ment for neither the bait nor salt fish is made, or if both adjustments are
made. Economically, if neither adjustment is made, the two distortions tend
to compensate as to quantity but not value. We made a set of tables in which
the adjustment was made for New England salt fish only (not bait), but
they are not here used because on balance they appear to introduce at least
as much distortion into the general tables as they correct. In some of the
subsidiary tables, where the data are available for specific fishes (as cod and
mackerel) the quantities are converted from salt to fresh weight basis, as
they must be for proper comparison. All of these uncertainties being taken

1687 1890 1693 1896 1699 1902 1905 1908 1911 1914 1917 1920 1923 1926 1929 1932 1935 1938 I94i

1887 1690 1893 1896 1899 1902 1905 1908 1911 1914 1917 1920 1923 1926 1929 1932 1935 1938 1941

Fig. 7. Test comparison for validity of procedure.

Top curve: Actual record of weighed-in production (all food fish) trip by trip New England
vessel fisheries, Boston and Gloucester (from 1891) and Portland, Me. (from 1916) as yearly
totals, to 1940; salt fish converted to fresh by the factor of 2; dot-dash line, s-point moving
average, 1892-1924.

Middle curve: Production of all food fish, seven regions of the United States adjusted, inter-
polated, and totaled as described in text; dotted line, estimated correction if all salt fish are
converted to fresh; (does not include Alaska or Mississippi River system).

Bottom curve: Population of the 48 United States, Bureau of Census yearly estimates.

into account, and balanced one against another, it appears probable that the
conclusions drawn herein would not be changed qualitatively and would be
changed only slightly quantitatively by such adjustments as could be made.
Validity of Data and Procedure. As test of the validity of the main tables
and graphs as drawn up above, there is available for comparison the record
from 1 89 1 to 1940 of the landings of the New England vessel fisheries. This
is the only continuous annual (except only 1892) and undoubtedly the most
accurate record we have of a major fishery in the country, the weighed-in
quantities and actual sales transactions being recorded.

380 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

The production of the New England vessel fisheries is shown in the upper
line, Fig. 7. In this curve the salt fish have been converted (by the factor 2)
to fresh weights as usually landed. The middle line, void from 1908 to 191 5,
represents the total production of food fish and shellfish in the United States
(seven regions). The bottom line is the population of the United States. These
curves are all drawn to logarithmic scale in which like changes in per cent
are expressed by like slopes of curves regardless of amounts and sizes of units.

Since the record of the vessel fisheries is both actual and annual, it shows
more deviation from year to year (continuous line) up to 192 1 than does the
total production curve which for the early period is considerably smoothed
by its method of derivation (68 per cent interpolated). The vessel fishery
curve shows the depressions of 1897 and 192 1, while the total food fishery
curve does not. To make the two curves more truly comparable, the vessel
fishery curve from 1891 to 1923 is therefore smoothed by a five-point moving
average (dot-dash line) . This smoothed curve of vessel fisheries and the partly
interpolated curve of production of all United States food fisheries are then,
for the period up to 1923, in good agreement. They are in still better agree-
ment when the salt fish in the total United States curve is converted by
approximation to fresh fish (dotted line). Both curves (even the unsmoothed
vessel fisheries) for the earlier period are smoother than either curve is for
the late period; the earlier period was a more tranquil economic period than
the later.

Both New England vessel and national food fisheries failed to keep pace
with population until about 1922, in which year both reached a low point
with reference to population. Subsequent to 1922, little salt fish is involved
in either curve, neither is smoothed, both are based on good statistical records
and are in good agreement. The two curves, one representing a large but
local fishery of a dozen or so species and a few hundred fishermen, the other
(of which the first is about an 18 per cent component) representing national
production of more than 200 species of food fish by more than 100,000 men,
are in such close agreement as not only to validate the national curve and
the method of its derivation, but also to suggest that whatever is the deter-
minant of one is also the determinant of the other.

In the numerous subsidiary tables presented herein in interpretation of
the above described main tables, wherever the procedure is not obvious,
explanations are made in the text or footnotes.

Characteristics of the Fisheries as Indicated by the Data. Consideration
is here necessarily restricted mainly to food fish; the total of all fishery
products is considered only in comparing the performance of the geograph-
ical regions and of fishermen. The statistical history of food fisheries of
the United States is exhibited graphically in Fig. 5, on which the following
observations may be made:

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 381

Production and Population. The curve of total production of all food
fish of the seven regions of the United States, if completely smoothed from
end to end, would almost exactly parallel the curve of population of the
United States; accordingly, the curve of production per capita of popula-
tion (bottom line) if completely smoothed would be a horizontal line. These
facts indicate that notwithstanding widespread fears to the contrary, the
fisheries of this country as a whole have been able to afford and continue
to afford a production increasing in pace with the growth of the population.

When the two parts of the production curve are separately considered,
i.e., from 1887 to 1922, and from 1922 to 1940, it is seen that production
relative to population declined in the earlier period and rapidly increased
during the latter period, with a turning point at about 192 1 or 1922. This
behavior of the total production curve conforms to well known events in
the history of the industry. Throughout the earlier period fish were marketed
either salt or otherwise cured, or if fresh, were shipped whole on ice and
marketed under many impediments. Salt fish lost its appeal, and all fish
were increasingly at a disadvantage in competition with many other foods
more attractively prepared, packaged, and marketed. The year 192 1 marks
the beginning of filleting, attractive packaging, refrigeration, and the entry
of chain stores and the opening of the mid-west to the merchandising of
fishery products. A sharp turn for the better came in that year.

The total money value in actual current dollars for the total production
of food fish increased, as did also total value in dollars of constant (1926)
purchasing power; however, the two curves of actual and constant money
values are much closer together in the later than in the earlier period,
indicating that the increase in the total value of fish in dollars was in part
cancelled by the diminishing purchasing power of the dollar. In the United
States, production has not only followed and continues to follow the growth
of population, but has done so, at least up to 1940, at diminishing real prices.
The top pairs of curves in Fig. 5 for the United States and Fig. 6 for the
Atlantic-Gulf regions both show that actual annual average prices of all
food fish were about the same from 1920 to 1940 as they were from 1887
to 1908. In the latter chart, the population curve is that of the 28 States east
of the Mississippi River including Louisiana, and the District of Columbia.

Average actual prices were slightly higher during the late period only for
a brief postwar period in the early and middle '20's before postwar vessel-
building and expansion caught up with the new demand brought on by
filleting, freezing and chain store merchandising and increased population.
When they caught up, prices began and continued to decline. These obser-
vations relate to actual prices; when money values and prices are translated
into purchasing power for all commodities or for all foods it is seen in
Table 14 that at no time subsequent to World War I could a unit quantity

382 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

of the average of all United States food fish be exchanged for as much of
either all commodities or all foods as it could before 1908, except for a brief
period in 1922 to 1924 when they barely reached the earlier level; for
the whole period 1921-1940, the ratio of the all fish price index to either
the all-commodity or all-food index of the Bureau of Labor Statistics was
off by 25 to 30 per cent from what it had been on the average for the period
1887-1908. The average price of food fish in terms of purchasing power for all
commodities or for all foods had decreased both in the whole United States
and in the Atlantic-Gulf regions separately.

It is true that the requirements of the expanding population have been
met in part by the opening and expansion of new Pacific and Alaskan fish-
eries; however, the production of the New England vessel fisheries has
kept up with the growth of population at a slightly lower exchange price,
and the Atlantic-Gulf regions as a whole, while not quite keeping up, have
produced a substantially increased quantity of food fishery products and
sold it at a lower price per pound relative to all commodities and all foods.

Deviations in Production from Year to Year. One might expect to find
the total product of the fisheries highly variable from year to year, since
the many fisheries are affected by such uncertainties as the weather, "red
tides" and other submarine catastrophes, unpredictable migrations, and
fluctuations of abundance of the fishes, and since they produce so many
kinds of fishes from such a vast coast line without interchange of information
or any form of control. On the contrary, the total production of all food
fish of the entire country is represented by a relatively smooth curve (some-
what over-smoothed during the period of sparse field canvasses) from 1887
to 1908; but even in the more frequently canvassed period after 192 1 it
moves without sharp zig-zags from year to year, in accordance with definite
trends over periods of years, to 1940. It appears that whatever may be the
fluctuations in particular fisheries, localities, and regions, they compensate
and accommodate themselves to one another or cancel one another out,
in such way that the sum of the products of all the fisheries is a total which,
while not constant, moves from year to year in accordance with some
definite trend, regardless of what any particular fishery may do. This is an
example of large-scale order resting on small-scale disorder, which is familiar
in insurance and many other statistical phenomena.

The Trend of Volume of Fish Production. The trend of total production
of the food fisheries, as a unit, follows an economic rather than biological
pattern of behavior. The pattern of the economic cycle of prosperity and
depression is expressed in many statistical series, such as those of national
income, volume of production of numerous industries, or of all industry;
wholesale, retail, and foreign trade, sales by mail order houses, employment,
bank debits, stock and bond prices, sales of postage stamps, sales of life

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

383

TABLE 14

Relative Exchange Value of Food Fish for All Commodities and All Foods;

Ratios of Food Fish Price Index (1926= loo) to All-Commodity

Wholesale Price Index (1926 = 100), B.L.S., and to All- Food

Wholesale Price Index (1926= 100) B.L.S.

Ratio

Ratio

Ratio

Ratio

Year

Food Fish Price

Food Fish Price

Year

Food Fish Price

Food Fish Price

Index

Index

Index

Index

to
All-commodity

tn

to

to

All-food price

All-commodity

All-food price

price index

index

1921

price index

index

U. S.

Atl-Gulf

U. S.

Atl-Gulf

U. S.

Atl-Gulf

U. S.

Atl-Gulf

1887

1.26

1. 18

1.09

1.05

1. 18

1. 14

1888

1.26

1. 18

1922

1. 12

1.07

1.24

1.19

1889

1.26

1.22

1923

1.09

1^05

1. 18

1. 14

1890

I-3I

1.28

1-33

1.30

1924

1. 12

1.07

1. 21

1. 16

1891

1-34

1.32

1-37

1-35

1925

1.03

1. 00

1.06

1.03

1892

1-39

1.38

1-43

1.41

1926

1. 00

1. 00

1. 00

I.OO

1893

1-33

1.30

1.30

1.27

1927

1. 00

1.02

■99

I.OI

1894

1-43

1.40

1.42

1-39

1928

•95

.98

.91

.94

189s

1.36

1-33

1.40

1-37

1929

.88

•95

•84

.91

1896

1.38

1-35

1-45

1.42

1930

.94

•94

.90

.90

1897

1-33

1.30

1-37

1-33

1931

.98

.96

.86

•94

1898

1.30

1.28

1.32

1.30

1932

.92

.85

•97

.86

1899

1. 21

1. 18

1.32

1.30

1933

.86

.81

•94

.89

1900

1. 14

1. 10

1. 25

1.22

1934

.80

.76

•85

.81

1 901

1. 16

1. 12

1.28

1.23

1935

•75

• 73

.76

.70

1902

I. II

1.04

1.22

I-I5

1936

•79

.76

.78

•75

1903

1.14

1.09

1.32

1.25

1937

•79

.73

•79

•73

1904

1. 21

I-I5

1-34

1,28

1938

.86

• 78

.92

•83

190S

1. 21

i-iS

1.32

1.26

1939

.91

•79

•99

.88

1906

1.16

1.09

1.38

1.26

1940

.89

.86

.98

•95

1907

1.08

I.OI

1.24

1. 12

1908

I. II

1.02

1. 19

1.09

Average

1.24 1.20

1-33 1-33

•94

.91

•97

•94

Per cen

change

*— 24.50

—24.30

— 27.20

— 29.80

* From averages of early to late period ; averages unweighted

insurance, and many others. In general, when compared in year-by-year
series over a period of years, these economic indicators exhibit a common
pattern, differing among themselves only in detail, each according to its
peculiar circumstances. These series for our purposes are best considered
in two categories — goods series and money series; the one is concerned

384 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

with the ups and downs of production and movement of physical goods, the
other with money values, such as income, bank deposits and debits, and
prices.

Goods-curve Comparisons, United States. Fig. 8 shows in the lower part
a number of such serial patterns, taken more or less at random from various
sources,*^ in the United States for the period between the two world wars,
1921-1940. The composite of a great many of these series representing all
of industry, and commonly used as indicator (goods), is shown at the top
as the Index of Industrial Production maintained current by the Federal
Reserve Board. In Fig. 9 may be compared this same index (middle curve)
with the physical volume of fish production of the seven regions of the
United States (top curve) and with that of the New England vessel land-
ings (bottom curve). All three curves exhibit clearly the trade cycle, at
minimum in the postwar depression of 192 1, maximum at the inflationary
boom of 1929, depression minimum in 1932 and another maximum in 1937.
The curve of national food fish production agrees closely with that of the
Index of Industrial Production (r = -{- 0.74).*^'^ The only noticeable dif-
ference is the absence of the sharp minimum in 192 1 (postwar depression).
This part of our curve is flattened out by interpolation from the war-
time period of few canvasses, and would undoubtedly exhibit the dip
(dotted) if field statistics had been available, as they were in the cases of
the continuous annual series of the vessel fisheries and of Canadian produc-
tion (Fig. 10), both of which show the 192 1 dip. The curve of New England
vessel landings also conforms generally to the index of industrial production
but, being a local component, it conforms with less fidelity than does the
curve of the fish production of the whole country — in which aberrations
from the average cancel one another out. Every region and even most of
the specific fisheries show the influence of the trade cycle. Fig. 4 (bottom
curve) represents total United States production of all fishery products,
food and non-food. Here we see the same pattern of the trade cycle, but
heavily influenced by the rapid rise of the California pilchard fishery which
had its origin in and shortly after World War I, and rose to great heights
in the 1930's, A large part of the product of this fishery serves non-food uses.

Goods-curves, Canada and Europe. Fig. 10 shows at the bottom a pair of
curves for a similar comparison in Canada. The upper of these two curves
represents the total physical volume of all fish in Canada; the lower, the
Canadian Index of Industrial Production. The conformity here appears
convincing (r = + o.86), even better than the corresponding United States
curves, and does not show the same secular growth. However, Canadian
fish production is considerably more influenced by exports than is that of

48. See for many of these, Standard and Poor's (1942); The Conference Board, Economic
Almanac; Statistical Abstract of the United States. 48-a. See footnote 51, p. 390.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

385

1920
120

tlO
100
90
80
70

60
50

1922

1924

1926

1928 1930

1932

1934

1936

1938

19

'

1

4

\ /

<^u-

'^/

.^\

\^^-

1 _

11

— r F~^-

nz = ^z^ — = =1 — — ^

m

wfr

4^ p|- -

u

ffl INDEX OF
ITT U

NDUSTRIAL
NITED STAT

PRODUCl
'ES

— ^i

K

1- l,r. 1 M t 1 [ r M

-rrr-i-i-t r 1 i i

1 1 I.I 1 1.1.1.

i.j,.,i,i..LJ..lJJ

L^ = = ;

40
120
110
100
90
80
70

60
50

300
250

200
150

100
90
80
70

60
50

40

1

1 j

\/ARinii<5 iNinirATnPQ op _

BUSINESS CYCLE

^■==''' ^

::::;::::,,:;2:::::::;:::::::

N ' T • LrmHJ Lfl4=N

rf^'* "^

= = .^-=====g===z-^E====!-=====

^ -■ -. -^ *" X

A <:

^^ "'-- V

-, jr. ,

^•-^ N

S ^

^^., ,^

\ ^' . --

Z -"^

^ ^ 4

_ ^ _ _ __

-% 3 _«i _ _ _ _

I ^'^

\ ^-^^ .-^ -i" ;

-^P z

S -r^ S ^-f^

-^^ .^

\ ^ ^ \ -.^

^^ ^"^

^^ -/ ^^ -/

\/

\ Z \^^

^ l

^^\

\ '

^-'^ - '^'' , ^

t -.^'^-'^ ""■ '^.- ^ -"^^^

^ \ ^^^ A 3 ^

5 -t ZS^^Z '^--'^X

^ -^ ^^, ^''

a 1 3 1 = ^ ^ T "* ^ 1^*3=5 -- -- ; t-=^-"- "- "^ — " - - -^

«4i^ - -- p4=3dM4^:--.i4#^^l=i#^^#^

* ^ ^ - V ^^--^-=^:^^~ - ^-^=%-:— -iEE|=-^-^-" -|-4:i!-^

gyi^:;i- ^|igN&p>^:45i^^S^

LjAhU^aJ=^:^-:^ ^d=3=f-T

1^ %.^^^ ^^^.v ^, ^ j;^^'^j%#4^Tf:^

rMVfrTi 1 i44i 't"~H^'f'l^"^^T"i f1~^j^

hyMk^M^i-^::i^K^^,±^^^M

1 i iVfI l-R-l i 1 14 ;4H=^4=^^13?-Vnj f-^

d K-^.--.-5.^^bd==}-?' ^=1=

— Al^'^^i"^ ~i~^Vi -^ ■- '•^t i ! • -/r^^-T — ' /^"fn*^ —

N 1 m 'iiHrn^mTi^

1 -2? E

J MV .\N/-v>t^ : 1 1 1 1 ]/ 1 1 M ' '

Blllliliiii 1^

UllllihlniUll

300
250

200
r50

100
90
80

70
60

50
40

1920

1922

1924

1926

1928

1930

1932

1934 1936

1938 1940

Fig. 8. Sundry Non-money Series of Indicators of the United States Business Cycle in
Various Units: A. Index of Industrial Production, 1935-391=100, Federal Reserve Board; B.
Number of telegrams sent in tens of millions, American Tel. & Tel. Co.; C. Railroad freight in
bDlions of loaded car-miles, I.C.C; D. Composite employment index, 1923-25 = 100, Bureau
of Labor Statistics; E. Index of Industrial Activity, secular trend = ico, Cleveland Trust Co.;
F. Advertising Index, 1923-32 = 100, McCann-Erickson, Inc.; G. Fertilizer Consumption, in
hundreds of thousands of tons, National FertiHzer Association.

386

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940

3000

2000

3000

2000

1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934

1938 1940

Fig. 9. Index of Industrial Production of the United States compared with total food fish
production seven regions of the United States and with landings of New England vessel

The correlation coefficient of fish production and the industrial index, as they stand, is r
fisheries.

The correlation coefficient of fish production and the industrial index, as they stand, is r
= + 0.74; the two curves diverge toward the right, indicating greater upward secular trend of
fish than of industrial production, traceable to the introduction of filleting and other marketing
improvements beginning in 192 1, especially noticeable 4n the curve of vessel fisheries of New
England where most of the improvement occurred. If the food fish curve is so adjusted as to
remove the excess of this secular trend, its correlation coefficient with industrial production
becomes r ^ + 0.82.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

387

10,000
9000

8000
7000
6000

5000
4000

3000

1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940

1 10,000

9000
8000

ti^TOOO
6000

5000

O 2000

1000
900
800
700

600

500

= =H= = = = = = = = = =t=U44=EE-: 1

iBiiiiiiii#ff=^^ J

-rj ! i 1 n^^-=QUANTltY OF FISH PRODUCTIONE — = --

\ i j 1 J 1 ' ^ ! [# NORTHERN EUROPE III

-<= - ^''"""^ " ~~ i

/■^•. y' ■"=., • A

«€ / ""^ - % - , U

lit f A 7 ^-f

T +J€ ,■ - \ 7 2 '

^ ,^ - - -^''\ - ^v- -Z ' ^S / ~

"-loQ ^^ i___L :^ / '' '^^y

^^'^' 1 .'4 -/\ ^W ==::-:z£: = i^M^ = = = = = P^ — N^f W ' - l^J^'^-^^^'-'^W^

-^g y^ : ^44:j44ffy t : i - = V^^^^,A^:^\ \ vW^ ^ \ i

= ^f-:

M !m4; '. l~M"f rr'riiTTTTi ftrn I'^'lTTrF-r 1 1 1 1 1 1 p[-T 1 1 1 1 -H-ul

Mil ^'^r n^^ INDEX OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTIONfN^ M M |

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 K^r^--t^rr-^-KJ±m CANADA M M 1 1 1 1 M M
^^M^-ia^^^i = = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 l[ 1 1 riT^EEEJEEE JEE

4000

3000

1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940

2000 O

Z

o

_J

1000
900
800
700
600

500

Fig. 10. Fish Production, Northern Europe, nine countries: England, Norway, Scotland,
France, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland; (Cons. Perm. Int. pour I'Expl. de la
Mer, Bull. Stat., Vol. XXVII, 1939) ; total fish production, Canada, and Canadian Index of
Industrial Production. (Dominion Bureau of Statistics). The coefficient of correlation of the
Canadian curves of fish production and the Index of Industrial Production is r = + 0.86.

388 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

the United States. The top curve is a composite curve of all fish production
of nine northern European countries. There is not available for comparison
a composite international European index of industrial production curve.
Nevertheless, the influence of the trade cycle is obvious in this curve, and
notwithstanding the many fears for "exhaustion" of the fisheries in European
waters, the volume at the end of two decades was greater than it was at
the beginning. The depression is known to have struck with full force later
in Europe than it did in the United States.

Comparison of Money Curves. Fig. ii exhibits three pairs of money-
curves; the lower of each pair is the actual money value in terms of year-
by-year current buying power; the upper of each pair is the money con-
verted to United States (or Canadian) dollars of constant purchasing power,
1926 = 100. In the United States, the curve of money value of all food fish
produced is an almost exact copy {on a smaller scale) of that of the national
income. In Canada the likeness is striking in comparison with the United
States national income (a comparable curve for Canada not being available
for the whole period). For the value of all United States fishery products,
food and non-food, the curve of money values*^ in Fig. 4 shows, again,
a faithful copy of the curve for United States national income.^"

Fig. 3 presents, for the Atlantic-Gulf coasts only, the same categories of
information on food fish as is contained in Fig. 4 for the whole country.
Here again, in Fig. 3, we see the same now familiar patterns of goods and
money behavior, but representing only a part, though a large part, of the
whole, it does not conform quite so perfectly to the pattern of national in-
dicators as does the national total.

Economic vs. Biological Determinants of the Quantity and Value of Pro-
duction. In all the data so far presented, no evidence is seen that abundance
or scarcity of any kind, or of all kinds, of fish had any effect on the total
quantity or value of the product of the food fisheries. If a biological expla-
nation were invoked to account for the failure of production to keep pace
with growth of human population from 1887 to 1920 (Fig. 7), it would also
have to account for the sudden increase of the supply at 192 1 and the
faithful following thereafter of the economically turbulent business cycle
to 1940. There appears to be no biologically reasonable explanation of this
behavior, nor is there any sign in the historical record that the many in-

49. Drawn to a slightly smaller scale on the abscissa or horizontal axis.

50. "National income" has been variously defined and reported in equally various series, from
time to time revised and adjusted to new concepts of accounting. The data of U. S. national
income plotted in Fig. ii, are those credited to the U. S. Department of Agriculture by Standard
& Poor's Basic Statistics (1942). The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce (1947) has
published three revised series running from 1929; our (bottom) curve, Fig. 11, agrees closely
from 1929 onward with the new series, "National Income by Distributive Shares 1929-46" (place
cited, p. 19). This series is the sum of all incomes of persons private, military, and government
civilian, all farms and all unincorporated and incorporated enterprises, including inventory
adjustments.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

389

1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 19^

= = = = -rz=:r = __=____3t_-^-2 = = =---p 1926 DOLLARS-

? "H H11T \ TH-^^f J4 -^ttHfti

a W\ ■ \ /

< ^ — /f- ■-: ^ 2 rp

<t t ">■"+"_

. "1 , '" AC rUAL DOLLAKb

fe 30 _ _ _jL _ _ Z _i_

OOW - ___ _ u

V) ^.7

S 5^ ^'^

2 %^^'^

H i -

^ PAMAOA

VALUE OF TOTAL FISH PRODUCT

20 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ( 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -J U — 1 — 1

60

50 «5

40

30

20

1

1

DOLLARS

T'lT

iTMlflMfill

^^-ACTUAL DOLLARSi

oi 70 ---^^

3

u.

O /.«

*-' 60

OT

z

■#i#i#B

llFlllllllllll

J 50 - 1 1 1 1 1

.i,.,=,i==,=======,,,,;,,,i,i

-1. Vi,... -U m4^

2 -

UNITED STATES E

>T 1 ---M

■ "i —

?^

4on 1 1 1 1 1

100
90 5

60 o

50

40

1920

1922

1924

1926

1928

1930

1932

1934

1936 1938 1940

Fig. II. Money value of United States food fish, and Canadian total fish products, and
United States national income, 1921-1940. Heavy lines, dollars. United States and Canadian,
respectively, of current purchasing power each year; light lines, dollars of constant purchasing
power in terms of U. S. and Canadian, respectively, All Commodity Wholesale Price Indices,
1926 = 100. (Price indices, U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Dominion Bureau of Statistics;
U. S. National Income, U. S. Dept. of Agric). See text for explanation. The coefiicient of cor-
relation of the United States value of food fish and the national income is r = + 0.94.

390 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

ternal changes in the fisheries (except the improved techniques of market-
ing) have had any effect on the total — the decline of the old "salt banker"
fisheries, the rise and subsequent decline in halibut and haddock, the de-
crease in shad, alewives, oysters, lobster, whitefish, and other Lake species,
the increase in the shrimp, tuna, salmon, flounders, crab, whiting, and rose-
fish, and the periodic fluctuations in abundance of all or nearly all of them,
the introduction of new techniques of capture or the impact of legislation
or regulation. These and many other changes are cancelled out in the
averages and totals. In the United States and Canada, and apparently in
Europe as well, the pattern of behavior of fish production and value is typical
of the business cycle.

Mechanism of Accommodation of Supply to Demand. The historical data
of production and values of all food fish in the United States indicate that
without any central direction or conscious control, the fisheries contain a
self-regulatory mechanism which automatically adjusts and accommodates
all the diverse productions just to supply all that can be sold and no more.

The data also supplies an answer, which will appear below, to the interest-
ing question, why, if total food consumption is a constant, or nearly so, is
the quantity of fish produced so responsive to the pulse of prosperity and
depression?

Price is the Regulator of How Much, Where, When, and What Kinds of
Fish Will Be Produced, but not in the simple manner that might be supposed.
Data of sufficient accuracy and immediacy are not generally available (or
have not been assembled) to demonstrate the operation of price of fish
extensively and throughout the country. However, Herrington (1946) gives
an elegant demonstration of the price behavior of cod and haddock in rela-
tion to their own volume of production, and in relation to the prices and
volume of competing beef cattle, hogs, and eggs. Cod and haddock are staple,
non-luxury articles, produced in large quantities the year round, and sold
competitively at auction in large organized markets (Boston, etc.), and
the transactions are recorded as a continuous series. Herrington demon-
strated that short term (quarterly average) prices and quantity of produc-
tion of cod and haddock are negatively correlated (r = -o.79)," i.e., prices
are up when volume is down, and vice versa. (Fig. 12, reproduced from
Herrington.) He found (Fig. 13) little correlation between prices of fish
and either the cost-of-living index for food (r = 0.45) or average prices of
competing food, cattle, hogs, eggs, (r = 0.48); practically no correlation
(r = —0.05) between annual average prices and annual production of cod
and haddock (i. e., long term), which is contrary to what might be expected;

SI. The correlation coefficient, r, varies from i.o perfect positive, to — i.o perfect negative,
correlation between two compared variables. Herrington indicates that in these calculations co-
efficients or r values of less than 0.50 have little significance.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

391

leU 1936

12 3 4 12 3 4

1937 1938 1939 1940 1941

234 1234 1234 1234 1234

CENTS

(price
(deviations) 0

CENTS

PER
POUND

(price)

miluions
of pounds
(production)

Fig. 12. Upper: Deviations in the production and price of cod and haddock from the annual
trend. The trend was obtained by smoothing the quarterly figures by a moving average of four
and two to remove the effect of seasonal variations. Lower: Production and average producers'
prices of cod and haddock, by quarters. (Herrington, 1946).

and a much higher correlation (r = 0.68) between production of cod and
haddock and average price of competing foods. In Figure 14 it is shown that
between price of competing foods and total value of cod and haddock there
is an even closer correlation (r = 0.77), and (Fig. 15) that there was a
close negative correlation (r = —0.77) between the consumption (or pro-
duction) of these fish and the relative price of fish (ratio of fish price to
price of competing foods). It is necessary to refer the reader to Herrington's
paper for details.

392

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

The meaning of all this, for our purpose here, is that as long as the
supply of fish is adequate (as it is in cod and haddock) and the catch can
be quickly increased as by making more trips with little or no increase in
unit cost, when the prices of competing foods rise, causing improved demand
for fish, the fishermen immediately catch enough more fish to supply the
increased demand with little if any advance in price, rather than sell the
same amount of fish as before but at a higher price. In following the short-

CCNTS PCR 16

POUND

(COD-H«DOOCK

«N0

COMPeTINO

rooo) 12

v

coo- HADDOCK PRODUCTION

co(v«:ting food price

MCLllONa
Of POONOS

(coo-haooock
proouctiom)

PtRCCNT

(cost or

LIVINO

iNoex)

I9M 1939

Fig. 13. The producers' annual average price of cod and haddock (in terms of fillet weight),
compared to -the annual production of cod and haddock; the average price of competing foods
(beef cattle, hogs, and eggs) in terms of dressed weight and pounds; and the cost of living
index for food. Plotted to logarithmic scales in order to provide an accurate comparison of the
relative changes in values. (Harrington, 1946).

term responses of price to catch (Fig. 12), the fishermen are led to produce
more fish over the long term when demand is greater and more fish is nec-
essary from trip to trip to bring about the short-term reactions in price,
and vice versa. The over-all resultant for the fisherman is that when prices
of competing products are high, they catch more total fish for which they
receive little, if any, increase in price, but more total money. On the con-
trary, when competing meat and egg prices decrease, demand for fish in
the market "softens," i.e., less fish from trip to trip will depress prices, and
fishing becomes less attractive; some fishermen quit fishing, those which
remain work less, catch fewer fish and sell them at somewhat but not greatly
reduced prices and receive less total money. The volume of meat and eggs
is relatively constant from year to year, but their prices, as Herrington says
and our curves show, are more variable and tend to determine the volume
and gross income of fish production.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

393

CCNTS

P{R POUNO

(COMPCTINO

FOOO)

10

MILLIONS
OF COLLARS
(COO-HAOOOCK t
VALUC)

COMPETING FOOD PRCE

\

7-

-^^

^*^

/

^

;

\
\

/

(

x^

^^

/

FOGG COST OF LIVI^gG INDEX

-^

1

>^<

,>"

^

^

/

\

^

/

coo -HADDOCK VALUE

■^

r^

KRCCNT

(cost or

LIVINQ
INOCX)

Fig. 14. The total annual value of cod and haddock to the producer compared to the average
price of competing foods (beef cattle, hogs, and eggs) in terms of dressed weight and pounds,
and the cost of living index for food. Plotted to logarithmic scales in order to provide an ac-
curate comparison of the relative change in values. (Herrington, 1946).

The above observations are based on specific local fisheries, cod and
haddock; for the whole country, Table 15 presents for comparison in
parallel columns indices of production and prices of all food fish of the
United States and of animal products of agricultural origin. As good a
correlation as Herrington's with staple cod and haddock is hardly to be

.-— -

c

/

, 1

s
\

\

\

coo-

HACJOOCK

RELATM

: PRCE

>

/

\
\

\

/

S

)«« — (

./

/

_<

L^ >L

/^

^

^

""^

V

y

1

1

1^

^v;>^

Fig. 15. The relative price of cod and haddock (producers' price of cod and haddock divided
by the producers' price of competing foods), compared to the production of cod and haddock.
Plotted to logarithmic scales in order to show the relative change in values. (Herrington, 1946).

394

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

expected of the total fish product of the country, containing many luxury
and non-competitive items, and a marked growth factor as well. Never-
theless, the nature of the competitive interplay is discernible even here.
The most nearly constant series are those of quantity of agricultural animal
products and price of fish (mean deviations, 3.33, 3.31 and 6.87); the
most variable series are those of prices of agricultural animal products and
quantity of fish (mean deviations 22.4, 24.6 and 14.4).

TABLE IS

Cyclical Behavior of Production and Prices of Animal Products of Agricultural
Origin and Food Fish of the United States (7 Regions)

Production Indexes

Price Indexes

Year

Livestock

Poultry

Food

Livestock

Poultry

Food

products *

and eggs *

fisht

products t

and eggs X

fisht

1925

96

93

97

150

162

103

1926

97

97

100

152

158

100

1927

98

102

112

148

143

100

1928

100

lOI

114

158

152

95

1929

99

100

134

161

161

88

1930

99

106

125

136

128

94

1931

100

lOI

lOI

99

99

98

1932

99

99

87

94

81

92

1933

103

100

99

72

74

86

1934

106

96

114

84

89

80

193s

93

92

129

IIS

116

76

1936

lOI

99

128

120

114

79

1937

98

lOI

133

127

no

79

1938

102

lOI

127

113

108

86

1939

106

108

140

108

95

91

1940

112

109

138

112

96

89

Mean

devi-

2-33

3-31

14.4

22.4

24.6

6.87

ation

* Average 1935-39 = 100. Bureau of Agricultural Economics.

t 1926 = 100. Calculated from data assembled in this study.

t Average Aug. 1909-July 1914 = 100. Bureau of Agricultural Economics.

Numbers of Fishermen. Table 38, Appendix, and Fig. 3 exhibit the total
quantities of all kinds of fishery products in the Atlantic-Gulf regions,
the total number of actual fishermen (so far as ascertainable) who produced
it, their production per man and their incomes actual and in relative buying
power per man. Table 39, Appendix, and Fig. 4 exhibit similar data for
the United States (7 regions). These exhibits show for the United States (i)
that over the 54-year period, 188 7- 1940, the United States production of

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 395

all fishery products, food and non-food, has increased from around 1.5 billion
pounds annual average in the 1890's to 3.5 billion pounds in the late 1930's;
(2) that the number of fishermen engaged in producing the total yield has
decreased from 140,000 in the 1890's and early 1900's to 100,000 in the
1930's; (3) that the number of fishermen engaged tends to follow the pulse
of the business cycle, but with lower amplitude of change than that of
quantity of production; (4) that the quantity of production per fisherman
increased from about 10 to 12 thousand pounds per man in the 1890's and
early 1900's to 30-odd thousand in the 1930's; (5) that the production per
man (in the late period of good statistics) followed faithfully the business
cycle, i.e., fishermen catch more fish per man in good times and less in bad
times; (6) that the actual money income per man increased from around
$300 per man at the turn of the century to $1,000 in 1929 and around $750
in the late 1930's; (7) that the relative purchasing power ("real") income
increased from $525 in the early period to $1,000 in 1929 and the late
1930's; and (8) that fishermen's income is less deflated in bad times in
terms of purchasing power for other goods than it appears to be in actual
dollars and cents.

These relationships for the Atlantic-Gulf coasts are similar in nature
to those of the United States, but quantitatively not quite equal. Here again,
in the behavior of fishermen is seen the operation of the mechanism of
automatic adjustment of production to demand. As long as men are free to
enter or leave the fisheries, and find it relatively easy to do so (since
requirements of capital and skill or experience are not great), the number
of men, each in pursuit 0} his own best interest, adjusts itself in such manner
that each fisherman does about as well at fishing as he could do in employ-
ment at other occupations. The real or purchasing power wages of industrial
employment have increased during the past century at the rate of doubling
about each 45 years, and the proportionate incomes of fishermen have as
faithfully followed the trend of industrial wages as volume and value of
their products have followed the trend of the business cycle.

Improvements in Efficiency and Their Effects. Such improvements in
efficiency as have been made in the fisheries of seven regions of the country
resulting in an average tripling of the quantity per man, and doubling the
real value of the catch per man, have necessitated the retirement from fishing
of a third of the labor force, notwithstanding a doubling of the human
consuming population since 1890. Any further improvements in production
per man whether in methods of catching or in abundance of fish that would
enable fishermen to catch more fish per effort could be expected to have
the same effect, i.e., produce technological unemployment, as long as demand
remains unchanged. Therefore, it follows that efforts to improve the lot of

396 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

fishermen by increasing the abundance of fish would, if successful, decrease
their number without increasing their average income.

The Over-all Effect of the Business Cycle on the fisheries is shown in
Table i6, wherein the relative magnitudes of all the variables are adjusted
to make 1922-23 = 100.

TABLE 16

Atlantic and Gulf Regions Combined: Numbers of Fishermen, Quantities of
Production, Values of Product, Total and per Fisherman, at High and
Low Points of the Business Cycle. (1922-23 = 100 in all Cases)

Average

Average

Average

Average

1922-23

1928-29

1932-33

1936-37

Number of fishermen

100

105.S

95-3

104.2

Total fish, quantity

100

103.8

86.9

119.8

Fish quantity per man

100

100.3

91.2

II5-I

Price in actual money

100

106.2

64.4

71.9

Actual value total

100

117. 2

56.4

85.2

Actual value per man

100

II3-3

49.2

81.7

Price in relative money

100

116.0

97.8

116.0

Relative val. (1926) total

100

120.4

85.9

100.7

Relative val. (1926) per man

100

II5-8

90.2

96.6

In adjusting upward or downward to meet the competitive conditions in
the business cycle, the fisheries expand or contract a little all along the line.
In good times more fishermen work more hours, catch more fish per man
and more total fish, sell it for a moderately increased price, realize more
total money and more money per man; in bad times fewer fishermen fish,
those that do fish work less, produce less, in total and per man, sell it
for less money per pound, realize less total money for it and less money
per man, but what they do realize will buy more of other goods per dollar
than it would in prosperous times.

The Regional Fisheries. The automatic self-regulation of production is
seen in part in the mutual accommodation among and between the major
regions of the country. The statistical history of the seven regions has been
summarized for comparison of the early period, 1 887-1908, with the late
period, 1921-1940; in Table 17 the figures apply to the total produce of
the fisheries, food and non-food, its value, the number of fishermen engaged
and their income; in Table 18 the figures apply to food fish only. In these
tables, both actually canvassed and the interpolated figures were included
in the averages to prevent the distortion by the unequal distribution of the
canvasses among the years of each period. In Table 19 the data for food
fish are recapitulated in comparison with population for the two periods,
for the Atlantic-Gulf and for the whole country.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

397

TABLE 17

Fishermen* Engaged in the United States Fisheries; Annual Average,
Quantities and ^Actual and Relative f Values per Man, of all Fishery
Products, Food and Non-Food, by Regions, in Early and
Late Historical Periods

Number
of fisher-
men; *
annual
average

Quantity

of fish,

Annual average value

Period

annual average

Actual

Relative f

Total
pounds

'ooo

Per man
pounds

Total

dollars

'ooo

Per man
dollars

Total

dollars

'ooo

Per man
dollars

New England States
1887-1908 24,395 512,600

1921-1940 17,255 558.517

Per cent change —29.5 +9.0

Middle Atlantic States
1887-1908 21,068 274,179

1921-1940 9,345 222,324

Per cent change ~55.6 — 18.9

Chesapeake States
1887-1908 44,492 364,015

1921-1940 20,417 324,000

Per cent change —54.1 — 11. o

South Atlantic States X

1887-1908 14,545 90,953

1921-1940 11,370 275,420

Per cent change — 21.8 +203.0

1887-1908
1921-1940
Per cent change

1887-1908
1921-1940
Per cent change

1887-1908
1921-1940
Per cent change

Atlantic
1887-1908
1921-1940
Per cent change

Gulf of Mexico §

11,417 71,506

13,862 175,701

+ 21.4 +145.6

Great Lakes \\

8, 116 102,871

6,317 87,310

—22.2 ~i5.i

Pacific Coast States

12,475 156,767

19,204 965,945

+61.9 +516.0

atid Gulf of Mexico :}:

115,920 1,313,253

72,249 1,555,952

-37-7 +18.5

20,970
32,360
+ 54-3

13,020
23,800
+82.8

8,180
15,860
+ 93-9

6,260

24,220

+ 286.8

6,260

12,670

+ 102.4

12,690

13,810

+9.1

12,560

50,300
+ 300.4

and §
11,320
21,530
+ 90.3

11,119 455 20,104 822

19,820 1,147 23,010 1,333

+ 78.3 +153.0 +14.4 +62.2

8,050 382 14.628 695

8,829 945 10,037 1,075

+ 9.7 +147-3 —314 +54-7

7,939

9,457

+ 19. 1

2,310

4,638

+ 100.8

2,957

8.060

+ 172.6

2,707

6,001

+ 121.8

5,536

20,782

+ 275-5

32,375
50,803
+56.9

178

463
+ 160.0

159
408

+ 157-9

259

582

+ 124.7

14,449 325

10,667 522

— 26.2 +60.6

4,114 283

5,306 467

+ 29.0 +65.0

5,281 463

9,305 672

+ 76.2 +45.2

334 4,883 602

950 6,964 1. 103

+ 184.5 +42.6 +83.1

443 10,023 803

1,083 24,301 1,265

+ 144.5 +142.4 +57-6

279

703

+ 152.0

58,576 525

58,352 808

—0.4 +53.9

398

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Number
of fisher-
men; *
annual
average

Quantity

of fish.

Annual average value

Period

annual average

Actual

Relative f

Total

pounds

'ooo

Per man
pounds

Total

dollars

'ooo

Per man
dollars

Total

dollars

'ooo

Per man

dollars

United States #

1887-1908
1921-1940
Per cent change

136,510 1,572,891
97,874 2,611,033
—28.3 +66.0

North Carolina

12,660

26,700
+ 110. 8

40,618

77,700
+ 91-3

327

794

+ 142.8

73,482

89,799
+ 22.2

592
918

+ 55-1

1887-1908
1921-1940
Per cent change

9,180 64,763

6,104 148,486

—33.5 +129.3

7,054
24,300

+ 245-0

1,375
2,112

+53-6

150

346

+ 131-5

2,486
2,405
-3-3

271

394

+45-4

* Actual fishermen only, professional and casual, so far as could be ascertained in the record,
exclusive of shoresmen and men on vessels and boats transporting.

t In terms of the All-Commodity Wholesale Price Index, 1926 = 100, U. S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics.

} North and South Carolina, Georgia and East Coast of Florida ; includes Lake Okeechobee,
1927 to 1940, inclusive.

§ West Coast of Florida and the other Gulf States.

II Excludes Lake Namakan, Rainy Lake and Lake of the Woods, Minnesota, 1927 to 1940
inclusive.

if Excludes Alaska and Mississippi River system, but includes (1927-1940 inclusive) Lake
Okeechobee, Florida, Lake Namakan, Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake, Minnesota.

TABLE 18

Annual Average Quantities, Actual and Relative * Values and Prices, of

the United States Production of Food Fish (Non-food Items Excluded)

by Regions, for Early and Late Historical Periods

Annual average value

Annual
average
quantity

Annual average price

Period

Dollars '000

Cents per pound

Actual

Relative *

Pounds '000

Actual

Relative *

New England States
1887-1908 10,380 18,782

1921-1940 19,690 22,859

Per cent change +89.7 +21.7

Middle Atlantic States
1887-1908 7,634 13,876

1921-1940 8,312 9,449

Per cent change + 8.9 — 31.9

Chesapeake States {Maryland and Virginia)

1887-1908 7,588 13,819 174,055

1921-1940 8,511 9,617 168,037

Per cent change +12.2 ~30.4 ~3-46

391,708

552,113
+41.2

117,981

109,887

-6.9

2.65

3-59

+35-5

6-47

7.56

+ 16.8

4-36

5-06

+ 16.1

4.80

4.14

-13-8

11.77

8.60

—26.8

7-97
5-72

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

399

Annual average value

Annual

Annual average price

Period

Dollars '000

quantity

Cents per

pound

Actual

Relative *

Pounds '000

Actual

Relative *

South Atlantic States f

1887-1908
1921-1940
Per cent change

2,270 4,045

3,956 4,534

+80.0 +12. 1

Gulj of Mexico X

69,896
96,978
+38.8

3-25

4.08

+ 26.5

5-79

4.68

—19.2

1887-1908
1921-1940
Per cent change

2,532 4,540

7,078 8,161

+ 180.0 +79-8

Great Lakes §

71,009

163,159
+ 129.8

3-57

4-34

+ 21.6

6.40

5.00
-21.8

1887-1908
1921-1940
Per cent change

2,705 4,886

5,940 6,886

+ 119.6 +414

Pacific States

102,817
85,064
— 17-3

2.63

6.98

+ 165.4

4-75

8.10

+ 70.6

1887-1908
1921-1940
Per cent change

4,998 9,002

18,805 21,886

+ 276.6 +I43-I

154,292
593,232
+ 284.5

3-24

3-17

—2.2

5-84

3-69

-36.8

Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico t+

1887-1908
1921-1940
Per cent change

30,404 55,062
47,547 54,608
+ 56.4 —0.8

United States \\

824,421

1,090,774

+32.3

369

4-36

+ 18.2

6.68

5.01

—25.0

1887-1908
1921-1940
Per cent change

38,092 68,950
72,448 83,590
+87.9 +21.2

1,081,530

1,772,542

+63.9

3-52

4.09

+ 16.2

6.37
4.72

-25-9

New England Vessel Fisheries^

1891-1908
1921-1940
Per cent change

4,079 7,425

8,894 10,458

+ 118.0 +40.9

North Carolina

203,552

292,386

+43-4

2.00

3-04

+ 52.0

3-65

3.58

— 1.9

1887-1908
1921-1940
Per cent change

1,345 2,430

1,692 1,925

+ 25.8 —20.8

43,863

42,675
—2.7

3-07

3-97

+ 29-3

5-54

4-51

—18.6

* In terms of All-Commodity Wholesale Price Index, 1926 = 100, U. S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics.

t North and South Carolina, Georgia and East Coast of Florida ; includes Lake Okeechobee,
1927 to 1940, inclusive (less than 2% of quantity and value).

t West Coast of Florida and the other Gulf States.

§ Excludes Lake Namakan, Rainy Lake, and Lake of the Woods, Minnesota.

II Excludes Alaska and Mississippi River system; includes (1927-1940 inclusive) Lake Namakan,
Lake of the Woods, Rainy Lake, Minnesota, and Lake Okeechobee, Florida.

# Based on continuous (except 1892, interpolated) annual record, 1891 to 1940.

400

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

TABLE 19

Production of Food Fish, Gross Weights per Capita of Population in
Early Period, 1887-1908, and Late Period, 1921-1940

Average

Annual

Population

Millions

Average

Annual

Production

Pounds '000 *

Average

Annual

Per Capita

Pounds '000

Gross *

I. Population of Eastern f States and
production of Atlantic, Gulf and Great
Lakes.

1887-1908

1921-1940

Per cent of change

2. Population of United States and pro-
duction of United States not including
Alaska and Mississippi River System.

1887-1908

1921-1940

Per cent of change

534
101.4

+90.0

72.1

122.4

+ 69.8

914,184
1,177484
+ 29.1

1,063,710

1^772,542

+66.6

16.9
11.6

-314

14.8
14-5
-2.3

* Gross fish weights as landed by fishermen.

t Twenty-six states east of the Mississippi River plus Louisiana and District of Columbia.

In considering the regions and sections of the country, it should be
remembered that the greater part of Pacific food fish is canned and most
of the canned fish product comes from the Pacific. The Great Lakes-At-
lantic-Gulf regions are the main source of fresh and frozen fish, and most
of the produce from these regions is distributed in these forms.

The most spectacular advance in production was, of course, the Pacific
region, the rapid development of which began after World War I. The
Pacific and Gulf of Mexico are the only two regions to show an increase in
the number of fishermen, the Pacific increase being nearly three times that
of the Gulf. The Pacific is the only region to show a lower average actual
price of food fish in the late period than in the earlier, and, accordingly, a
much lower relative or index price. These price changes are the result of a
great increase in production of cheap fish, notably pilchard, the largest
volume single item of the entire country in 1940, at a price of 0.56 cents
per pound or one-eighth of the average country-wide price of all food fish in
that year.

The regions which make the poorest comparative showing are the Middle
Atlantic (New York, New Jersey and Delaware) and Chesapeake (Mary-
land and Virginia). These regions experienced the greatest percentage (over

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 401

50 per cent) decline in numbers of fishermen and (with the Great Lakes)
are among the only three to show a diminished total volume of all fishery-
products, the smallest increase in revenue of all seven regions, and (except
Pacific) the smallest increase in prices of all regions. These adverse changes
mainly reflect the serious shrinkage of the alewife, shad, and especially the
oyster fisheries, of which the latter (as edible meats) for many years was
second only to menhaden in physical volume and by far the leading money
value item of the fisheries of this country, now surpassed in both quantity
and value by the salmons (considered as a group), and by the tunas, and
equalled in quantity (of edible portions) and approached in value by the
shrimp. There appear to be no large finfish resources in these regions other
than menhaden.

The Gulf of ]\Iexico region reflects in number of fishermen, volume of
production, money value and prices the rapid rise of the shrimp fishery
which had its real beginning with the introduction of the trawl net after
1908. Part of this growth of the shrimp fishery is also mainly responsible
for the moderate improvement in the South Atlantic region. Both South
Atlantic and Gulf reflect the expansion in the general fisheries of both
coasts of Florida, the east coast of which is for statistical purposes in the
South Atlantic region and the west coast in the Gulf. In money value (of
food fish) the South Atlantic remains the least important region in the
country, and in physical volume of production of food fish it is about the
same as the Great Lakes, though, when menhaden is included, it is much
larger.

Although the trend of the recapitulated figures for the New England
region is not conspicuously different from that of the whole country, or of
the whole Atlantic-Gulf region, the conditions and operations of the fishery
they represent underwent an almost complete transformation as between
the early and late periods. In 1887, of the total ground or bottom fish
produced in New England (all salt fish converted to fresh weights), 71
per cent was cod caught in sailing vessels by hand line, and 82 per cent of
the cod was salted; cod and haddock together were 86 per cent of the total
ground fish; hake, pollock and halibut brought the total to 99 per cent,
and one per cent consisted of flounders, whiting and redfish combined. In
1940, codfish was only 17.6 per cent, salt fish had disappeared from the
statistics; flounders, whiting and redfish together had grown from one
per cent of the ground fish in 1887 to 39 per cent. In 1945, this group
constituted 43 per cent of the total ground fish and codfish only 22.5
per cent.

These and numerous other changes had no perceptible effect on the
orderly progress of the total yield of the New England region or of the
whole country. It is possible that biological changes in the relative abundance

402 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

of different kinds of fishes had something to do with the change in compo-
sition of the catch; we know that economic and technical influences did.
Salt fish lost favor with the public and took a place of minor importance,
and the whole fishery lagged to 192 1, while other foods were beginning
to be packaged and more attractively presented. Sail gave way to power,
salt gave way to ice; fuel and ice brought in new items of cost; fishing
therefore diminished on distant, and increased on near-by banks where cod
was less abundant, haddock more. In 192 1, fillets and packaging made their
appearance; much of the cod was too large for single-portion fillets, and its
name was identified in the public mind with salt fish; cod fillets were
therefore skinned to prevent identification, skins were left on haddock
fillets to encourage identification; haddock thus acquired a 3 per cent ad-
vantage over cod in whole weight or 7 per cent on fillet; the trade turned
to haddock; "quick" freezing made its appearance; chain stores began to
sell fish, markets in the interior of the country were opened; production of
haddock greatly increased and cod decreased as a result of the new demand.

Meanwhile (to show how regions interact with other regions), the Great
Lakes fisheries were being more and more intensely prosecuted.

During the half-century considered in this study, the population of the
mid-west grew to great proportions, and villages grew to cities at a time
when ocean fisheries had little access to the market. A taste was established
for small-sized fresh water "pan" fish of the lakes and rivers; the growing
population and developing delicatessen popularity of whitefish, lake trout,
perches, catfish, etc., put heavy pressure on the definitely limited supply
of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River system, and biologists became
alarmed by what seemed to them to be "depletion" or exhaustion of the
Great Lakes. The course of actual events is an example of the automatic
operation of economic-biological determinants.

In response to insistent demand, prices rose disproportionately to the
diminishing supply so that the Great Lakes experienced the greatest rise
in prices of all the regions of the country, and is the only region of the country
to have a higher average price for its fish in terms of purchasing-power in
the 1921-1940 period than in the pre-1908 period; the decrease in quantity
of production in the Lakes was greatest (17 per cent) of the three regions
(the others being mid- Atlantic and Chesapeake) to show an actual decrease
in the amount of food fish in the late period as compared with the earlier;
nevertheless, in the increase in total money value of the Great Lakes prod-
uct, both actual and in purchasing power, and in the number of fishermen
still supported in the late, as compared with the earlier period, the Great
Lakes region (American side) is surpassed only by the Gulf (shrimp)
and Pacific (pilchard, tuna, salmon, etc.). The percentage improvement
in income in dollars of constant purchasing power per fisherman exceeds

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 403

that of any other region. While the entire Atlantic-Gulf section of the ocean
and coastal fisheries increased production of food fish by 32 per cent and
received unchanged (—0.8 per cent) purchasing power in return for it, the
Great Lakes received 41 per cent more purchasing power income for 17
per cent less food fish. These facts demonstrate that insistent demand for
a limited supply of fish (or a limited supply of fish for which there is an
insistent demand) expresses itself in higher prices. They also show that
depletion, or diminishing abundance of a species or of a whole fishery, is not
necessarily disadvantageous to fishermen. In the case of the Lakes, scarcity
has produced a disproportionate rise in prices which was decidedly advan-
tageous to the fishermen as a group.

Meanwhile, the Great Lakes have not been "fished out"; it may not be
possible to prove by formal logic that it is impossible to exhaust an exten-
sive fishery for profit because the profit disappears before the fish does,
but it is obvious as a matter of economics that as a fish becomes scarcer rising
prices must check sales of it as well as attract competition from other fishes;
and also that increasing cost and diminishing returns per unit of effort must
always check production at some point far short of extinction. To check
the exploitation of a fishery it is not necessary that profits disappear; they
need only decline to a point equal to or lower than that of some other
comparable fishery or even of some other occupation not fishing. For men
will not work without reward, nor will they work at one trade for less than
they can earn from another.

As supplies in the Lakes and rivers became scarcer, rising prices checked
sales and performed their classic function of rationing the product to those
who were able and willing to pay, establishing after 1920 an equilibrium at
a level of production some 17 per cent lower than it was from 1887 to 1908
based on the figures regularly published by the Federal Government (or
2 5 per cent lower if we use the figures of the International Board of Inquiry
(1943) for the Great Lakes). The rising prices and scarcity of Lakes and
river fishes became a powerful attraction to fisheries elsewhere, at first
drawing imports from the Canadian side of the Great Lakes and from other
Canadian lakes; they generated the whiting fishery at Cape Cod about the
time of World War I and, this not being enough, they furnished part of
the incentive for developing the redfish fishery of New England, the expan-
sion of the sales of other ocean fish fillets and various fishes from both
Atlantic and Pacific, and even the catfish production as far away as Lake
Okeechobee, Florida. Undoubtedly, the shipment of whiting and redfish
(both being in size and structure suggestive of small fresh water fishes)
to the mid-west contributed to checking somewhat the rise of prices of
Lakes and river fish and also of relieving the pressure on the supplies of

404 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

fish in the lakes and rivers; in reverse, it is seen how events in the mid-west
reacted on the New England fisheries and explain in part the rise in pro-
duction of a group of species which in 1887 was onl}^ one per cent of New
England production, and in 1945 was 43 per cent. These and many other
actions, reactions, increases, decreases and accommodations occurring be-
tween, among, and within the regions are resolved into an orderly over-
all national result which pursues its own course, subject only to the cycle
of business activity, as if the local and regional behavior on the one hand,
and the national total on the other, were two entirely unrelated sets of
phenomena.

The Patterns of Economic Behavior of Commercial Species. In Tables
53 5 54? 55 ^i^d 56, Appendix, are set up quantities and values, both in
descending orders of magnitude, and the corresponding prices, of the prin-
cipal commercial species of fish of the United States and Alaska for four
representative years or periods, the composite of 1889-92, the year 1908,
the averages of 1929-30-31 and of 1938-39-40; the tables show for each
year or period all species (or groups of closely allied species, as reported)
each of which amounts to one per cent or more of the total of either quantity
or value of all nine regions. These tables show some of the permutations
which have come about in the composition of the national total catch from
1889 to 1940, as will be seen on inspection of the rankings of oysters, mack-
erel, alewives, shad, shrimp, rosefish, pilchard, etc.

The number of "species" which enter into the one-per-cent-or-more class
increased from around 20 to around 30 during the 50-year period, the
number of true biological species being in excess of these numbers, perhaps
50 during the later periods. However, if the species were strictly biological,
a number of them, such as flounders, and perhaps the clams and catfishes,
might separately be too small in quantity or value to "make" the list, as
the mullet failed to do in the 1930 period, and the squeteagues failed in
the 1939 period. Only that part of the pilchard production is here treated
as food fish which actually was so marketed, the remainder being treated as
non-food fish. Prices are arrived at here from quantities and values as
reported in the records; it is quite likely that some of them are truly
competitive prices, others as actually paid were almost purely arbitrary,
such as wages paid to crews of vessels and traps on the basis of amount of
catch, or a seasonally agreed upon price, and still others estimated by field
canvassers. All, however, have been treated alike herein as true values,
regardless of how arrived at, for calculating prices.

Since the predominant group which accounts for five-sixths of the volume
and three-fourths of the value (as of 1938-40) of the national product is
made up of between 25 and 30 species, it is clear that variations in the

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 405

quantity of any one species have little or no influence on the total. If our
attention is confined to food fish only, the leading species (in 1938-40)
are 11.5 per cent of volume (pilchard) and 9.5 per cent of value (oyster).
Even in these species at the top of the list great variations in quantity
whether caused by nature or imposed by the regulations or resulting from
catching by man can occur with little or no effect on the total. For example,
if all the pilchard that are canned were removed from the list, and not
compensated by production of any other fish, the total value (to all fisher-
men) column would be affected only 2.0 per cent, although, of course,
the sardine fishermen would be seriously affected. If halibut production
should be halved as of 1938-40, the volume of total food fish would be
reduced 0.8 per cent and the money value (if the price of the remaining
production of halibut did not rise in response to the scarcity) would be
diminished by 1.9 per cent. In such events as these, which are continually
occurring, the declines in production of particular species appear to be
made up by increases in others, and the fishermen themselves (who catch
the declining species) may be recompensed in part if not in full or even
more, by the rise in price of what they catch, depending on the circum-
stances of each case, as we shall soon see.

The mechanism which we have already described of accommodation
and automatic adjustment of production to market demand is facilitated
by the large number of species comprised in the total, of which the increases,
decreases, or (except in the most important species) total disappearance
would have little or no perceptible effect on the national total. The total
of meat, poultry, and fish is only 9.5 per cent of the United States dietary,
and the total of food fish, round weights is only 14 per cent of the meat,
poultry, eggs, and fish, or 1.4 per cent of the whole diet, and the larg-
est volume species of fish (food pilchard) is 11.5 per cent of all food
fish or 0.16 per cent of the whole diet, and all other species of fish still
smaller. It seems certain that the percentage of any one food fish, even
the greatest, is smaller than the probable error of determination of the total
amount of food consumed. These facts have far-reaching implications in
the field of legislation and regulation and all attempts to maintain prices
and benefit fishermen by increasing or limiting production.

Economic Case Histories of Twenty-one Common Fishes. Just how
particular fishes behave, and under the influence of what factors, is il-
lustrated by the behavior patterns of the twenty-one common species of
fish and shellfish mostly of the Atlantic-Gulf-Lakes outlined in tabular form
in Table 20. Here the quantity and per capita production are given, the
actual number of dollars received for the product, the equivalent number
of dollars of 1926 purchasing power for all commodities, the corresponding
actual prices and 1926 commodity index prices.

406

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

For the first time in this report there is used here an "All Food Fish 1926
Price Index." This index is exactly analogous to and derived in the same
way as the All-Commodity Wholesale 1926 Price Index, except that instead
of the weighted average price of all commodities, the composite price of
all food fish of the Atlantic-Gulf regions in 1926 is taken as the base 100.

TABLE 20

Economic Behavior Patterns of Twenty-one Common Fishes; Quantities, Values,

Prices, etc., in the Years or Periods 1889-92,* 1908,

1929-30-31 and 1938-39-40

1929-

1938-

1889-92 *

1908 t

30-31 1

39-40 X

Composite

Average

Average

Population, Eastern States, Millions §

47-50

64.00

87.00

94.00

Commodity Price

Index, 1926 = 100 II

56.20

62.90

84.9

78.00

Average price, all food fish,

Atlantic, Gulf and Lakes f

3-76

3-57

4.72

3-77

Food Fish Price Index, 1926 = 100**

65.2

61.9

81.8

65-3

Bluefish

Quantity, lbs. '000

18,198

7,646

6,869

5,350

Per capita, lbs.

0.38

0.12

0.08

0.06

Pomatomus

Actual dollars '000

727

506

560

330

saltatrix

Actual price, cents

3-99

6.71

8.15

6.17

1926 dollars '000 ||

1,292

805

660

423

Atlantic

1926 index price, cents

1 6.56

10.67

9.61

7.90

Fish price ratio ft

1. 00

1.77

1.63

1-54

Quantity, lbs. '000

13,875

8,156

12,173

15,668

Soft clams tt

Per capita, lbs.

0.29

0.13

0.14

0.17

Actual dollars '000

550

546

870

1,154

Mya

Actual price, cents

396

6.70

7-15

7-37

arenaria

1926 dollars '000 ||

978

868

1,025

1,480

1926 index price, cents

7.07

10.65

8.42

9-44

Atlantic

Fish price ratio ft

1. 00

1.78

1.44

1.85

Quantity, lbs. '000

9,495

7,518

8,333

12,990

Hard clams XX

Per capita, lbs.

0.20

0.12

O.IO

0.14

Actual dollars '000

1,141

1,300

2,231

1,782

Venus

Actual price, cents

12.02

17.30

26.78

13.72

mercenaria

1926 dollars '000 ||

2,030

2,069

2,630

2,285

V. mortoni

1926 index price, cents |

21.38

27.50

31-65

17-58

Atl. and Gulf

Fish price ratio ff

1. 00

1-52

1.78

1. 14

Cod

Quantity, lbs. '000

163,912

102,107

103,864

109,474

Gadus callarias

Per capita, lbs.

3-24

1.60

1.19

1.16

Atlantic

Actual dollars, '000

2,656

2,696

3,044

2,662

Actual price, cents

1.78

2.64

2.93

2.43

Salted converted

1926 dollars '000 ||

4,725

4,288

3,590

3,415

(X 1.9s) to

1926 index price, cents || 3.16

4.20

3-46

3-12

fresh gutted

Fish price ratio ft

1. 00

1.56

I-3I

1.36

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

407

1929-

1938-

1889-92 *

1908 t

30-31 t

39-40 t

Composite

Average

Average

Blue crabs, hard

Quantity, lbs. 'ooo

7,001

38,531

65,323

77,025

Per capita, lbs.

o.iS

0.60

0.75

0.83

CalUnectes

Actual dollars 'ooo

III

427

1,108

1,367

sapidus

Actual price, cents

1.58

I. II

1.70

1.90

1926 dollars '000 ||

197

679

1,305

1,750

Atl. and Gulf

1926 index price, cents

II 2.75

1.76

2.00

2-43

Fish price ratio ft

1. 00

0.74

0.86

1.20

Blue crabs, soft

Quantity, lbs. '000

6,057

10,302

6,599

5,795

CalUnectes

Per capita, lbs.

0.13

0.16

0.08

0.06

sapidus

Actual dollars '000

347

359

603

526

Actual price, cents

5-74

3-49

9.10

9.10

1926 dollars '000 ||

616

571

711

674

Atl. and Gulf

1926 index price, cents |

10.20

5-54

10.56

10.77

Fish price ratio ft

1. 00

0.64

1.26

1-58

Flounders

Quantity, lbs. '000

10,363

23,346

71,968

85,506

Various

Per capita, lbs.

0.22

0.44

0.83

0.91

Actual dollars '000

257

588

3,066

3,188

Heterosomata

Actual price, cents

2.48

2.52

4.27

3-73

1926 dollars '000 ||

458

935

3,611

4,090

Atl. Gulf and Pac.

1926 index price, cents

II 442

4.00

5.02

4-78

Fish price ratio ff

1. 00

1.07

1-37

1-51

Quantity, lbs. '000

45,957

59,987

237,112

163,106

Haddock

Per capita, lbs.

0.97

0.92

2.72

1-73

Melanogrammus

Actual dollars '000

743

1,308

7,727

4,371

aeglifinus

Actual price, cents

1.62

2.18

3-25

2.68

1926 dollars '000 ||

1,322

2,078

9,105

5,605

Atlantic

1926 index price, cents || 3.03

3-47

3-84

3-44

Fish price ratio ft

1. 00

1.42

1.60

1.65

Quantity, lbs. '000

12,170

34,441

49,593

46,181

Halibut

Per capita, lbs.

0.26

0.54

0.57

0.49

Hippoglossus

Actual dollars '000

754

1,562

4,810

3,404

hippoglossus

Actual price, cents

6.18

4-54

9.70

7-38

1926 dollars '000 ||

1,342

2,483

5,665

4,362

Atl. and Pac.

1926 index price, cents

1 11-03

7.21

11-45

9-45

Fish price ratio ft

1. 00

0.77

1-25

1. 19

Quantity, lbs. '000

48,753

41,118

20,605

22,571

Lake herring

Per capita, lbs.

1.03

0.64

0.24

0.24

and ciscoes

Actual dollars '000

562

989

556

664

Leuckhthys

Actual price, cents

I-I5

2.40

2.70

2-95

artedi

1926 dollars '000 ||

1,000

1,572

656

852

1926 index price, cents || 2.05

3-82

3-17

3-78

Great Lakes

Fish price ratio ff

1. 00

2.20

1.88

2-57

Quantity, lbs. '000

12,890

12,024

10,685

9,717

Lake trout

Per capita, lbs.

0.27

0.19

0.13

O.IO

408

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

1889-92 *
Composite

1938-
39-40 t
Average

Cristivomer
namayctish

Great Lakes

Lobsters
Homarus
americanus

Atlantic

Mackerel

Scomber scomhrus
Atlantic

Salted converted
(X 1.35) to fresh

Mullet
Mugil
cephalus, etc.

Atl. and Pac.

Oysters XX §§

Ostrea

virginica

Atl. and Gulf only

Pompano
Trachinotus species

Atlantic

"Sea trout"
(squeteagues,

weakfish)
Cynoscion
regalis and
nebulosus
Atl. and Gulf

Actual dollars '000
Actual price, cents
1926 dollars '000 !|
1926 index price, cents
Fish price ratio ff

Quantity, lbs. '000
Per capita, lbs.
Actual dollars '000
Actual price, cents
1926 dollars '000 ||
1926 index price, cents
Fish price ratio ff

Quantity, lbs. '000
Per capita, lbs.
Actual dollars '000
Actual price, cents
1926 dollars '000 ||
1926 index price, cents ||
Fish price ratio ft

Quantity, lbs. '000
Per capita, lbs.
Actual dollars '000
Actual price, cents
1926 dollars '000 ||
1926 index price, cents
Fish price ratio ft

Quantity, lbs. 000
Per capita, lbs.
Actual dollars '000
Actual price, cents
1926 dollars '000 ||
1926 index price, cents ||
Fish price ratio ft

Quantity, lbs. '000
Per capita, lbs.
Actual dollars '000
Actual price, cents
1926 dollars '000
1926 index price, cents ||
Fish price ratio ft

Quantity, lbs. '000
Per capita, lbs.
Actual dollars '000
Actual price, cents
1926 dollars '000 ||
1926 index price, cents |
Fish price ratio ff

508

800

1,428

1,664

3-94

6.65

13-37

17.10

903

1,272

1,682

2,132

7.01

10.58

15-74

21.95

1. 00

1.78

2.71

4-34

30,789

15,279

12,708

11,989

0.65

0.24

0.15

0.13

862

1,931

3,367

2,152

2.80

12.60

26.50

17.96

1,534

3.070

3,968

2,760

5.00

20.10

31.22

23.00

I. GO

4-73

7-54

6.40

10,229

12,103

54,460

38,838

0.27

0.19

0.63

0.41

733

848

2,027

1,057

7.20

7.00

3-72

2.72

1,304

1,348

2,388

1,355

12.80

II. 12

4-38

3-49

1. 00

1.02

0.41

0.38

20,759

33,703

29,884

36,690

0.44

0.53

0-34

0-39

388

908

949

1,258

1.87

2.70

5-18

3-43

690

1,444

1,118

1,614

3-32

4.28

3-74

4-40

1. 00

1-52

1-35

1.83

69,293

148,872

82,791

80,092

3.56

2-33

0.95

0.85

13,985

12,035

10,554

7,638

8.26

8.09

12.75

9.41

24,900

19,140

12,430

9,790

14.70

12.85

15.01

12.22

1. 00

0.94

1.08

1.04

367

570

573

731

O.OI

O.OI

O.OI

O.OI

36

71

112

160

9.70

12.45

19-55

21.88

63

113

132

205

17.24

19.83

23.00

28.00

1. 00

1-35

2.00

2.25

20,925

49,868

33,179

31,890

0.44

0.78

0.38

0-34

709

1,777

1,403

1,224

3-39

3.56

4-23

3-84

1,261

2,825

1,653

1,570

6.02

5-67

4.98

4-93

1. 00

I. II

0.99

I-I3

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

409

1889-92 *
Composite

1938-

39-40 t

Average

Shad
Alosa
sapidissima

Atl. and Pac.

Shrimp

Peneus

seti ferns, etc.

Atl. and Gulf

Striped bass

Roccns

saxatilis

Atl. and Pac.

Whitefish

Coregomis
clupeiformis

Great Lakes

Quantity, lbs. '000
Per capita, lbs.
Actual dollars '000
Actual price, cents
1926 dollars '000 i|
1926 index price, cents
Fish price ratio ff

Quantity, lbs. '000
Per capita, lbs.
Actual dollars '000
Actual price, cents
1926 dollars '000 ||
1926 index price, cents
Fish price ratio ff

Quantity, lbs. '000
Per capita, lbs.
Actual dollars '000
Actual price, cents
1926 dollars '000 ||
1926 index price, cents ||
Fish price ratio ft

Quantity, lbs. '000
Per capita, lbs.
Actual dollars '000
Actual price, cents
1926 dollars '000 ||
1926 index price, cents
Fish price ratio ||

41,645

27,641

14,830

12,192

0.88

0.43

0.17

0.13

1,764

2,113

1,887

979

4.24

7.64

12.72

8.04

3,140

3,360

2,222

1,255

7-54

12.15

14.98

10.30

1. 00

1.90

2-39

1.90

8,225

19,080

101,674

148,784

0.17

0.30

1. 16

1-57

142

494

3,516

5,173

1-73

2-59

3-45

3-48

253

785

4,140

6,640

3.08

4.11

4.07

4.46

1. 00

1.58

1-59

2.01

3,160

3,657

2,856

3,620

0.07

0.06

0.03

0.04

274

314

417

335

8.67

8.59

14.6

9.26

488

499

492

429

15-45

13-75

17.23

11.85

1. 00

1.05

1-34

1.07

12,401

7,723

10,537

4,004

0.26

0.12

0.12

0.04

51Q

525

1,657

707

4.18

6.80

15-70

17.60

924

835

1,952

906

7-45

10.80

18.52

22.40

1. 00

1. 71

3.00

4.20

* Composite totals for New England 1889, South Atlantic and Gulf 1890, Middle Atlantic
1891, Pacific 1892 ; Lakes 1890 interpolated between 1885 and 1893, all from U. S. Fish
Commission.

t U. S. Bureau of Census, Fisheries of the United States.

t Average of three years, U. S. Bureau of Fisheries (1929-31), U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service,
1938-40.

§ States east of Mississippi River and Louisiana (27 states) and District of Columbia; non-
decennial years interpolated.

II All-Commodity Wholesale Price Index, U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (averages for the
periods). The "1926 dollars" and "1926 prices" are in money of constant purchasing power in
terms of this index.

J Non-food products excluded.

** Food fish price index is the relative price of all Atlantic-Gulf-Lakes food fish referred to
average price in 1926 (5.77 cts./lb.) = 100.

tt Fish price ratio is the ratio of the price of the specified fish to the average price of all
Atlantic-Gulf-Lakes food fish for the same period. The actual ratios are adjusted to make
1890 = 1. 00 so that deviations above or below i.oo in the subsequent periods indicate that the
price of the specified fish is increasing or decreasing relative to fish prices generally.

tt Net Meats. For oysters, the number of pounds originally shown in the government reports
(calculated uniformly at 7 pounds per bushel) have been revised to conform to actual experi-
enced recoveries in the various states (U. S. Senate (1940), Rept. 1203, 76th Cong., 3d Sess.)

§§ Seed oysters have been excluded 1902 and later; prior to that year they were not consistently
shown separately.

410 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

This fish price index is fully weighted, since the 1926 price is the total value
divided by the total number of pounds of all food fish produced (in the
Atlantic-Gulf regions) in that year. The price of any particular fish in any
particular year, divided by the food fish price index for that year gives a
price for that fish in terms of the general level of all food fish prices of
the Atlantic-Gulf for that year. In the table, the fish price index is adjusted
to make 1890 = 100 in every case. If, in a series of years, this food fish
index price remains constant at i.oo for any particular fish, then the price
of that fish merely moved with the price of fish generally; if the index
subsequently to 1890 increased or decreased, the price of that fish varied
accordingly with respect to the general average price movement of all fish,
i.e., it had a trend of its own. Similarly, change or constancy in the price
of a particular fish in terms of the All Commodity Wholesale Price Index
indicates whether the price of that fish is doing better or worse than or
following the general average of all commodities.

The behavior patterns of individual species are highly diverse, each
governed by its own peculiarities and circumstances. The production of
codfish (salt fish converted to and included as fresh weights, distorting
the price in 1890) decreased sharply from 1890 to 1908 and thereafter
remained about constant, but between 1908 and 1940 declined from 1.6 to
1.2 pounds per capita of a growing population; the apparent value of the
total codfish product is nearly unchanged over the entire period, but its
exchange value for other goods was only about three-fourths as much in
1940 as in 1890. Diminished production of cod per capita did not serve to
support the prices, or, demand from an increasing human population was not
sufficient to maintain a price that would command increased production.
Haddock, however, which in edible qualities, both esthetic and dietetic, is
almost indistinguishable from cod, and yields the same percentage of edible
flesh, behaved much better. With a volume of production in the latest period
of three times that of the earliest, and nearly twice per capita of population,
actual prices of haddock increased by 60 per cent, advancing about 60
per cent more than fish prices generally and since 1908 keeping up with
all-commodity index prices. While codfish was losing ground in price on a
30 per cent decline in per capita production, haddock prices increased on a
doubled per capita production, and the purchasing power of the proceeds of
haddock production increased more than fourfold. The price of haddock was
lower than that of cod in the early period but surpassed it in about 1928. See
p. 402 for conditions affecting prices.

The catch of eastern mackerel {Scomber scombrus) was in 1940 nearly
four times what it was in 1890 (salt converted to fresh), but only about
50 per cent greater per capita. Yet actual price was in the 1940 period less
than 40 per cent of what it had been in 1890 or 1908, and index prices relative

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 411

to all commodities and to all fish were down to a third of the earlier figures.
The actual money value for 39 million pounds of mackerel in 1940 was
increased by less than 50 per cent over what it had been for 10 million
pounds in 1890, i.e., by a fourfold increase in quantity, and the purchasing
power of the total money received by fishermen was approximately the
same in 1940 as it had been in 1890. The loss of popularity of mackerel
may be due to the diminishing demand for salt fish, and also to its fat
content as a fresh fish.

These examples of economic behavior of well known large-volume common
food fish clearly demonstrate that the total revenue of a fishery is not neces-
sarily increased with increasing abundance or production of fish nor, as we
have already seen, is it necessarily diminished by decreasing abundance.
If fish become more abundant and the fisherman tries to increase his income
by catching more fish, prices may react disproportionately downward to
such an extent that total actual money and purchasing power of the proceeds
may be and often are smaller on the increased catch.

Neither are deficiency of supply and diminution of production per capita
necessarily and of themselves sufficient to assure countervailing higher
prices, though they may and in some instances they do. The total production
of shad dropped in the late period to less than a third of what it was in the
early period and, per capita, to less than a sixth; prices of shad increased
at about double the rate of increase of general fish prices, the actual dollars
received were cut to a half, and purchasing power to little more than a third
in 1940 of what it had been in 1890 and 1908. We can only surmise what
would have happened to the shad fisherman's income if the efforts to restore
the original abundance of shad had been successful.^ ^

On the other hand, flounders (collectively of several species usually sold
as "sole") have yielded greatly increased amounts, both absolute and per
capita, at rising prices, with twelve times as many actual dollars in 1940 as
in 1890, and more than nine times as much purchasing power.

The pompanos, although never abundant, about doubled in production
between 1890 and 1940 along with human population, but actual price more
than doubled and relative buying power price has increased more than 60
per cent and the fisherman can buy more than three times as much other
goods with the proceeds of the catch.

Mullet has behaved well since 1890, the production keeping pace with
growth of population, at advancing prices, actual and relative to other
commodities and to all fish, and with three times the actual money proceeds
and twice the purchasing power. The "sea trouts" (squeteagues or weak-

52. We are dealing here with national totals and yearly averages; effects might be quite differ-
ent locally and seasonally. For example, if the production of shad should be increased in North
Carolina or South Carolina in March, the effect might be much more favorable than if it occurred
in Delaware in late May.

412 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

fish) taken together behaved with the average of all food fish and yielded
to the fishermen about a constant amount of purchasing power except in
the "bumper crop" period of 1908.

In other cases, scarcity (in the presence of insistent demand and absence
of substitutes) does definitely express itself in higher prices. The volume of
production of lobster was reduced to 40 per cent in total amount, and one-
fifth per capita, over the 50-year period 1890-1940. Actual price increased
more than sixfold, and prices relative to all commodities and to all food
fish both increased five to sixfold; actual dollars of revenue doubled, and
purchasing power of the total dollar income of the fishermen for lobster
increased by nearly 50 per cent. The lake trout is a very close parallel to
the lobster in its pattern of behavior; production down by a fourth, actual
price up four times, commodity index price up three times, and fish index
price up four times, actual money value threefold, and purchasing power more
than twice. This pattern also applies to whitefish and the Great Lakes fishes
generally, and accounts for the remarkable comparative showing of the
Great Lakes regional behavior. (Tables 17 and 18.)

Why it is that with a comparable amount of production and percentage
decline in both lobster and shad, the price of lobster should be increased
sixfold, that of the shad only doubled, the amount of money for the lobster
should be doubled and that for the shad be halved, and the purchasing power
of the total proceeds from the sale of lobster be increased by nearly 50
per cent, while that for shad be reduced to a little more than a third? The
shad can be easily substituted for by many other kinds of fish, and appears
to be declining in popularity along with the other heavy fat fishes, such as
the mackerel. The lobster is socially elegant, without any rival or substitute
unless spiny lobster or crayfish be considered a rival. It is biologically a
slow grower, limited in quantity, and is in definite demand; indeed, perhaps
the nature of the demand is such that it is more likely to be wanted at a
high price than it would be at a low price. The difference in behavior of
shad and lobster is obviously in public esteem or demand. It is evident that
the choicer species of fish from the Great Lakes must enjoy a prestige and
special demand similar to those for lobster, though the reasons why they
do are not obvious. These facts, of which only a few are here presented as
examples, clearly demonstrate that the welfare of fisheries and fishermen
is not simply a matter of abundance of fish, and could not be provided for
with any assurance by the maintenance (if that were possible) now proposed,
of each species simultaneously at some level of abundance which somebody
considers optimum. The one element which is indispensable to the welfare
of the fisheries is demand for their products.

The oyster and the shrimp call for special consideration here, since the
two are or may be the most important fishery products of North Carolina.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

413

Each is unique of its kind in having no interchangeable substitute; both are,

to an extent, luxury items, and have differed markedly in economic behavior.

The Oyster has undergone the most serious economic deterioration in

market importance of all the major United States fishery products. Table

1887 1890 1893 1896 1899 1902 1905 1908 1911 1914 1917 1920 1923 1926 1929 1932 1935 1938 1940

l€87 1890 1893 1896 1699 1902 1905 1908 1911 1914 1917 1920 1923 1926 1929 1932 1935 1938 1940

Fig. 1 6. Market oysters, exclusive of seeds, Atlantic and Gulf coasts only, 1887-1940. Inadequate

statistical record 1912-1920.

57, Appendix, and Fig. 16 exhibit the statistical history of total oyster
production of the five regions which make the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
These series were arrived at by interpolation in each region in the void
years and the regions combined in the same manner as the main tables and
graphs of fish production, the early period extending from 1887 to 19 12,
the late from 192 1 to 1940,

414 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

For many years toward the end of the last century and the first decade
of this, the net weight of edible meats of the oyster exceeded even the gross
weight of any other product of the fisheries except menhaden (which is
not considered edible), see Table 53, Appendix; in 1890 its value was 38
per cent of that of all food fish and four times that of its nearest rival, the
five Pacific salmons combined; it exceeded the combined values of all
salmons, cod, shad, clams, mackerel, lobster, haddock, halibut, and sea trouts.
The oyster production of the Atlantic-Gulf regions continued until the
period of meager statistics at the time of World War I, as by far our most
important United States fishery. By 1920 it had already decreased sharply,
and from then onward production expressed as per capita of the Eastern
States declined steadily to about 24 per cent as much, in the 1938-40 period,
as it had been in 1890, and, expressed as total quantity of production of
the Atlantic-Gulf regions, to 47 per cent of what it had been in 1890 and
54 per cent of what it had been in 1908.

In 1890 the oyster was the highest priced of all major fishery products
of the country (i.e., of all which amounted to one per cent or more of the
total quantity or value); in 1908 the oyster ranked third; in 1930 and 1940
fifth and fourth, respectively; prices of oysters, actual as well as relative
to other commodities and to fish generally did not rise consistently; for a
short period during the prosperity boom of the 1920's they were up, but
in the 1930's they reacted to the pre- 1908 level. Actual money value of the
total production in 1940 was 55 per cent of what it was in 1890 and the
purchasing power equivalent of the total money value in 1940 was 39
per cent of what it was in 1890 and 51 per cent of 1908. The behavior is
therefore a long continued decline in volume, absolute and per capita, at
prices which have not risen in response to the diminishing supply, for
a rapidly increasing population with improving standard of luxurious living.
In this respect the economic behavior of the oyster resembles that of the
shad, but on a much larger scale.

Insufficiency or depletion of supply does not seem adequate to explain the
persistent decline in the production of oysters. If biological scarcity alone
had set the limit to production, then prices should have risen as they did
rise sharply for Lakes fishes, lobsters, etc., when these were in short supply;
a three or fourfold increase in prices would have provided the incentive for
extension of oyster production by cultivation on old bottoms or, failing that,
the opening of new territory, of which there appears to be a plenty south
of Chesapeake Bay.

The decline in production of oysters combined with the failure of prices
to rise suggests that something happened to demand in the years following
19 12, for an examination of the available data on oyster production indicates

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 415

that the peak was reached in about that period, though per capita produc-
tion had already been declining for twenty years or more.^^

The history of production, values, and prices of oysters in the Atlantic-
Gulf regions is recapitulated in more detail in Table 2 1 , on which the follow-
ing observations are made:

1. In only one region (Gulf) did total quantity of production increase in
the latest over the earliest period (+86 per cent). This region shows the
greatest decrease in price of all the regions (—32 per cent in actual price,
—53 per cent in 1926 money price).

2. Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic regions show intermediate declines
in volume ( — 51 per cent and —34 per cent respectively) between earliest
and latest periods; these regions show little change in actual prices (0 per
cent and +4.8 per cent) and intermediate declines in 1926 money prices
(—27 per cent and —28 per cent).

3. The region to show the greatest decrease in production of all regions
(—67 per cent), Chesapeake, shows the least adverse (except New England)
percentage change in price between earliest and latest periods ( + 25 per
cent actual, —16 per cent in 1926 money).

4. New England appears in its almost constant 1926 money price to have
been most successful between earliest and latest periods in adjusting its
marketing operations to current demand (quantity —50 per cent; actual
price -f44 per cent, price in 1926 money, -fi per cent). Practically all
oysters from this region are cultivated and marketing is under control.

5. There are only faint signs of the effects of the inflationary boom in
the third period (192 0-1930), which affected other luxury products of the
fisheries.

6. Marked regional differences in price level have persisted over the
years; South Atlantic cheapest, and in rising order, Chesapeake, Gulf,
New England and Mid-Atlantic.

These relationships of quantities to prices and money values indicate
that even the diminishing production was exerting pressure on market demand
in all regions and in the whole eastern part of the country sufficiently to
cause decrease in prices and in purchasing power of the total net proceeds of
sales; the decline of 67 per cent in production in the largest producing region,
the Chesapeake, was not sufficient to prevent decline in prices.

Possible Explanations of the Market and Price Behavior of Oysters.
It is not necessary to seek a single factor or "cause" of the adverse change

S3. Per capita production of oysters, Eastern, bushels.

1880 .444 1920 .160

1890 .421 1925 .155

1897 447 1929 .121

1904 .297 193s _ -III

1908 .288 1940 ,136

416

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

TABLE 21

Oysters: Recapitulation * by Regions f and by Historical Periods of

the Production, Values and Prices of Market Oysters

(Exclusive of Seed) || 1887-1940

Periods

New
England

Mid-
Atlantic

Chesapeake

South
Atlantic

Gulf of
Mexico

Total t

Atlantic and

Gulf

Production of
Edible Meats t

15,850

Pounds ('000 omitted), annual average.

1887-1899
igoo-1912
1920-1930
1931-1940

II. Value

1887-1899
1900-1912
1920-1930
1931-1940

17,610
7,738
7,875

1,686
2,122

1,491
1,206

30,890
30,640
26,020
15,080

96,700
69,200
44,960
32,079

7,200

15,550

7,070

4,751

Dollars ('000 omitted), annual average.

3,920
3,970
4,590
2,037

5,848
4,790
4,957
2,392

304
596
410
213

III. Relative Value § Dollars ('000 omitted), annual average.

1887-1899
1 900-1902
1920-1930
1931-1940

3,230
3,240
1,458
1,586

7-570
6,360
4,490
2,680

11,210
7,680
4,850
3,150

582
956
401
280

8,460
17,350
13,490
15-757

752
1,313
1,501

964

1,440
2,100
1,468
1,267

159,100

150,400

99,278

75,542

12,510

12,791

12,950

6,812

23,970

20,500

12,660

8,960

IV.

Prices, actual
and relative §

Act.

Cents per pound, annual average.

Rel. Act. Rel. Act. Rel. Act. Rel. Act. Rel. Act. Rel.

1887-1899
1900-1912
1920-1930
1931-1940

10.6
12.0
19-3
15-3

20.3

19-3
18.9
20.1

13-5
13.0
17.6
13-5

25-8
20.7

17-3
17.8

6.0
6.9

II.O

7-5

11.6

II. I

10.8

9.8

4.2
3-8
5-8
4.4

8.1
6.2
5-7
5-8

8.9

7.6

12.0

6.1

17.1

12. 1

II. 7

8.1

7-9

8.5

13.2

9.0

13.6
12.9
11.9

* Each historical period is made into a continuous series by interpolating the years not can-
vassed; the averages are those of the actual canvasses and the interpolated figures.

t Atlantic and Gulf coasts only, Pacific coast excluded.

t Recovery of edible meats per bushel of oysters recalculated by Fish & Wildlife Service from
the statistical record (originally reported uniformly as 7 pounds per bushel), on the basis of
actual yield in the respective regions.

§ Relative values and prices are in money of constant purchasing power in terms of the All-
Commodity Wholesale Price Index, 1926 = 100, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

II Seed not consistently shown, and therefore not consistently excluded in the above table for
the years before 1902.

in the oyster fishery; the behavior of the oyster trade is undoubtedly the
resultant of the interaction and cooperation of many factors concerning
w^hich we have little factual data. It has already been noted that the increases
in United States fishery production have, occurred chiefly in the mass
production, mechanized fisheries. The mollusk fisheries have depended on
extensive use of human labor to dig, dredge, or tong the product from the

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 417

mud or water, and it has been only recently that power dredges have been
introduced or significantly improved; until 1948 power propelled craft
were prohibited in North Carolina for dredging oysters. A great deal of
hand labor is used to cull oysters and to shuck them, both in plants and
restaurants, little of which has been successfully mechanized. The increased
cost of production occasioned by increased labor wages could be aggravated
by diminished yield per day's work on depleted natural rocks. The conse-
quences of these adverse effects would be a dilemma for management to
decide whether to cut prices to maintain volume or to maintain prices and
let volume decrease, or to do some of both. Where, as seemingly in oysters,
costs have advanced sharply, management may have no freedom of choice
but to let volume diminish since it cannot reduce prices to stimulate sales.

The Shrimp fishery is largely a development of the past forty years, since
1908, when the otter trawl came into use for shrimp. From 8 million
pounds, whole weight, in 1890 annual production rose to 19 million pounds in
1908. In 1938-40, production was 7.8 times what it had been in 1908, while
oyster production had declined 46 per cent in the same period. Notwith-
standing the increasing volume of shrimp, prices increased, the 1938-40
average price being twice the 1890 price and 34 per cent higher than 1908;
shrimp fishermen received more than ten times as many total dollars for
the catch with 8^ times as much other commodities at wholesale with the
proceeds in 1938-40 as in 1908. The fish price ratio (the ratio of shrimp
prices to the average prices of all food fish) doubled over 1890 and increased
T,TfVz per cent from 1908.

When judged by all the standards of measurement of a species that we
have, the shrimp appears to have many advantages : being a luxury delicacy
item, its price is not determined by bare competition as a staple item of
food; it is easily subject to economical mass capture; its net edible portion
is a high percentage of the total weight; it requires little in the way of
preparation for market and that not expensive; it is well adapted to canning
and freezing, as well as to the fresh fish market; it can be prepared for the
table in many ways; and the demand so far seems unlimited. Biologically
it is enormously fecund, reaches commercial size in the same year in which
it is hatched, and appears to subsist on the most prevalent of aquatic foods,
the organic detritus and its immediate derivatives on the bottom.

The Blue Crab, another crustacean, is, in a more modest way, a growing
resource of the South, and has many of the favorable biological and eco-
nomic characteristics of the shrimp. Its potentials do not appear to be as
large, its habitat is more restricted, and more labor is required to catch
and prepare it for market. It should be very resistant to exploitation. Its
yield of edible flesh, however, is small in proportion to its bulk and its cost
rather deceptively high. As soft crabs, the species has made no progress

418

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

statistically since 1890 or 1908; as hard crabs, its 1938-40 volume was ten
times 1890 and twice 1908 at prices about constant in terms of buying power.
We have considered the possibility that the decline in oyster production
and failure of prices to rise is caused by competition from shrimp and
possibly crab, the former of which can be produced and sold at lower cost.
It may be significant that the rapid rise of the shrimp and the crab coincides
and is concurrent with the decline in the oyster. Table 22 shows the parallel
history of oysters, shrimp, crabs, and the sum of all three, in certain typical

TABLE 22

Production and Values of Oyster, Shrimp and Blue Crab, Atlantic and Gulf Coasts,
1890-91, 1908, 1929-31, and 1938-40

Quantity, net edible, pounds '000

Oyster *

Shrimp f

Crabt

Total

Composite 1890-91

169,293

4,112

7,037

180,293

1908

148,872

9,450

15,656

172,978

Avg. 1929-30-31

82,791

50,837

16,744

150,372

Avg. 1938-39-40

80,092

74,392

16,579

171,063

Quantity, pounds per capita of Eastern

States §

Composite 1890-91

3.56

0.09

0.15

3.80

1908

2-33

o.is

0.24

2.72

Avg. 1929-30-31

0.95

0.58

0.19

1-73

Avg. 1938-39-40

C.85

0.80

0.18

1.82

Value, actual dollars '000

Composite 1890-91

13,985

142

458

14,585

1908

12,035

494

780

13,309

Avg. 1929-30-31

10,554

3,516

1,711

15,781

Avg. 1938-39-40

7,638

5,173

1,893

14,704

Value, dollars '000,

1926 purchasing power

Composite 1890-91

24,900

253

513

25,966

1908

19,140

786

1,240

21,166

Avg. 1929-30-31

12,430

4,141

2,017

18,588

Avg. 1938-39-40

9,790

6,630

2,428

18,848

* Net edible meats market oysters, corrected for average yield per bushel each State.
t Net edible portions of shrimp, raw, taken as 50% of reported round weights.
t Net edible portions of crab taken as 14% of reported round weight of hard crabs and 100%
of soft crabs.

§ 26 States east of the Mississippi River, plus Louisiana and District of Columbia.

years, by total quantities and quantities per capita, and by values in both
actual and 1926 dollars, allowances being made for the edible percentages
of the three products. As oysters decreased in quantity, shrimp and crabs
increased so that the total of all three is nearly but not quite constant; they
have not kept pace with growth of population; the total actual money value
of all three was constant (at least in the four representative periods), but the

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 419

purchasing power of the proceeds decreased with the decreasing value of
the dollar.

As is readily seen, the spectacular rise of the shrimp fishery, viewed alone,
appears to be a great step forward for the fisheries industry; actually, it
appears to be a shift from the oyster and mainly inter-regional, from one
portion of the fisheries to another, with a decline in pounds, a standstill
in actual dollars and decline in dollars of constant purchasing power and with
no visible effect on the total national curves which, as said at the beginning
of this Section, are determined by demand, and not by supply.

RESUME OF QUANTITATIVE FISHERY ECONOMICS

The total quantity of food fish produced in the United States is the total
of the sales of all the retail outlets throughout the country; it does not appear
to be determined or appreciably affected by the variations in abundance of
any species, or of all species of fish, or by any other biological influence in
the water. The out-take from the waters everywhere appears to be small in
comparison with photosynthetic productivity per square mile, the area fished,
and the fertilizers in the water; and compared also with the yield of agri-
culture. The yield of the United States fisheries appears small in comparison
with that of numerous other fishing areas of the world.

The greater part of the fish produced in the United States, as elsewhere,
is human food; the average commercial retail weight of all kinds of food
consumed per year per capita of United States population is nearly constant
(1909-1940) at 1,520 pounds (average annual deviation ±2.0 per cent);
about 9.5 per cent of the total is meat, poultry and fish; fish (whole as
landed) is about 14 per cent of this group; in gross weight it is slightly more,
and in net edible, considerably less, than one per cent of the whole diet.

The total production of food fish (Atlantic-Gulf-Great Lakes-Pacific
regions) over the 54-year period 1 887-1940 considered as a whole, increased,
though not uniformly in proportion to population; in rate of increase,
fisheries lagged behind population from about 1900 to 192 1; with intro-
duction of improvements (filleting, packaging, quick freezing, chain store
merchandising, etc.), fish production increased faster than population from
192 1 to 1940, so that the production per capita for 1935-40 was slightly
higher than for any earlier period of record.

Production in the older fisheries of the Atlantic-Gulf regions also in-
creased, but not in keeping with the rate of increase of the population of
the eastern States; the annual per capita eastern production at no time
after 192 1 equalled that of 1908 and earlier. Production of the Great Lakes
was about 17 to 25 per cent (depending on what set of statistics is used)
less in the inter-war period than it was in 1908 and earlier.

420 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

The increased United States production of food fish as a whole has been
sold at decreasing real prices.

The average annual price to fishermen for all food fish in current money
was about i6 per cent higher in the late (1921-40) period than in the
earlier (1887-1908); real prices, however, were diminished, i.e., a given
quantity of a cross section of all food fish could only be exchanged for 26
per cent less of a cross section of all (about 900) commodities in the late
(1921-1940) than in the early period (1887-1908); for other foods, food
fish had exchange value less by 27 per cent in the late than in the early
period.

In the Atlantic-Gulf regions, even though per capita production of food
fish was less in the late period, average prices underwent almost exactly the
same percentage decrease as did those of the whole country; with an increase
of 32 per cent in total pounds of production, the total real value in terms of
other commodities, because of lower prices, was unchanged (—0.8 per cent).

The increased yield of all fish has been produced by fewer fishermen
(number assignable to food fish not separately ascertainable). The number
of fishermen reached its peak about 1900- 1902 with 145,000 for the country,
and 124,000 for the Atlantic-Gulf regions; by the 1930's the national total
had decreased 28 per cent to 100,000 and the Atlantic-Gulf decreased by
43 per cent to about 70,000. The average weight of catch per fisherman
had doubled in the late (1921-1940) as compared with the early (1887-
1908) period, and tripled on comparison of the early 1890's with the late
1930's. Improvements in efficiency made it possible to supply the require-
ments of an increased population despite the reduction of nearly one-third
in the number of fishermen.

The average individual income nearly doubled (in purchasing power)
for the smaller number of United States fishermen between 1900 and 1940;
that of the Atlantic-Gulf regions increased by about 60 per cent. On the
whole, the fisherman's reward for his labor, though not comparable in
amount, increased at about the same rate as did wages of industrial skilled
labor. Improvement in efficiency, or catch per man, apparently does not
increase the income of fishermen, but compels a reduction in their number;
the number of fishermen engaged appears to adjust itself automatically to
that which can just produce the amount of fish required by the market.

The curve of total quantity of food fish produced year by year follows
that of the index of industrial production which is t3^pical of the business
cycle; the volume of fish production in Canada follows the Canadian index
of industrial production; production of the nine leading countries of
Northern Europe appears to have followed -up to 1938 the European cycle
of business activity. The value of the fisheries has faithfully followed the
curve of national income in both the United States and Canada. Both the

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 421

quantity and value of fish produced are determined solely by the economic
factor of demand.

The interaction of cost of production of a highly perishable product for
a limited and inelastic market attended by extremely sensitive prices ap-
pears to constitute an automatic self-regulatory mechanism by which the
total quantity of product is adjusted to supply the existing total demand
by mutual accommodation of surpluses and deficiencies, or abundances and
scarcities, between, among, and within the various regions, locaHties, and
specific fisheries of the country; by the immediate reaction of prices to
change in supply, the mechanism regulates the total and apportions the
productive effort among the fishermen who engage in whatever fisheries
appear to be most profitable in terms of quantity and price from place to
place and time to time, or enter or quit the fisheries, as appears to their
best interest. In this way the fishing effort of the whole country is modulated
in amount and distributed over all the opportunities in all localities and
regions.

Suggestive indications are found in the statistical record that there may
also be natural and automatic biological accommodations among the species
of fish in the water; that the competitions, rivalries, and depredations among
species are such that, as the populations of some species decrease, those of
other species increase up to the limit of their basic food supply, in accord
with some aquatic equivalent of the Malthus law of human populations.
Gross historical changes in the composition of some of the product of the
older fisheries (such as those of New England) are consistent with such a
theory.

In following the pulse of prosperity and depression, the fisheries product,
or at least the dominant part of it, pursues an opportunist course in the
market. When competing meat and eggs are high priced, the quickly re-
sponsive fisheries produce enough more fish to meet the increased demand
with some but not great increase of fish prices; when competing products
are cheap, the fisheries quickly retrench operations so as to reduce produc-
tion but not seriously reduce prices. Hence, in both quantity and total
value, but only to a limited extent in prices, the fisheries follow the typical
course of the business cycle; in a depression, fewer fishermen work, and
those engaged catch fewer fish and sell them at slightly lower prices and
less total money; on the return of better demand the entire series of adjust-
ments is automatically reversed.

From a recapitulation of the regional statistical history of the country
there are chosen two regions. New England and the Great Lakes, as ex-
amples of the operation of interregional economic determinants. In the
New England region, the codfish in 1887 accounted for 71 per cent of the
ground or bottom fish and 82 per cent of this was salted; cod, haddock,

422 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

hake, pollock and halibut combined accounted for 99 per cent of all, the
remaining one per cent being flounders, whiting and redfish combined. In
1940 cod was 17.6 per cent and the last mentioned three had risen to 39
per cent and in 1945 they were 43 per cent. These changes may in part
reflect biological changes in the fishery populations; in another part, the
interplay of many economic forces in the market, a part of which was the
competitive situation in the inland Lakes and River regions.

In the mid-west increasing demands from a growing population bore
down on the limited supplies of fresh water fish; heavy fishing yielded
smaller returns per effort, and prices rose disproportionately, so that in the
Lakes region the percentage improvement in income in dollars of constant
purchasing power per fisherman exceeded that of any other region; it was
the only region of the country to receive a higher average price in terms
of purchasing power in the 1921-40 period than the pre-1909 period, that is,
41 per cent more purchasing power for 17 per cent less fish, while the entire
Atlantic-Gulf section of the ocean and coastal fisheries increased production
of food fish by 32 per cent and received unchanged (—0.8 per cent) pur-
chasing power money for it.

These events indicate that insistent demand for a limited supply of fish
expresses itself in higher prices; that diminishing abundance of a species
or of a whole regional fishery is not necessarily disadvantageous to fisher-
men. It also appears impossible to exhaust a fishery for profit, since rising
prices check sales and attract competition of other fishes (as in this case
the fillets of haddock, cod, flounders, whiting and redfish from New Eng-
land) and rising costs and diminishing returns must check production of
the particular fishery at some point far short of extinction of any species.

The accommodation of production to market demand is greatly facili-
tated by the large number of species. Tabulations in descending order of
magnitude of quantity and value of the leading species for four represen-
tative periods (1890, 1908, 1930, and 1940) show that great commutations
have occurred and continue to occur in the relative contributions of the
many species to the total product of the country; that the total as of 1940
consists of some 30 or more species which severally account for one per
cent or more of the value; that no species has been economically dominant
to such an extent that even drastic changes in its abundance have had any
discernible effect on the total quantity or value of the total food fishery
product.

A study of the case histories of 21 species, mostly of the Atlantic-Gulf
regions, shows that they behave in a great diversity of economic patterns.
In some species (lobsters, lake trout) diminished production was attended
by greatly increased price and total real value in terms of purchasing
power; the total real value remained unchanged on a threefold increase in

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 423

mackerel, and also on a 50 per cent decrease in Lake whitefish; in several
species (halibut, flounders, pompano, hard crab), with increased production
prices also increased or were maintained with increase in total value; in
shad, lake herring, bluefish, on decreasing production prices were insufficient
to maintain total values which accordingly decreased.

Strong demand is the only factor which is invariably beneficial to the
fisherman. Increased value may be realized from smaller or larger or un-
changed quantity of fish according as demand makes it so; increase in
quantity of production without increase in demand, or a corresponding
decrease in other fish, is certain to result in lower prices and lower total
revenue to the fishermen.

A comparison is made of oyster, shrimp, and crab, and the total of all
three. The production of oysters decreased by 50 per cent from 1890 to
1940, and the price did not rise sufficiently to compensate; total real value
declined to 40 per cent of the early value. Shrimp production increased 18
times, price doubled and money value in terms of buying power increased
26 times. The blue crab also enjoyed a similar but not such great economic
exaltation. Contrary to widely expressed concern at the decline in abundance
of oysters, the signs indicate that the oyster industry is suffering from a
weakening of demand and perhaps also excessive costs in the heavy em-
ployment of labor and the penalty for failure or inability to mechanize;
that the shrimp with many advantages of lower cost of production by mass
methods, less need for hand labor, high yield of edible portions, and brisk
demand at rising prices is providing serious competition which the oyster
industry has been unable to meet. The total of oysters, shrimp, and crab
has held constant in both quantity and actual money and has declined in real
money value, despite the increase in human population.

<><><><^(^<X><><^ChS><XX><X><X^

III. ECONOMICS AND MARKETING OF
NORTH CAROLINA FISHERIES

Production and Primary Marketing

THE HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL RECORD

Ranking of North Carolina among the States in Value of Production.
The ranking in value of production of the several fish producing States
in five historical periods is shown in Table 23. The shifting in relative
position of the States irrespective of the total of production of all the
States (which is controlled only by demand under the influence of the
business cycle) clearly exhibits the trend of historic movements. Among
the eastern and southern States, the rise of Florida and Louisiana and the
decline of Maryland, Delaware, and Connecticut are conspicuous. North
Carolina among all the States, as well as among the eastern States, lost rank
slightly but on the whole has remained in about the same relative position
at nth to 14th place (i6th in 1930) and, if the Pacific States and Alaska
are excluded, from 9th to i2th.^

Totals of All Fish and Fishermen and All Food Fish since 1880. Table 24
exhibits the totals of the entire canvassed record, 1880-1945, of the quan-
tities and values of North Carolina production of all fish and the numbers
of fishermen. The number of fishermen engaged was about the same in
1939 and 1940 as it was in 1889 and 1890; the average number for the
20-year period, 1921-1940 was 33.5 per cent less than it was in the 22-year
period, 1887-1908 (Table 17); the year 1902 is the peak (of the years
canvassed) in number of fishermen (also the peak year in production of
numerous species). In this Table 24, calculated equivalents of the money
in constant purchasing power (1926 = 100) are shown, and the prices
in both actual and constant value money; also shown are calculations per
fisherman of pounds of fish and the values of the product in both kinds
of money. In interpreting the data in this table it should be remembered
that where the total of all fishery products is considered, the great fluctua-
tions in quantity, money value, and prices are due largely to the menhaden,
which amounted to little before 1900; it should also be noted that the fisher-

I. The quantity and value of menhaden has been taken herein to be that credited to the State
by the Federal Government.

42s

426

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

<

c

.2
"■*->
o

o

Ph

fe

03
>

4) 2,--

Valu
dolla;
(ooo

o

•<t

OS

M

4)

rt

C^

Valu
dolla
(ooo

o

CO-

ON

M

<u

rt

in

<u i2--

-2^ 8

^^^
-^-o^

oo

o

On

tH

<u

rt

cJ5

4> £^

3 rt O

Val
doll
(oo

<N)

On

00

M

<u

rt

C?5

o £^

Valu
dolla
(ooo

o

00

00

V

rt

w

-M

c

rt

«

0^0 mnO locjoo c^ x^c^vo Onw irjONOO O conO ro*^ u^m w i^nOvO iritr;
lOlOM f^O l>^lO0NVnri-0 ONnO ^rONO OnvocsvOX^OO *-* OnnOnO QnO
Mt^vOvOOONOOrnO-t^NOlrjOOOrOl-iOONONNOlO'^rO'ON NP)i-i

0<iOC3vO»0'^TfTfprN « « M w M M i-t
M M W

14^ i/^ .iij .n

1 C/5 I/) l/l

rt rt c^ c^

^, h-i .2 rt -s

iO

i ffi '

l-H M l-H

oO^onO ^coOnnOI^Onw 0\0 m ONfONONOt^O iHNO H fOvO r^oo cow CO

TfO-tH ONMOO OlOvOOOf^r^l'lvOt^cOl'lNO TtO"^^!-! ^OOOO N 0>lO

O 0*~;>J^»orotON O ONONf^r— >O'*':^cOO^00t^^i^>'3l>^TfP0c^ o) w
Mt-~Tj-^rOcorocOfON i-i hTh w m hi hi hi

HIIHl-lNOirjMVOHlOOOlO TfOO VO M ONmONTfMNO CDVO'^HI ^

roO rl-^M ■^■Hi (Nt^rfCN rorONO cn)oo hi onO^mvO'^Ovio) O-O)

iotJ-qnOO O ^ooO coO^OnOnoo *--vOnO «^roro<Ni o pj hi hi
i-^no" vonfCrON cTm hi hi

ls^-=^:7^l^ii^lSjiic,^=.

^ X I

<-^^ ai^^-'O

^^2>2;CJ<:Sota:z;^SOPiJHJO(i.^HQgc«<O^H:;£g

Ono Onm ONt^NOOO OnOnOO t-«vONO>0 lO^rorow N

M M fO'^l^NOt^OO OnO hi

O

18 8^

) o o _^

■5 O ON 00
) in t^'X)

1 M CS *"•

■rV3-W- i^

> ;-> ^ ^ w
< H-l HH tM S

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

427

'O

o

o

^

a

o

iz:

73

fi

rt

73

O

O

fe

w "^

-J ■*

a o\

3 M

"^ A

o o

U, 00

«>4

Ph oo

h-1

m

-^ H

<

fe s

H

^ rC

<E

c/i 'O

0} c

fe

o

iz:

a

in

4)
Oh

Pi

io\0 0 vO 0 »^
t^ M i-H ro u^ 00
c^ CS C-< M O) (N

vO 0 NO

00 rot^iOM Tj-O^t^M 0 On

OOnO •"^tJ-woO vow CnOnio

0 CO t^

10 CO On
CO CONO

-*— tn
, , ;-i

IS

0 C) CO tJ-nO t^OO M NO 0 c^
OtJ-cOM loQvO w ONIOOO
cO''l-'^Tl-t-OC~) M cocoes cs

0 CI vO
t~~NO CO
Cl d t^

tn

TJ

C

3
O
Ah

0 0 0 ^ "-O 10

vO r^vo vO ^o \0

000

<O00^ O;
10 0" fO

OOOOOOOOOioO
Tj- Tj- !>. r^ loco OD NO c^ -^ 0
'^^ '-?;"„ ^„ "^^^ ■* *^°° 0 oo_^
10 C) CO no" cToo" rC 0" w" t^oo"
i-iCNicsrocowh-icocoi-ic<

000
0 r^ 0

w__ ONO^

cT rONO
CO ci CI

d »-
CI -Q

^ a

0 CO vo 0 ro CO
0 0 0 t^ 0 i-i

t^ i-t^ •^ 0 f^ c>

OnOoO voONfOioiocO tr> ^J~> ^ ONin
lOM o-O^TfNO t^O "^co^oO >-H Q
mc^i-ii-ipjOOnc-jci Q\fOONNOO^
t-i O^nO no nO no to 10 U-) T^ ionO no nO
1-1

vo CONO
0 I-H 10

0^ w^ Tt-

tC rC t^

Relative
Price t
Cents

VO 00 00 0 w 00
0^ 0 iH t^vO ■<:^
CO ro fO fO CO -^

r^ M 00

cs CM ri cot^MOOt^TfO '^
voO Oncni <s lOTtroiot^cM

On 0- «M

0 covO

1926:}:

Relative

Value

Dollars

'000

w 0 0 t^ O^ (^

0 CO vO ^O t~^ M
CO fO COVO 00 00

li") 0 00

to M VO

0^00 cs

Ol-'CV)OONO>OMt--MO

0 On w NO Tj- CN r^ cooo c^ 00
Tj-oo t>-NO M Tl- rj CI CO On T^

0 CI CI

10 r^ ON

'^ CO w

M h-( M M l-l CS

M CI CS

CICICSOCJWWCICOWCS

CI CI vo

10 t^OO woo

NO r^ Ti-

cooo r^O wno c< Ti-r^co tj-oni^

lOONOOWlHWONOClTl-ONOOOr--

CN| h-l l-l CS CS CS

CS l-l M

Clh-tl-HMHHW (-HMM

w d

Actual *

Value

Dollars

'000

vO mvO 0 00 0
■^ t^ r— 10 f^i i-H
00 t^ t^ 0 0 <^

M 1— (

0 r~-0>T}-o ■^nOnooo i^cs looo 0 0 loio
tJ-no r^ m vO C) fO vooo CI r-. ro 10 10 O^nO O-
r^t--.ONT^r^\q^ir)oq^q^oONO i>-NO_^o^oo^oq^Tj-

MMOC^CJMMWM l-TMl-IP-lMt-lVO

Quantity *
Pounds

'000

^^ 0>0 rO'^rOM w O
0 0 (MvO Ovo t^O^oO
O; 00_^ t>- q^ vO^ Cf; 0 00 o_^

t^ ■* ■^ ■^ 10 vo \o c^ w

rJ-NO CI ■rJ-ONw t)-C) OniotJ-
NO 0» C) 1-1 conO w no C^ ionO
cocow^POO;w C)^'^oq^t>-r^
■cf CO l-i \0~ 00 00" NO CO On cT 00
ON'^'^WNO O^ClONO W h-l On
WWCIM MOMW

t^ w On

VOOO NO
Tt- vo l-H^

•tF o"oo"

CS t^ ON

CI M M

0 t~~00 0\ 0 r^

00 00 00 00 On ON
00 00 00 00 00 00

M 00 00
0 0 M

On On On

cot^oo 0>0 i-i CI TfNO r^oo
CI CI CI CI rococococococo
On On O^ 0^ ON 0^ On On O^ On On

ON 0 VO

CO T}- rf
On ON ON

CL,

dH

u

^

-a

a

l^

3

in

f

a

w

C

m

t3

>

1-
0

Xi

3

T1

OJ

TJ-fi

0

al

<u

(U

-1

>

G

a

rt

rt

3

3

3

u

u

tn

rt

m

w

< uu

428 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

men cannot be separately identified for the different fisheries. Table 25
exhibits the quantities, values, prices, etc., of all North Carolina food fish
only; in both summary tables the regularities that are monotonously ob-
served in the fishery statistics of the whole country and all its regions are
again observed here in North Carolina; i.e., the total production and values,
prices, number of fishermen, and their production and income per man
conform to the pulse of the business cycle — post-World War I, low; 1927-
1929, high; 1932, low; 1936-1937, high, and over-all upward trend of the
fishermen's income, subject to the cyclic influences. Here, as elsewhere, it
is to be noted that real income did not diminish as much as apparent income
in the depression year of 1932. For the over-all comparison of the early
period (1887-1908) with the late (1921-1940), see Tables 17 and 18,
wherein it appears that the improvement of the average dollar value, actual
and relative, in the later over the earlier period was somewhat less than
that for the Atlantic-Gulf regions or for the whole country; and that
quantity of production per man greatly increased mainly by reason of the
rising menhaden fishery.

In food fish, however, the State did not increase its production in the
later over the earlier period; in fact, its average production was 2.7 per cent
less from 192 1 to 1940 than it had been from 1887 to 1908;^ the increase
of 29 per cent in price and 25.8 per cent in actual dollars was not enough
to make up for the inflation of money that occurred, so that the buying
power of the proceeds of primary sale of all the food fish produced by the
State as an annual average from 192 1 to 1940 was 21 per cent less than it
had been for the average of 1887-1908; even when menhaden is included
in both periods, the annual average buying power of fish production for
the average of all commodities was less by 3 per cent in the period 192 1-
1940 than it had been from 1887 to 1908 (Table 17). The development
of the menhaden industry, principally in the late period, in its entirety was
not enough to compensate the fish industry of the State for the inflation of
money in the absence of any increase in the volume of food fish production.
If the new expenses were deducted for marine engines, fuel, and lubricants,
which replaced sail, it is likely that the fisheries would be worth very
decidedly less in net money value to the State than they were fifty years
ago.

This fact does not speak well for the North Carolina fisheries when con-
sidered in connection with the 155 per cent increase in population of the
State from 1,400,000 in 1880 to 3,572,000 in 1940; the increase in ratio of
urban to rural population and the development of a superb network of
roads over which distribution of fish over the entire State could be effected.

2. Based on the averages of the two series after the vacant years in each have been filled in by
interpolation (Table 18).

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

429

TABLE 25

North Carolina Fisheries; Food Fish Only; Quantities, Values,
and Prices, 1880-1945

Year

Quantity *
Pounds

'000

Actual Value *
Dollars

'000

Price t
Cents

1926

Relative Valued

Dollars

'000

Relative

Price X

Cents

1880

32,902

846

2.57

1,301

3-96

1887

30.052

755

2

51

1,347

4-58

1888

28,875

759

2

63

1,330

4.61

1889

35-310

939

2

66

1,648

4.67

1890

38,194

1,011

2

65

1,798

4.71

1897

51,653

1,296

2

51

2,780

5-38

1902

47,209

1,708

3

63

2,900

6.16

1908

42,401

1,693

3

99

2,691

6.35

1918

30,150

1,669

5

54

1,271

4.21

1923

31,074

2,089

6

72

2,075

6.68

1927

44,409

2,301

5

18

2,411

5-43

1928

41,820

2,193

5

25

2,268

5-42

1929

43,824

1,817

4

15

1,906

4-35

1930

34,887

1,301

3

73

1-507

4-32

1931

30,284

993

3

28

1,360

4-49

1932

31,738

752

2

37

1,160

3-65

1934

56,811

1,317

2

2,2

1,758

3.10

1936

69,790

2,136

3

06

2.644

3-79

1937

51,049

1,439

2

82

1,667

3.26

1938

51,946

1,524

2

93

1,039

3-73

1939

42,489

1,334

3

14

1,730

4.07

1940

40,989

1,379

3

36

1,754

4.28

1945

56,636

4-521

7

98

4-275

7-54

* Canvassed.
t Calculated.

% Calculated: equivalent number of dollars or cents of constant purchasing power in terms of
the all-commodity wholesale price index, 1926 = 100, U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Composition of the Catch: Principal Species in the Various Years. The
series of data in the Tables, 68 to 90, Appendix, show in detail the com-
position in descending order of magnitude in both quantity and value of
all North Carolina species of food fish, each of which amounted to as much
as one per cent of either quantity or value in each of the canvassed years
from 1880 to 1945. It can be noticed that in 1880 more than 70 per cent
(see "cumulative" columns) of both quantity and value were made up of
shad, alewives, mullet, and oysters; that in 1923 the 70 per cent group had
grown from four to eight species, being then, in quantity, alewives, oysters,
gray trout, shad, croaker, spot, mullet, and shrimp, while in value it is this
same group but with croaker, spot, and shrimp giving place to spotted trout,
striped bass, and bluefish; and that the downward drift of shad, oysters.

430 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

and scallops is offset by the rise of shrimp, crab, croaker, and spot. If the
species which make up in each year, say, 70 per cent or more of the quantity
are arranged in parallel columns for the twenty-three canvassed years, and
another set aranged of those which made up 70 per cent or more of the
value, it will be seen that great commutations occurred and that no two
years are the same in composition for either quantity or value, that no
pattern of change is clearly discernible, and that few generalizations can
be made. It can be observed, however, in these "descending order" tables
for North Carolina, as in those for the whole country (Tables 51 to 56,
Appendix), that there is a tendency for the main bulk (say 70 per cent)
to be made up of a larger and larger number of species. In 1880 in North
Carolina, 70 per cent of the quantity and value was in four species, alewife,
mullet, shad, and oysters; in 1887, 70 per cent of the quantity was two
species, alewife, and shad, and 70 per cent of the value was in three, alewife,
shad, and mullet. From 1923 to 1945 the quantity was made up of from
five to eight or nine species and the value rather more, i.e., from eight to
ten. This increase in number can hardly be ascribed to the exploitation of
more species to supply a larger demand, for the total production did not
increase (average food fish 1921-1940 is 2.7 less than average of 1887-
1908) ; also, when compared year by year there is seen to be no relationship
between number of major species and quantity or value of product. To some
(though not a large) extent the change has resulted from an actual biological
diminution of abundance of the anadromous shad (and perhaps alewives)
and the substitution therefor of other species. The striped bass, also
anadromous, has not diminished.

The composition of the catch in the later years is (as in New England
and other parts of the country) radically different from what it was in the
early years; the declines are generally in those species which have a poor
economic behavior pattern, and the newcomers or newly dominant species
are those which have the best behavior patterns, i.e., those for which de-
mand supports price on increasing production. In the pre- 1900 period the
bulk of both quantity and value consisted of alewives, shad, mullet, oysters,
and sea trout. In the post-1920 period shrimp, crab, spot, and croaker play
an increasingly prominent part. That is to say, the catch is made up, from
time to time, of whatever affords the fishermen the largest return for their
labor.

Statistical History of the Economic Species. Table 91, Appendix, is the
statistical history of quantity and value of each of the principal useful
species of fish and shellfish in North Carolina. The series are, of course,
not continuous but, even so, their fluctuations show a remarkable tendency
to establish maxima in the years of good business, 1902, 192 7-1929, 1936-
1937? for in 1 93 6- 1 93 7 records or high peaks were established by bluefish,

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 431

butterfish, carp, clams, crabs, croakers, flounders, king whiting, menhaden,
mullet, oysters, Spanish mackerel, spot, sea trout (squeteague), and striped
bass. It does not appear likely that nature would be so obliging as to bring
about the peaks of biological abundance in all of these species in years when
business is unusually good. The conspicuous cases of persistent change are
downward in alewives, shad, and scallops; upward in catfish, crabs, croak-
ers, flounder, harvestfish, shrimp, and spot. The others hold about steady.
Considering the ability of North Carolina to produce fish when the market
wants them, it appears that abundance of fish (in those months of the year
when they are present at all) is hardly the limiting factor to the magnitude
and money value of the State's fishing industry.

Comparison of Prices by Species in North Carolina and Elsewhere. In
order to ascertain how North Carolina's fishery products compare in quan-
tities, values, and prices (to fishermen) with the same species produced
outside the State, data have been compiled for eight species and presented
in Table 26. Limited though the data are, they clearly show that studies
of data more finely subdivided in time and place, i.e., for subdivisions of a
year and for smaller localities, can be significantly revealing in a number
of ways. They show that in shad, flounders, and soft shell crabs, North
Carolina fishermen have consistently received a higher price than the aver-
age of all that was produced elsewhere. In the case of the shad and soft
crabs this difference is undoubtedly in the season of abundance — North
Carolina is able to offer these products before they become plentiful as the
season advances further north, but it should also be noted that the North
Carolina production of shad shrank from 16 per cent of all shad in 1890
and 1908 to 10 per cent in 1930 and 8 per cent in 1939; the greatest shrink-
age in production occurred in the season of normally highest price; the
price behavior of shad was therefore somewhat better in North Carolina than
it was for the country as a whole.

In earlier years the State received proportionately more for mullet, but
in later years this advantage seems to have been lost (perhaps because of
earlier salting and later discontinuance of salting) ; the price of hard crab
is about the same as the national average. In the cases of bluefish and
oyster, the prices have been, from the beginning of our record, decisively
and consistently to the disadvantage of the State. North Carolina's per-
centage of the total national production of oysters is inconsequential, and
the season is shorter — later beginning and earlier ending than that of the
more northerly states; the volume of bluefish production is characteristically
erratic, the State's part varying from 10 to 25 per cent of the national total.
Since about 1908 North Carolina has received about the national average
price for a very small percentage of the total production of shrimp and
hard crabs or crabmeat.

432

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

cd

U

-c ^

.« °

^ >

X

H -^

'f ^

1^ P,

en B

7.6

W

t-l

<

H

*^ P^

-fl-^

•^ C

^ rt

03 uT

a <u

P3 3

2 '^

^ .n

r^ .'H

•J-" -t2

^1 .T;

O -g

t^ rt

«« P

o o

S c

o -S

w

;-i

03

a,

S

o

U

0

o o

Cl

O O vO

o o o

O O f^

0 toco

0 VO VO

0 r^ ^

0 00 00

^

o o

Tf

O O <JO

o o ^

O 00 r^

0 0 rt

0 0 00

0 M CO

0 CO t^

q_ q_

t^

O- o, C^

O-O-r;)

0.0; r^S

0, qjr^J

Cl°Ood

0, "-Ivd

0, ^ M

><

lo t>

lO ro

OO ro

t^ 0

ri M

M \0

00 o>

w 00

w

0^ fO

rovo

■^ LO

Tf to

t^ ro

0 ON

n-vo

VO ON

c^ oo

O lo

O M

00 M^

c^ 0

vq^ Ti-

CI C)

■rl- 0

C/2

M

O r^

ro M

tF ro

■n- to

to

'*

CO 11

600

M

t^

ro

CO

rf

t~»

o

P

h-l

•^

c:>

h-(

O C)

O

O Th^

O 00 r^

0 0 C)

0 to ro

0 ■+ to

0 CO CI

0 C) CO

O O

t^

o o o

O w CO

0 <M VO

0 ON M

0 ON 0

0 CO to

0 VO O^

o. ^

iy->

O ^ ri

0.-«lr^

Q, o„ v/>

00^^

o„ -LtA

q,«=, ^

0.^. M

U

t^ o"

HH

t^ tF

M Tj-

O^ t^

CN) h-l

Tj- On M

C) 0

■^00

^

o n-

lO t^

rf O

to CO

M Tf

On CJ

0 VO

VO VO

00 M

O^

t^ M

VO

to M

M

1-1

to

M

cT

•<#

M

CO

0

o o

r^

O O OO

o O^ lo

0 0 CO

0 M VO

0 0^ c^^

0 0 ro

0 00 0

^

o o

t-H

O O 00

O " w

0 to c<

0 r-- '^

0 0 00

0 CO to

0 0 r^

° o^

<^

o„ o. ^

0.^„ r^j

9, q; rf

0. •^r;^

o„q;od

0 -«3

0, ^. M

^

rC .^

M

CO O M

lo rN

c^ 00

On r^

CJ 0

0 Tt-

CO 00

w

O ^

>H O^

r^vo

t- M

oi 00

to to

to c<

COCO

lo^O

VO ro

roOO

"- 0.

00 Tj-

CJ to

IH to

0 0

C/3

CO M

o" o"

r^

M ro

0 CO

VO

VO

rf i-T

++

M

00 l-t

cq

t^

0

VO

o

!^

M

C7\

M

O '^

o

1-1 o i^

O M -^

0 0 t-

0 O^vO

0 M 0

0 Sn-

Q, 0 to

000

0 f^ -d-

O t^vO

CI <X5 to

O t^ T}-

0 to t^

0 cq ro

0 t^ 0

0 O- to

cJ

o <^

t>-

"^.^ <^1, t-^

O, <^ r;5

0, o.vd

°-tc^

o„°o,,/,

0, ^ M

ro ro

M

00 Tj-

OvO

VO t^

to 00

*:r cT '-'

r^ to

0 On

12;

M ro

t^\0

O 00

Ov rt-

■^ CI

M CO

On 1-1

rO t~<

l-H HI

lO

vO

00

t^

CJ

"^

d

c^

M

0

o o

x/-)

o o O

O O VO

0 0 f-K

r^ <n" "

0 0 ON

0 0 to

0 0 CI

000

^

o o

fO

O O M

O O lo

0 0 to

000

0 0 C)

0 0 w

° O-

t-^

o..o„^

q.o^^

0. 0^ c-

O-O- r;.

0. <3 ti

o,q;M

K

ON O"

rOOO

ro ro

0 to

l>.vO

M 1-1

M ON

w

O Tj-

1-1 o

ro ro

T^r t^

0 00

CJ CI

Ovo

to M

vq^ r-

t^OO

vO^ t^

O; to

t-^ ■*

q^ ro

CO M-

H-l Tf

C/2

rO IH~

Tj- W

oo"

cT

00"

0"

vo"

00"

<N

rt M

c^

cs

*~i

M

CO

00

o

1:5

M

O O

t^

o O VO
ro "^ U-,

O O xn

0 0 t-

0 0 CI

COM

0 0 00

0 0 t--

O O

"^

O O '^

0 0 ON

0 0 '^

0 0 o^

0 0 to

0 0 On

9, o^

ON

° o„ ^

O^O^r^j

0. 0. ci

0. 0. M

o„q rh

9- "^ d

u

oT ro

fH

O »o

rovO

1-1 0-

t^ ro M

VO to

CO M

^

"* t~~

l^ t^

0 M

t^

t-~ ro

to -^

M

q\ fo

°. '-'

^

CO

Cl

0

M

<^

T?

lO

t-i

u

o o

t^

o o o

O t^ ON

0 to On

0 t^ M

1^

o o

o

O O ro

O lovo

0 VO VO

0 On CO

o„ o^

'f

O. Qod

CL^w

0„ ^ M

0,^4

tCoo"

o o

T}- o

HI VO

CO CO

r^ U-)

^ o

t>. o

CO CO

0 0

00 -^

r<o t^

M C-J

0 M

0 VO

cri

m m"

■<*^ ro

r-^

00"

rF

o

tJ

^

VO w

M

M

CO
M

■X-

O xn

o

CO ON O

O ro w

0 Tf <N

0 to t^

0 CO 0

O w

ro

O >- t^

O -^ t^

0 ONOO

0 ro r^

0 0 to

cJ

° 9.

tn

^ q; r<S

O., ^. oi

0,00 „•

0^^^

q,vo^ „•

oo^vcT

tM Tj-

to t^

ON

^ to

to CO

1^

vO O

OCO

00 Ov

"*

'^

'i- CO

r^ oo

O M

to

M

CO

lo

'f

ro

M

(-<■ <"

(V

d ^ «

gSj

a ^ ^

C § aj

g|S

c § «

d § 0

3 ci3

Ui

3 c3 'ill

3 "C rt

3 rt C

3 rt '^^

3 rt 'C

3 C13 'C

3 rt 'C

OA.

OOh

C>Ph>

OHh

O^i

OOh

OP.

OAh

13

i*-i

;-<

>-i

0

k!

;_t

-4->

-a

a

in

-S

rn

(U

^

a

a

in

1X3

m

TJ

13

^

OJ

rO

c3

t«

3

0

'C

a

3

OS

^

^

J3

C/2

U

s

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 433

In these price relationships the effects of terrestrial latitude and the
succession of seasons are clearly evident in giving the State the much
desired "corner" or advantage in the market for those items (shad, soft
shell crab) which occur in the early spring in North Carolina when they
fetch the highest prices before they become plentiful farther north. Such
advantages as these should obviously be pressed for all they are worth. In
the case of the oyster the seasonal factor is probably reversed to the dis-
advantage of the State. A further, more extensive and detailed study of
these factors as they affect all of the State's fishery produce should yield
valuable results.

Statistical History of the Menhaden. Table 58, Appendix, is a historical
record of the commercial menhaden fishery of all regions from 1880 to
1945. The money values are those reported by the Government agency but
are rather nominal than competitive, being the seasonal figures used by
boat owners in settling with the crews.

NORTH CAROLINA FISHERIES GEOGRAPHICALLY
CONSIDERED

The production of North Carolina food fish (i.e., not including menhaden)
for several years has been in the neighborhood of 40 to 60 million pounds
annually, worth, before World War II, around $1,500,000, and in 1945
about $4,500,000. These quantities and values with efficiency could be
handled by a small number of dealers, say, a dozen or so. The problem,
however, is made difficult by the geographical configuration of the coast.

The fisheries of the State are spread over a coastline about 300 miles long,
not considering indentations. This coastal area is cut by several deep
estuaries running inland for distances of 60 to 75 miles from the Outer Bank
so that north-south transportation is difficult.

The whole coastal region divides itself naturally into three productive
areas :

a. Northern Production Area, from the Virginia line inland to Pamlico
River, and along Outer Bank to Ocracoke; it includes the fishing counties
of Currituck, Camden, Pasquotank, Chowan, Bertie, Dare, Hyde, and
Beaufort, and the fishing communities, Elizabeth City, Manteo, Colerain,
Edenton, Belhaven, and Washington. The water in the sounds (Currituck,
Albemarle, Roanoke, Croatan, and the northern part of Pamlico) becomes
less salt or brackish with increasing distance north and west of Ocracoke
Inlet. Accordingly the characteristic species undergo change in the same
sense, i.e., in western Albemarle Sound and Chowan River, the production
is mostly anadromous shad and alewives (early spring), striped bass, and
the fresh water catfish, and carp (especially in Currituck), while seaward

434 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

and offshore in Dare County and southward in the sound to Washington
and Belhaven, the catch is the more general salt water varieties, including
oysters, crabs, shrimp, bluefish, the trout, croaker, mullet, etc.

This area is traversed by the Norfolk Southern Railroad, connecting
with Charlotte, Raleigh, and Norfolk, and by the Atlantic Coast Line con-
necting with Tarboro and Rocky Mount. The railroad is used more for
transportation of fish in this area than in the more southerly areas.

b. Central Production Area, from Pamlico River in the north to New
River in Onslow County, embraces the most important fisheries of the
State — Pamlico, Craven, Carteret, and Onslow Counties, containing the
fishing communities of Oriental, Vandemere, New Bern, Morehead City-
Beaufort, Marshallberg, Sealevel, Atlantic, and Swansboro. This region is
mostly tidal salt water, under the influence of Beaufort and Bogue Inlets,
as well as that of Ocracoke Inlet, and receives little fresh water from rivers.
In addition to the general assortment of the more salt water species (little
of the fresh water or anadromous shad, alewives, striped bass, etc.), this is
the principal center for menhaden fisheries and menhaden conversion
plants. The season in this section is mainly fall — August to November.

This region is served by the Norfolk Southern Railroad, connecting
New Bern with Washington and Norfolk, and by the Atlantic and East
Carolina Railroad from Beaufort to Goldsboro and Raleigh. However, the
greater part of the transportation of fish from this area is by truck.

c. Southern Production Area, Pender, New Hanover and Brunswick
Counties; the three fishing communities are at Hampstead, Wilmington
and Southport. This, being the more southerly part, shows the increasing
influence of warmer water, but also the effects of the Cape Fear River with
again some anadromous species. There are no alewives, few shad or striped
bass, or sea trouts, but th^re are important fisheries for shrimp, mullet, and
menhaden. Production of oysters is small in this area.

Primary Marketing. Although the producer-dealers at the shore are a part
of the marketing and distribution mechanism, their relations with the fisher-
men are so close that their operations are best considered here in connection
with production; the distributor-dealers, wholesalers, retailers, etc., are
considered later. Primary marketing is done by what may be called here
producer-dealers i.e., dealers who perform the function of receiving fish
direct from the fishermen and passing the product on to the next stage of
marketing. In most cases the actual physical work performed by these
dealers is washing where necessary, weighing, packing, icing and shipping,
beheading shrimp, and shucking oysters. Places of business usually consist
of an enclosed building on a pier with ice -crusher, sorting tables and the
like, and scales. In some of the larger establishments there are small mechan-
ical refrigeration plants, mechanical ice crushers, processing rooms for

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 435

shucking oysters and clams, beheading shrimp, etc. Some of them operate
also retail markets for local trade, and a few of them restaurants.

The services performed by these coastal producer-dealers also include
selling, which may be to wholesale commission merchants in the large
northern cities, to other inland distributor-dealers, wholesalers, retailers,
or, to some extent, to truck pedlars. In many cases the producer-dealers
own outright or participate in the ownership of boats, pound nets, and other
gear, and through this ownership they share in the profits of the catch in
addition to their interest in the catch as merchants after they have received it.

It is customary in all three areas for the producer-dealers to advance
credit to fishermen, usually for the purchase of fishing equipment, but
occasionally for other things, such as family groceries and expenses. These
transactions take the form of "advances" by the dealers on future catches
of the fishermen. Ordinarily there is no formal evidence of indebtedness
securing the loan, and usually no interest. In general, the understanding
is that the dealer will deduct, with the approval of the fisherman, a reason-
able sum from the catch weekly until the debt is discharged, the fishermen
agreeing in turn to sell all of his catch exclusively to the lending dealer
so long as any part of the loan is outstanding. We have no exact data on
the extent of this practice. In the war and immediate post-war years, with
prices high and amounts of money unprecedentedly large, we were informed
that the amount of this kind of indebtedness was and is at a minimum,
probably fewer than lo to 20 per cent of the fishermen being in debt the
last two or three years.

The mode of fixing prices paid by the producer-dealers to the fishermen
is a subject which itself deserves extensive research and consideration, but
which is beyond the scope of this Survey. We have acquired some informa-
tion on this subject, but not sufficient to justify any general conclusions.
In the northern area, during the busy season, boat fishermen are informed
daily by the dealers the prices which will be paid, and settlement is made
weekly on the basis of these daily prices. In the central area it seems to be
the practice for all the dealers to settle weekly for about the same prices.
How these prices are arrived at is not entirely clear to us, but at any rate
it appears that the fishermen themselves do not always know what prices
they are to receive until after the fish have been delivered and shipped. We
have already commented on this subject in general terms in the section of
this report entitled "Economics of the Fisheries — General and Qualitative —
Production."

Difficulties of Marketing Imposed by Geographical and Seasonal Influ-
ences. So far as quantity is concerned, the fish produced in North Carolina
could be handled more efficiently and at lower unit cost by ten or a dozen
dealers; actually 127 dealers were reported in North Carolina in 1946.

436

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Table 27 shows distribution of fishermen, quantities and values of their
product, the number of dealers, etc., among the three geographical regions
and for the whole coastal region of the State.

TABLE 27

Geographical Distribution of Production and Fishermen;
Average 1936-1940, inclusive; Dealers, 1945

Northern *

Central f

Southern X

production

production

production

All areas

area

area

area

Number fishermen

2,309

3,315

1,281

6,905

Pounds food fish only

23,165,000

22,152,000

6,161,000

51,478,000

Values all fish, incl. menhaden

$657,823

$1,110,342

$250,911

$2,019,077

Values food fish only

$657,353

$ 711,373

$iQ5,545

$1,564,271

Values per fisherman all fish

$ 285

$ 335

$ 196

$ 292

Number dealers (1945)

41

72

14

127

Value per dealer food fish

$ 16,000

$ 9,880

$ i3,q6o

$ 12,320

Pounds food fish per dealer

565,000

308,000

440,000

406,000

* Virginia line to and including Pamlico River and Outer Bank to Ocracoke.
t Pamlico, Craven, Carteret and Onslow Counties.
t Pender, New Hanover and Brunswick Counties.

Not only is the State physically cut up badly by sounds and rivers into re-
gions among which there is very little interchange of fish, but seasonally also
the product is so distributed that scarcities in some regions cannot be made
up by abundances in others. The spring migrations of anadromous fishes
in the northern section, i.e., shad, alewives, striped bass, etc., cannot eco-
nomically be used to fill in the off-season in the Morehead-Beaufort region.
This combination of unfortunate circumstances brings about the existence
of a very large number of producer-dealers, each one handling the produce
of a small number of fishermen during a limited season, and at a small
amount of money value, making for general inefficiency and high costs,
as we shall see later.

The small scale of operations makes mechanization of operations im-
practicable, and also discourages the manufacture of by-products; it also
makes it impracticable for any one shore dealer to offer to the retail trade
of the State and the other near-by southern States a continuous and de-
pendable supply of the natural assortment of seafoods available in the
State, to carry on aggressive sales promotion and development of consumer
markets, or to compete with those dealers (in Norfolk, Baltimore, etc.)
which offer not only State but out-of-State products.

Such an operation might conceivably be conducted at some central point,
such as New Bern, Greenville, or Washington, which could draw on all

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 437

sources in the State, from Colerain and Manteo, Morehead City to Atlantic,
and Southport to Shallotte, and at all seasons of the year.

An operation of this kind would, in fact, be that of a distributor-dealer,
the functions of which are discussed later in this report.

PRIMARY DISTRIBUTION OF NORTH CAROLINA
SEA PRODUCTS

Shipments by Producer-Dealers to Fulton Market, New York. {Commis-
sion Sales). It has been said that the coastal dealers in North Carolina and
the South generally follow the easiest (and least profitable) method of
marketing by shipping the bulk of the product to the Fulton Market in
New York. This matter was investigated thoroughly; it was found that
shipments to Fulton Market, considered as a part of the whole production,
were of minor importance, though the study revealed certain other signifi-
cant facts. In order to ascertain the size and composition of North Carolina
shipments and how they compared with those of the other southern States,
parallel data were assembled for the four principal South Atlantic States,
North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia and Florida (entire State).

Procedure. In the New York office of the Fish & Wildlife Service, with
generous cooperation of the executives in charge, the data were taken from
the daily records of arrivals of fish in New York by months and by principal
species of fish and shellfish from the four southern States, Maryland, Vir-
ginia, North Carolina, and Florida, for the seven years, 1940 to 1946,
inclusive. The weights of clams and oysters included were those of net
edible portions. These data were then recapitulated in various ways.

(a) Table 28 recapitulates, by months and by the four States, the totals
of finfish and shellfish. In the seven-year annual average shipments of fin-
and shellfish from the four States to Fulton Market, North Carolina ranks
lowest with 2,963,639 pounds, Maryland, 3,109,000, Virginia, 4,718,000,
and Florida greatest with 8,690,500 pounds. This table shows some striking
differences in the seasonal cycles of shipments. In North Carolina, there
are two finfish peaks, March- April (shad) and September-December. The
shellfish peak is August-November, mostly shrimp. The curves for the four
States are of decidedly different shape because of the effects of seasonal
influences and varieties available for shipment. A comparison of these
columns will reveal many interesting relations: the progress of the spring
season; the reverse relations of maxima in Maryland and Florida (summer
maximum in Maryland, winter in Florida); the Virginia minimum and
North Carolina maximum in finfish in October, and the North Carolina
shellfish (shrimp) maximum in the same month; and the Florida maxima
in both fin- and shellfish in December and January. Of the four States

438

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

<

O

^

^

ct3

o

O

IM

3

tn X)

rl

rt

03

01

OJ

73

rl

K>

C

Cfl

n

bi)

3

o

Ph

>

c

.2

-d

vrT

^

c

rt-

(/I

On

u=i

>>

M

0)

m

C/2

^

O

73

c

03

of

ON

C

M

-a

O

f,

03

o

«4-l

o ^

^ 2
o

03

>
<

00

r-

CTn

CO

O

00

t^

o

00

o

Tj-

NO

o

rO

fO

NO

CO

CO

On

ON

o

CI

t~»

CO

o

OO

ON

VI

t«

CO

m

O

CO

CS

O;

OO

O;

IH

VO

CI

o^

o^

d^

S

o"

ON

OO"

CO

ON

rC

o"

^

OO

Cj"

IH

r-^

CO

"rt

QJ

M

NO

ON

c^

00

NO

VO

o

o

VO

M

o

t-~

172

C/3

CO

'^

c^

CNl

CO

^

VO

(^

r^

CO

CO

00

CJ

«H

3
O

liH

vo

'^

IH

CO

M

C^

IH

ON

M

o

■^

r^

00

,

ro

rj

NO

■^

^

00

t^

OO

o

o

'^

VO

VO

a

,£!

t^

w

NO

VO

00^

IH

VO

o^

°°-

CJ

M

M

o

-i->

o

in

t^

NO

NO

O

S-

M

M

IH

oo"

VO

t^

IH

OO"

H

E

rO

t^

00

CO

o

^

t^

VO

NO

00

NO

00

o

lo

ro

CO

M

c^^

'51-

CO

CO

'^

t^

l^

CO

o

M

M

HI

cT

IH

tH

Cj"

M

\o

o

ON

o

VO

I>-

VO

r^

CO

VO

^

CJ

CO

ri3

tr^

'^

u->

VO

M

r^

t-~

CO

CJ

CO

VO

ON

CO

tn

O;

^

M

t^

IH

tH

O;

o

o^

■*

t^

M

On

^

M

'^

o

IH

ON

o

M

CO

VO

o"

o

VO

'^

"oJ

C^

00

CO

CO

^

NO

CN)

VO

IH

T*-

o

ON

o

^

t--

CO

r)

w

M

IH

CJ

C)

o

CO

VO

NO

o^

a

C/D

^f

3

o

rj-

CO

O^

O

M

t^

00

o

t-~

'^

CO

On

o

O

CO

Tf

CO

Ov

CO

NO

o

t^

M

Tf

o

t>.

X!

00

NO^

l-H

NO

o

t^

ON

'i-

t^

ON

M

CO

VO

(«

ON

o"

VO

6

VO

M

r^

"^

rf

On

o

r^

VO

s

ro

1J~>

00

r)

NO

CO

'^

00

h-i

t^

ON

f^

CO

M

00

^i-

CO

M

M

CO

On

NO_^

M

'^

VT)

lO

M

NO

VO

00

CO

Tf

t^

^

o

On

t^

^

O

CO

rf

IH

CO

Tt-

VO

CI

00

IH

CO

Tt-

o

tn

lO

tT

NO^

00^

rj;

Tt;

M

CO

IH

VO

1—,

O;

NO^

^G

ON

CO

rT

M

M

■^

o

t-^

o

d^

CO

Cj"

NO'~

"u

'^

u^

^

■<r

O)

M

00

o

00

VO

VO

^

CO

^

IH

IH

OO

S

CO

'S

•a

.t^

ro

M

NO

CJ

r-

o

o

NO

IH

r^

CO

■*

o

>

ON

C^

M

M

VO

VO

NO

VO

NO

CI

CO

IH

o

^

cs

00_^

CO

t^

c»

00^

CI

CO

CO

00

o^

CO

•^

t/3

On

oT

tC

VO

tT

cK

o

VO

cT

OO"

CI

IH

IH

E

VO

o

00

'^

^

rf

CJ

M

IH

On

CI

IH

CO

cs

■*

'^

HH

VO

IH

M

M

IH

IH

CJ

°°,

t-t

CO

00

00

o

VO

M

ON

VO

VO

t^

t^

NO

ON

o

^

O

CO

in

ON

■*

CO

M

CI

NO

o

VO

CJ

CI

t/3

NO

^

-^

°°

On

CO

IH

CI

r-^

NO

o

00

CO

t^

t-^

M

M

rF

NO'~

00

VO

'^

o^

'^

r^

ON

(U

M

M

M

C^

o>

NO

00

o

CO

NO

CJ

M

NO

ta

^

M

M

CJ

M

o

c3

CO

(M

CO

O^

t^

IH

'^

CO

ON

CO

o

t^

o

00

S

00

t~~

00

t^

o

t^

r^

o

t^

CI

VO

NO

OO

rd

M

Tj;

lO

C4

CN)

00

NO

VO

VO

00

VO^

t>.

NO

tn

o\

r^

00

CO

CJ

M

On

NO

CO

CO

VO

I>-

On

E

C^

>o

o

w

t^

w

r-

o

00

OO

M

t^

CO

M

VO

■*

c*

M

M

IH

M

cT

On

rt-

On

t^

„

^

^

NO

IH

Tt-

■*

NO

On

rC

r)

U-)

00

t^

O

CO

NO

CO

o

t-^

NO

IH

CO

cn

M

ON

t^

00^

00^

o^

VO

'^

CJ

ON

CI

w

CJ

rp^

rt

M

CO

CO

l>.

CO

t^

o

OO"

00

CJ

CO

IH

CJ

a

<U

Ol

M

l-H

cs

cs

CI

NO

CO

NO

00

CO

VO

NO

;r3

^

C)

CO

CO

CJ

•<t

o

C/2

M

rt

u

■5

NO

C^

t^

'^

CJ

IH

o

VO

o

00

M

^

o

IT)

ON

o

CJ

ON

CI

t^

HH

Ov

"^

IH

t^

o

)-i

^

rO

M

NO_^

Ov

cs

r--

NO

00

o

NO^

CO

t^

■rt;

o

</i

C?

lO

lo

o"

00

t>.

M

'j^

00

CJ

o^

r^

IH

E

0^

NO

o

VO

CI

'J-

cs

Tf

VO

CJ

CO

M

o

C)

M

M

rf

M

M

VO

m"

>^

Pi

P3

C4

w

PQ

>

o

w

CJ

w

"S

o

<
1— >

<

<

hH

PL,
<

<:

1—1

H

CO

in

w

pq

o

H

u
o

XI

-a

rrt

S-l

H

<:i

.s

T3
>-i

r/1

u

rt

>

o

o

en

<D

TD

43

4)

w

H

O

:z;

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

439

TABLE 29

Average Annual Receipts of Fish at Fulton Market, New York,

from North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia and Florida

from 1940 to 1946, inclusive

North
CaroUna

Maryland

Virginia

Florida

Pounds

Pounds

Pounds

Pounds

Albacore

124

217

1,371

183

Alewives

2,228

3,106

1,869

28

Amberjack

916

24

28

14,705

Bluefish

278,823

38,764

10,671

950,934

Bluefish, frozen

57

6,321

Bonito

11,763

63,014

68,714

594

Bonito, ocean

542

Butterfish

11,248

87,501

301,302

428

Carp

27,288

57419

174,764

696

Catfish & bullheads

5,985

52,212

14,134

674

Crevalle (jacks)

1,078

Croaker

67,656

632,463

1,139,897

112

Drum, black

1,828

1,998

890

812

Drum, red (channel bass)

9,208

1,678

3,384

3,354

Eels, common

48,853

55,940

67,228

28,337

Flounders (fluke)

9,132

29,608

80,080

405

Harvestfish (angel)

257

100

Hickory shad

6,509

580

454

707

Hogfish

557

Jacks, unclassified

12,113

432

577

16,494

Kingfish (king mackerel)

4,302

591

740,963

King whiting

27,817

2,489

6,192

8,723

Mackerel

1,703

194,976

542,539

Mullet

227,960

4,657

7,230

660,542

Mullet, frozen

1,757

157

24,216

Permit

225

11,768

Pigfish

1,321

71

321

Pompano

11,774

23

162

56,113

Scup (porgy)

2,836

69,436

599,003

2,480

Sea bass

42,833

61,655

291,498

61,598

Sea trout (gray)

33,356

72,063

175,423

7,547

Sea trout (spotted)

65,196

617

7,921

187,870

Shad

256,261

26,341

56,197

18,860

Sharks

867

1,153

612

262

Sheepshead

675

142

27,802

Spanish mackerel

16,649

871

3,231

1,589,670

Spanish mackerel, frozen

6,457

Spot (lafayette)

227,971

2,069

27,319

1,510

Striped bass

42,026

470,952

98,589

692

Sturgeon

2,666

950

2,119

5,006

Thimble-eyed mackerel

20,126

4,810

Tuna

16

3,721

350

268

Other

53,000

184,125

190,300

246,714

Total fish

1,515,699

2,141,550

3,879,948

4,685,244

440

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA
TABLE 29 (Continued)

North
Carolina

Maryland

Virginia

Florida

Pounds

Pounds

Pounds

Pounds

Shellfish

Clams, hard

Clams, hard, shucked

Crab meat

Crabs, hard

Crabs, hard, cooked

Crabs, soft

Oysters, shell

Oysters, shucked

Scallops, bay

Shrimp (prawn)

Shrimp (prawn), frozen

Shrimp (prawn), cooked

Squid

Other

Total shellfish

All species

Total fish
Total shellfish

* Oysters and clams as edible

Note: The totals in Tables 29

items in the original data which

35,207*

3,819* 115,

65,257

51,714

40,235

7
342,001

700

242,385

265,277

32

40,370

480,352

237,060

104

258*

1,343*

58

97,549

33,293

14s

13,621

64

963

37,472

1,303,269

9,860

1,860

3,431,672

767

74,932
52

924

16,308

104,802

28

3,959

76,083

121,621

121,379

1,463,365

979,159

922,292

4,007,824

1,515,699

2,141,550

3,879,948

4,685,244

1,463,365

979,159

922,292

4,007,824

4,802,240 8,693,068

2,979,064 3,120,709

meats (calculated).

and 30 disagree by reason of differences in non-specified "other"

cannot now be discovered and corrected.

combined, the maximum of finfish and the minimum of shellfish both occurred
in April.

(b) Table 29 is a recapitulation by species as annual averages for seven
years (1940-1946) of shipments to New York from the four South Atlantic
States (Florida both coasts). This table, too, reveals some interesting rela-
tions. Florida leads in bluefish, king mackerel, mullet, Spanish mackerel,
spotted sea trout, crabmeat, bay scallops, and shrimp; Virginia leads in
butterfiish, carp, croaker, eels, flounders, mackerel, scup, sea bass, gray trout,
hard crabs, hard clams, and squid; Maryland, in striped bass and soft shell
crabs; North Carolina in shad and spot; the State ranks second in bluefish,
mullet, shrimp, and clams. None of the South Atlantic States ship any im-
portant quantities of oysters to Fulton Market.

(c) The above two tables can be considered representative, since they are
the average of two pre-war years, four war years, and one post-war year,

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 441

seven in all. However, since the total production of these States was canvassed
in only two of those years (1940 and 1945) it is not possible to compare the
average shipments to Fulton Market with the seven-year average production,
by totals and by species. This comparison is made for the year 1945 in Table
30, which breaks the averages down in various ways, showing, for each State
the percentage its shipment of each species is of that State's production of
that species and of all species; the percentage each State's shipment of each
species is of the four-State totals of that species; the percentage of North
Carolina shipments of the State's total production, etc. As examples, croaker
constituted 13.65 per cent of the total combined shipments to New York of
all four States, 82.30 per cent of all of the croaker came from Virginia, and
this was 35 per cent of all of Virginia's shipments to New York; North
Carolina shipped 1.5 1 per cent of the four-State total of croaker; this amount
was one per cent of North Carolina's production of croakers and was 1.7 1
per cent of all of the States' shipments of all species to New York. North
Carolina shipped to Fulton Market 40.3 per cent of its production of bluefish,
31 per cent of the eels, 13 per cent of the soft crabs and butterfish, 12 per cent
of the shad, and 11 per cent of the production of shrimp. Forty-eight per
cent of the State's shipments of all fish to Fulton Market was shrimp, 10
per cent was bluefish, 9 per cent each of spot and mullet. From all the four
States (last column) the principal species which went to New York were
bluefish, butterfish, soft crabs, sea bass, gray trout, shrimp, Spanish mackerel,
and striped bass. These are the choice, high-priced species of the South
Atlantic.

The total shipments to Fulton Market of these four southern States were
a small part of production; in 1945 North Carolina shipped to Fulton Market
only 4.44 per cent of its production of food fish; Maryland, 5.22 per cent;
Virginia, 4.06 per cent; Florida, 7.35 per cent; all four States together, 5.31
per cent. The total shipments to Fulton Market from all four States together
was only about 8 per cent of the annual receipts of that market from all
points in 1945.

Comparison of Prices of North Carolina Fish at Morehead City and at
Fulton Market, New York. Records were not available in New York of the
values of the actual shipments of the various species from the South which
would make it possible to compare prices in New York with those received
by fishermen in the South. Advantage was taken of published general daily
level of prices of the Market Information Service, Fish & Wildlife Service,
for the various species in Fulton Market for comparison with the current
prices at Morehead City, N. C, on certain days from October 7 to Nov. 12,
1946. The data are shown in Table 31.

442

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

TABLE

Receipts of Fish at Fulton Market,
North Carolina,

North Carolina

Maryland

Quantity
pounds

115

^2&

J3

i-t ^

0 0?^

^1^

Quantity
pounds

°l2

Bluefish

252,286

40.3

10.07

21.16

43,202

1.60

3.62

Butterfish

3,740

12.5

0.15

1. 00

18,744

0.70

5-0

Clams, net

48,076

9.6

1.92

35-70

2,800

O.IO

2.05

Crabs, hard

211,785

7-85

67.80

Crabs, soft

23,280

12.6

0.93

3.21

485,832

18.00

67.00

Crab meat

77,466

3-09

16.90

48,940

1.81

10.67

Croakers

42,813

1. 00

1. 71

I-5I

458,342

17.00

16.20

Eels

36,033

31.00

1.44

22.10

28,771

1.07

17-65

Flounders

9,079

0.80

0.36

9.00

74,372

2.76

73-70

Mullet

221,027

6.80

8.82

28.50

Oysters, shucked

238

O.IO

O.OI

1.25

115,235

9.26

60.60

Sea bass

20,180

10.60

0.80

4-43

34,160

1.27

7-50

Sea trout, gray

14,850

0.30

O.S9

3-73

73,028

2.71

18.32

Sea trout, speckled

30,441

6.10

1.22

18.67

2,190

0.08

1-34

Shad

106,179

11.60

4.24

39-00

37,848

1.41

13.90

Shrimp

1,213,250

11.40

48.40

27.60

375

Spanish mackerel

5,467

1. 10

0.22

0.23

Spot

230,657

3-70

9.20

67.60

4,983

0.18

1-45

Striped bass

27,433

4-50

1. 10

5-85

345,307

12.80

73-60

Other

138,597

548

710,709

26.40

Total

2,501,092

99.91

12.06

2,696,578

lOO.O

12.40

Since the amounts of goods from Morehead City sold at these prices are
not known, it is not possible to arrive at true weighted average prices or
mark-ups; a non-weighted average of the above prices is 12^ cents at
Morehead City and 40 cents at Fulton Market, a mark-up of 320 per cent.^
These mark-ups are only the second step of the distribution process (the
first being between fishermen and coastal producer-dealer); the products
are still subject to at least one other, the retail (or restaurant) mark-up
before the consumer acquires the product, and possibly two or more. These

3. Government controls of prices under OPA were lifted by Executive Order of the President
on October 15, 1946.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

443

30

New York, from Maryland, Virginia,
and Florida, 1945

Virginia

Florida

Total

Quantity
pounds

f So

.fa

Quantity
pounds

hi

si.

° rt 0
C ° w

k1 "i D

Quantitv
pounds

u

Ph o-S

a 'Z

10,413
351,715

82,288
100,465

216,333
26,850

2,327,785
68,171

17,359
9,700

74,299

301,544

304,473

2,700

109,736

12,900

104,980
96,212

2,414,911

0.16

5-31

1.22

I-5I
3-26
0.41

35-10
1.03
0.26

0.15
1. 12

4-55
4-59
0.04
1.62
0.19

1.58
1-45

36.40

0.87

94.00
60.40
32.20
29.80

5.86
82.30

41.80
17.20

1.25
39.10

66.20

76.40

1.66

40.30

0.29

30.80
20.50

887,561
1,200
1,446

72

305,406

120

30,033

545,569

99,831

6,329

127,684

18,610

3,175,709

2,327,124

700

242

1,380,844

9-97
0.02
0.02

3-42

0.37

6.11

I. II
0.07

1-43

0.21

35-60

26.10

O.OI

15-45

74-40
0.32
1.06

66.60

18.40
70.70
21.90

1-59
78.40

6.84
72.10
99-70

0.20

0.05

1,193,462
375,399

134,610
312,250

725,517
458,662

2,829,060
163,008
100,810
776,269

189,772

455,715
398,680

163,015
272,373
4,401,734
2,332,591
341,275
469,194

4,641,951

5.76
1.82
0.65
I.9I
3-50
2.21

13-65
0-79

0-49

3-25

0.91

2.20
1.92
0.79
1.32
21.30
11.27
1.69
2.26

22.35

44-5
13.2

5-9
0.6

19-5

4-5
9.0
4-0
2.0

5-3
17.0

13-5

3-1

3.6

18.1

20.3

3-1

II.O

6,632,834

99-95

31.96

8,907,980

99.89

42.70

20,738,444

100.26

6.8

final mark-ups of course vary, but are often 100 per cent or more. Moreover,
the finfish are whole, and subject to a loss of around 60 per cent of weight
on dressing.

The heavy hand of excessive distribution costs in the fisheries is seen here
quite plainly. Compare these costs with those of agricultural products already
given in Table 7 (page 344) and Fig. 2 (page 346), in which it is shown that
(as of 1940) the farmer received the average of 42 per cent of the retail
price of all foods, or 40.3 per cent in the case of pork products; in Fulton
Market, the Morehead City fishermen received, in 1946, only 31 per cent
of the New York wholesale price; if the fish is again marked up 100 per cent

444

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

TABLE 31

Prices at Fulton Market, New York City, and for the Same Species on

the Same Days at Morehead City, North Carolina,

Autumn of 1946

Species

Oct. 7

Oct. 8

Oct. 15

Oct. 16

Oct. 23

Nov. I

Nov. 4

Nov. 12

Morehead

12

12

12

Bluefish

Fulton Mkt

40

42

20

Morehead

II

II

II

II

12

Lg. mullet

Fulton Mkt
Morehead

15-16
30

20
30

20
30

16-18

18

Pompano

Fulton Mkt
Morehead

75
.04

75
.04

75

.03

Spot

Fulton Mkt
Morehead

I0-I2>^

25

14

25

.08

Lg, shrimp

Fulton Mkt

73-75

65-68

Med. shrimp

Morehead

12

12

12

12

12

12

12

Fulton Mkt

58-60

58

53-56

58

55

55-58

53

Sm. shrimp

Morehead

.08

.08

.08

.08

.08

.08

Fulton Mkt

30-33

40

45-50

40-45

45-50

45-50

Sp. mack.

Morehead
Fulton Mkt

12
26-28

Snapper

Morehead

.07

•07

bluefish

Fulton Mkt

15

22

at retail, the fisherman would receive only 15.8 per cent of retail as against
the livestock grower's 40.:^ per cent for pork. The standard commission in
Fulton Market is 12^ per cent; the return to the shippers, therefore, must
have been 40 per cent less 12^ per cent, or 35 cents, from which cartage,
icing, etc., would still have to be deducted. If these are a total of 5 cents
per pound, the return would still be 30 cents to the shipper of which the
fisherman received i2>4 cents, or 40 per cent of the wholesale, not retail,
price.

The data for Fulton Market are probably more favorable to the fisherman
percentagewise than those of any other market. That Fulton Market is the
cheapest market is indicated by the fact that North Carolina ships only 4>4
per cent of its fish there; in almost any other market the fish must command
a higher price, and therefore the fisherman's share would be a smaller
per cent.

Shipments to Other Commission and Brokerage Markets. So far we have
considered only Fulton Market, New York City, not only because it is the

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 445

largest and most important consumer fresh fish market in the country, but
because statistics are available at that point. It is known that substantial
quantities of North Carolina fishery products are shipped to dealers in
Baltimore, Washington, and Norfolk, but we are unable to obtain any factual
data on these shipments. Through all of these commission and brokerage
markets North Carolina fish undoubtedly reach many points in the eastern
United States, and at least some of it returns to the consumer market in
North Carolina after having passed through the hands of these out-of-State
distributing agencies.

Sales to Truckers. The producer-dealers also find outlets for some of their
produce direct to truckers who as principals purchase the fish at the seacoast
point, transport it to the up-State markets and sell direct to retailers, restau-
rants, institutions, and even wholesalers or distributor-dealers. Some of the
truckers hold close to the coast; others serve sections of up-State North Car-
olina, the eastern part of the State being more frequently visited with more
variable service from the truckers than the western part which is usually
not visited oftener than once a week by a trucker. Where these truck opera-
tors have several trucks, they can and do send to different localities and buy
whatever varieties are available at each, and in this manner broaden the
assortment which they are able to offer the inland customers. These truckers
learn the needs of their customers from experience and seek out enough
sources of supply to fill these needs. Prices are negotiated on the spot at
the coastal producer-dealer's place of business, and the products are pur-
chased on inspection or by sample.

The truckers mark up from $i.oo to $5.00 per box; they strive to average
$2.00. Sometimes the trucker is able to get a discount of $1.00 to $2.00
per box under what the coastal producer-dealer charges his other customers.

Inland Consumption, Distribution and Marketing
THE POTENTIAL MARKET

The operations of producer-dealers and, to some extent, of the independent
trucker salesmen, being inseparable from the productive functions at the
shore, have been considered in connection with the fishermen. The mechan-
ics of distribution as such must now come under consideration, in prepara-
tion for which we examined the nature and measure of the potential market
in North Carolina and the neighboring States.

North Carolina and Neighboring States as Market for their Own Prod-
ucts. Size and characteristics of the population of North Carolina and
neighboring States favoring or not a market for seafoods are shown in the
following table:

446

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

TABLE 32

Population
(1940)

Per cent
rural

Per cent
negro

Production

of food fish

pounds

(1945)

Pounds per capita *

1945 1940

production production

North Carolina
South Carolina
Tennessee
Georgia

3,571,000
1,900,000
2,916,000
3,124,000

72
75
65
66

27.4
42.8

17-5
35-12

56,636
10,856

21,937

iS-8
5-7

6.8

II-5
4-7

4.1

Total
Virginia

11,511,000
2,678,000

69
65

29.5
24.8

88,889
163,325

7-7
61.0

5-5
47-3

Grand total

14,189,000

68

28.6

252,214

17.8

13-3

* Census estimate of civilian population in 1945 is approximately the same as total population
enumerated in 1940.

The natural characteristics of the region which are favorable to seafoods
are as follows: of the States making up the region (North Carolina, Ten-
nessee, South Carolina, and Georgia), three are coastal; all have excellent
roads reaching every potential market place; the median age of the people
is the youngest in the country and therefore they consume more protein
and their habits should be more readily changeable than they are in most
other parts of the country. Disfavoring the market for fish are the following
factors: the very large per cent rural (places of less than 2,500 people)
population; of all the States the lowest percentage of foreign born and mixed
parentage (less than one per cent), and of religious groups which require
or restrict fish in the dieta'-y (Catholics, Jews, each less than one per cent
in all four states) ; the mild climate and long, hot summers.

When examined in the light of national figures, it is seen that Virginia
produces about three times as much fish per capita of her own population
as the national average production of the national population (around 22
pounds), and allowing for the somewhat higher than average consumption
that is expected of a coastal State, Virginia still finds it necessary to export
a large part of her production. North Carolina production per capita of her
own population is one-half to three-fourths of the national average, South
Carolina and Georgia around a fifth and a fourth, respectively, and Tennes-
see, none (except a small amount of fresh water fish). If the four States,
North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia (three of them
coastal) consumed an amount equal to national average per capita, they
would require two or three times their present combined commercial pro-

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 447

duction.* In edible portions, North Carolina produces about six pounds
per year per capita of her own population.

North Carolina must market, in North Carolina and elsewhere, the 95
per cent of her production not shipped to Fulton Market in New York. We
know that North Carolina imports substantial quantities of fresh and frozen
fish from Gloucester and Boston, Mass., New York, Baltimore, Norfolk,
and Florida. Quantitative data of State imports and exports are not avail-
able, but observations of menus collected in restaurants and hotel dining
rooms at Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Rocky
Mount, and even New Bern, Edenton, Morehead City, and Wilmington re-
vealed frequent appearances of items not produced in North Carolina —
"ocean perch" (redfish from Gloucester, Mass), "scrod" (haddock or cod)
fillets from Boston or New York; Chesapeake oysters, Maine lobster. The
last was served at Morehead City and redfish ("ocean perch") at Chapel
Hill, Edenton, and New Bern. "Quick frozen" shrimp, almost certainly not
produced in North Carolina, was served at a popular restaurant in More-
head City. It is probable that other species which are produced in North
Carolina are also imported, such as Spanish mackerel, red snapper, and mul-
let (Florida) and probably croakers and certainly oysters from Chesapeake
Bay.

The invasion of the State by out-of-State production of fresh and frozen
fish is apparently favored by (i) the traverse of the State by three main
trunkline railways (Southern, Seaboard, and Atlantic Coast Line), con-
necting with Florida, Chesapeake Bay, and the New England States, and
the Norfolk Southern connecting Norfolk with Raleigh and Charlotte;
(2) the availability (especially to chain stores) of standard package from
elsewhere and unavailability in North Carolina; (3) the lack of central
and dependable sources of all North Carolina products at all times; and
(4) general lethargy of the North Carolina fisheries industry.

The Outlook for the Market in North Carolina and Neighboring States
considered in the light of all the pros and cons: North Carolina does not
have a large market already developed, nor a spontaneous or easy potential
market, but within her own borders she has an accessible population which
could consume twice the State's present production. Parts of neighboring
States, northern and western South Carolina, northern Georgia and eastern
Tennessee, with much smaller or no fishery resources of their own, are another
potential and accessible market which could take, without overloading, as
much North Carolina seafoods as all of North Carolina now takes, or even
more.

Survey of North Carolina Consumers' Habits and Preferences in the

4. Allowance must of course be made for an unknown amount of canned seafood products
brought into and consumed within the State.

448 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Use of Seafoods.^ Three representative cities of North Carolina having
women's colleges with Departments of Home Economics were chosen for
a survey of consumer habits and preferences of seafoods in the fall of 1946.
The Heads of the respective Home Economics Departments, Mrs. Margaret
Edwards, assisted by Miss Evelyn Sharpe, of The Woman's College, at
Greensboro, Mrs. A. E. Bloxton of East Carolina Teachers College, at
Greenville, and Miss Ellen Brewer of Meredith College, at Raleigh, super-
vised and directed the surveys in their respective cities. The actual field work
was done by advanced undergraduate students who were majoring in Eco-
nomics. These students made personal inquiries at the homes of consumers
on the use of seafoods.

Number of homes visited

216
124
ISO

Total 118,884 490

In what follows it should be recalled that OPA controls were in effect
until October 15, 1946, when they were abolished by executive order of
the President. It is also to be observed that the totals of answers to ques-
tions may be more or less than 490 by reason of duplications of answers,
or no answers.

a. Frequency of Serving.

Population

Miles from coast

(1940)

Greenville

13,674

21 (Washington)

Raleigh

46,897

150 (Morehead City)

Greensboro

59,313

230

Greenville

Raleigh

Greensboro

Total

Per

Per

Per

Per

cent

cent

cent

cent

More than once a week

5:

25

II

9

14

9

80 16

Once a week

109

50

57

46

62

41

228 47

Less than once a week

50

23

48

39

57

38

155 32

Never

2

I

8

6

17

II

27 6

216 124 150 490

Noteworthy in the above tabulation is the fact that in the total of the
three cities housewives who serve seafood once a week outnumber any
other group. Almost twice as many families serve seafood less than once
a week as serve it more than once a week. Frequency of serving diminished
with distance from the coast.

b. Relative Popularity of Different Seafoods. The combined preferences
of the three cities surveyed were:

5. This Survey was directed by Dr. C. A. Kirkpatrick and the following is condensed and
summarized from his report.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

449

232

Croaker

200

Crab

87

Mullet

49

Spot

47

Shad

37

Bass

23

Rock

Trout

Oysters

Shrimp

Butterfish

Flounder

Mackerel

Perch

c. Offerings by Varieties at Four Commercial Eating Places.

Greensboro-Winston-Salem Area
Oct. 15 — Nov. 30, 1946.

Variety Times appearing on menus

Cafeteria Restaurant Hotel Hotel

17
17
16

14
II
10
10

Total

Shrimp

Oysters

Crab

Sp. mackerel

Trout

Spot

Haddock

Perch

Bass

Lobster

Rock

Blue

Sole

Pollock

Whiting

Shad roe

Scallops

Red snapper

Cod

Butterfish

Flounder

Halibut

Salmon

Weakfish

Note : During this same period in this same area, a public school served fish for lunch
each Friday, and a college served fish three times and oysters three times.

d. Types of Retailers Patronized. In all three cities, the fish market is
most frequently patronized. The number of sources is greater than the
number of housewives interviev^ed because some consumers buy from more
than one type. The patronage picture is below:

129

5

III

245

77

77

154

28

5

100

133

I

55

17

8

81

10

17

22

26

75

5

14

8

4

31

13

12

2

27

5

8

II

24

15

22

9

24
22

7

9

3

19

5

12

2

19

4

12

16

16

16

14

14

4

8

X

13

4

8

12

3

X

8
10

12
10

9

9

6

2

8

6

2

8

I

4
2

5
2

Greensboro

Raleigh

Greenville

Total

Chains

23

42

17

82

Independent Grocery Stores

42

20

53

115

Retail Fish Markets

84

75

161

320

149

137

231

SI7

450 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

e. Forms in Which Seafoods Are Purchased. Fillets and frozen packages
are not bought extensively, frozen packages accounting for less than lo
per cent of the total expressed preferences. Purchase of finfish in the round
form is about five times as great in Greenville as up-State. Fillets and frozen
packages are in greater demand in Raleigh and Greensboro.

Finfish

Dressed

344

Whole

102

Fillet

69

Frozen package

51

S66

f. Amount of Fish per Portion. The amounts of seafood bought differ
very little in the three cities for one meal for one person. About one-half
pound of whole fish is purchased for each individual.

Finfish

Shellfish

pounds

pints or pounds

Greensboro

•54

•35

Raleigh

.54

•31

Greenville

.60

•37

Average .57 .35

g. Preference for Particular Sources. Of the 490 housewives interviewed,
only sixty expressed a preference for seafood from some particular geo-
graphical source. Many of those sixty offered no, or weak, support for their
preferences. Nineteen said they preferred North Carolina fish because it
was fresher. Twenty preferred fish or shrimp from many other places for
many reasons. Twenty-one persons expressed a preference for the Chesa-
peake oyster because it hrs a whiter color, contains less grit, is a larger
oyster, and is firmer. The darker color of the North Carolina oyster is its most
unfortunate characteristic. Unquestionably, many persons in addition to the
twenty-one buy the Chesapeake in preference to the North Carolina oyster,
for the testimony and practices of most North Carolina seafood dealers
corroborate the twenty-one housewives. No retailer interviewed displays
North Carolina oysters in his store. Very few buy them, and those only to
sell to commercial eating places which need to meet competitive prices.

h. Method of Cooking. Seafood is prepared in about the same ways by
housewives of all the three cities. Frying, baking, and broiling are the most
common methods of cooking.

Fry

Bake

Broil

Greensboro

Raleigh

Greenville

Total

119

102

202

423

63

45

49

157

43

49

48

140

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

451

C

"o

_o

T3

n3

O

S

^

c^

CD

a

be

-i->

c

tn

1-1 ,^

O

« >

O

V)

V-

tn o

«

bfl N

X2

C "Si

3

--^

Z

<u

^

■^

l-l

o

(U

»-i ' — ^

I«

1^ 1:^

c3

o- S

^^

o

0)

_^

be

1 ""

-I-' ^— N

:!>§

(U Vw'

<

^

0)

*

5P ^

TO t«

1?

> bC « ^— ' 1

<

^

CJ

TD

o

l-l C

<U p

PL,

a o
a

>.

-4-J 1

<u

r-1

l-<

CS

>

fe

Tl

Td

■r)

'T3

<U

T3

'T3

TS
_«

c

c3

-a

73

xT

J3

T3
o3

73

T3

a

03

T3

O

'o

o

V-l

'o

Xl

'3

'o

73
C

o3

n

03

n

73

Uh

PQ

ti.

PQ

m

PQ

fe

[i<

PQ

m-

S

in

tn

en

t/)

V)

f/1

t/) *-■

bD

bo

bl)

bn

hn

bn

be rC

br

Nl

o

N3
O

C

O

O

c

o

a

o

o

">

O

N
O

)-l

)-(

i-i

b^

tn

^

tn

<N

<S1

rO

t/3

lO

(«

o

tn

'i-

^

OJ

CO

<u

m

0)

f'i

oo

c'j

CO

ro

to

to

O

vO

vO

h-l

o

t^

fO

to

CO

O N

o

1-1

IH

N

cs

•*

M

cs

cs

cs

o

VO

3

pi

T3

O

OJ

Vh

^

^

M

>.

"H

o

OJ

03

rt

Q-

a,

a

a

UJ

CO

CO

ri4

Pi

^3
3

D,

2, >^

c^ o

■T3 a
'■B S

bO-C

.5 -q

452 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

i. Market-to-Table Study. One concern of the housewife is the question of
just how much edible food can be had from a whole fish. When she buys a
fish in the rough, the retail price she pays is, of course, for the entire fish,
including what will be edible and what will become waste. The amount of
this waste determines her true cost per serving.

To get some figures on quantity and costs of edible portions of fish bought
in the rough, the food classes at Woman's College in Greensboro bought
four fish each of nine popular varieties, a quantity of shrimp, and some
oysters. These eleven varieties were weighed individually as purchased,
then they were prepared for cooking and the amount of waste recorded.
Finally, the items were cooked, divided into servings, and the cost per
serving computed. The prices are of October, 1946.

MECHANISM OF DISTRIBUTION «

Distributor-Dealers. Because of the great diversity of kinds of fish avail-
able to the market, their sizes, grades, seasons of abundance, etc., and
because of the public taste, which varies from place to place, it is the func-
tion of the distribution mechanism to perform the exceedingly complex
service of assembling from the many points of production the many kinds
of seafoods, sub-dividing and transporting them to the many markets. In
North Carolina it is the function of the distributor-dealers not only to
distribute North Carolina production, but to reach often far beyond the
State into Florida, New England, and other distant sources and to bring
fresh, frozen, packaged or not, but preferably fresh seafood products of
many kinds into the State to wholesalers, institutions, and retailers. By
adding the function of storage of perishable products to their other services,
they are able to provide a ".ertain stability and continuity of supply of the
highly variable assortment of production from many fluctuating sources
wherein scarcities of one kind are made up by abundances of others.

In 1946, nine of these distributor-dealers were reported as operating in
North Carolina: Charlotte, i; Elizabeth City, i; Washington, i; Greens-
boro, i; Swansboro, i; Hampstead, i; Wilmington, 3. Some of these dis-
tributor-dealers in North Carolina acquire fish from as far away as Canada
and the Gulf of Mexico; frequently their sources are the producer-dealers
on the North Carolina coast, but they may also buy from other distributor-
dealers. Their sources of supply may change with the seasons. The North

6. Based on report of field survey made by Dr. C. A. Kirkpatrick in the fall of 1946. Dr.
Kirkpatrick made inquiries in the following fifteen towns and cities in North Carolina: Asheville,
Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Burlington, Fayetteville, Greenville, Hickory,
SaHsbury, Laurinburg, Morganton, Tarboro, Oxford and Whiteville. Dr. Kirkpatrick's report,
being based on a limited coverage, is mainly qualitative and descriptive, and is here rearranged
so as to conform to the general style and design of this Survey.

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 453

Carolina distributor-dealers handle mostly round fish, shucked oysters and
beheaded shrimp. There are indications of a preference for sealed tin pints
of oysters as a standard package, and a general dislike for or distrust of
frozen seafoods. Most of their purchases are by description written or
telephoned.

Capital requirement of distributor-dealers is substantial, not only for
plants, trucks, and other fixed assets, but also for substantial amounts of
working capital. From 80 to 90 per cent of the North Carolina distributor-
dealers' sales are to retailers (fish markets and grocery stores); most of
the remaining 20 to 10 per cent are to commercial buyers, restaurants,
cafeterias, hotels, schools, hospitals, and other institutions. Most of the
sales of these distributor-dealers are within a radius of 100 miles but
especially for certain particular items often much more remote. Much of
the sales effort of distributor-dealers is exerted by telephone call because
of its speed and economy.

Personal salesmen are employed to some extent, though the expense of
personal selling has tended in recent years to minimize it. A frequently used
and convenient device is the weekly price quotation, to which is usually
attached a business reply card for the customer's use. This method is em-
ployed effectively for hotel dining rooms, restaurants, institutions, and the
like.

In the post-war period, 1946-47, the distributor-dealers in North Carolina
were not in full agreement on the need and future for quick frozen packaged
goods. Some of them hold that quick freezing is impracticable because (i)
there is not a large enough volume of seafood, and (2) there is not year-
round operation. Other dealers are enthusiastic and have installed freezing
facilities of their own. These hope to see more and more retailers install
frozen food cabinets. At the time of this Survey, however, no distributor
was financing freezer cabinets for his retail customers.

Only a few of the distributor-dealers in North Carolina operate their
own retail fish markets. While distributor-dealers ordinarily do not do
manufacturing operations, they do a certain amount of dressing and clean-
ing of fish for commercial and institutional buyers, i.e., restaurants, hotels,
hospitals, etc.

Distributor-dealers' prices are thought of in terms of dollar mark-up
per box, rather than in per cent of the buying or selling price. It is universal
practice in North Carolina to add a fixed or nearly fixed identical number of
dollars per box, regardless of the cost of the fish. Thus, whether the loo-lb.
box of fish costs $6.00 or $20.00, the distributor-dealer will add from $2.00
to $5.00 for his initial mark-up. His direct cost may be from $2.00 to $3.50
per box, representing the wooden box, ice, labor, and transportation; if this

454 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

out-of-pocket cost is $3.00, and he is able to mark up the box by $5.00, he is
left a profit of $2.00 per box.

There are indications that the distributor-dealers' selling prices are more
constant than their buying prices, and dealing as they do in large volumes,
their margins of profit are small. Most of the distributor-dealers have one
price list for retailers, commercial and institutional buyers without dis-
tinction. Transportation is not a separate charge and prices within delivery
range are uniform.

Wholesalers. Wholesalers in general perform the same services as do
distributor-dealers, but on a smaller scale and in a more localized area.
They patronize fewer and nearer suppliers, generally those in North Car-
olina and Virginia, who are likely to be distributors, dealers, truckers, or
occasionally producer-dealers. What the wholesaler needs and seeks is a
small number of reliable suppliers who can and will assure him of volume
and variety at competitive prices. He tends to buy continuously and through-
out the year from the same sources, while other larger distributor-dealer
competitors may shift from one source to another with changing seasons.

Like the distributor-dealers, the wholesalers buy their fish in the round,
shrimp beheaded and oysters in gallon cans. Purchases of frozen fillets and
frozen shellfish are infrequent. These items are stocked only for commercial
and institutional buyers who specify them.

Purchasing by wholesalers is mainly by telephone and by description or
grade, except when the supplier is a trucker, in which case their purchases
are on inspection. Likewise, their sales are frequently by telephone and
both bu5dng and selling prices are largely arrived at by negotiation.

The customers of wholesalers are about 90 per cent retailers and 10 per
cent commercial and institutional buyers within a radius of 50 or 60 miles.
Most wholesalers have retail departments or markets which account for
from 20 to 50 per cent of sales, sometimes more.

Wholesalers often operate trucks, or fleets of trucks, with driver-salesmen
covering regular fixed routes, a long route once a week, a short route twice
a week. The driver-salesman, on each visit, takes orders for delivery on the
next visit. One typical wholesaler has four trucks and each of the four
makes four trips a week through his territory. Another wholesaler covers
various parts of his area from two to six times per week. The mailing of
price lists is not practiced by wholesalers; advertisements feature only the
retail part of the business.

Wholesalers do not favor frozen products, nor do they encourage their
retail customers to install deep freeze cabinets.

In pricing their goods, the wholesalers, like the distributor-dealers, think
in terms of adding a fixed number of dollars per box of fish, regardless of
the cost. Some wholesalers apply the mark-up rigidly to all kinds of fish;

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 455

others tend to treat each transaction as an isolated case for individual
consideration in the manner of a "horse trading" type of business.

Excess merchandise is cleared out by marking down the prices; on the
whole, buying prices tend to change more frequently than selling prices.

Retail Outlets are of three principal kinds: (i) Retail fish markets;
(2) Independent grocery stores; (3) Chain food stores.

a. Retail Fish Markets in North Carolina depend on distributor-dealers
in the State or in Virginia for most of their seafoods — Wilmington, New
Bern, Morehead City, Elizabeth City, Charlotte, etc., and Norfolk or
Hampton, Virginia. There were in 1939 in North Carolina 206 retail fish
(seafood) markets whose sales were $676,000.'^ Sometimes these markets
are supplied by the local wholesaler, and truckers are counted on heavily
in eastern and central parts of North Carolina.

Finfish are almost always bought in the round, shrimp beheaded, and
oysters in gallon cans. Some frozen fillets are purchased in 5- and lo-pound
packages, but small branded quick frozen packages are not stocked to any
great extent as they are not in great demand from consumers. An occasional
market buys shellfish in the shell.

Household consumers account for 85 to 90 per cent of sales of retail
fish markets; the remainder is to commercial and institutional consumers.
Sales by retail fish markets are largely on Fridays and Saturdays by custom
and tradition rather than by religious requirements.

In general, the impression received in this Survey was that retail fish
markets are more active and aggressive merchandisers of fish than their
competitors in independent retail grocery stores. Quality and condition of
merchandise is better protected, displays and arrangement are better. Open
displays rather than closed cabinets are used and personal salesmanship
is generally good.

At the time of this inquiry, the movement to install facilities for handling
small quick frozen packages in retail fish markets was gaining momentum.
Some of these markets own freezer cabinets and stock medium priced brands.
Fresh fish purchased whole is dressed at no extra cost.

In pricing, retail fish markets, like the distributor-dealers, wholesalers,
and truckers add a constant rather than a percentage mark-up to the
products dealt in. In the course of a year the margin must be sufficient to
cover cost and profit, but in the manner of arriving at the mark-up, the fish
trade, whether of truckers, distributor-dealers, wholesalers or retail markets,
differs from nearly all other merchandising trades.

It is perhaps worth while to recite here the reasons given by wholesale
and retail dealers for this practice in arriving at prices. It was said that
when the retail price rises to 50 cents per pound or higher for fish, strong

7. U. S. Census of Retail Trade.

456

MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

resistance arises; when a retailer is forced to carry a complete assortment,
the article which costs the retailer 123/^ cents and is marked up to 25 cents
is still within the reach of many, but the article which costs 35 cents if
marked up to 70 cents will not sell. Hence, runs the argument, the mark-up
should be high percentagewise on the low cost varieties and less on the
costlier ones. One distributor-dealer thinks that the retailer should set his
selling price at twice his cost up to i2>^ cents per pound, but when the
cost reaches 25 or 30 cents he should add 10 cents per pound.

The number of cents mark-up added by retail fish markets usually ranges
from 9 to 15 cents. Two markets add 10 cents to all fish. Almost all markets
reduce prices when speedy clearance is imperative. A few markets try to
keep retail prices in even nickels, which means that selling prices change
at longer intervals than their buying prices. A fish costing 12 cents is
priced at 25 cents. Even if the cost price rises to 17 cents, the 25 cent
selling price is continued up to a cost of 18 or 19 cents, when a selling price
of 30 cents is established.

Typical examples of the price structure of North Carolina species of fish
are shown in the following table:

TABLE 34

Sample Prices in North Carolina Retail Fish Markets.
October-November, 1946

Cost
price

Selling
price

Mark-up

in

cents

Per cent

on selling

price

Spot $

12

$.25

$•13

52

Mullet

19

.35

.16

46

Mullet

I?

.32

.14

44

Croaker

16

.28

.12

43

Spot

19

•30

.11

37

Flounder

23

.35

.12

34

Speckled trout

30

•45

•15

33

Speckled trout

35

•50

•15

30

Oysters — stand.

73

1. 00

.27

27

Oysters — select

79

1.05

.26

25

Spot

18

.24

.06

25

Shrimp — medium

50

.65

•15

23

Shrimp — medium

55

.70

•15

21

Oysters — stand.

69

.85

.16

19

Oysters — select

75

.90

•15

17

b. Independent Retail Grocery Stores operating fish counters sell about
90 to 95 per cent of their fish to domestic household trade. In 1939 there
were in North Carolina 3,754 combination (groceries-meats) food stores;

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 457

their total sales were $83,121,000.^ They were not observed to be outstand-
ing as merchandisers of fish. The arrangement and display are considered
advertising and the importance of personal salesmanship is largely disre-
garded. A few retail stores own frozen food cabinets and stock a variety
of brands of frozen foods. Most, but not all, independent grocers who handle
fish dress the fish for customers at no charge.

Pricing does not reflect keen analysis of what prices should be. Independent
stores usually add to delivered buying price, regardless of kind and prices,
10 to 15 cents per pound for finfish, 10 to 20 cents per pound for shrimp,
and 15 to 25 cents per pint of oysters. If the goods do not move at these
prices after a day or two, or late on Saturday, the prices are marked down
to little or no margin.

The following table indicates typical prices in independent retail grocery
stores :

TABLE 35

Sample Prices

in North Carolina Independent Retail Grocery Stores,

October-November,

1946

Per cent

Cost

Selling

Mark-up

on

1 selling

price

price

cents

price

Croaker

$.12

$.25

$•13

52

Croaker

•13

•25

.12

48

Speckled trout

.26

•49

• 23

47

Gray trout

.17

.30

•13

43

Mullet

.18

•30

.12

40

Gray trout

.18

•30

.12

40

Oysters, select

.62

.90

.28

31

Speckled trout

.28

.40

.12

30

Spot

.13

.18

•05

28

Oysters, standard

.62

•85

•23

27

Spot

.26

•35

.09

26

Speckled trout

•38

•50

.12

24

Blackfish

•23

.30

.07

23

Shrimp, medium

.60

•75

•15

20

Oysters, standard

.72

•85

•13

15

c. Chain Stores. There are said to be between 150 and 250 retail chain
store grocery stores in North Carolina, selling an estimated minimum of
about 100,000 pounds of seafood per week. These chain stores perform a
typical chain store operation in the State. Unlike retail fish markets and
independent grocers, they prefer standardized products handled and priced
in a uniform manner. In general, this type of merchandising has been of
great value to the fisheries of the whole United States, and while they seem

8. U. S. Census of Retail Trade.

458 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

not to have made as much progress in North Carolina as they have in some
other parts of the country, their effectiveness here is nevertheless appar-
ent. The sales effort and merchandising in North Carolina are typical of
chain store operations. Display is usually good. Seafood is mentioned at
least once a week in the store's newspaper advertisements. Many chain
stores are adding facilities for handling quick frozen packaged goods, whether
of the chain store's own brands or other brands. It is probably the chain
stores that are most instrumental in bringing into North Carolina the frozen
packaged goods, such as redfish, or "ocean perch," haddock fillets, pollock,
halibut, etc., from the New England States, and other fishes from Chesa-
peake Bay, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, and even the west coast. Standardized
packages of these products produced on a large scale greatly simplify the
chain store merchandising operations.

In pricing, the chain stores are the only type of fish retailers in the State
to deal with mark-up in terms of per cent (usually 25) on selling price.

These stores also conduct scientific merchandising studies of their terri-
tories. A recent example was a spot check made by the Southern Chain Store
Council of variety and drug stores in Raleigh and Charlotte which serve
meals. The data from such studies are used to guide the operating policies
of the chain stores in these cities.

d. Institutions. Institutions such as college dining rooms, hospitals, prisons,
etc., are consumers rather than dealers. Most of their purchases are from
local wholesalers or from retailers of any of the three classes described
above. The one characteristic of the institutional trade is absolute insistence
on certainty of delivery at the specified times. Institutions buy almost in-
variably once a week and specify usually that the seafood be dressed or
prepared to be cooked on arrival. Standing orders for a certain quantity of
fish for each Friday are often placed, the variety of fish not designated but
left to the discretion or opportunity of the supplier. In some cases special
arrangements are made for frozen product in order to insure unfailing
delivery.

Price Structure from Fisherman to Consumer. In lieu of a needed survey
of the price structure. Dr. Kirkpatrick constructed Table 36, which is
intended to represent typical prices at the various points in the distribution
system in October-November, 1946.

Here, again, as in shipments to Fulton Market, the fisherman's share
of the final price is much less than the farmer's share for farm products.
Perhaps the two are not properly comparable in such simple terms. It is
not necessary to invoke any principle of right-and-wrong to decide whether
the first producer is "entitled" to a larger share of the final proceeds than
the "middle men"; the fact is, as everywhere evident in the fisheries, fish

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES

459

TABLE 36

Some Prices from Fisherman via Trucker and Wholesaler to Consumer,
October-November, 1946

Producer-

Fisherman

Dealer

Trucker

Wholesaler

Retailer

Spot

$.06

$.14

$•15

$.17

$.30

Spot

.06

•15

•17

.22

•32

Spot

.06

.22

•23

.26

•35

Mullet

.11

.20

.21

•35

•45

Speckled

trout

•17

•34

.35

•38

•50

Speckled

trout

.17

•32

.33

.37

•50

is cheaper at the source than meats, but costs more to distribute, so that
most or all of the first advantage is lost.

Functions, Practices and Attitudes Common to the Distributive Mechan-
ism as a Whole. Storing in some manner, even for short periods, is an essen-
tial function of the distributive mechanism for such varied, fluctuating, and
perishable products as seafoods. Packing in ice serves for short periods and,
combined with alert management of purchases and sales, enables the larger
distributor to provide an approximately steady and dependable supply of
seafoods to the trade, with occasional disappointment or complaint.

For longer terms, freezing (as well as permanent preservation by canning,
etc.) serves to carry over from in-season to out-of-season trade.

Stability and Dependability of Supply. The preparation of frozen edible
portions in standardized branded packages is not merely an improvement
on, or a new facility in, an existing business, but a revolutionary change in
method of meeting the demands of the market. If adopted it would com-
pletely change the nature of the distributor's business. It is probably for
this reason that all dealers, especially the truckers, distributor-dealers, and
wholesalers, are generally skeptical of or unfriendly to the frozen package
business. These dealers are geared and prepared by experience and skill to
perform the complicated task of assembling highly variable supplies from
many places, and regularizing, stabilizing, and channeling them to all the
final outlets. The standardized frozen package makes much of this service
unnecessary.

At the time of this Survey, no producer-dealer on the coast in North
Carolina was processing seafood and offering it in small packages, either
frozen or not, for retail distribution.

It is probably demonstrable that no method of freezing (or any other
preservation) provides fish which is quite the equal of strictly fresh at the
shore. Frozen package fillets are inferior to this, but the choice to the

460 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

consumer inland is not between strictly fresh fish at the shore and frozen
package fish at his home; it is rather between none or what the trade can
supply as "fresh" fish, on the one hand, and as frozen branded product on
the other. To the steward of the restaurant at, say, the Carolina Inn at
Chapel Hill, the purchase of 50 or 100 pounds of fish, involving $15 or $20
for a Friday menu is not a matter of great importance as such; nor is it a
matter of great importance which of a dozen kinds of fish he serves; it is,
however, a matter of great importance that whatever kind it is, and whether
from Gloucester, Palm Beach, or Morehead City, it arrive on time without
fail, and be of a quality that is acceptable to his guests, so that, at the last
minute, he will not have to shop locally to meet an emergency and print
a different menu. A truck from Southport or Morehead City with fish caught
yesterday would no doubt be welcome if it could be depended upon without
fail, but weather has its influence and fish are not always abundant at the
right place and time, and trucks cannot arrive at each of the restaurants,
hotels, and retail outlets in North Carolina on Thursday afternoon for
deliveries of 25 or 50 pounds of fish. As things are, the steward at the hotel
feels safer to fill out the return card printed order blank for a shipment
of some kind of fish from Baltimore or Norfolk.

It will be obvious from the above brief consideration that in North Caro-
lina, dependability is first in order of importance, quality is second, and
price is third; everybody in the distributing mechanism from wholesale dis-
tributor to retailer and restaurant steward is concerned with establishing a
dependable source of supply. It is perhaps the greatest economic weakness
of the entire fisheries establishment of North Carolina that it has been and
is now unable to offer the trade of its own State even the minimum of
dependability. Near proximity in miles to the coast is of relatively little
importance in competition with trunkline railroads running north and south
which can bring standardized packages of even fresh fish products into
the State from distant points.

Airborne Seafood Marketing. The ease with which seafoods lose their
prime flavor and appeal, and the importance of the esthetic motive in the
choice of foods suggest that airplane transport could be of great value in
the fisheries. The subject has been explored in detail by Larsen, Reitz, and
Burgum at Wayne University, Detroit (1948) East-west airlines extend
from Elizabeth City, Morehead City, and Wilmington into and beyond the
middle and western parts of the State. Whether costs are such that they could
compete for the North Carolina market and whether, if they could, the
local and seasonal fluctuations would still leave a large unsolved problem
of distribution, will all require a more detailed analytical study than this
general Survey.

Standardizing and Grading. Not mentioned above in the rank of desir-

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 461

ability is the need for dependable quality standards and grading. The
establishment of certainly the more elementary forms of standardization,
such as that of size grading, and the separation of species is essential in
good merchandising. Unfortunately, a good many complaints were heard
among the retailers, and especially institutions and restaurants, that the
goods received were not only not dependable as to quality, but were not
standardized as to size or even the identity of the species in the shipment.
Market Information. There appear to be no facilities for communication
of market information between the sources of supply and the distributing
markets in North Carolina. There are in the State (1948) only four members
of the National Fisheries Institute, the only trade association in the United
States which undertakes to represent the fisheries industries in all of their
branches. There are no regular or associate members at all in North Carolina
of the Oyster Institute of North America, which was organized in 1935 by
the Oyster Growers and Dealers Association of North America, Inc. There
is no State or local trade paper or trade association through which informa-
tion can be disseminated concerning abundance, scarcity, or prices of North
Carolina seafoods, or of any other seafoods. There being no local trade
associations, there are of course no forums or media through which fisher-
men and dealers can meet for discussion of their common problems and of
course no organized representation of the fisheries interests in matters legis-
lative and regulatory. Such information as is obtained apparently is com-
municated by telephone or telegraph from the markets at Norfolk, Balti-
more, New York, etc., and from Florida. Price lists sent by mail have little
meaning concerning the current State production or demand. No sources of
information are available concerning the quantity or value of seafoods
brought into North Carolina or shipped out to other States.

Concluding Comments and Recommendations

Although nature has endowed North Carolina, in the sounds and on the
offshore continental shelf, with an excellent physical setting for a good
though perhaps not great fishery, the State has not made any progress to
speak of in increasing the total quantity and value of its food fisheries since
our first record in 1880; the only important progress has been in the
menhaden fishery. The average annual production of food fish in the twenty-
year period 1921-1940 was less than it was in the period 1887-1908, and
while the average price for the total production of food fish rose to 5deld
26 per cent more dollars in the late period, those dollars would only buy 21
per cent less of commodities generally than would the proceeds of sale of
the total production of the earlier period. Even the menhaden fishery, which
has come into existence mainly since 1908, has not been sufficient to bring

462 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

the exchange value of the total fish product up to what it was in the earlier
days, or to prevent the State from slipping backward slightly in rank among
the States in value of total fish production.

During the sixty-year period from 1880 to 1940, the size, distribution,
and accessibility of the population of North Carolina have all changed in
a direction more favorable to fish than they were formerly. The population
of the State increased 155 per cent and was slightly more urban; the six
leading cities in the State, all small towns in 1880, had multiplied 83/2
times in population by 1940.

In 1880, facilities for preservation, transportation, and distribution of
fish to the inland communities were still crude and primitive. By 1940,
the one hundred county seats and those of the neighboring States were
connected by a magnificent network of hard surface graded highways suit-
able for auto truck transport; ice was everywhere available; mechanical
refrigeration and dry ice, frozen food lockers and deep freeze cabinets were
coming into widespread use. Airplanes connected the principal coastal
points with interior markets. The income and standard of living of the
people had enormously improved. All of these changes should be favorable
to the distribution and consumption of fish.

The State has an assortment of seafoods which includes two of the five
ranking money value fish items in the United States, oyster and shrimp;
it was among the largest producers of the bay scallop before the catastrophic
decline along with the eel grass; it also has Spanish mackerel, bluefish, gray
and spotted trout, striped bass, shad, sea bass, clams, blue crab, pompano,
king whiting, white perch, and catfish, all of which are among the choicest
seafoods in the country. It can almost be said that the State does not have
any coarse or trash fish, for croakers, spot, mullet, and flounders all have
excellent edible qualities, and the alewives are perhaps the best of all the
herrings.

Except the shad and, in a qualified sense, the oyster and the scallop, none
of the species mentioned so far as we know show any signs of "depletion,"
or biological scarcity; the production of most of them rises and falls with
general economic prosperity and depression or with changes in relative
popularity of different species. The shad is probably at a permanent biolog-
ical disadvantage and may never be as abundant or important as it was in
former years; the scallop may come back when and if the eel grass does,
and wild oysters may never support an expanding fishery but they can
always be brought back by culture. In quality the wild oyster taken from
overworked rocks and crudely prepared may be, as reported, inferior in
size, grittiness, grading, etc., yet none of these things is fundamental; no
reason has come to light why North Carolina oysters, with the will, incentive,

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 463

and effort of the oystermen, cannot be produced in quantity and be of as
high quality as oysters from any other source.

The State lies between the sub-tropical winter fishery of Florida and the
summer fishery of Chesapeake Bay and points north; its fauna is of the
nature of both; it has the "fancy" species of Florida, and it has the spring
seasonal shad and soft crab before they arrive farther north. For these
early seasonal species and a few others the State receives a better price
than does the northern competition; for some other species the State re-
ceives a lower price than the average of other States. In the oyster, the State
seems to be at an economic disadvantage in the later opening and earlier
closing of the season and receives a lower price than the average of the rest
of the country.

For the total of all food fish produced, the State receives slightly less
(avg. 1938-39-40 = 3.13^) per pound than do the fisheries of the entire
Atlantic and Gulf (3.53^), or of the whole country (3.45^). The average
price received by North Carolina for all food fish is less than half that
received by stock growers of the United States for farm animals; the price
received by the fishermen in North Carolina is a much smaller share
of the final price paid by the consumer than the farmers' share in the
final consumer price of farm animal products of the United States. With
inefficiency and high cost of distribution the consumer pays more and the
fisherman gets less in proportion to actual cost of production than their
counterparts in agricultural food production.

The number of fishermen in North Carolina was about the same in 1940
as it had been in 1890; on the twenty-year annual average between the two
world wars, the number decreased by a third from the average of 1887 to
1908; the income per fisherman had increased but not sufficiently to com-
pensate for the inflation of money, so that the fishermen could buy, with
what they received from fishing as an average, slightly (3 per cent) less in
the late than in the early period. The fishermen and dealers of the State
have no trade association or trade paper for the interchange of ideas or
legislative representation; the State has no members in the national Oyster
Producers and Dealers Association and there are only four (all corporate)
members of the National Fisheries Institute, Inc., the country-wide trade
association of fishing industries.

As a market and potential customer North Carolina, a coastal State,
would be expected to consume more fish per capita than the national average.
Apparently the State does not consume per capita as much as the national
average; certainly not of her own production which, even if it consumed all,
would be equivalent only to about one-half to three-fourths of the national
per capita average. The State itself and contiguous parts of neighboring
States afford a potential market for at least two or three times the present

464 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

production of the State. About five per cent of North Carolina's produce
(half of it shrimp) is shipped to Fulton Market, New York; an unknown
amount to Norfolk and other markets. On the other hand, fish products
imported from Chesapeake States, New York, New England, and Florida
are regularly found in restaurants, hotel and institutional dining rooms,
and retail chain stores all over the State. The finfish product of North
Carolina is shipped in crude form, round or whole, on ice, shrimp beheaded
and oysters shucked; no filleting is done in the State, nor any freezing of
standardized packaged products (which are growing in importance all over
the country and are invading the State from elsewhere) ; the State's produc-
tion is in highly discontinuous supply, the bulk of it in the fall.

Such, briefly stated, is the fishery industry of North Carolina. It is a
small industry; it is in a part of the State which needs income; the menhaden
industry is a valuable addition; but the food fish part of the industry shows
no sign of sustained improvement; in the past seventy years it has not
responded to changes for the better which might have caused it to improve,
and there appears to be no reason to expect anything to happen spon-
taneously to make it improve now.

How can the fisheries of the State be so developed as to make a larger
economic contribution to the welfare of the coastal communities?

Many of the handicaps and needs of the State's fisheries are common to
the fisheries of the whole country, though some occur in aggravated form
in North Carolina.

The one thing that will without fail benefit the entire fishing community
is to increase demand for fishery products. Quantitative data concerning our
markets are meagre and old, but it is well known that demand is greater
in large cities than in small towns and in the country, and it is greater on
the seaboard and around the Great Lakes than in the interior generally.
It is greater in regions whtre populous religious denominations require fish
on fast days. If the regions which are now light consumers of fish (such as
up-State North Carolina and neighboring States) could be brought up to
the per capita consumption of the heaviest consuming regions, the total
demand for fish would be enormously increased, the aggregate (if not the
individual) income of fishermen would be increased and the fishing com-
munities would receive a transfushion of economic prosperity. The most
dependable formula for improving demand is to produce a better product
at lower cost, efficiently distributed, effectively and persuasively presented
to more of the people more of the time.

The problem in North Carolina which appears to transcend all others in
importance is that of the discontinuity of supply of fish over the four
seasons and from day to day, complicated by the geographical separateness
or disunity of the source of fish in the State. The occurrence of the principal

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 465

fisheries in waves at different times in different parts of the State, and the
subdivision of the producing region by sounds and rivers, taken together,
make it difficult or impossible, with the present marketing organization, for
the State to furnish a continuous and dependable supply of fish even to its
own population. These complications multiply the number of dealers, hold
down the size of business that each dealer does, prevent the practice of
packaging and the manufacture of by-products, and generally increase the
costs of handling and distribution. These two problems of time and place
probably have more to do with the general backwardness of the fisheries of
the State than any other determinants.

Our first recommendation therefore is that this particular problem, or
pair of problems, be made the subject of a special and thorough study. It
may be that the State or the University as such cannot solve it; but by
analyzing it thoroughly and presenting the facts they might be instrumental
in stimulating thought and interest in the subject on the part of business
people who could do something about it.

The State fisheries may be actually losing ground in their home market
by reason of their failure to produce packaged edible portions, whether or
not frozen. Round fish are generally unsuitable as merchandising items for
chain stores, and chain stores have proved to be exceedingly effective
mechanisms for distribution of fish. In North Carolina they are not at all
dependent on State fisheries. If the State cannot supply what they need,
they can easily get it in Norfolk, Baltimore, or further north, as no doubt
they do. If therefore appears that the State has little option but to modern-
ize itself in this respect, or to see its markets continue to drift away to
out-of-State sources.

The next subject of our observations and recommendations has to do
with the business strategy of the fisheries of the State.

It appears to us that the sciences of biology and economics might effec-
tively unite (as they rarely do) to lay down for the consideration of the
industry a general strategy by means of which the State could make the
most of its opportunities. Our case histories of 20-odd species in the United
States (based on the long term) show clearly that different species of fish
and shellfish behave in very diverse economic patterns. In some of them
the market says clearly that it does not want any more, the price goes
down on increased production, or on unchanged or even smaller production.
In other cases, the market says clearly by rising prices even in the face of
rising production that it wants more. It has said this for shrimp and it seems
to say so for flounders, and, less emphatically, for mullet. Data were not
available for similar case histories (for the long term comparison) of some
other North Carolina species, but bay scallops (as distinguished from the
large sea scallops) are in strong demand at all times, and just now at very

466 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

high prices by reason of the great and perhaps temporary shortage; the
white perch is highly esteemed as one of the most sought-after fresh water
varieties in its class. It would seem to be the part of good judgment for
economic studies to be made (over the shorter term of fifteen or twenty
years) pointing the directions in which biological research or surveys would
yield the greatest economic returns. If, as a result of such studies, favor-
able combinations of market demand and biological supply were brought to
the attention of the fishermen, the State as a whole would be making the
most of what it has. Possibly some changes in the regulations might also be
indicated. Such study, for example, might indicate that the State is not
taking full advantage of its favorable position in the soft crab fishery.
The soft crab is available in North Carolina before it is available farther
north. It is understood that Maryland dealers have come to North Carolina
in the early spring and exploited the soft crab until such times as their own
fisheries in Chesapeake Bay open, when they desert North Carolina and set
up competition from their own headquarters, leaving the North Carolina
business flat. However, our data suggest that the demand for soft crabs is
exceedingly limited perhaps because of a certain psychological repugnance
on the part of many people.

We understand also that there is a conservation law for soft crabs in
New York which prohibits possession or sale of soft crabs of less than 5
inches. There are no soft crabs in New York during the spring when, of
less than 5 inches, they are available in and could be supplied by North
Carolina. The New York law therefore operates directly contrary to the
interests of North Carolina and does no good in New York during that
period.

The flounder appears to be an opportunity in North Carolina which is
not adequately prosecuted. The attention of the fisherman is apparently
so engrossed with shrimp that the flounder and perhaps other equally good
fishes are being neglected.

For the country as a whole, there is the classical relationship among
supply, demand, and price, so that increased production of any species
evokes response in price. However, in those fisheries in which North Car-
olina produces a small percentage of the total, an increase of a large per-
centage of North Carolina production would be a very small increase on
the national total; for example. North Carolina's production of shrimp
(in 1945) was 5>^ per cent of the national total, and the value 4 per cent.
The effect of doubling North Carolina's production of shrimp, if all other
States remained the same, would be to increase the total by 5^ per cent.
This small increase could hardly have much if any effect on the price of
shrimp, but could easily add nearly a million dollars to the fishing com-

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 467

munities of the State. In like manner, other strategic opportunities could
almost certainly be found by analytical study.

It is therefore recommended that economic and biological studies be
prosecuted continuously, in parallel and in close cooperation with the regu-
lating authorities, to establish a strategy of exploitation of the State's pro-
duction as a whole to the best advantage of the fishing community.

The foregoing recommendation is based on our studies of price in
relation to supply of fish in the United States as a whole, the presumption
being that if information and recommendations of the kind relating to
North Carolina fish were passed on to fishermen, their actions would be
influenced favorably. Actually, we do not know to what extent fishermen
are already aware of and responsive to the current economic forces of supply
and demand, nor do we know how prices of North Carolina fish are estab-
lished, or where. The small part of the product which goes to Fulton Market,
New York, is priced competitively at New York; the field investigator's
observations of the whole up-State mechanism indicate that sellers, retail,
wholesale, and distributor, add a fixed amount of money per pound, box, or
other unit, in making their selling prices, but who makes the prices to
which they add their mark-ups? It can hardly be the fishermen. Judging
from the field data available to us, we can draw only the conclusion that
the prices are made by the coastal producer-dealers, i.e., those distributors
who receive the fish first-hand from the fishermen. If this is so, then the
ordinary forces of supply and demand (from consumers) do not operate at
all in their classical manner so as to determine how much or what kind of
fish the fishermen try to produce. All of our studies of the fisheries of the
country as a whole indicate that the forces of supply and demand do in fact
operate in the classical manner to determine and regulate the quantity,
kind, and place of production. North Carolina may be an exception to that
rule, in the sense that the interaction between supply and consumer de-
mand is mediated in some complex manner by the price making of producer-
dealers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers.

With such a system it would be less simple than it otherwise might be to
establish a general strategy so far as the State is concerned, for final price
would bear little relation either to the cost of production or to the relative
desirability of the different species.

Such a system also fails to take into consideration the risks involved in
the valuations in the various species. Our data are too meagre and the subject
is too important to reach conclusions with what information we now have.

It is therefore recommended that further field studies be made of the
whole pricing arrangements for seafoods of all kinds on the coast of North
Carolina and throughout the distribution mechanism in the various markets

468 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

to the consumer, and particularly the prices of other competing foods, such
as meats, poultry, eggs, etc., for comparison.

It would also probably be well worth while to conduct some systematic
inquiry among the fishermen to ascertain the determinants of what they
actually do, the extent of their awareness of market conditions, their respon-
siveness thereto, and their interpretations of what their best interests are.

While North Carolina does not appear to possess great resources in large-
volume food finfish, it is fortunate that what it does possess appears to be
rather in the invertebrates as delicacies than in finfish as competitive bulk
items of food. The principal invertebrates are shrimp, crabs, clams, scallops,
and oysters.

The oyster has long been an important resource of the State and is still
among its most important potentials. Even with its long-continued decline
and the rapid rise of the shrimp, the oyster still slightly exceeds the shrimp
in value in the whole country. Although North Carolina's production of
oysters is now a minor part of the national total, there is no doubt that the
State is favored as a potential producer of oysters. Its waters are nearly
free from starfish; there is no difficulty in obtaining a set of spat, and the
rate of growth of oysters undoubtedly exceeds that of the more northern
States.

The indications contained in this report suggest that the decline in the
relative position of the oyster in this country is, at least in part and perhaps
an important part, due to economic rather than biological factors. An
organized program of biological research is already in progress. It is rec-
ommended that the oyster industry also be made the subject of a special
economic study of both production and marketing. The study should include
costs of production, employment and wages of labor, mechanization, and
the competitive aspects oi marketing.

In scallops, the whole Atlantic seaboard is passing through a crisis which
everyone hopes is temporary. The scallop has been an important item in
North Carolina; for a brief period (1928) the State led the country in its
production. Although the abundance of the scallop may eventually be re-
stored, there is a danger here that it may lose its market momentum and
never be able to regain its place even if it returns in abundance. During the
late war business houses continued to advertise products which they could
not make, in order to prevent as far as possible loss of momentum. The
diamond back terrapin lost its market momentum with the coming of pro-
hibition in 19 18, and on the repeal of prohibition in 1933 it had been for-
gotten, a new generation had come on and the terrapin did not regain a place
in the market until after the Second World War. The effect of epidemic scares
can have such an effect on oysters. Since the scallop is an article of undoubted
delicacy of appeal and one of the State's important potential fishery assets,

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 469

it should be kept before the public by every form of propaganda available
lest it, too, lose all momentum and be forgotten by a new generation. Talk
of the scarcity of scallops, the eel grass mystery, etc., can serve as well as
anything else to keep it before the public.

In this study we are impressed by the apparent lack of relationship
between the subjects chosen for biological interest and research on the one
hand, and economic progress and welfare of the fisheries on the other. The
literature of the fisheries everywhere for the last decade reflects a great
interest and some excitement about the destruction of small fish, the usual
dangers of depletion, the possibilities of maintaining a theoretical optimum
yield of each species, and other subjects which from an economic point of
view seem unrealistic. Insofar as the choice of subjects for biological atten-
tion can be slanted to economic purposes, we venture a few suggestions:

Perhaps the most important biological study that could be made in our
case would be an appraisal of the total biological potential of the fisheries of
North Carolina. The fisheries of the country as a whole continue to produce
fish in accordance with the growth of population and with the pulse of the
economic cycle. It has continued to do so as far back as we have any record.
We do not know how much further expansion is possible, nor does it appear
that biological science has afforded us any means of increasing the total
production of all the fisheries of the country or even of a region, though a
great deal of study has been devoted to particular species. If a study of the
North Carolina potential shows that production could be increased 5-, 10-,
or 20-fold and the increase would be worth so much in dollars, then an
expenditure in substantial amounts of money could be justified in order to
accomplish the increase. If, on the other hand, it is found that the potential
increase is only slight, say, a factor of i^ or 2 times, then obviously such
large expenditures for development would not be justified. It would not be
possible, of course, to measure the potential accurately, but some general
idea or order of magnitude could be arrived at.

If it should be decided to conduct a study of this kind, then the entire
food chain from diatoms to useful economic species should be studied as a
whole and quantitatively so far as possible, including the measure of the
percentage of vegetation that enters the animal chain, how much and what
kinds of other species each species consumes, and by what other species it is
itself consumed, and in what quantities; the relation between the amount
of food consumed and the amount of resulting growth; the economic value
of the consuming species in relation to the potential economic value of its
prey; the effects of fishing for particular species on the production of the
system as a whole; and also the effects of regulatory restriction of certain
species on total production.

Increasing the efficiency of finding and catching fish has never been the

470 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

subject of sustained and systematic research anjrwhere, so far as we know.
Therefore, we commend to the attention of the University the possibilities
for good that might come from an extensive and sustained study of the
senses and sense organs, perceptions of and responses to stimuli by aquatic
animals generally with a view to more effective means of finding and catch-
ing fish. Such studies should include the senses of hearing and the perception
of under water vibrations, reactions to light of mixed and single wave
lengths, the chemical senses of "taste," "smell," etc. The study should also
include the emission by fishes of various stimuli and responses thereto by
other animals, and the possible use by fishermen of these stimuli as means of
finding and catching fish. Considered in their larger aspects, such studies
should also include the teleological behavior of fishes generally, their
methods of finding food, pursuing prey, finding mates, defending and pro-
tecting themselves, the knowledge of all of which should be conducive to
the discovery of more and effective means of finding and catching fish.

The sea herring of the North Atlantic is well known to be positively
phototropic, and for centuries has been caught by torching; possibly the
menhaden, of the herring family, may be phototropic, too; the flounders
have well developed color perception; scallops have eyes; many of the
North Carolina species of fish make sounds which probably are functionally
important. Advantage must be taken of any or all of these and similar facts
to increase the efficiency of fishing methods, and to devise new fishing
devices. It would be appropriate to carry on technical, experimental, and
engineering studies in the design of fishing gear, whether along radically
new lines as just suggested or the introduction and improvement of the more
conventional types.

Aside from finding and catching fish, we do not recommend technological
research generally, such as freezing, canning, packaging, mechanization,
etc., as suitable for governmental or university research. This t5^e of research
is very expensive in both capital and operation and is best done by industry
in close contact with or as part of actual operations. The fisheries of North
Carolina can profit better, for the time being, by adopting technological
advances already made elsewhere.

Finally, in closing this report, we point out that increased prosperity of
the North Carolina fisheries will depend on increased demand for and sales of
fish, and (except where culture is possible as with the oyster) a heavier draft
of the natural fishery resources of the State and by more efficient methods
all along the line from fisherman to retailer. The usual conflict of conservation
and exploitation will be encountered and must be frankly faced and resolved.
Where agriculture is now regarded as a source of wealth to be developed and
utilized with the greatest possible efficiency, the fisheries are subject to
confusion and contradiction on the part of the public and policy-making

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 471

public officials; on the one hand, it is desired to expand and increase the
economic importance of the fisheries, and on the other, the fisheries are
commonly regarded as a perishable natural source in imminent danger of
exhaustion unless protected by public regulation and restraint backed by
police power; much of these regulations have the effect of imposing in-
efficiency upon the fisheries and increasing their costs. It appears that before
important progress can be made in developing the fisheries, thinking on this
subject must be clarified and possibly re-oriented or the emphasis shifted in
a direction which will afford to the fisheries the same kind of encouragement
to efficiency as is given to agriculture; unnecessary restraints should be
removed and assurance given that the use of any improved techniques that
may be developed will not be forbidden without scientific justification.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anglo-American Caribbean Commission.

1945. Guide to commercial shark fishing in the Caribbean area. U. S. Fish
& Wildlife Service, Fishery Leaflet 135, 1945, 149 p.
Atwater, W. O.

1892. The chemical composition and nutritive values of food-fishes and
aquatic invertebrates. Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish, for 1888 (1892),
App. 10, p. 679-868. (9 charts).
Bigelow, Henry B., and William W. Welsh.

1925. Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., Vol. XL, Ft. I,
1924 (1925), 567 p., 278 figs., extensive bibliog. (Doc. 965, 1925).
Call, L. E.

1929. The increased efficiency of American agriculture. Science, Vol. LXIX,
1929, p. 54-60.
Cavin, J, P., and Marguerite C. Burk. (prepared under the supervision of).
1949. Consumption of food in the United States. U. S. Dept. Ag., Bur. Ag.
Econ., Misc. Pub. No. 691, 196 p., 69 tables, 4 graphs.
Clark, Ernest D., and Lloyd H. Almy.

1918. Chemical study of food fishes [20 species]. Jour. Biol. Chem., Vol.
XXXIII, 1918, p. 483-498, bibliog.
Conference Board, The.

1947. The Economic Almanac for 1948. New York: National Industrial
Conference Board, 1947, 472 p. (Annual).
Conseil Permanent International pour I'Exploration de la Mer.

1938. Bulletin Statistique des Peches Maritimes des Pays du Nord et de
rOuest de I'Europe. Vol. XXVII, 1937; XXVIII, 1938 (and an-
nually). Copenhagen.
Cooper, Martin R., Glen T. Barton and Albert P. Brodell.

1947. Progress of farm mechanization. U. S. Dept. of Ag. Misc. Pub. No.
630, lOI p.

472 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Dill, D. B.

192 1. Chemical study of certain Pacific Coast fishes. Jour Biol. Chem., Vol.
XLVIII, i92i,p. 73-82.
Dominion of Canada, Dept. of Trade & Commerce, Dominion Bureau of
Statistics.

1944-45. Fisheries and Animal Products Branch, Fisheries Statistics of
Canada, 1944, 284 p.; 1945, 294 p. Ottawa. (Annual).
Food & Agriculture Organization, United Nations.

1945. Fisheries. Report of the Technical Committee on Fisheries submitted
to the United Nations Interim Comm'n. on Food & Agriculture, April
13, 1945, 38 p.
Furnas, C. C, and S. M. Furnas.

1937. The Story of Man and His Food [Earlier edition, Man, Bread and
Destiny] . New York : The Home Library, 1937, 364 p.
Ginsburg, Isaac.

1944. Fishes with fins and scales. Anatomy of fishes and its bearing on the
requirements of certain religious dietary regulations, etc. (Jewish
Dietary Laws). U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Fishery Leaflet No. 8,
1944, 8 p.

Goode, G. Brown (and a staff of associates).

1884-87. The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States, V sec-
tions, 7 volumes. Sec. I, Text and plates, 1884; Sees. II, III, IV,
and V (Vols. I and II, and Plates), 1887. U. S. Comm. of Fish and
Fisheries.

Harper, F. A.

1945. Food differences around the world. In: Nutrition in Review, Report
of the New York State Joint Legislative Committee on Nutrition,
p. 77-81. Legislative Document (1945), No. 49, Albany.

Harvey, H. W.

1928. Biological Chemistry and Physics of Sea Water. New York: The
Macmillan Co., 1928, 194 p.
Herrington, Wm, C.

1948. Imported fish : a major New England problem. Commercial Fisheries
Review, Vol. 8, No. 2, Feb. 1946. Sep. No. 125, p. 1-16.
International Board of Inquiry for the Great Lakes.

1943. (Hubert R. Gallagher, Ch'm., A. G. Huntsman, Sec'y-, D- J- Taylor
and John Van Oosten.) Report and Supplement 213 p. Government
Printing Office. Washington.
Johnson, Robert E., and Robert M. Kark.

1947. Environment and food intake in man. Science, Vol. 105, p. 378-379-
Jordan, David Starr, Barton Warren Evermann and Howard Walton Clark.
1930. Check list of the fishes and fishlike vertebrates of North and Middle
America, etc. Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish, for 1928 (1930), Pt. II.
App. X, 670 p. (Doc. 1055, 1930).

ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 473

Larsen, Spencer A., William Reitz, and Katherine K. Burgum.

1948. Markets for Airborne Seafoods. Detroit: Wayne University Press,
1948, 148 p., 24 tables.
Lindeman, Raymond L,

1942. The trophic-dynamic aspect of ecology. Ecology, Vol. 23, 1942, p.
399-418, bibliog.
Manning, John Ruel.

1 93 1. Fish meal in animal feeding, with bibliography. Rept. U. S. Comm'r.
Fish, for 1930 (1931). App. XII, p. 371-407. (Doc. 1090, 1930).
McCance, R. A., and H. L. Shipp.

1933. The chemistry of flesh foods and their losses on cooking. Medical
Research Council (Great Britain). Special Rept. Series No. 187,
146 p., extensive bibliog. London : H. M. Stat'y Off.
Maynard, L. A.

1946. Role and efficiency of animals in utilizing feed to produce human
food. Jour, of Nutrition, Vol. 32, 1946, p. 345-360, selected bibliog.
North Carolina.

1942. The Department of Tax Research. Report, 371 p. Raleigh.
1946. State Planning Board. North Carolina Basic County Data, 2 vols.
Raleigh.
Peck, James I.

1894. On the food of the menhaden. Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., Vol. XIII,

1893 (1894), p. 1 13-126, 8 plates.
1896. The sources of marine food. Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., Vol. XV, 1895
(1896), p. 351-368, 4 plates.
Ricker, William E.

1946. Production and utilization of fish populations. Ecological Mono-
graphs. Vol. 16, 1946, p. 373-391, bibliog.
Riley, Gordon A.

1941. Plankton studies III; Long Island Sound. Bull. Bing. Oceanog. Coll.,

Vol. VII, 1941, p. 1-93, bibliog. New Haven.
1944. The carbon metabolism and photosynthetic efficiency of the earth
as whole (with introduction by G. Evelyn Hutchinson). American
Scientist. Vol. 32, 1944, No. 2, p. 129-134.
Seiwell, H. R.

1935. The annual organic production and nutrient phosphorus requirement
in the tropical western North Atlantic. Cons. Perm. Int. pour I'Expl.
de la Mer, Jour, du Cons., Vol. X, 1935, p. 20-32, bibliog. Copen-
hagen.
Sherr, Harry, Edward A. Power, Richard A. Kahn, and others.

1948. Supply and distribution of fishery products in the continental United
States, 1930-1947. U. S. Dept. Ag., Bur. Ag. Econ., The National
Food Situation, NFS-4S, July-Sept., 1948, p. 19-40.

474 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA

Sherman, Henry C. (Chief), et al. (Staffs of Human Nutrition & Home Eco-
nomics and U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

1944. Family food consumption in the United States, spring, 1942. U. S.
Dept. Ag. Misc. Pub. 550, 155 p.
Standard & Poor's. Trade and Securities Statistics.

1942. Basic statistics. Sections 1-9 through 1941, and Monthly Supplements
(Historical and Current Series, Financial, Industrial, Commercial of
United States, Canada, England, etc.). New York.
Statistical Abstract of the United States.

1944-45. U. S. Department of Commerce, Bur. Census, 1944-45, 1023 p.
(and annually).
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, (General Headquarters).

1947. Japanese Fisheries Production, 1908-46 (A Statistical Report),
Natural Resources Section, Rept. No. 95, 1947, 40 p. Tokyo.
Taylor, Harden F.

1932. Resources of the Ocean. Journal of the Franklin Institute. Vol. 214,
1932, p. 167-196. Philadelphia.
U. S. Bureau of Fisheries. (Papers by several authors: E. D. Clark, R. W.
Clough, Donald K. Tressler, Arthur D. Holmes, Harden F. Taylor, and
E. V. McCollum).

1926. Nutritive value of fish and shellfish. Rept. U. S. Comm'r. Fish, for
1925 (1926), App, X, p. 501-522, extensive bibliog.
U. S. Department of Agriculture, (numerous authors) .

1939. Food and Life. Year Book of Agriculture, 76th Congress, ist Session,
House Document No. 28, 11 65 p.

1940. Farmers in a Changing World. Year Book of Agriculture, 76th Con-
gress, 3rd Session, House Document No. 695, 12 15 p.

U. S. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce.

1947. National Income and Product Statistics of the United States, 1929-
46. Prepared by National Income Division, Milton Gilbert, Chief.
Supplement to Survey of Current Business, July, 1947, 54 p., 48
tables.
U. S. Senate.

1940. The Status of Wildlife in the United States. Report of the Special
Subcommittee on the Conservation of Wildlife Resources pursuant to
S. Res. 246. 76th Congress, 3rd Session, Senate Rept. No. 1203.

<><><X>«><><><j><><X>C><£><><><X><^^

APPENDIX TO PART III

STATISTICAL TABLES

{Table numbers consecutive with those in text.)

Table
number

37. Calendar of United States fisheries regional statistical canvasses, 1880-1945.

38. Recapitulation, canvassed and interpolated, 1887-1940 (1945): All fishery

products, quantities, values, prices, numbers of fishermen, and quantities

and values per fisherman.

A. Eastern United States : Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

39. Do. B. United States: Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes and Pacific.

40. Recapitulation, canvassed and interpolated, 1887-1940 (1945): Food fish

only, quantities, values, and prices.

A. Eastern United States: Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

B. United States: Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes and Pacific.

41 All fishery products, by regions, in years canvassed, 1887-1945: Quantities,
to values, and prices, numbers of fishermen, and quantities and values per
47. fisherman, i. New England. 2. Middle Atlantic. 3. Chesapeake. 4. South
Atlantic. 5. Gulf of Mexico. 6. Great Lakes. 7. Pacific.

48 Food fish only, by regions, in years canvassed, 1887-1945 : Quantities, values,
to and prices, i. New England. 2. Middle Atlantic. 3. Chesapeake. 4. South

51. Atlantic. 5. Gulf of Mexico. 6. Great Lakes. 7. Mississippi River and
Lake Namakan, Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake, separately. 8.
Pacific.

52. Alaska, in years canvassed, 1889-1945: 9. All fishery products and all food

fish, quantities, values, and prices.

53 Principal United States species of fish ranked in order of quantities, values,
to and prices, in certain representative years or periods, 18 89- 189 2; 1908;

56. 1929-30-31; 1938-39-40.

57. Market oysters, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, exclusive of seed, canvassed

and interpolated, quantities, values, and prices, 1887-1940 (1945).

58. Menhaden, Atlantic and Gulf States: Production and value, as reported,

by regions and years, 1880-1945.

59. Canned fishery products: Value of pack in the United States, 1940.

60. Frozen whole fish and fillets: Quantity, United States, 1940.

475

476 APPENDIX TO PART III

Table
number

6i. Monthly catch and utilization of fish and shellfish, United States, 1945.

62. Fish meal, fertilizer and oil, production in United States, 1940.

63. North Carolina: Economic conditions in seaboard counties; population,

1920-30-40, fisheries production and values, numbers of fishermen,
1936-40, and dealers, 1945.

64. Do. Agriculture, 1940.

65. Do. Manufacturing, 1939, and forestry, 1938-42.

66. Do. Standard of living, 1940.

67. Do. State income taxes, 1940.

68 North Carolina fisheries: Principal species of fish in all years of field
to canvasses, 1880-1945, ranked in order of quantities and values, per-

90. centages of totals, and prices.

91. North Carolina: Principal commercial fishes by species, quantities and

values in all years of field canvasses, 1887-1945.

: P^

6 T^^ox

rHr-4i-|«OlOC\il<JCVi^U5aOaOO>00«3«0<OirtOOOOOOOO

g 8 le^oj, S gCil-S g

S§ 5 " t, 5

^ 4J to g 3

5 <^ o s -p

a "^l saaATH x X to'S^i^-S.^S^

2; X <o Hi o. • I

I • cS J -H al CM

•2 ^' S831S1 X X XXXXXXXXXXXXXX '«j3*A5SS!m

5 w :(j . "S ^ * ^

^ O d O CO ••

g «rt| JTt^O X X xxxxxx X xxxxx •"^wgZlo^'S.S

_ • • • a "d

•^ -*' Uino- ^ ^ xxxxxx X xxxxx rHg^^'^&S

"2 a. • X •« o >

• 5 Q g

2 io| 'ssqo X X xxxxxxxxxxxx «rH i i §

fecvil X X XXXXXX'XXXX Wmu.S

I 3IPPTH w o" - «o -H

o ::3 >= <o- JS » ^

S ^, p^«T9ua ^ ^ ^^^>,^^^^^^^ ^Sol^;!

"T AaM '=^ +> -p >»o o

® "^ s : ^ '

fi rHWtC'S'»OtD^-OOCnOrHCVi60sJilO«OC~-00<rOi-IWlO'«liU5CDt^OOCnO m^ri

• iHHrHrHrHH<HrHrHWWWWW0JCV2CVCSiC^tOKVt<"JIClOl«tOt<:tOlQ'<a< jS^J^

.-^Hr^,-^^^^H.H.^r^r^l-l^^M--l^^.^r^r-^r^l-^HlH■-l^^H^^f-^r^r^H S

• O ,H O •

snoT^gj ^ ** "^ ^ J «

C>- rH l«<O-<l<U3C\i0>ir-HrHrH •sJ'HtO WtOWtOCV^rHHOJ H lO .t^TOB

6 T^^oj <o «_j o v< eb 5

• O r-J fl

0:| ^S3TV ooox xxxxx «'fl'.''S5."

> o ►J o

mtD'«}''OWi-ir-(HrH rj<i-l(0 C^tOCVitOrH 00 0> Qnotr***

O S ^ ^ -H U

XOOOX X X X X '"•OpC^cj"

OS 3 «tO

X X X X "tSg.^^-

a
o

SaOT39J

t^

&

o

0O|

8 T^%oi

X

h

c-l

sa3A7H

•a

<D|

sa^t'JT

X

U2|

JTnO

X

•
r-t

•5

EH

^c^no3

X
X

^ X X XX X

«J X X X

So >>

♦• o •• o •

on •> 3 -H

<w o

S O -H o m

-. _^, X X X X X X X X o> . r^diS^

• o o cc

0"f'i.n.iX':i.V " ** * t "S

^1 stPPfW X xxxxx X XX X o g^|o-o

pasTSua X XXX x xxx "'(SlIxP.'^'

'"'I ASfl pj iJ J © Bl»— '

OrHWt<5^1<U3cot-COO:iO'HWlO'^iOcOt~a30>OrHC^itO^U35Dt^OO<T50 13 N^

a3C0a0a000a0<t)C000C33C3505(T-CTiCn0305CJCnC55OOOOOOOOOOrH J3-P >1

GOQOa30000flOOO<DOOCDOOOOflOOOaOOOOO<r)COa3C350505050505050J030(75 P O "^l

rHrHrHrHr-HrHrHrHrHHrHrHrH-HrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrH CO-P

477

o

C

«'>

Ih

0)

"-I >i

a<

" w

^

t:

0)

0) Q)

«)

m

-P -H

j=

•H

CI 43

v>

Uh

-H CB

•H

E-"

l^^

tM

S

o

.H <D

3 r-1
-P r^

OOtOrHtDNODOOSrHOCviOtDlOO'S'OOtHmtDCviOOJW
WWt^CCOr-(Ot!CiO<-4050>t^CD05000tClOlCN«OOm

IOOCDTjlOOWWODt^OSt^CDOrHlOH«3WrHt-IWr-lcH
0JOC0t^a0t^tf)m'*K5WlO^tDt^a3OrHW(0Tl'lOtD^
CVlKJWOiWWWWWNWNWWCViWKJWitOtOtOtOUJtD

OOOOOOOOOOIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

oiotot^oooujOiiinwuji/jmooootDOiotctDioo

OSCT>COiOC)C^^i«00tDtOtC"*iH00tOlOtO'i'lOlOO5<75K5

<D on •»!• a
jr <u en

01 O rH -O

•H ^ I C

a. 03

00 w

4)

CCl 0)

■P 3

CO rH

^ 3

H 30

a o

Ol Ix,

S! -P
a) 0>

XI o 3
at o 3

Eh Ix. Cy

tOt--a>(CWlOOCK3tOO>(OtQW05t-WK3tOT}'a)aOU5t--t^
t~O'^CviC0fit--rH«3OU5l'3r-t05tDi-lt--WM:)tDCnt^lOt-l

.-I H H H r-(

HHHH.HHHi-l

Relate
price
cents

1926
relative
value
dollars

8
0

Actual

price

cents

ca

"3 a) 3 0
3 3 H 0

•^■<;fio>*'«i<^"*iou3irtiftiO'i<^^eO'*'«*<'<ai^'^'^Tl<c\!

oooooor-oooLraoooooioCT>ooo

OiOOiOiOOtOOOtOtOt^OOOvfWiOOllOOO
lOi-tOOlrtW'«J<r-)«DWK3aDOt--

o o

^rJtOiOr-HtDiOifitOt'-S-

wcvioicviwwcviWwcvtcviNWcawwcviwwwcviOiOieo

mevtwiOi-it-tot--i«.-it~wtoCTif"j05'*Or-)totDCDt~oo

'l'C--t0tDCDe0NrHO00l>-'a'O'*C--Wt0.HrHeO'S'l0OW

K3tO'itt-o:t^iO(Oi-i(r)tooo^cnTt<050rH03oot^«DOO'^

KJ'^K3';»itCWrHOO>t-tCN"*LOt~eOt-OinCViO>«002CC

OC0t^C~-rH'«d'C^OWlOCr)W>-Wt--'<*^lOO'^e^rH'^rH
0>rHO«50C--'*WO>«3K5C--tDCDlrtOCncDt<2rHa>OOf-IOO
OWtf3lOtOC\iWWrHrHrHr-|W(0^lOr)<Tj<«f'<*»OtOC0«D

t^oDcnOrHevJWTj<ujtDt~ooo5QHwtO'*io«oc--aoinr-

00C000C;CT>O>020:03C^0i0205OOOOOOOOOrHr-(

oooooooocoeDaoaDooooooooflD050505cno5030>a)<T>05o>

iHrnHf-lf-liHrHrHr-lrHHi-HrHrHrHrHrHrHr-lrHrHrHeHrH

478

I B> m

to iH in r-i o in lo
WW CD CO o c^ CO
lo in •>* «N CO c^ c^

8•*<^3r^coc^^cRwoaar^^o
intooKocnotoin.-ic^sjt

QDC»01COtNtOOC>-C^C^COOOC35

rHOininooot-coc N«>-wcooisLOt\:irj,-i(xiom

oooooooo o o ooooooooooooo

OOOOOOOO iH in QOOOOOOOOOOOOO
too -^CBtOtOOtO tD W in^C^LTrHO:QOrHCJ>l/l«D^J<

,-i HNO3rHc-Hf-(WC\JC\lC0WC\2W

CJl'^tOlOOOODt>-C-lOC--C\3tOtO

_.. - _ intooo^iH-^tooii-icooo

rHC^COrHCD rH ^ WtNtOCncOOfOrHOSrHtOrt'^

to ■* fH C\2 CD to :o
WC0QOi-lCVlC-0> to

o ■# CO " ~

a> CO

•H fl

ncmcvi(0(Olo-*%j<'^'* 4''^-f<«)'co«tonto«nK)W

(U «) O Q Q
^-TN -rt ^ I <rx O in >J' UJ r-n ^--/ V> *.- ki^ sV "rf ^- v_/ uj *^j \^ w wvt t^j i\j ^^ -.^ uj

rj^'^'7i^C»COtO"*Wi-Os(<aDtOtN:QrHO-DCDa!m,HrHrHCDCV;CM

r-l rH Cd O

'*'"^ ojcointoc^inc^too

to ?J lO UT iQ U"3 in IQ to

to to lO « to ;;0 sf '^ vj< ■* ^ •* LO :o w c\; N cu c\J w c\j w w

m

"3 11 ts o

3 p ^^ o

+» rH rH O

rj (* O -
< > -O

•H 73 O

-P c o
n ;= o

win'i<toc\ivOcoo>wco
,t> CO c^ o <o ca oD to lO CO
•of CO in rH to to c\; CO to to

■^ ■* O 00 C~. IN LO 'O rH rH CO 0>
•* 'O 00 CO <C IN cn n1< W -jH O) ^
C» l> O C3) IC CJ 'O rH sl< W Oi i-i

^i^ O CO •"S* 'O

i>toinoc^. --.. _

at r^ otoo)iN\i<toorHinoc\3o»tocj>OrHC\iiricD'*ao

^tOtj'to->iiio^into<Dc»tOrHOoino>iQ-^^'^iQc^

rHrHOtl''i'-^C^'OCOlO t0t0OtO00rH50OOt>-:0C>[N

c-.t>- t>toiO';j<totoeo-;t< 'i' totocjcvjcomtscot>c--aacr>

i-{ i-{ r-{ r-i r-{ r-{ t-^

rH rH rH rH rH

roa>OrHWLO-#tn'ac^oooiOrHW(0'*intoc-oDo>o

rH rH l.>J <M Cl (M OJ W M W tXi W CO CO CO « to CO CO to to lO ■*

cpo> a>a»c»0>ci>c3505O> CJ>o»a>o>o>CTcr>ososcr. cna>cn

479

oo

mm to

• •« •

'^ -If m to

mt *k 0» *

« to «* -^

cj cvi csi to to

CJCViCsitOtO tOOOtO'^IQ rj

r^r^r^CUOi 00 (£> O 00 O WrH «D O W H «0 cT H O O 3

00 «0

wo^wO'<*wwTfidit-ooioepwfJO-*

U]10^lOIOIOU3MiOIOU}iOU}U}iOU>IOia

WtQO-*OrHe-(W«t^

^ — e^ t- lo o> H w

to >0 U) lO 00 >o

'^00rlC^O'^MrP(OlOOr-l(OlO^qpNC~IOe0MOlt>'<4'
0000000>aOC^CO>»X}kO(QC^OOO>OCvitO<4>>040t-CO>A
tOlOCMCs2CWCViNCViCV2C\<C\tNCaCv2MtOIOniOIQM5tOuS<0

OQOOOOOOO
iHO0O«*C^W-«|'U5tO

u>>ocou'C>e~<^MO

o o o o o o

'^ lO to ^ U} to

dbtoH<o>-iio<ot^iO(o

o o p O O O Q

Tl< to A H tr o o

b> CO M cw

r-4OOOOOO(7>OrHrH<^^^^^^^^0BO

dPl

Of-ICv<C\INNCvitO
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
H H iH rH f-l H

NtO'^tOOaO(D'4>r-(0>HtO

'^•'^•'^'^•'tftOtOlQlQCMr-jO
Hr^HHH^^H^^rHlHp-i^-^

t>-catoi«5'a't-oo5W'>*Hi-»io<Dcoe>-cj>(o»oo^»cD«o

(i:itON^C~00)tOCVt^J<^Nb>AtOH<.\2^>OkOtOl0^r-
^^^^^U)'^U)U3IOIOIO^'^^'4<^^T)l^^5t*^M

o o o o o t~

<o lo r- <o N o>

O O Q O

U3 lO O to
O M i-l <0

O rHtOOrHiOrHt-'<i"e-a3«0lOWt^'^<D0000«D»0«0Oe^

lo«oco^-^-t*^-'^'^'^t-^-^-c^^~^~^~^-^~^-^-^~o*'''

Cvi<£)HC»iO'«CMQOU)tOCVlCMt^tOCNi(plOkOIOaOMC-r-|'^

«O'*'«*'*«O®a>lOU5»OiOlO'^'*^^kO«ot-C-fl000r-l<.M

• ••••••••••••••••••*••••

(MCvlCMCStCViMCMCVtcacvtCvtMC^iCviNcacMCViCvtOtMCVltOlO

.. , .. ..^wtr-

»oc\iwwww<35rHt~cnooe~

l>-t«-C~C»tOl~rHHi-ltOOlOOOHeOt^

00 W r-< H

, CO to CM OO

O >* C^ H UJ «0

rHtOOflOCVJ-<l<rH«OrH'*aOWOOf>00'<JlTjllO«O^W.-t'*
<Dr-(rHb-H00«0'«l'KJWH^-'»C-"'0>t^t0rHO0>fl0W

(^i^lOlou3'<)<^1i•'^'<44^.«llu);o^-t~^-^-^-e^«o(oO

HHHHHHHf-fHHHrHHHHHHHHHCMW

t~aoo>OiHNiO'i<«Mt>-a30>QHoito^ioioe~flou}r>-

0000000>0>OSO>C3>0>S05050»OOC3OOOQOOrHrH

odooqOgdoooooooocooogoqoooo)O>O)O)oC3O)O>O)0)O)

r^r^HHr^r^r^H^^^^r^^^H^^r-^r^l^r^Hr^lHI-l»-^r^

480

o 01
•H CO \

t^ d r-q

03

CO OD 00 OD

CTvO

vO vO vO vO

vO IT

r<N Lf hTN ll>

IfN CT Lr^ CO (T CC LrN-3' i-li-lrHr-lCVl_J-C\J_:l-rHi-li-liH

_:? rH K> CVlvo"-:? ,-1 K>C\r_:j r-T ^ ^ ^ «3 ^rrCr-T rrC^ 5? ^ ^

5S

m -a^W <M O CVJ
W hr\ o '"

oj ocvj>r)-3'Lrcvj_d' r^vQ t^ o r^ o cm ^--3\o •^a w
oDooooCT^CT^ooOO^o o cr t--c^cceoo^oo.o •-<

\0 C\10Jr^C\JL^^00^<^lf^00'<^0D^OO^OK^ ON-d-ND
O -d'sOO(MlA(X>r<>C^OOC^rHr^ccCVJWC-NO

C-- c— r-oDcra>cDO>ooo^oo Ono -5 is \o •^ r-

vO O^ OO'^

o oooooooooooooooooooooo

hfN K^ rfN ro, rO, hfNNN

t. o
e o

■0 I

-Si

r-i oo-Sr^ 00 OnOJ rH lo or o IT- f- t^ J- t~-oD J-) cr vO K^ CD

OOvO^OOOlTiN^-JO-CfOr^.H'-lt^NO-Ztll^NhrNCCp O^l

vONOr-iir\CyvouNc^vCio_crcr<Mo^rHO ,-l^<^cvIooJso

C^ CT O" O O^ I

sQ_d'-d^OJO(MCVJOOQ(rCVJ<MrrNC-d'C\JirNiHrH>CODO'
J■-J■C^J^-Ol-l^<^l-lr<^_^,-lC^O^(^l^.^<^^ClOLr^aDC^0Dr^

cJ CU CJ N^_d•-:t_3^-4■-:t-J--:j^f^-:j^^<^^l^ ol cJ oJ C\I ol CO ^f^

^5

.!>1 6
0) -p

4> la*

.a

e-l t^

(5 &

•H

« CO

O <0

•H tH

■p «]

« -p

On oI

3 oJ O
<H <H O

tf « (. o

p ? Ol O

•P ,H rH O

O Oj f-l -

< > o

o ooooopoi-ioooooooooooooo

ITN O i-tOOOoJ 0C_JOLr^U^Ol^^OOr^O-d^lr^OOO

o c^t<NOsoo~c--u>N^r-ic~-ir. t— j'r-HhfNOJj'oo-d'oriAr-

w KN-asooorHCvlK>K>coo iXN-ij rHN>tvi OOO-CT'^W ir^
hfN ^f^^<^K^^r^_d•_3■_4■-3■-^_d•f<^^f^r<^CVJ0J r-iCVlCVJC\J<MC\JOJ

00 irNC3Nr<%\OvOCvjcvir-ioir\OcrQOi-<t^iHNj3f-rHOC^r-H
ITS cr KN c— fTN r- 1^ o -J-3■^^^ f-so w vo o ir-ol - " *

sO^OOr-lOK^OCM^<^t^--■ -" "- ---

O^ e^^<^_:Jlf^r^^^^0^o i-tp C:-t^rH_4-c-CVJ O r-KNooOJ lo
vO C^ f- C--C^flD 00 <?>> OD OvO^ C> 00 sO J J' nC t^t— 00 r- CO OD

c^cu^t^^Or^^<^t<^-a•a lr^Lfso iH CD CO \s\t— f-o^-^J-d- ir\
rc\ onc\j flcONr-o^ON-3'Oo Ono oooc~-l^^lr^oo^<^c^J irN-d'

r-K^^f^K^QC^J os-Jc-r-iccCvj ps ON-d- o •-< (^u\u\<si -:iK-\
iH i-H o -:}S\c ir\oco cc^'^lr. CVj-dCM lx^cp\etVJK^c^o^.r^

iH rHrHOa-ONaOOr-lOJt^ir-ONaCVJr-t3CD-d"f'NvOJ'
CM CVlCJCVJrHrHr-lCViCMCVaOJOJCVJ r-<rHCVIhrNhrNhOiK>vKNr<Nhf\

On O^C^^On^OnOnOnO^OnOnOnOnOnOnO^OnOnO^OnO^O^O^

K"

>l

481

CO -H

« -P

Xi K

!pS-P v0J-OhrNi-4\0(M-d'CD0st--0nO-JJ'(ELr\CVI_d-sn iTNvO t^ O

iJ_,fl J3I^■lr^t^O^MCDK^CT•oa:^o<^Joc<>^0(r■wcv]o^l^^^c^<^■-^

• QCKU vOvOvCnO^C C~-vO C^nO f — O vO ^C Lfs LfM^. LTnnO vO IT^ LTn U>vO -^

o (2

o u

aS £ £ OOOQOOOOOOnOOOO-OOOOOiHITnOOO

-HOalO OOOOvOOCOvOUM^LfMi">QCCLr(r>OsQQ.CPC^O"OLrN

°& §. ,H "S "o ? u^ t^oc-^ir"c0 lI>Cy'o"t<CcM*CvrrH O^CV^o*r-^K^^<^(^^c^K^r<^ w"

<;h ^ )i, 5 > -o uMTMrNsO vo vc sO C-- 1~- 1~- C-- r~ c^vo c^ t~- t-- c^ c~- c^vo t^ cr ir

ly 3 CD

o o »

■CO « :5'-r

■H I ■^ — *

•^ S? a o 3

rH t^ rH CO lr^-3• J'Cvi o o 0-d-KNmCVJ_:thr\rH ir\r-cvivocvj cm

<0 vO t^ C^ CO r->0 Ll>-:3^ tO\<MC\J0JCvIhr\r<>ifM--r^ C--vO IT-^ CO

«- o g^ 00 J^ 1-1 o^ C^K^^<^ CM o H o irxLTNOo o ir\so vo ir\r<N o cvj c—

_ „ _ _ _ O i-iCMrfNNO^

■PaJrH <i > "C ^^^^<^K^^r^l

S ® ^ P3MO ^vO irsO vC CO CM t^CM rH C>-K>CM r~CM sC so t--r-( f-N> O O vC

p 40'OM JJrHrH- •_? • • * " . * ^ -T -T J* .^ ^* _? ^* */^^.-^ -T -?.^ ^"-T ?

■^o^f^^C c^oDhfNoQ itnO^cmvO o 1-1 jT irv_3'ir.-d'_d'-^crK>sO cm

„ >_ KN m SI OC r- KN -J ITS 0^ CO sD Q O cm Lf\ O so a t^-3^ iH CD ifN o

flo cMvO.-l^co^CM^-c^c^lH^f^-d"o^vo-d•co^-voocc^or<^CMlr.

lfNCM_3'-4^iH COCp t^vO-Ji-H i-(CMhrN_3--J^\0 O^ t^ J- tc\ rr\ CM C
COCDC^C^<^aC^O^OOOOr-^r^CMCvlCMn^f-(CMcMOJK^CM

■H t3 O
-P fl o
C 3 O

to e— li-lrHi-Hr-lrHrHi-HrHrHi— li— feHc-Hi— (•-<

■flo t{ O m CDC^OLr^r-^0^ f—^'-^sO cp-3-ro,vCsO_3-0 ir\\DOK\C0CM cc

S.H -P043 l^^li^oc^^-:r^O^JocJ■lr«r^^O.-||^lcc.-^-d•-4•.-|^c^Ooo^<^

~(L, rH^iO \osOvoc^r-c~-c— r~-r-c^c~-c— vosovc lt-no vO no vo Lr^ trxNO J^

•H (3 •
+> cJ "O

^m* ? IS 000000000C^000-3^00000.-^0Q00

3(Doi \o-h©»hO oooou^oirNOOr-ioLnCMr~Ov0rHOt-iON>-J^oo

433r-l W-P3a!0 oCrHCOKNONOC^CCCMvOOlOCOtrOJC^sOOvOLrOir-rHO^

ft'Sp- rHrHlBrH" --tsQ r-f<> ITv r 3^ O^ C^ CO C— vO U> fON t^ IX^vO CO t—vC-^vO CM (T

ai > IT «> o j--3_3- lr^Lr^ irMrMiMrMrMrMrvUMr irNLTNLrMiMrMr ir\ir\\o ^c^

>> o d o «i eovo oo CO -S' r-i 00 ir>roi r-i o^sQ sQ. vQ nQ J;-3^ u^oo r- r-eo K^ r-i

rH -H 3 043 vo c^oo o i-H o 00 ^-vO ir.K>3-2i-3'-33-vO CD CO c-vo if\r- i-H

OS « aJ O J oJ -d' sO ^<^ ^<^ i<N -S sO <) C^ CM rH K> O -S' t<^ r-i CM hfN KN _3- ir\ CM

3 3r-lO OCMCMC^t^OK^^CC7^CM IX^ J- CC CM \0 CO t^vO vO C3" CM ITn i-l l<^

O "3 O - ITn-^ C— 0^ O O On cc t- t^"^ C^OCO .-^CMK^J_d■-3■lf^Lr^^f^l^^

«<>'0 CMW^M.CM^f^^^^CMCM^JfMOTWcMK^^^^K^^<^^^^K^K^K^^r^_d■-d•

^0

•H T3 O

SO ONC7NO-3'ir\<7^.J;r-vO-J'-3"ON
-3■al^^r^og^gJ-3■oo^<^t^O•-3^
CO ^^^oCMlf^o^oCMOl^^CMcc^<^^-lOC^^f^CMCMr^^<^^Ooooc^

30

O- CM O ro, ITiKN CJNvO K^ CJNvO CM CM t<>-3'-J- LP. C- On CM vO O -^^ CM C^

a ccoo-q■-j■-3■LfNNO■^or^oDC^^<^^~■-lU^CMo^C3^CMvoc^rHoc

NOC--c^c^r-c--t~-c~-t~-t^r— f-oooco^o ococoocTNOCMr

t— ooC^Ol-lCMK^_3■ irNvo c^coCJno rHCMic\_:tif\so c^eDir\c~-

cccOCOC^O•C7^C3^0^0^u^C^C3^C^OOOOOOOOOr^.^
COCOCDCCCOC0000D00C0CDCCCCCJnOnCTvC>CJ-C^OnOOO On

482

iH in •
m d O

OJ invG CO crr-isOCr;-J-J-OCVJCVJ-JnHj^,-HOPOpNOrHCDC^

TJ >

P » CO

SS

c8 4J ,^5 aj O

•

a

O" * ai rH O

r-l rH f» rH O

•H

•p

<M a.

p O -

U 73

«

O CL

•H

«

4^ (0

>»

rH (0

rH

■H

? -^

0) O 10

<^

cb CO

5^^

• •H^-^

o h o

X

t> S "d

«J Bu O

OOOPOOOON-NOOOO

c^u^irv(SpircDpccNCPQ(r<?Jq^rHCDOOooix o

ooooooooo

rH O O- lo. fr\ i^^ ^£>^C^<^C^-3■OC^^-c^^r^c~-C\l(^J^f^^--rH

qONDCVJarHir^O CyCVJWO^C^C^rHLT^. OUN O-J t-^ O ll> r-T

-^-J-JvO t^C~-:^CO CDCJ- CC O (T^ ceo r— t--CCOOOOCTsO~'~'

° ri ^^ Lr>0>S-J ,-i C t~-rO,rHvOOaOrHC<l ir Jy-vO [J>
LT^. Lf^ UMTx IT Lf- IT IT IT -J J -J- J" ro. ^<^(^J^f^^<^t<^f<^^f^^f^^<^

e 73 09

-P fl (C

^ *^

CO CO

9 CC ol

d S 0) O

3 rH rH O
-P fS rH O

•rt t3 O

-p a o

C P o

«

■P 3 (B O

a! rH rH O

O^ rH (U rH O

rH « > O »

•H T3 O
4i B O
fl 3 O

^

t^rHLr\C9rHt^CMC^WrH0^\0 ^

o rrs vc O o <r IT vc o oc br eb so voCo^lt-o {\j Cff^^

rfNU^vC C-ociTst^ir, <M cCv0WK>O<M nQ vo*-^ on ir" o*r<> ON
\OvovOvOsor— r-cocco^ocCTcDLT-j'-jixvOsc t^c~-c--r-

cDrHt^^ovoirirrovoooo^oocsooKNvSvOrHrHCvi-d'
f<^-^ Q -d'-J ir.<ro a r^OK>,fo,cvj ltn^ c\i o ^ c-^m^ t-^ rH*

>fiM?7^^tf>-^t^<^ O Ot^ir, rHCVJ OsOhfNmsCjJ-itL;

• « . . .'^ ir^vOt--corHOsON^usco007HOoJW

rHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHOJOJrHrHrHrHCVJCVJCOCVJaTcM

-j'lTvLfNOOrHLfNtrNcr o oorH-3'ccr— ir\-d' >>o itn r^J o cvi
oo^vcooooco LOir-t^Lrr<NCVJhfNt^Lr\0JoCvi orr\t<N(r

OOOOOOOOvOO

uMTCvJooLrNO LT. Ond o

ecLT-d'^o ifNt^usd^iro^t^

u>^ riOrHOhrNroic^cvjto, L^^_3■ ITS in u^^o on oj CVI ifN c^ c

K^K^^<^ LT IT liMTMr liNvO sO vo no ir _3'-J-3'-3- umt iti lt. ir

ooD'<%-j-rHcncvi t^c^-4;<^Jso^f^^<^a ocDLr>t<NrHrHC on

ITi U"^ LT irMiMTs IT. IT' Lf LT, IT- IT-J- ^r^^<^K^^f^^f^K^^<^K^^r^^f^

0OrHrHC>0Ct--K>0OvOsON^-d'lXM<Na ITvvO O CVJ rH O CD CC

Otr>rHK\p t^CVJ OOvO r-sOvOrfNO^O O rH t^CC t^O OJW

J^t--IAN>OJ^O(M r^^f^J•^f^ t--t>-J-^ c~-c!o^-3-fvjNOir.a
\Qt:~tnq^o,-iOi ir\t~-arHC\j iropN on-? co c\j uArrC.^'vo'

-5 J^3-J UMT irMTMr . ITN sO vO US-:)- CU CVI hr\ro>_3-_j-_:j3-_g-

^ooo-3'rH^oc^<^J cj^vo t--ir\r^vo

-SonOJ O^T-LTNC-KNsO o C--CVJ_3'

CD C- CJ" OP o cvi ir\ CC o t^-it t~- ^f^

^<^lr^0^f^t^rH^O^<^CVJ OD
-J'-3'Lr rHvOOPNC 0-d"rH

t^ CC if^ C3^ r---3' r— »H c^vo

iTsO rH OS-? oncvjtrNLr\fo,_q-cnrHC7~rHOsot^c— ocrcpt^
t^r-NO irNsOsDon ir\C\j c~ ltmoii^ncvj l^^c^c^c t<^c^r-r^K^
ooccocoooccrono^oOrHOJCvioosc^Oi-iCViCviojrrNCVi

cj- o^. o^ cjN cr o^ c^ o^ (jN ON c^ cjs cjN (js cr o-. c^ o^ o^.

t^cD c^ o

On Ov OS (JN

483

c ■«♦

-o

(A •.

oo

a)

0) X

a H

-p

J3 (1)

1

rH

SI

-^

C cr,

3

P M

OJ

« 00

o

Q.

o

r-^

.H

(D

•r\

n

Hi

-P O

+J

o -

C3

0 -H

CO

o o

u u

•H

^ (U

m

+^ PL,

■P

<rj

V

?2

<rt

•. (0

o

ci 0)

■p

to 0]

•H

OrH

W

T! t> 0) O iH ^

o > o <a

a, tfl +J a &

t< S 4) a -p

J3 O C t) cB

(0 to
<0 4)

(O O

e M

•P +3 > -P 9)

CO -H -H <0 $

-P -P iH O

to

•H

U

w

-P

ert

m

m

rH

rH

H

rH

(1)

o

h

T3

rH

n

P

^

■P

H

> a> CO

to vH p t< o

OJ -p iH CO O

cr> a) .L rH O

rH rH >• H -

0) o

K -a

<D m

•H iU
P 0)

HJ rH rH O

8

C7>

cc

CD
00

O
lO
00

o

o
to
o

CD

OJ

to

OJ

m w

rp to

o
o
oo

05

m

rH

to

CD
05
H

oo
H

OJ

CJ5

in

'I'

0 0

to Tf

rH

rH

f-i H

r-{

rH

rH

rH

rH

r-^

r-\

r-i r-t

rH

lO

OO

to

to

00
OO

00
lO

o

CD

OO
H
rH

rH

00

o

rH

CO 00
05 Tjl
•^ CD
•*■ #1
rH rH

O

s

rH

O

m
oo

o

00

o

O)

m

H

0

r-T

CV2
0
CJ5

r-i 0
rH r-T

O

o

to

o
o

8

05

o
to

CO

8

oo

O

LO

o

8

O

in

o

to

GO

88

o o

8

8

05

o
oo

H

o
m
w

8

m

8

C\2

8

88

m c~

o

to

t- rH
r-\ <M

05

rH

to

OJ

CO

CO

CO O
to <<

05
OJ

ev2

05

m
to

to

to

m to
to to

H

o

tc

<0

rH

s

OJ

o

rH
05

'J'

rH

to

o

05 O

in CD

CD r^

O

CO
00
00

Oi

to
o

cr

5;

OJ
CO

00

•*
OJ

OJ CD

CO

Oi

H

in

rH

CO C^

r-t r-{

s

rH

00
H

05

r-i

0

CVi

oo CO
rH r-{

rH

to

CO

8

OD

to

rH

o

o

CD

OJ r-i

n^ to

8

o
m

O

to

05

CO

00 r-i

to

to

OJ

U3

to

■^

■"»"

lO

-*

Tji rjl

rr

m

■«1<

•^

to

to

to

to •<J*

o
o
0-

o

'J'

o

o

lO

O
OO
05

o o o o

O U5 oo W
CO W OO U5

o o
o 00

00 CO

o
in

00

O
o

8

CD

o

•<*

0

00

r-{

0

OJ

0 0

0 05

to 0

rH

05

rH

00

03
rH

05

o

Oi

C\i

to

H

00

rH

in 02

W OJ

o
to

CD
C^

rH

o

OJ
OJ

10
OJ

to

Oi

in CD

OJ OJ

to

CO

^

OJ

H

s

rH OO rH
in rH rH

GO

m

CO

OJ
C5

o

0

05

^ 00
(35 OJ

rH

rH

rH

C\2

w

OJ

Oi

■*

^

■* ^

to

to

Oi

02

OJ

OJ

OJ

OJ to

t<i
rH

rH

to

OJ
00
CD

o

rH
U5

o

to

H

OJ to
CO 05
CJ> OJ

CO

O H

c:5 o

•^ o

s

-*

00

CJ5

t- in

to e^

C75 OJ

05 CD
0 05

in <*

H
H

rH
rH

o

rH

o>

H

H

05

H

OO

^ OO
OJ OJ

CD
OJ

05

•"Jl
rH

to

r-H

05 00
H rH

05 0

CD
H

05

to

O
(O

o
to

o
en
O

CO

to

OO

t- rH

O cn

"* Cv2

00
01

05

c\i t<;
«* cr.

00 00

t.J

O
OO
CD

rH

W

in

CO

to
c:5

0

Hi

rt 0
CD OJ

00 in

CO ^

CD m
00 0

in

t.-j

lO

«o

to

OJ
US

H

rH

in

o

C\2

00 00
05 CO

in CD

05
CO

to
m

o

00

cn

CT>

m

CO

OrH
C^tO

COCO

to CD
CD OJ
CD CC

00

oo

H

00
00

oo

rH

00
CO
rH

oo

05
OO
rH

o

05

rH

lO
O
CJ5

rH

§

05

rH

CJ5
H
0^

05

oo 05
OJ w

05 Oi

r-f r-i

o

to

£35
H

rH

to

05

rH

Oi

to

05
H

to
to

05

m
to

CJ5

t^oo
to to

0505
rHr-"

CJ5 0
to Tj<
0> <J5

r-i r-i

484

3i (h

■P rH

wt-.wioooc\ito«5rHcnaowwevi<owc-irttoioo5

ooooooooooooooooooooo

C--r-IOC-OC^^ultDV0WC\iOirt«0OU3OOOO

K a>

K50500«3C~WrHrHO)CVi05'3'CD«DtOlOCDC~lOt-C^

(1> t< (D

OOeCK300aOt0005;DW'<*'WlOOOOt~5PtDev2lO
tOrHOTOODOsJ'OitO^HW'^'tDOlOOO^OO'^C^

>

« (Q

to -H

P tH O

W -P

-S^H

CT) ed

rH H

> H -

OOOOOOOOOOOlOOOiOUJOiOOOO
COHOOtO'i'Wr-HlOlOtOrHi-ltOtOOOOW^WOBtO
C\iWWt^WT><cr)-*«OrHa>r-|iOOrHKiOHiD3t-

Tjirrw^ioiOTfin

ot~t^0DCT)Ocr>os

0) (0
Oi u

OS D si O

P P H O

-P H ,-l o

O BJ O -

towcv((Mioiocvic\jtotor-c^iO'>ii<(Ocviwwcjww

Olf-IIOtOUJrHCViWtOOOCJJWOleCltDOO^aDNeOtfl

WlOlOOlODtDWOr-ICOOOOOOOrHrHIOaOWOOWKi
«DHO>tOOOOC~f-<W(OWlOlO^WU5lOlOU5U5lO

oa)(Mooor-e~o)o>u5^oooioc\ic>-"*«oooOio

tDCO(J>tC03C^CDC~'*WtOT}<OrHrH 0>0>T}<«3010
rHC^CDO5LOrHeOtDOW>O<D0DU3'^ «OC~<DrHOOl/5
WWWWWOitGlOevitOHr-lrHrHrH HWWWCViW

485

0) -CO

> b

(M +> rH

15

10 a

<D 4) 3

<< > -o

oocotooo«>e^'*'00t-oc^i0i-<«0i-40»<0'>i<'^m
o»wc^c»coocvJr-(wcocotoo-cococD-on'<*mcO'0

c^c^ocotoo>ioc-'*o>c^ocoNrHO>o>mio<oc»n
tooDc-irHco tDc»o»c»'^oo->i<oomcocomcDtococ\J

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOQOOQOOQQ

rHC\JHiHrHi-IHi-4rH

<o.-^ocoaDtsc\JN■*c~■^l^cQ^oo>,^lnr^cM^fiNe^M

000>'<'WCOC^N«OCO'^tOin'«l<CD100lfiWOOOO<0

if3coc\j-j3oc\ji-')o>ino'>J<H'<'W'^i>-<oir5iocoooo>

s

1

01

O

s

s?

o

o

o

S

o
o

o

ir,

o

o

o

o

o
o

s

o

S^

s

o

CO
CO

00

88

CM
CD

rH

o

»-(

li>

i-H

rH

lij

lO

rH

a>

rH

r-4

C--

00

CO

iH

«o

0»

C»

o

CO

^ to

'J'

>•

•H

••

••

~

*

*

*

•►

•*

•

•»

•

•■

*

•

*

**

•* **

*

0> O C- OD •sf ■* ■"I'

CMMWtOHrHNrHCv3»j<-<#t<JWHi-tiMNCM<MMCMCvJ

rH«D«0'<j<iNa>.~ooo>tO'j<ininiOHcoiocOrHcoc>-c>-
wc7>inoo>p-m'*iooOpHioo>o<o-<J'WcOtf><oo>io
i-io>tOrHC»0'i<ioioinwoi-(o>oo>iO'>^cO<OH"*

lnlOc»o<oaDcoe^MlOr^^^^'lOlnlnlr5<o(0<o^-^

CO'*'<J<0>COOWlOC!»COCOOOOJt>-OrHC^10l0^n«D

StoNrHO>wcO'*a)WCBmNooOr-iNc»'<i<o»ioto
OOOOOlOrH in rH'^CO tOrH«DOCOOOOOCVjm«OC>-

w<j>-^owino>rHiOi-t'#<xiino>wa»w<i'N'4<coo

OrHNNO'<itrHr-|NN'£>OC0inC^CDt0rT40>0>NW

NcMtocotO-^'^^intowS'

NCOCMCMCMCOWCVJrtCO

C>-C0OrHINrH^l<C0OlOCBOrHWW-^mt0l>-C00»O
OOflOC»0>OTOOOC\3C\2McOtO«COeOtOtOtOl<lt<J'*

oocococoa3o>a>c7>a>cnci>o>9C7>o>o>a>a>a>(7>o>(7>

HrHHrHrHfH^Ht-tiHrHf-trHi-tiHr-tr-lrHHi-IHH

«o

■H

(!1

M

■P

rH

34

<0

i-l

iH

i-H

O

a>

T)

u

m

-^

to

3

1-1

"^CMCMtOOOlNlOCMtOOtOinHi-l
■*cO.-(Nt>-t-OCOOCOtOC\Jt-b--.i<

1-1 c» ^ c^ o> o o

■ iO r^ C^ ta r-i ri

■Of \n ta ■<f -^ ■^

^NrH<00»'J<00«0'*<OHmOHi-(l010IOinrHt-

o o o o o

tooO'J'NW'Oinoincoo'i'coe^ioevj.iito

00O>(MC\J^C^C^OOrHrHi-IO.-IOO«C4C>lWW

tQtOTfTlilO.^TliHNWCMrHiHCMNrHi-IH.HrHrH

■P 3 to O
(0 H ^ O

•d §

:^

. oj O

3 rj r-t O

+> <d i-i o

o > o •■

■rt "rt o

+= d o
d 3 o

0>OOl<500rH'^MO>CVl<OCOCD«D^NO

Nc\jNc\jto^i'5D'^in<o«o<D'i<'^iO'j<«3Tjiiomm

CMCMNNCMMWrHCMCVlCMrHrHCMrHHrHrHrHr-lrH

000>mi>-C0^N'*C000C»lOC^tO<DWOlrtiHCO'O
rHiH'^inCDCOOCOOOOi-IONOCOtOlOOCfJOO

HrHf-if-ifHN'<i<ioioin<otf>^j<rtNnio^'#Ti<'5i<

c»c-t<j00Nc^Ti<O'>*a)-<i<t<}t>-ej'*'o

•>J'-*NOa50>rHlf3rHC>-tOtOOcnOOOCO[NO

•* IN N in

■^

lsa30>OC^CMCOCDl<>t>COO>OrHN'^tOC^CDO»0

§COOOO>C3>OOHCM(MC\2!MCOCOCOCOtfl!ncOcO^J<
cocococoa>a>a>a>a>a>a>a>a><}>a'0>o>a>o*a>

rWHHHHr-li-li-li-lrHHi-lrHrHrHi-IiHr-IHi-HrH

eC CO

487

CD n
> U

<0 -H 03

^ a)

+> r-i

^ -d

R <D

(D m

r-l CO O

ti H O

(> H O

OD 0) fil O

3 =1 ,-1 O

■P H i-l O

o d o •■

<; t» -d

(liinc>-a3«DeOT(<iOOi-<'*Hoo^O'*W'*iHQ»

CMWWIOtOtOO'OeOOCMTj'OJlOttJOilOOlOnO

•rfi<H.rfi«30C^iHtO«Dmo>-lr:IOt<-Tj<rHC-rH<000

OOOOOOlrtQOOOOOOOOOOOQO

iniototoioc-totocOrHONO

COtOCOI>OOrH-*rHO£OlO<OC-OJprMCOCO<Oing

o>too>*tHCOo>coinrHto<OrH^c^coisc--oioin

<Ot^O»0>rHW-^C0010<0'^IONO-<<<mC>-tSt>IO

U300i-ICO-«l'CV3O>iH'*O>OkC0lOC»WlOC0

oi>-C'C>-co«Di>-'>i"inioininm'<i<'^'*ioioinmio

tOrHNOinOOCOOOOOlOCOrtcONoOOCD

c»oit>^i<c-tOQOin-*moo><og-*o^OrHQto

0>rHO>cOaDO»tOO>0'^iMCOCOCONlOC»(X)rHro'l<

C\ll<5tO'*'4<IOI>-^COOOO>C>-<OtOCOO>HrHC\JtO

H rH rH rH H H

Q'OOOIf'lOt-OCO(M«3'*«3COrHCpr-jOgrHNrt

•^^^■<i(co:oinioinioinii-3'a«EONtO'*'i<'*'<i»'*

c>-o«o>W'^tNo»«Deooi-iiniO'*oio«>tNpi-!
c-Nto«^-o>«ooa^«^«omo>r^■*c^toc^t^^-co

tOCOM^CM-dit^lOOCncOOJt-OOtOOrHC-ODm

rHHN<MWcO'^<0000»0>tO«Oir3'*<OOOOaOC3>0

0»C0cvJl<5«0OC0'«l't0OOlO(MOt0'<f0»INrHlOCD

«0HC0Q^-^l>-t00>i-|OO>lOrHHMO0>lOr-!>-!

ocD-*coinHtooo^too»aDC3>c»«Dcooc3>iocoo

HHrHrH.-l.-lrH,-(rHrHCM(Mc5N

I>-C0a>OINNCD(nt<iC~(D0»OrHWrl<t0INCB0»O
COCDCOOiOOOrHNNNWcOtOcQWtOtOrtCO'J'

oococoaocoo>a>o>c3>o>o>cj>o»o»o>o>o>o»o»o>o>
r^Hr^r^l-lr^Hr^r^r^^^t^r^r^l^^^r^l-(^^<^H

488

s:

<Q

M "^

'3

"< -O

S

;::

C\J -P rH <0 O
0> CO to H O
rH H > rH O

n

3 rH O
rH rH O
Oj O »

00 to rH CM

in

lDrHCMrH«3W'i'OCV10mnOOOCO'>*ISt^rHO<OCM
0>lOW'«i<00«OIrtWOOO>OrHC>'^OCvlOO>rHaD»
tDlfiin«0«01NC^rHNN0>ON0»CD0»rH'^OrHrHn

rH rH rH rH rH rH

ir5t*0>«0'<l<rHrHe0rH'Ot-t0C^C\l''l'0)<OrH<0Oe0«0T}t

o»o»o«on tD'<i<cRO>«oa>'<i'«OQOeoioc*oto^£-rHC»

WlOtOWtOcO'<i'COOrHOO>0000<om<00>rHCS>(DO>0

o

m

CM

o
to
to

to

o
o

tn

s

CO

o

in

o

in
<o

o

CO

o

o

51

o
o

o

CM

o

2

to

o

to

o

o

CO

to

o

in

O

CM

o

rH

rH

rH

rH

rH

CM
H

rH

rH

CO

rH

H

rH

eo

r-i

to

rH

CM
rH

o

rH

CM

to

to
l-t

CO

H

rH
rH

H

rH

in

rH

to

rH

CO

in

o»

CO
CM

in

n
^

lO
lO

in

to

O
O

rH

in

CM
CO

CO

CO

in

o

CO
en

at
to

00

CM

to
a>

to

in

CM

in

H
O

to

to

CM

to

51

to

IN
0>

CO

CM

0>

<o

IN

00

C^

IN

00

C^

to

in

in

c-

to

to

to

C^

c*

to

in

to

to

tN

in

n

D-

CM

S

rH

o

^

CM

to

r-i

CO

to

o
o

•*
CO

CO

rH

O

o

CM

o

in

CM

CO

CO

s

a>

CM

CO
o

•<it

O

to

^

-*

lO

in

in

<o

CO

rH
rH

CO

IN

CB

00

CO

e~

eo

00

CO

a>

o

rH

c»

inoDoocMtooioooooooinoingoooocj

CM®OIOOOO>inCMCMtOCMO<OINin-^tj'rHOtl'C-t£>
C^lO,it'.^OtOO»COO>rHO»rHOCMt-rHCD'i<<3>OC--INrH

^ •^ ti" ^ in ^ji'in intoc-toc^c-ootototoc^c^t-e^oot-

t-CMrH!0«rHinOrHtOtOO>tOincMrf:OiniNrH'i<0»rH
CMCMCMCMCMcOCOtOtOCOCSC-tOtOininintOtOE^C^INC^

cMtocMHrH'Jst-tnoinr-.JOOO'WO'i'inwrtcocMeo

Oi^C^S-rH'^tOO»O>O>tO00incMC0inCM'*C0cOCOtOCM

totosjtcMtoe^e^cMtot-o>c^ootoorHCJ>toooiNto

CMCMCMCMCMCMCOtOtD'OintOtOtO'*'«l'inintOtOtOtOin

cMto«oe*incMo»e>itoflOo»ooc-'<*'iirHtOtooo .)to

tliOOO»CMCJO>COtOCOCMtOOO'i<CM'i<OrHCMC^in 0»

<SOOOtOCNrHtOCMC^COCOcOO»C^INtOsCCMCMO»U, CMCM

o>t-cotocototO'*coc-toin'*rH

0»rHrHC^rHOOOOOaOtOOOO»C»
rH rH H rH rH H

ino>ocoo>tocot^cMtNaoo>OrHCMi03i;io«c-©cjg

00000>0>CJ»c50rHCMCMCMCMtOCOCOCOcOtOtOtOcOCOTj«
C0000Dfl000(»O»O>O>O»O»O>O>C»O>O»C»O><»<»O>O»CJ>
^f^^rHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHr-irHTHrHrHrHrHrHi-tfHrHrH

Si

3

a
d

o

•

p

489

«

(0

<o

>

•H

a

w

■P

H

o>

0)

H

H

iH

O

(D

ij

h

VI

s

a

.-1

+»

rH

<< Td

N

0)

-d

r-l

o

0»

r-t

.H

o

H

^

>

O

(D

n

O

■♦»

■H

CI

*

n

a « ffl o

+» H H O
q d O -

C^'*C0l0rHrHNOI<JCQOr-l'<l<C^r-l<O<Di-t««DO0>'*OCVl-^
<O(D<DO>C0C0C^OWt0Tj<OrHOt0t00>00rH« ■^-^lO'^Ti'OO

r-IHr-4iHHrHiHiHi-l iHrHiHrHHiHrHiH

Soioc^oOiH'<*oo'^inoococDO'*<Ntomc7»c^c\itomcoc^50
^«C000rHO<OC0Ol0rH00'iJ'lOC~-OW-^C0WOLOOCn«0
CO-*tO'*'i'IOIOO>tO«^OOOCMrHC^lfiI>-Or-|Wn,HO'*

1-1 rH iH iH rH rH rH

r-t r-i r-\ r-i r-i

oooooooooo

NtD^O'^rtrHrHOOin

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

C>-rH(0«C0O'*<0rH01^0e-->i<C0C\J-*Lr5(.ML0WCQOlOl0Nt0

«3 rH in «i in
cOfoy3minm'i<T<i'>i<'5j<tocototocvjco to iMMrHrHrHwwww

QOoooooooopoomooQoooooogooQO

trt'*C>-WO»c-0»'<*'C6'^'<iirHO»rHCDCOOC3>WCM'd<CDlOCn®<D
ONrHOrHCOlO'*C3>';l<C^O>LON.N(OlO'<*<M<DOOC>WrHino

■<J<^COtOCOCOtO'*'5l<«il<lOWl<5CM<MNNrHHrHrHrHrHrHrHN

OC-COODrHO><O^W<MOmc^lO<D'l'IM

rHrHWWrHNMCMCMrH

W W W N

W<O'J<rHlO«O«OtOrH00lO'<^£0C\3'^O>C»(DrHOO«Vt>lQ<OrH
■^O-Oi^rHLOOO-^ODWWrHrHCOOOOC^uaoO'^C^CDevJCd
00000»'OOC-WC>.tDO«DmrH'*COP3'*rHrHNtOCDa3aOW

c^ooio<Dow •>4'iNU^t>t>-t>-cvjin'*to [>oo»o (omtoiow <o

rH rH rH rH rH rH H

Sc«ioc3>'<i'coinNtO'j<mtots<Da>OrHMn'<}'io'Oc^n3o>o
C»CnO>OOi-tWCMCVlNC\3(MNNCQ'0««WtOt»COCOCO'*

coa)cDeocj>cRO>cT>o>o»a>o>o>a>c3>o>o>c7>CRo>o»cno>c»a>o>

rHHrHrHrHrHHrHrHrHrHr-HrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrH

490

>>«

O O to

S3 O) a

<Q r-l -rH
•H I h

&4 ^- a.

00

O H >
O -H

St, «+J

4> ca :c;

•H OS

x: aj a

•H r-j

^ <0 (9

ID

o

-a^

W|

iH -<

c

« h

0)

OS D-

o

(U

>

0)

OJ

<D -W

3

S

o

Cvi +>

r-t

o

05 0)

e8

rH

<::>

rH rH

>

r-l

C

o

CH

-a

m m

O -P

■H fl

h o

m
ti

a V

Bl

o

P 3

rH

n

-P .H

r-l

o

u50'^inioowiOrHcr)totccncv2t>-OTcooot>-o>050o

OOt^ODC^KitCOWtOW'^'i^COt-CJtOMJi-IOllOt-

•H -g o

•e c o

C 3 O

(D 01

W -P

■H C

w -P i-i tri o
o> a) «j rH o

rH rH r> H -

55^8

o (d o -

•a; > T3

•a

^«

01

■H T< O

rH

-P fl o

a

fl 3 O

(d o >

w

3 D,

Of

»

(D

S

OOOrHWC\;rH(CiO:OfT>cnoC(l3C^t-t~t-C~«oC--

OQOOOOOOOcoeoOOO'^l'OOinOOrH
ooO'^oimmoaaoinO'S'OOrHri'Oit^wwco'l*

(ritOtOOK3O5O>OCM00t~r-Cnt--rHOllCtOrH«D«D

l«lCeviTl<'^<;»<lO'^rHO:OrHOC6t--tDt-CDO0000
rHr-lrHrHrHrHrHrHrH rHrHrH rH

rHrHt005t~^030^ !OTtO'S'«*t-

rH Oi W m C\2
05 rH rH O H

«^oOrH«*■^r^^o^o^-^OrHCDTJ<ooolc•^moo^-
c-ioOao(OrDOOt^t^^^CT5ooicuoc^opu5t~o>
^-c>-woDr^02^-■*ouic--(^^•^OcDlOo^rHOJ«>^-

t^C>-e~t-00rDC-C0t^O2OrHO;r-Tj<rJ<i/5t^C^tD{D

rl'rHC--K3lOaOCjT}<rHt<j^rOOOCVICOt«-t^'<*tOCOW

^2t^OJlO•>*r^C5^-0"!J■w^-^DC^J^-Loo^^-cnto^-
03rHiO'*tDtcanc--ocoir;rH'*t»-OrHc~oo5'^r-l

rHi

C--C^t003tDrHa)lOC2WtC-^t~OQ0005tOa>rHO
WOirHr-jrHWrHOrHOJrHNWrHOiaiOrHWlOrH
,-{r^^r-ir-<r-i:--ir-it-< r-^ r-i r-\ r-^ t-{ r-{ r-i r-i

t--nOC310rHt~-rH^aDH«50>OrHCvitOU3t^CDO>0
OOCOODClOOJOOOWOiCsilOtOlOtOtOtr, tQlO^

oooooocoooaDaiCT>050>c;cJia;a3CT>05CT>05C3icno5

rHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHr-HrHrH

CvimaDOJCUt-tCOJOiO'rHlfiC^e-CDTrWt^COfO
0500a5l'5000U;rHC^tOWT}'Cy>'JIO-<a'^CDt--rH

oooooooooooooooooooo

OOOOCDrHlCiWOrf^rHrHlOCsiaSCPCJ'COC^rHC^O
IO«OCntOrHa0-^rJiTj<C^tD0Clrt'3*NlOa>r-tOa3

U50lOrHI/3rH>/>tOtO<7)rHTj<lOOCJ>i-Oa3OOrHsl<
t^C-CO«DCV20OaDK)cCrHrH00^(?5«OC--a50DOSOJ

WO>mrJ't^HOOO'l''«4'rHrHaimtf)050'^rH<T3
— -— .--. -oot--WC3CVitD03WtDWa3
COWCDlOOtOOOOOrHtON

Tj<C\2lOtDlOiOWrH>^COlrtO>aDO>BirtU5«DrH'J'
t~OC33lO'^Lr3tQaO'<l<OOrHrHC--CD T)aDOO>0>t-
WWrHKltOCitOOCO'^Cii-fJ'^WlOCViO'S'OtD

{OIVrHOOO'*(MOOtOroiO'^OC--OOiOCvi'^
lrtlOCJlOOWC^eO000>TD051OC0Cnui{0tCiDW

r-00O200OiU5a005«i'GatT>OrHW!OU5C^00O3O
QOaO<X)OOOOrHW:^t\JlOtOtOK5bQtOt<JtOT)<

ooaoaocooc5CJ5o;ooio>050>oJ050so>050503

rHlHrHrHr-lrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrH

491

::ti

I

•*l

V

> 0) w

W -p rj (0 O
OS aJ (0 rH O
H rH > rH -

5^

80 <D 3 O

3 3 H O

43 r-| rH O

o ed o -

•«J'U0lOlOU5U3«3(Ol/3miri;OTl<U5rj<K3'J<eCtOT}<T}l

ODOrHOOWlOOlOWOOW OlOOSOOOHlO
C^t^lOt^OSTJlrH'^r-t'^OO'l'CDrH'i'OOOlOlOi-l
OOU5C-00C^0J0DtO^00WOOl/5i-l«3O'^rHW

WWOiOiWtCtOUJUJlOUO'^Tl'tOCVWtOtOKjtOtO

CO CO . _ _ . _ _ _ _. .- . .

t-iH^iooob-oit^tCrHcocn^ 05Cvi<Hir>rj<'<a'c^eo

HrHiHrHrHWiOlO^iOiO^tO CviWCi-iJ'tOtOtOtC

^

_ bOOCDWT*WC\i(OWOeQW«O00tOTj<tC00C»tO
tOlOWC»-Tj<{D^rHUVt^OtOCO OirHWOtDWOOtD

t~OOCJJOt-WOOCOeOe--CDCnO rHW^tOt~-00 05 0

OOOOCOOOOOHOiCviWWtO KitClOIOtOtOM'*

OOCOQOOOCOCT)05CnCT>0500305 CTJ050301d050>05

HrHHrHHHrHrHHrHi-lrHfH r-lrHrHrHi-li-HrHrH

lO B)

tM

to T)

(.\i nH

T)

•> u

fl)

t-^ O

+5

•--i r-\

crt

-n

H
O

•s

o.

•

rH «)

(d

Tl

t~- 4)

li

ID

• XI

+J

Oi

OO O

X

m

x:

<B

a)

u

>

e

■P

13

(U

D]

01

«3 M

(0

o

W o

o

CO

o

n

•- «>

0)

^■a

■p

+)

J

«

-p

ID

0

a

rH <U

0)

h

f?"?

13
•H

^

•mH

u

+j

CO w

o

o

' rHl , W)

I

•3

a

0)

o

3 Pi O

r-l (C O

id H O

> H -

45^

h 0>

10
H h

cd 0) a) o

3 3 H Q

•P H H O

O c) o -

H O f-l O
lO CO 00 CO

lO o>
CO to

s

58

05

OO

OO

03
lO

o

CviCDOWWHOW
T»i05U305'«}<t-00

o in
x^ o3

b- t-

OO

03

t- OO 00 us •^ CO to

CD

lO rl< •^

-i"

^

•<(1<

•^1

■^

Tj. ^

o o

OO Cvi

8§

lO o
O 00

o

CD

o

00
H

O

o
to

8

03

O
03

o too

lO O^
to rHO

O

rH

OO
03

to

8

05

00

o

OO

C^J

o

CD t^

OO O

J^

1-1

'* to to iH
H <-i r-f r-^

CO

;1

o

H

d

05 COC^

C^

CO

CD

CD

OO

OO OO

o to
w to

03

to

CD •*
lO CD

05
00

to

CM
CO

d

OO

o

lO H05
(35 W05

OO
CO

lO

o

OO

in

CD
rH

03 03

to OO

,JH Tt

•^

U5

to ■*

"tf

to

CO

t- CD

U3

to tocvi

to

to

to

to

to

to to

OO CO
111 Oi
05 00

03

H
00

H W OO iH
■^1< to i-H to
lO CO o» o

05
05

to

rH

rH

o>
to

CO
00

t^ C^i lO
00 W CO

to

to

•*

^

CD W
t- O
00 to

H 05

m o

CD 03

■* U5

Oi

o>

CD t^

t^ t~

O W

rH rH

o

rH

o

CD U5 -"af

lO

lO

U5

in

CO

CO CD

lO 00
00 W
CD W

to

rH

to

00
OO

OO ^

OO o

lO lO

U3
r-i

00

in

i-t

o>
o

tc

05
CO
>*

(O

WHO
O W 05
C- lO to

CM

to

H

05

to

CO

to
in

in

CD

H

m

W05

tvO

0)in

dJ3

05
OO

to

to '1'
00 CD

r-l

oo
o

C\2

lO
H

O

lO
CD
rH

05

H

W to CD
t^ CO lO
^ r-\ ,-\

in

H

rH

CO

rH

o

rH

C:5

o>

tni>-

03l>-

r-tr-i

^- OO

OO OO
OO OD
H .-1

O H

OJ <n

00 OO

t- rH
05 O
OO CJ)

H rH

03

CO
O
05

iH

O
C\2
CJ5

rH

lO

Oi
03

rH

o>

05
rH

05

rH

rH W to ■»!< lO CD >•

to to to to to to to

05 05 03 05 03 05 03

rH H H H H H H

OO

to

05

05 O

to •>«'
<J> 05

rH H

492

tH O. o

0)

> o m

to -H P t( O

W -P rH CO O

0> a) «i rH O

<0

T3

at o 3

o

P P H o
■P rj (H O
O ed O -

•k

4>

^

•«»; > T3

a>

e

>,

^

49 n

•H •« O

■p a o

-a
o

^

fl P o

3 a-

(C

cy

A

(h

«)

O

•H

h

(>4

,

cd

«

1

to

>H

tOlO<000'«J'OeOi-ltD'J'OC\ir-(
t^OSOO'^^tOtOrHlOC^t^t-.tOH

TlttOtO'^'«J<l/5lDlOtDCOO>aDt-aiCDOOt--COOOa0020a3

OOO;QCVJ<cO^lOl/5OOU5V0
WCnOujOOt-iOt^OJC^tOWrH
t-LO^C\2OtDO3K5tDrHi-lr-0DC\i

o o o o o o o

to O CD W CD «0 KJ
t- K5 e^ Tji 00 o> c~

o o

CO cc
C- rH

■'^^'I'^lOTl'irjLOcDC^CDCDtDOOtOCDCDt-t^COt^OOC^

Owt--ioo5a5WiioovntHoocDio
i^evji-iwcvit-iirtOKjto^wioco

OD rH
05

CSiWWCViCVitQK5tO«OCDO>flDCOCO"5lOlOCOCOC>-C-t-f-

<M C~ (H W lO e-- t-

- _ - - cowc^tcujor-
<ocD'^wcDt^c^w^t^05'S'aoa:(00oo5icioo

t^ CD

CVlC\2(MNNC\2tO(0(0C0IOC0>OU3^^iamc0(0C0C0U;

WcOOOOt>-VOOOO>'*C^OOU5C<5tO
"*000>CViWO>H«DOOC\2CDt^CD^
ODOaDCDC^i-ICOW'^tOtOCOtDi-t

CJ> O C~ CD 0> C\J CO
•<4< to C-- lO Cvi rH C\i
00 C^ W lO 05 rH CVi

Ol t-

tO DO
CO O

CO t~ 00 05

,^

.<?!

OlOc^>«oco^-N^~ooo20rH

COa30>CT>0500rHWWCViev2eOtO

eoooa3oooocjoi050>o>o>oio>o>

W lO 'Ji lO CO t^ oo
to lO 60 to lO K3 eO
Gi Ci Oi Oi 0> ^ C>

o» o

05 (75

C^05

^

>

e

m

CD

•H

P

»H o

W

■P

iH

cfl O

o>

(S

Cl

rH O

rH

rH

>

r-t -

a)

O

«

T3

0)

m

o

-p

« Q) 3

+3 rH H O

■3 O

c o

P o

COCD'OCDt-WCD'^LOlOlOlOlO'J'tOTji'^J'Tli'^-.^LO

WOOOOC\iiOOOOOOC^iOiOOOcOOOOO
^}''^OCOH«OOOCv2tOCDOOO>lOflOCViCDt-COOOlO<*
iOt^(OU5r-IW'^(OOtOWCVit>-C«-rHtOlOtOC--C\iW

WW«OtO'^lOCD'!l't^0505flOCOlOlOt^00005rHW

lOtOK5(OlO(0'<:J<lOl/ilOlOlO«i)<tOWtOtOtOeOtO'^

^l'COWOt~CvilrtlOt^rHO>Tt<'<;)<C\iaiOlOO'*C-eO
WCOOOQrHOr-C--C^tOCDOtOCUrHrHW-^OOC--CNi
'*U5CDOO>rHOc00050)C75GOWlOlOOJC5COCOCO

rHrHr-tCvirHtO'*Uit^cO00C--iO'>*lOlOcO00e--00O5

lOTjtlOt-tOrHOODlOTjtcOWHiOCnOcDCOWCVJO
rHcDCOtO^lO<;}<CD^'*00miOOC\2OWO5C75C0C0
ODlOrH^C\ilO-<3<CJ>-^W'*lOW0500COrHOU5<;)<lrt

CDOlO(Dt-'*'<*tOCOWlOt^lrttOWCO'0'^tDt-'<i<

tOr}tlOlOlOC75C!OOJtDCOlOtOtO(Ot--OOWONW

t-ir^r-^r-tt-ir-ti-iT-^r-ir-fQiQyiQii^

>\

"51

—II

t^0005OC^Oi0000eOt~C005OrHCV'^C0t~-C005O

0000CD05a>OOrHWC\2WCVitOlOlOtO(OtOb0tO'^

ooooooaoaDO:<3505aJCJ505CTi05Cj5aic350>05CT>a>05

mmi ^ — ^ .^ ^ ^ _i _J I I I I I I I I I I ■ __1 _l

•H H|

493

O

00

CO

CO

CO

CD

C\J CM
00 00

l£>

CM

s

CD

C3

CM

no

lO

t>

lO

tC

<'

rH

tc.

02

0>

lO

•* OO

OO

CD

lO

to

irj

m

■*

•^t<

r»<

■^J<

^

lO

to

to

CM

lO

to

«

to

to

to

to

to

to

CO tC

CD

O
CO

en o

O

tc
•>*

O

CD

o

H

o

o o

W K.

o
o

05

o

lO

o

00

o
o

O

00

^-

lo o
t~- o

o

lO
CD

o

lO
CD

o

00

o

o

CO

o

o
m

o
in

o o

00 OO
CM r-\

«5

CD

CO

o

O
rH

to

rH

rH

00
rH

a-

iH

CM
CM

on

CM
CM

o

Ci

02

U3

CM

OO

CO
rH

02

rH

CM
CM

CM

lO

CJ

CM to

CD
ir.

W OD

to W

s

o

CD

U> CM O
00 t>- M5

CM

O
lO

s

<« rH
00 CM

lO

to

lO

00 r-<

o

rH

o

CD O

^J"

(C

CM CvJ

(O

to

to

•^

"^l"

•s<

■>*

lO

to

to

CM

to CM

CVl CM CM

CM

CM

tn

to

CM to

OD

o

o

CO

o
to

O 00

O LQ

CO

rH

tc

O
O

to

U5 t^

no
to

Oi
rH

to

ro

to

en

to

CD
OO

to
cr-

en
>o
in

00
CD

in

00

CJ5

tc
ej:

•-*

to

to O

00 CO
lO 00

Ki

(C

^fJ

Ifi

CD

CD

02

CM

CD

rH

iH

to

CM

00 iH

H CM

en

iH

to

CM

CM
CM

to

rH

00

CM

to

cj;

en

to

CM

rH
CM

CM CO
CM CM

r-l

CO

o

r-l

IC

t-

co

lO
C\i
rH

t-t
CI
CO

C>- rH

to c~

s

lO

rH

OO

o

CO

to

00

a;

CM

CB

rH

O

CD
LO

to

O

CO

o

CO

CM

t<3

to

CD

to
m

CM

to
en

'J'
OO

rt to
CM O

'=1'
00

8

in
to

rH

in
o

o

H

lO

CD

01

to

CM
O

^

H

w

00

CM
CM
CD

CM
rH

CO

t-- CM
to 05
OO CD

CV!
O
lO

rH

CD

o
to

lO

02
CD

CM
OJ

^-

to

to

CD

^ in
■<* en

OO OO

00
00

r-f

at

00

lO 05 •<•
03 05 O

OO OD CT:

rH rH r-l

CO U)
O tH

H H

OX
CM

o>

rH

«0 ^ »0 CO
M CM Cl< CM

O) o> o o

pH iH rH H

CM
O

CM
O

rH

05
CM

o»

rH

O r-t

to to

CM

SO

en

rH

to

to

05

H

<*

lO

tc

CD

to
en

rH

to

02

r-1

OO

to

en

rH

03 o

to ^

H H

to to CD lO CD t-

>«J'CMt^rHtD-1*fDCM>OlOCD0000O
00«3-*l>-rHIMC-f-00>HC^tOCO

coflt>^-tD<7lm'Dco^^cotD^-u5tD

CO -H ID lU

CM +i 3 a O

03 (0 rH rH O

r-i r-i a r-A O

CM CD «* CC3 CM O

a cn in t~ t~ O)

00 <J> to 00 lO CO

Ca CM Oi CO .O to

^

M to to to to U3

•<;t< in CM en rf lO
00 tc so to in f~
lo t<i m 't -^ T)>

ACtU!
valu
QOll

S

rH rH rH CM to CM

ntity

Unas

000

(73 erj 00 CO CO o>
•# "d" rH rH CD CM
to rH m O 05 rH

•^ «k «k «t <K •>

^ en rH CM to lo

rji Tl< •^ !>- LO

«* CJ> CO 00 CM rH
C75 (Ji O O W CO
CO CD C^ O O^ C5

B

■^

i4

m

OS

»

f

a:

>J

rHf-l>-r»<ii"OC^tDlOrHrHrH

oocot^intotO'^fininujiotD^io

OOCMm-«J<t>-OOrHOOCMfrirHiO

coinoomcDcncncMTjiiOrHrHoocM
I I I I I I —J —J _j —J _i

eT>^-u5rH^DO<l'co^-^^»oeM.lOcn

CO<J>meD^<'OCSiOiHO'*iOO

rHr~iocD'*0DCMiO'<"miH<»c»'>j'

CMiHCMCMCM.CMCMCMC\tCVlCa.>HrHCM

t~00a>OiHCyltOTl<iO<ct~a0C7>O
CM0>*MiOtOlCtOtOtO lO.tC lO to "l"

a>o>cT>a>ffici>cr>9a>a>o>o>a>o)

494

o -p 2

p y *

0)

> fl) m

to -H p lU

Cv! ^J H i O

C: CC d rH o

r-! rH >• rH O

0) o -

aj a) H

-P r-l — I O

■P in

•^ T3 O

+J C O

a p o

o3 O -

3 D.

•^^i-icot^cr. cDoo

■<s<wioccooooo

CUCsitDOrcOOtOiO
D^ O b- li. to c^ k; lo to

wwcvievitotoioioco

tCCnOCDWtOCDOCi-)
lOC200PitOIVr-((X

rHrHWr-lt~-0OO>iHCvi

O^ W rH rH to C^ i-t ■* r-J

(XWCVirHrHrHrHrHCvirHNW

oooooooooooo
COiioir.O'ilcriOOcvio-o

KJWt^t^COtCCOPJtOfOtDLO

CJlrteCrHCr. tOtOrHCOOrHlA!
00 00 ^ C-- 00 O O C7> U( ■«J' C>J rH

ific\;ooioc--t>-oDKjOt<vco

coiou;cDirt>/3tr)CT>t''3ooe,'ao

Cr;COC\il/30^rHlCWOO«#'S'CO
'tWrHOOtOOlS'jWC^CniCtD

UJWtOtOtOLCODWLO

tOt~00«OrHOtOrHO

rH rH rH W C\i

CJr^a^co^-oao^OlOl<■:oj^;
•^rHOioiixof. wcviCntoco

S21

020rHWtocDC^aoOLr.'a;CrHc\ib'j'*ir.tDi>-coo>o
00 05 o o: O o O O rH cj cvi to tc w; «i to ic ec to nj t.'s ■<a'
ooa3cooDOiOJ02CT>o>CT:cnCT.o:o:05C>cr!Cro3 0"-cr. C5

rHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrH.HrH

fi

en

Q)

■p

+^

o

•H

+5

_

?>

o

o

t4

c^

0) <a

rH -H rt

C-- ^' Tji ^ O 00 05 CO 03 rH CO «

3

0}

-3

o

0) >

•H

ci

^1

».

o

0)

n

^

J3

ai

-p

CO

-P

■a

Ps, ^

^

■p

tM

i3

0)

0)

m

P

«)

o-

u

> 0) (0
M3 -H p fn

W -P rH rj O

0> Cd d rH O

rH rH > rH O

<u o -

aJ <U 3 O
P P rH O
-P rH rH O

OOOfOOOOOOOOO

cwowrHwc^o;cj'*a3Cit^

CDlrtrHt~-a0e£)'rtCO00a0O2t~-

oooooooo

'*tC-^c.VWTl<U5CC0Oa>t^'* Ot<JUirHC^C--li^^

tocccv;c>.;tDioioto<DrHWo«

rHt-t~-00WrHOC--OCV"3'«D
Kj«OrHrHrHC^tD'*«3t''iCO>0

o03tO'<a'c^OrHoocv;cv2 0c~

C\JCOt-tOtDl>-000

810 Irt 05 OJ rH Ci lO
rH 0> O W C^ C2 Tj-

cv^r^WrH^-o^Or^too^-c^i

•^tOlOrHt--0C00tCtOrHIOCV/
rHrH'^UD'^OlrtrHlCOCUO
OWrHrHCJ'^tOCDlOO^'C--

C~-0>rHCT:'<4'-*Cv2rH

05lOCJ>OrH(J>l<5t^

rHt>-C0rHTfr-ICs2e^

LO t~- oi t^ tc ao oo •<*

lOe.iCDtOC--t^Ot--'^^rHO

tDO-OOXrHCCC-rHrHO^lfiOJ

rH rH rH Ci W U5 «0 to

«;'00>coc\i^ootD
o fr'i rH •«i* k; tc 02 to

tO<D0OtDW00t-tO

^

crOrHc>iuicpc--ooOifia!Q— lc^^t<5■^u5co^-coa3d
00 (T a; cr. o c o o rH cvi Ci to tc to i>'3 to ic to nj i"" tQ M"
oooocDcoo2tTcrcncr500>0)0;cpCT:c3^C35o:05C7;cncD

rHrHrHrH-H-H— |rHrHrHrHrHHrH-4HrHHrHH— IrH

^ -^

495

Ci c

r-l O

a! •<#

<l)

1

>

D

•H

H

^

3

as

O

r-H

•^•H

Ih

a

r-t

O «J

<0 h

0)

0)

6-1

■^

o ^

•o tu

PL,

o

o

<H «M

o

•rt 'Q

a>

u a

1 >

<o a

3 -H

(Ih

3 a

U m

O H

O r-l

d

+*

;e

n -p

^4

iH mi

s^

0)

Qi

«M rH -H

Oi

U

O

Od Cm

M «M

o

41

0) O

> 0)

P O

.H d)

H O

+j M

(0 -

(d 0)

>=«s

•H T3 O
-POO

g 3 o

::^

^

W CO

LO en

to

1"

OD

1/5

CO
CV2

00

to

cn

to

lO
r-!

O lO 00 •* oo c>- to

O rH fH CT5 -* 00 CO

03 to

w

■<*•

r^

'^

Cvi

c^

t-

to

o

>*

to

O rH •«*• to W rH O

O t

LO

o

CO

O

t-

OS

00

CO

w

C^

rH lO en fH w evi rH

<*

U5

to

CD

to

00

to

o

1

CD

C» O rH to ■<<' lO CO
t>~ 00 00 00 00 00 CO

o •<*

I-)

Ifl

to

t~

e-

c«

o>

co

(O

la

^ «3' to lO r^ O 0>

CO (T>

to

IV

■<*'

^

'^i

CM

Ci

I-t

rH

H

H

rH r-l rH rH r4 rH O

CO '-O

o

r-!

i-(

o

r-"

r-«

00

m

r-4

CO

o>

CM lO t-- a> 0> OD CO

■* lO

o

lO

03
lO

o
to

to

lO

CO

to

CO

00
CO

o

■4' lo to t~- 00 a> O
t- c^ e- r- t~ t~ oo

03 t~

lO

H

o

u-S

lO

o

c-

c-

co

lO

co

to to CJ W O CTi OD

';JIOO fO-^-^'.^iCViWrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHOO

tOOCTi'^rHrHCO^WCy)'i'D--e\JrHWO>OOt^OOO>
tOrHrOCD05iO'^t-t0003(Ot--t~COrHOrHa3esi

aot^t~t--cDOOoot-t-cotoiou3ioioiO'*toto

•^ to C\2 rH rH rH rH

^

H-;^

^

;^'

+5

3
H O a J3

^ 43 a> (h id cq

O 3 t, 4i "O -H

o ja <B

lo) u) -H e 0)

^^•rl 0) >J ^ IQ

« f^ -H O col •>

> (U J3 ^, o» 'M

^ ja S 4J +> fl

& (U « -H

TJrH O (D C 3 «JrHJ<l.>»l^.r)

a]a<ocoa)rHU<3!cBc0aai

rH ^

•^^ ac DC s = E m o

•i! CO c3 a Oi 3 a>

>^H^ J J — S DC

rH

(J> to

rH O lO CO

oo o>

o»

05

OO

lO r->

ii>

e-. cB

o o

1 to

1 r-t

rvi to

H to O
"* ■sj' lO

no

o
to

C4
fO

'D

CO
CO

eo-O
CO r-

Oi to

lO CO

r-i

oo -*

« OS >0

■*

a

rH

o

O

OS

c~ o

•*

C\i»i

r4 O

'S

OS OS

if) ■^ -rM

>*

CO

CVi

CVi

cvi

rH

^-^ r-t

rH

r-\ rH

rH rH

o c>i

•r OS

CO t~ CD

-*

OS

to

CO

00

o

o o

OS

e^ -*

r-t t-

to to

rH CM

OS "lit
C\J to

00 H >*
to ■^ -sj"

"^

OS

rH
lO

Oi
lO

to

'i5

to

to c-

lO U3

no OS
lO lO

o o

CO CO

o w

cvi VO

t- rH OS

CO

UJ

'#

CO

CNi

M

o o

oi

00 c-

t- to

tOOCOlOCOtOOiOiCirHrHrHrHrHrHOOOOO

OOlOOOOOOOOtOtOU5-*t^U305lOlOOOOr-lrHO>
cp00O500lOOSlOrH'»l<n0CDC\itOtOtO-^OsOOSC\i
O3a)C-iCOC\irHC-.OSCOOSt~OSt--t-a0tO00'^tOPi

w)^

«J lO|

^

a, --s en ^

« CO rH
"O fn -P . .

t.^

3 3^

0 n +> 4^

+> <B "-'

3 *3

O -H r-t

(4 ^ -P 0)

■H -P ft 3 fci

h « T) T3 CO

a o o ^^>-^ ta ij a: CO na --' c So^-^pQjtS

OJ rH ^ ^ <D e 4>

(B rH «l -ri 3 J^ J<!
"" ^ h C>H rH Cd

■* o

to Q
CD O

• CQ lO

a It) Oi
n oi to

r-t JC

n ji

C «M -H

m Vi

iH O rH
O O r-t

<u Vi (d

^'^'^

•p -P

o o o

cvi tH en

■a

00

CO

3 V< 3

o o ho

a c3

— . o

.— ^ CQ +i

O <D <U

to O > 3

•>to^ ®o-H cr •
u a) o-H'-'fcm-P

> O lO-HrHrH-^^&O
-P OS <S t-i-H

(S a

to e 0) •>
^ c 0) 3 OS "^^ •
a. <D crcD lol-p -p

Q. • vH J3 rH

.r^ > CJ ^1 J3 hO (rf

tO«H<DOO •tHB

n w Q, C -rt ta 0)

■ 3 CO .H JS T5 e CD

0 y c *
3 -P *
U "Cm O r-t

Q. ai '—
„ _ ea O

..s (D +» fl «.^ O

•aPiOO-oQwo

^ S S3 C O O S

U .rl -H rjt

0) <D eB (d ^^ -— .U5
~ ^ - B "iie- Q OS

« rH C

-H a „

S -H (U in

r~ O U5

p,^ -p

EH (4

(D <D 4)

J= t) J3 . _

■p • +3 CQ to J3

rH •• P. t- C<-3 tJ

acdtQOOrHtO^

•rj o 0) -P -p e\j jd
ii .H to CO « •> s

■P bo (U a >>43 OS

•H o x: o o «M

S rH -P -H T) XI O

o a ->j "o

•O r-l O

-J -. . in 3 -H . -

dja t^x! (u o^-P

O 03 T3 «a S 5 »

•H a tt CB rH

bO 2 ^ 4) .-! i-t H

^ 4j .H hh o +j a

OD O .-^•«-'

0) h « « .p OS

^ m U V 03 «>\.

^J^oJnfl'O *«B0O|

■P 3 3 T)
t( (d ^-s ,H rH a) •>
otiOotj>»bo»
Cm o c a -p a id

en (d H «) h --i

H -H « •> >> ^4 (dj

SJUIQCQCBAOU

m Li Li a is DB V

i a -p ea h

>, g Cd CQ ID ^

x> o _ s »^

O T3 CD TS
ID M «

oa n -H ^
0) 3 a, uj
bo

s,.

d^ -a -p hh

<S> X! u

^.p bo a

toj ti ^ ^

a> 4) r^

01 O -P •>

_ _ -O to 0) O rH

U U G A-H cd a

VdJoJeiio-Pcaoa

> X! X! ID r-<

(d 4) h Oi cd n a

a » 0) OS in Id o

■ a )c .rl

4) «

•H 4) „

Vl OjrH

or

Q.

0) Cm

CQ 3 -P ••>0 f3
H tH IB bO

O -P >

a iH
m V f-
o xt u

O e-t rj

4) to JC

I r-4 » O 01

1 cd -v-H

■P •«1< Chi

4) n A (9

1 ca u >

O ro hH

H ^ xi f^

u ft s o

496

U 0.H " ~ ^

0) -c

CO

1

>

•H

§

«1

o

rH

•a ja

i-l o

m

iH o

•H

CO Cm

tM

ta

0)

0)

o

U

p

O. 0)

a>

cu

PJ

£3

n

-H

V

^ -^

(0

si

•H

>

(<<

u ^

Us

O Of «H

^

a r^ O n

e v< H o -H

u o ca %H 4h

Gtf

O H|

-P rH ;a

G r-l »

S

cd "2

^

t^QO»0''l'!rtOt-tOtOa5USOWOKJOlO>OrHrH^WO>'* O
■sJtevitOlOtDtOU3t<ilOr-ltD'<*r-C^WOCD<0'i'C-tO»'>iOtfJ 0>

>• e

tt
o> o

•^ -P n

^-' •

« -H

•<i<>0-«J<0>rHlCtO<MrHK3WaJ-*0> (0(^OM'^'*'*Wo *^ ^SiJ

rH'*O3W<pO5C\2VO00OW»0IO«O 0005|-(eM10'«J<lOtOt>- Ol OeOi

c\2toec^^'4<u3ioiO(0(D(0<0(0 to«3r^t^c~ivc^t-t^ O -H m

^HC»m(MCv20<TiO>Cv2cnt>-miO •<Ji'«J<IOtOrHOO0000 W O mBS

" rH • <a -a

> «

r-('*OtO'«a<U5t<5i-(CO<3>t-«Ot-i-l>OCOpH'J<<DtO">^WOJ WO "^^"j

Oc^i^^Oeo«DOle^i'*coooOr^trt■*u3^-oooJOH(^ilOlO 2fS "^-Sri

(3 u >»

rHWCOK}rHr-t00tDt>r-t00«O'*'*"*WW«NO0»O>00t~ iH ^° '^ai'ffl

OcJ-*tOtO»OC>IwWWi-lrHHHHHrHHHH W ^fO VAU

a o «

W,-t^(Oi-l«OtOHCOaOiOO>WgDbOOOOQiOWOTOO'*'* <5 t^r-- _3
CvJ0>HHtOHI>lOlOOlCa3rHOaB'^NOfl0S50000gS«0 W OON S"^

t^t^e»r-(o>cT>[^c~r-(OiHa)0>OJfloaooooot>-«o»«'0 •«<'■* O) '^^fi ^°

H -H 4i
« U -H

c
■P o

I o i5

1 --» fn «B

to _ . ,

« 10 -P n 9

to 4> (s ,— N a

A O 43 a 0) a>

M p< «j 53 > 'O _
a -p tH a iH g g<

•H a>

O CO h1

O « ^ (iL, ^ «
^-'ptj 'CO tc

f< -p «

« h (3

X3 0) O
•P u

tO«D»O>«WO'«l'tDU5W00iOU3«)IO<DOt-IWCVJOa0iO o *^ir*tj ^

««»•••••••••••••••••••• * noi •H

|Cnt~-lOCyia00ilOa0rH'*t0CJ><-ttO>O«O(»O>pr-IWWK3 O I dSS o

O X3 £ O h
t< 4* -P -O fl
tOOC350t-COTjiWO>t^«0"5Wi-tt-lOC\iiHi-(OOOOOI>- H O sSo.H

IC»COt^C-"5'OtO[<*WWC\iCVlWC\irHrHHrHHH « Ql "^"^^H

rH ^J O 5 _ ?5

H o o< d 0)
o
tot^cno«ocnco<*ooOr-i<-tr-ioo-«i<r-oot-<D^Hc^iocn OO mC|H«

Cft<0W0^'<i*00H'*t005HWU5tDa0CJ>OHCvitO;5»;^jOin ^-o ^., rJS

rH02«0(O'^^lOU3lOlO«0®tDC0tDCDr-t^C^t-t^t^l^t~ 2 tTS'Sw

<0 ai m >t
m O

tOT»iiMt-(>O'^0>cD'*WrHOOt~tt)tOrH030J00t^t0t0tO OJ OO 3-^ C

cnt^«3to*u5^c«ic«Icv!ev!cvIJcNlrHHHr4**** 'jsJh t^8 2a)*S-

<"• inrH(Dt3®*^

«otoOtDtooot-»Qo>i-teocDtootOi-i(oOt-i!00>co{OTi;%H"* rHOT „g^r<rj

tS § lO O U5 t- 03 rH to lO to r-l (O '^ O '*'* 00 .H 00 t~ 05 5 5^ _-, si 2^ ^ 2^7^^^
t-OrHOOO><35O5a0t~-t--tHi-lt«)t-tDtOO00C»W'«*rHOT30> COW '^r'^rt'B'rt

o.

Tji w t- -"i* O
0> lO CJ W H
K3 rH rH I-l r-t

©il

<b 0) a) .'-v

lO o

^

nH O 0)

0) </^

^^

>

^

r*

O

0)

n

rH

•o

■<

,«)

^ a ^ u.

« !>, 0) o o ■< rt
a O 33 CO o — ta

•H to » «
(1, O t-3 tS

a> rH Tl

^^ a)

2 -S

3) A U

T3 to .. ^4

fl Oi-H B) «

a «M a -p

•<H +> 3 to

4) -P

a « p

Q.H o

ed (D f4 OJ CO VI -H

to 0) CO rH T3

Jd (D e rH (6 O rH

t) rH>

O CJ

-^^ hJ « S iJ W '

a « to

.^ a> ffi O
O to X! -P

^ m K to

grH to O S)

O O. CO

<D W -P «

4> •^i2 <D ^

Q) m m fj 3

43 »H a. a o*

H <H S CO

rH|o <B ca|n)

497

•0 ffi

ft -o

U Ct

p a

P<

p

m

fH

C rH

o <0

*2|<5^

+»

0] o

.^H H

CO

(U "V-t

JH O

<D in

> <D

•H M)

•P

+> 09

^

d

to +>

«

(D ^

+> d

o o

r! <D

0) u

n »i

(D jp
h ft

p-

(D .

QJ (,3

<U

d d

.•s!

a> d
^ a)
o ^

p. iH

•rH CO h d rH

Tt<0»(DC>-C^O>tllO.-<^C^tONrHCa

tOWWO»C^i-tt<3tDN'^m ^CJtONtO

to '4<l>-rH .-H

nI '

<oooTi<mo>No>inotoo ^c^o>o»omn oinowcoco

<0 CV] to r-4 '^
rH CO Ifi in -(Jt

lOisoiowe^ •*ioc\JOCOQOoo t-mincMrHio

•* -^in

rHO»tON^j<inrHif50>i-it'H'i''D«oioeM oiinHinwrHMin

•<i<'^ininiomto«otD<o

rH OD xjl 0» W
rH C^ UO Tl" -i*

•^tOCOtOCQNCMCMNWrHrH rHrHrHrHrHrHrH

o> oto

<D <0 a>

W aj f-i

« « +>

© ~CJ

> W 0)

•H J3 tH

(0 (OrH

rH O ffl
O

d ->,

■H P<rH

£ 0)

(D -ri n

Fh Fj O

S en o

§8

00 c>- o o to

lO CM TO rH 0>
0> t>- W CO rH

0>«Df-^tOlOe}rH^J''>t^«0l>l>-rHC0a5t0 1OCVJ«O
C>-rH<OrH^NCOtOCONaDOCOmo»'i<MO<OMW
OlOCOt0010tONrHOa3.tS<OtDtniO<*'4<rHO^

OINm'*'^'<l<nniOCOWCVJ(MCMWHrHrHr-!HrHrHHrHH

CM rHCO

o> to

OrH

CM <0

:^

^a d d

— « <0

h o >, d o

o to

O -rl

.2^

<tH rH -H

o 4 f^

d o

::n

s

§:1

^

■^^^

10 p.

— » +> CO ■ —

a a

Fh d - a

(P iH "d

•d Vi ■

e "^

CO 13

H o -d ^ ii >0 >

fj iH 0) 5f
g "d d '
■d e 0} -H

I "

- o "d . „ _ .

^■dHrHrHH COO drHrH-rfd

Q O bi (D r* ja U IS .B -H -ri si m

o -d p

+> -rl I

CM <0t-CMC0^l0incslNlO<0«0incM0>CMc00ainO'«l«C0rH o

ICOICMrHOinO-^C^OCOiDCOOCM-^inC^COCOOQOQrH o

rH cMiOTi<Tj<inioioto<o<otot-CNe>-c^i>-c>-c^c^cococOQO o

H

CM 'i<rHiniO<00»CMCMOa3rHOtJ>C-l>tOrH'0«OLO'^rj)t<} OrHO> O

I •! ••*•••••••••••••>•••••• ••• •

to O><J>C0in'^l<lOCOC0tOCMCMCMrHrHrHrHrH CMCO O

rH CM O

n m'<J«OrHC0C^OC^"*0»CM0»<OCM<DOrHOl.'>O^C0CMlO CMO

Q (D^l<CMO»COC<-rHtO-X>COrHCM'i<«3C^O»OHrHCMC>JCOniO too

H cM?5>*'^iom«o<0!0<ob-(>-t-c^ot>-cocoaocD<Ecocooo coo

rH

O O0»t0rHtS0>t0t-C^l0t0t-C^i0'#'<#rH»ir5L0 -#'!<■* to !O«OC0 CMO

• I •••••••••••••••••••••••• ••• ••

n rHC^C^C-'iJ'tOtOCMCMCMCMrHrHrHrHrHrH COCM too

■H rH • rH OOO

0> t> 0> ^ CM
lO O 0» Cd rH
rH O 0> O rH

mc»c»'<i<tocomcoo'i»to«o-*o><ocDocDif5t>-in

CMOOOe»rHrHCM«DtOCMO>rH-*INCO-*tOOCDtOt-

coiOTi<toc^'*oo>'^c»m<Di£)rHincMco^-«D[rto

to

to CM <J» H to

-d oj t- lO 'O to
o in rHO> to «3

■v-i o oto

C^ COCM

rH O

'3 ivh

5^

tol-p

"3 M

CO

r-< d

-p o

h « n
•d (» Jd

« 9

d d cMleo

-^

d d

O rH -d

+> S-1 Fh Q) (0

d h i3 +* Fh -H

J3 (D O (D ^

43 CO <D d

— d -d 2 -^ O

5j S :§ S t9 cS ^

•S+i aj3 O^ d-H >rH COAj-P-d JO,
•d b 03 3 COrH O^^rHrH *" <0 9-3^

oMooo-^aot3ajM' a~--cOH^i-1

(0 3

- - rH rH

J' <D

3 (C P "d c

0)

to Jd

o s CO ^^ij-i th
(D ^ d (d 'I'l liH
p, ^ 3rH -a

',-i 1 E-<0 rH OrH
CO OrH

Si 03
U 43

d-n

CO P

•H © Fh •
,Q CHO 03

to d th

-P 03 oO

. -d '/3 Fh

Fh +3 (D

(D o d >>

ja OH

P d rH

CO -H d oJ

Fh co-h p.

rH n B Q -H

(0 <D d • o

nH t) 0) tH "d (0

o x: F4 (D pt|

Fh •«+> p< "d

(13 03 d «

a 03 O " rH 03

= to +3 • O 03

° 2 ^ p4 «-2

O Jd d 03 03 CO
■P O r^

33 d-H d

•H lU-P O

03 'd O
ft-d m
(0 o

03 d

f^■P
<!3 CO
-P <D
0} U

d -H d >i

■HOi'd'VH

<D (D OrH

Fh Fh « - ® 5

03 uJ 03 -d 03 O

jd -d 03

03 03rH Vl >>0

o d

03 d "(
■d-rl C

d S (0

3 ~ 03rH

o-d Fh FhP

rH (D O (D4!

•» -d -p

03 (D tO^
TS 3 >.0

g a 03 ho o

R 3 p. CO 43

(D ffl 03 P W)

+j jd -d +> ffi S3

CO Fh 03 ^ Fh
03 -H Q) d Fh 03

^ i;-! PiOK «g >

H -p w a(<3;

03 -d

hi^ Scmi «i5<i

498

O00WNt0N<O';JimOO

con too>o>m«o>cvi

o>OlOt^wwr^l^-towN«DC>-

'I'e^COrt'O ISCOrHrHCMHlOOOrH

ocD»HOiHO»mc^ooc^,-i i-too5ioaicot-otoioc^o>o<-ieMrH

• • •

N lOO»

O V 0)
03 P~H
& "
0113 <D

)^P^ 2[<|

lO 00 to 0>

«o lo in Tj(

i-l 00 «OW rH Ol •;)•
■# CO toco CO w w

OJHrHfHr-lrHr-li-4f-liHrHr-4r-lr-lr-

in i-ito

o o

t-o>o>coNisinotONOc^c»o» c^inocoocooNcO'i'inmioiO'^

CO "*

OCOtDOW'slttOOC

to-^'^Thioifiifiin

>H (0

4>

(I> 00

> 00

•H+>

to Q)
■•-> O

r1 u

p. 03

(D (!)
« 3

n (0

PL| O O

o ■"i' o> in
<o in ■* ■^

cOlO[Oo>cD^wo
• •••••••

COtOCONWNWN

<DCOmiO!OMWWrH«-irHOOOO>

•* to 00 rH

-. C^ IN IN C^

CO O C^ iH «D CO

IN O

N'*g0H0>c^wa3ocD'#
e^ o co,-i CO IN in •<*< N c\i to

«3'*,HC0C~ini-IC»C0C^<O

oooc^Nootomot-
coiocM oiOTi<o>«Din

•^WNWHrHOOO

co^DlnlnTJ^^tototONWMoar^r^^^r^Hr^.Hr^r^,-^r^r^r^

0» O 0> 00

o> o> o> 00

Or^•*

■* oco

CM OtO

in oo

•* INCO

nI 01
■p i-i

I'd.

r-il — «

3 -H

0.0

•r-l 0>
OCO

^^

CO

:::n

B P. J>> o

o e (D o

rH -H iJ -O
ID -u O 0)

>H CO CO m

S
ffl -p

01 3

G o

fH (B ^H O H

0) tS ffl CO +="

O O Hi ^ S '>J tS

-d

0)

01 (1>

(D-P o> d

01 <1-| O

-^ o » 6

XJ -03 01 rA-O

■ ttji pj d 01

Pt-P -H C^ - O 01^
ID(D'»HoH01rH ^a>

r-ir-i a U lU a S (O U
■H 3 O a}f-4 O J3 O 00
C/ia^ So CO Oprl a

r-l 0)

<D ^ ^

f^ O <D

<D O ^

O^ s) o

inioin'^Or-tcococomy3tD'*oo»ino»cMioflOiHc^tocDCM<oo>cM

m CD toco

> "ID

■•H 03 3
01^ U
3 OD-P

too P*-l
0»O !P Et-I

iH &-H a
c<io s-S >,

» • Oli-I

cop m ©
0»Q ^ 01 03

•^ e-« 03 o

ino ^

iCi-nf JC3 o

into o

O "Ol

•Hr a)
W)ia^
o a>p

o o+»

■i-i 0) d

- " ^

dt &

■S h In
^^§

■p d "

Oj-rt 03
O ^1 0) 0}

in o o o>

H CO c^ in

(OrHWininOirHOCOtOOk

Win'^COcOCOtO so WNrH

«0'*cocococoto<oin

i-t r-i r-{ r-t r-{ f-i

•^ NO]
0> «OrH

«Oo •*NNOinc0t>.r-IC0'*'<<C0^Tl«'<<^C0Wi-(O'i<CDCMintDOW

inoi-^

rH ^lO

O 4) • (0

O -H © A!

W 0Xi (0

« R> S 3 »4

go r-l

g (0 m O -P

O 03^ H CO

OXi+> « ID

01 O

N CO

OO d Q

■r< ID+*

<Otj< _ •*coocoincO'*<#(MrHoc3>aotoooo>o>a»o>'<iir}<.^cotOMN

in CO

coincO'*<#(MrHoc3>aoto

CO !0 CMW IM <M W t\i

CM NOO

O CO to "O

O in r-l N
«D 0> C\l N

0^'>i<0>«0'JiOtOO-*00

ort)»oc^Nin'<#ocoO'#
oiNo>inTiie^tNin'<^'«j<o

iHQOOt-Oi-H'OOin

cocoto iNo>o»oiooo
rH^ooootoincnO"*

CM a> c^ CO
o> CO f-i <o
iH o> IN in

S3

So
N
OH

00

cj o> c\j o

to C\J O IN
CO CM CJ rH

^i

o» o»to
"O in c^to
o inn

IN CM

00 in

CDCVI

<o

o n|

•H 01
O 4»
OD CO

•P P< 03

S ID O

d «— ^ E _

t< 0) 03 13 CO 93 ^t

? U U a n -rl <D

O 01 (D (D 3 Vl A!

rH 43 iJ +> O g

d rH _

o -p d

^1 «) "
• <s) d+= *-<

•O P.O 01 r-l
ID -H >> 3

oa d4» o <5

3-H-H

•Ox) •«

<D 0)13 ID O

tl S (0 ® -H

(D CO n -p

^ d rt

^>th •" a

03 (0 >,rH

aJ h -H -P

03 03 d <4

•atd-d o

43 d 3 O

■H d rH n -d
o o o ^1 -p

03 H d 03
P M-H-P Vl

01

01 O

OQ « "S

+>i! 03

3 O h h-P

,M ja »

13 03 t<
0)

"O d -a I-l (^

M 03 ^ a) p 03 Jej

Si3maiffi>>c3P,
xi 0 xi >d 0) o ^

O^OJll il'C(■r^ .-■^^,-^5»,w^«^^r^^.^->-WT-■v*

i-< dH d WO-CJ hn^rH CO O Olr-4 303 OH"^ (i r^rA -r* Oj^^H d

p<sp<«i<cocoiticootHos[o-^o«oaogcoa'7j —5 co m

P.

^o 03 fljaj-^TiHO

-HdJd >rH Ph+5(8+3

H -^-i <aji *H

03 H B °^
P. «o 3h

HOH

■Pta^

.OhJ H?!

S d ca o CO

U Bl ^ 03

«> fl)4» W

+> j3 -p e oo
01 oi;^ r-l

Q-H t>>l4 03

.div4 o d >
H-p a <<
cot)

H|--3wTnl

499

^

^

^

p. CO

^s

•H ® )L(

-p 3 tO O

u ac

CO ^ rH O

tH i-I

rH CD rH O

o
CO U

ft o

. ^^8'

•-^ <iH

<D n

O "

O -P

O «)

■H a

•H >

u (0
Pi o

K -H

.«? ->^

S Hi

^g

fl) oo o

O rr!

3 rH O

fn 13

-13 -^P

d 5

> o

-^--1

O "CJ*

o •=4 a>

0) 00

a) -p

"M > ^1

O iH 0)

■P P<

(D CO

> .-I •

•H 4> O

D 0»

rH -^ rH

« (0 c^

a> CO

■p <^ ;^

l>-nrHWrHC-(3Jt-NOC-^C^100lO'<J»CDl>-tOOCDOf-)C^lOCD

Nino-*C3>CMrHi-l«OrH<OOTt«C>-'^->JiOC)tOOOCO'*COOOOO>

tO<OrHlOCONTl)rOtnCDO>OJ(MO>«NlOC\It<3WtDO<7>0[>-00>tO
OCsmcMCJ>[O<3>'<J'00rH<0OlC»>CJ»OO0><O0>'^i-|-«l't0r-tO>OrH
■HOOOCniHrH'l'C--H-<i<Ct>tS00«DCnmrH'OC0OC\ItO»5Omt^

(i< o

•H a> (o

+> o +>

CD hH d

Q) ft O

o

3 .-H O

H rH O

"ad -

-p a

•<-t 'O a

p g o

d 3 o

f-(<0H0>"4*WO0>(DC00>tOl0';)<O<Dm0»WrHlO->fe0t0'*OrH

mc»^cotO'^oDiH'«i'C'rHO<Dmo>rHm<j)inco«0'>i'«oaoD-Mco
ototDNC-ocoirjNooii-iNrHintowc-oinin^cotocooto

U3 f-l to _
H rH r-l

0) O

*j iH a

C (0 P
O EH —.

H-i -a o

do •> (D ■<t

t- (B f-( rH

(Q O

(M B o en 0)

to CO c/j
O CO i-H .

uo d J3 ^^
<>> 0) <n

(-, rH 3 0)

r-f " -H

id Pi >

o 0) a) Pi

*H (D Q. CD

*^ w w

10

c\icO:o«'*LO<oi050in<ointn'^^-<j<'^ir3toin^tONrHcHWi-HN

i-HrHrHrHrHrHrHrHiHrHrHHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHi-HrHrHi-lrHtHrHiH

ooooooooooooooooooooo

^inco«mc--oo'^rHWOQO^mQC--iQoe-

' " -- --— -ojLOOlrHCOOODtOCO

o o o o o o

coc»ioc\2tn^Qioe^!00cooocoo«Doo>o

intStOtDir3-*tOWNC\3M-*«5rHO>0>C^C--CO
rHOJNCOCvJNNWWNWNNCMlMWCVjCVJCsJrHrHrHrHrH

ro c^ CO o ■#

«3CvJH^OO-OinWO'OPJQOlOC»>tOCOtOWO'0'<l<N<3>C-lOONN

a>'*-*'*o«5'^woc-mc\i'>;i<too>i-i«DrH«3toc»LnooOrHWir5
c--e>-{>-c^corDcoaDCOt>-c>-c^c--[>i>-cocoo>(3>o>cooocoii)cooocooo

«Dc:>c^i050tom«>io«otD<0'>i<o>to«Da>tDcvjcOTi«oirto-i<<o«Do

a o M ,-\ r^

coinocDio-*w:OWrHOC3>oo«3'i<Hma30i-irHiM'*c^N'OCOii<

LO 10 oa iQ O

SC^COCnOrHWtO'i'intOC^CDOJOrHNCOrltlOtOC^COCnOrHNtO
C0C0C0(»cnc»CT>C3>O>C7>O>cr. (JsOOOOOOOOOOrHrHrHrH
cococDcr)'ncncooooocooocococO(^c7>(j>c»c»c3>o><3>o>o>c3>o>cj><3»

r^l-I^Hr^r^f-I^H^^r^l-^r^r^rHr^r^r^H<-^r^l^r^r^^^^^r^r^r^r^

a>

+0 C <M ca o

C3 . p ^ d -H

*J d O rH O fn

o> o o<t3 -h a.

•H rH M

p +> C~ ^ (D QJ

CO a) B Pi rH

jj rH a) ■ a)

O O J3 T> K)

o a d rH a>

!h O E CB rH

U 0) -P h O

^ ^J X! 0) 43

+J d T3 <o > 5=

d -ri 4) -H n>

a g fc <o >i

H « 3 -P

43 d CO aj -fH

4: ^ 10 XI CO ii

— I 0) +J X! o

• . +^ S

^ -P >^ >> B

•rH X! rH ^ Cm O

Cm MrH O O

o) (d a 0) n

Cw

to -H > a)

P( 0) nH •.

IQ 8) 10 rH

a) T) Pi <C (0 O

3 a) 0) no.

-( .H p a) -p

> a, m d 0) d

Q.+i -H

rt p CO T3 a) O

CQ a> a> -p CO

aj

E <n

•H U

u o

0)

m Pi OJ

(D 9) rH

•H t XI -

+5 -H (D Pi

■H T3 'O x: Q.-P

4J a) « ix d
d to CO u] lO
aj CD 43 0) -P
h x: M

QD

(d <H
o o "Vh

■rl » U

o d -ri +:> a)

+5 -d

UJ ta -rH ••> Pi

-J tl p rH O

u) 03 d K- O

P a) oj ai o

O !=-, P rH cO

^ c5) lOl

500

1880
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1897
1898
1901
1902
1904
1905
1908
1918
1919
1920
1921
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1950
1951
1932
1935
1934
1935
1936
1957
1958
1939
1940
1941
1942
1945
1944
1945

7-A
Table 58.

Prodaetlon and Value of Menhaden for Atlantic ai>d Gulf States, 1880-1945.

( In thousands of pound* and thousands of ooilars. )

New England Mid-Atlantic Chesapeake So. Atlantic Gulf North Carolina

Lbs. $ Lbs. I Lbs. I Lbs. $ Lbs. | Lbs. |

164,800 540 318,600 1,261 92,117 316

77,169 173 88,108 206 62,684 129 14,756 18 14,756 18

128,930 311 151,722 547 60,055 117 13,844 17 15,844 17

175,461 425 137,754 562 8,755 12 8,753 12

159,185 407 155,312 267 12,410 16 -- 12,410 16

125,598 555 156,952 263

91,159 218 179,009 256 11,310 20 11,310 20

215,320 545 280,616 445

18,469 56 18,862 31 13 1 18,837 31

254,009 803 257,768 536

46|856 142 84,994 65 202,382 459 57,412 70 5,153 4 57,912 70
257,767 1,606 14,414 111 179,911 1,307

1 — 366,387 2159

227,935 1,507

148,181 752 19,475 135 65,290 326

1_ 150,493 1455

39,891 162

157,965 689 15,466 60 98,987 490

5,175 74 150,844 585 5,857 39 99,302 451

395 12 40,546 169 99,229 825 254,420 977 18,815 167 173,490 719

1,708 17 52,478 568 115,842 767 192,994 776 6,175 50 154,051 556

6 1 40,467 182 112,920 569 72,456 106 4,450 10 67,877 94

54 1 43,194 75 135,486 665 77,176 104 12,170 28 54,476 75

1,029 5 79,575 256 115,991 586

145,879 600 164,807 519 9,679 22 106,661 556

4,284 14 179,605 474 121,088 411

— . 167,559 916 250,070 919 3,393 8 150,088 699

294 2 148,506 657 121,980 485 204,928 600 6,450 16 61,706 220

528 2 86,941 540 95,083 361 302,769 822 555 2 146,819 427

122 1 148,584 689 127,681 546 287,245 834 11,849 51 186,968 557

88 1 245,569 842 145,227 549 224,882 755 26,195 70 129,592 485

182,225 956

76 1 204,517 1,606 64,116 451

152 1 196,259 1,889

70 1 304,314 2,478 77,970 460

200 2 159,250 1,129 89,357 691 256,279 1,714 64,506 456 141,535 975

501

Table 59. 7alue of the Pack of Canned Tlehery Productt
In the Ttoited States, igUo. 1/

Ilnd

SalBon

Tuna

&>ardlne8

Shrimp & Soup

Mackerel

Clam Products

Oysters & Soup

jx>g & uat Food

Fish Cakes

caviar

fish flakes

Crabs

alewif e & Roe

Misc. Kish & Roe

Shad Roe

Misc. Hors d'oeuvre

Salmon eggs (for bait)

Turtle rroducts

Squid

Kish chowder

Terrapin Products

finnan haddie

Value

Per cent

Cumulative

dollars

of total value

per cent

38,049,668

40.40

40.40

23,727,560

25.20

65.60

12,7U,651

15.50

79.10

4,554,184

4,60

85.70

4,101,569

4.56

88.06

3,778,565

4.01

92.07

2,622,513

2.78

94.85

1,861,638

1.98

96 mOO

776,684

.85

97.66

356,759

.38

98.04

345,938

.37

98.41

315,938

.53

98.74

237,959

.25

98.99

208,519

.22

99.21

204,960

.22

99.43

156,698

.16

99.58

t) 128,101

.14

99.72

124,056

.15

99.85

78,564

.08

99,95

25,249

.02

99.96

4,126

.004

99.964

2,590

.005

99,957

94,181,941

99.967

V

Arranged and dalaulated from Fish & Wildlife Service data.

502

Tabl* 60. Quantity of Whole Tlah and rill«t« 7xox«n
In the Ttalted State* , 19^.^

Whiting

Rosefish fillets

Halibut

Haddock fillets

Shrimp

Salmon

Mackerel (except Sp.)

Pollock fillets

Cod "

Ciscoes

Sablefish

Herring

scallops

Cod (except fillets)

Other shellfish

Croaker

Sqvdd

Smelts

Flovmders

Pike

Swordfish

Lake Trout

Whitefish

Butterdish

Spiiy Lobster

Perch

Weakfish

Shad & Roe

Catfish

Suckers

Scup

Stvcrgeon

Bluefish

Other, misc.

Percent

Pounds

of

Cumulative

of

Total

Percent

Eroduct

Q.uantity

of Total

21,610,128

11.02

11.02

19,156,236

9.77

20.79

18,275,717

9.51

50.10

16,712,551

8.52

58.62

15,986,052

8.15

46.77

14,515,889

7.40

54.17

,) 12,864,970

6.56

60.75

9,659,519

4.95

65.66

4,989,495

2.55

68.21

4,226,950

2.16

70.57

3,954,475

2.02

72.59

3,773,029

1.92

74.51

5,160,425

1.61

75.92

1 2,449,688

1.25

77.17

2,368,591

1.21

78.58

2,549,145

1,20

79.58

2,056,861

1.04

80.62

1,994,479

1.02

81.64

1,849,959

.94

82.58

1,785,915

.91

85.49

1,781,094

.91

84.40

1,587,248

.81

85.21

1,275,456

.65

85.86

1,158,965

.59

86.45

1,086,982

.55

87.00

854,957

.45

87.45

665,704

.54

87.77

578,951

.50

88.07

442,046

.25

88.50

509,554

.16

88.46

502,177

,15

88.61

275,948

.14

88.75

256,902

.15

88.88

21.885.151

11.15

100.06

196,154,783

100.03

-' Arranged and calcxilated from Fish & Wildlife data.

503

:5)

13

pa

■s

t

0) U

•*

o

rH

r-

03

m

t-

OO

*

M

o

Tji

o

•^

K5

lO

to

to

O

rH

^

to

H

^

ca

00

lO

8

H

o

O

O

O

O

o

8

-D

o

g

O

O

o

O

O

8

O

O

o

O

8

O

8

o

O

o

o

o

o

o

O

o

o

s

U5

kO

w

o>

oo

i-T

h"

t-

oo

uT

t^

o

IC

•<J'

t-

o

c-

t«-

C>J

(O

lO

to

•*

t-

Cvi

H

H

H

(O

•"l"

to

t-

Hi

lO

lO

N

O

8

O

O

o

o

o

g

o

§

o
o

O
O

o
o

8

8

8

8

o
o

8

8

•^

•»

M

rH

W

cn

CO

t^

cn

o

w

to

ss

t-

CJ>

(0

rH

H

•*

to

o

CD

to

r^

to

00

rH

C\i

N

Oj

H

to

r-T

O

o

o

O

o

o

1

g

g

O

O

o
o

o
o

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

•t

•«

«%

CM

C\2

to

GO

t-

to

to

•^

CJ>

t-

est

O

O

H

iH

H

H

H

rH

7i

O

o

n

O

O

o

O

8

8

8

8

8^

o

O

o

o
o

8

8

8

8

8

«0

■<<<

w

to

c-

to

05

o

00

cvT

f-T

o>

o

«3

w

H

H

to

to

to

^

o

to

tH

t-

to

iH

O

o

O

O

o

o

o

o

O

O

o

o

O

o

8

S^

8^

8

8

o
o

8

o
o

8

8

8

8

^

CO

to

o>

fe

w

o

e~

c^

•^

to

rH

r-T

t-

CO

w

w

to

iH

o

to

^-

to

<J>

Tl<

f-l

rH

CVJ

w

W

Cvi

H

r^

H

00

^

■P

0

03

«>

?»

U

P

a>

•aj

C/J

&

:;j g

3

II

?■£.

o «

iH ^^

8^»

ill

o s o.

•H

-p S Id

•H J3 4A
•O -P #

;^ ^

504

Table 62. Production Pish Meal, Fertilizer and Oil in
the United States, 1940. (in order of money value*)

Kind

Quantity

▼alue

Average
price

Value
percent
of total

value

CUBU-

lative
percent

Fish Meal.

Pilchard

tons

89,976

15,007,705

$45.00

55.0

55.0

Tuna & mackerel

n

14,955

610,007

40.80

11.1

66.1

Ground fish (cod,

haddock, etc.)

8,250

424,889

51.50

7.8

75.9

Menhaden

8,896

414,548

46.70

7.6

81.6

Herring

9,216

580,154

41.50

7.0

88.5

Shrimp

1,716

49,810

29.00

0.9

89.4

Salmon

969

47,914

49.50

0.9

90.5

Blue crab

1,685

51,480

18.68

0.6

90.9

Shark

527

24,775

47.00

0.5

91.4

King crab

286

11,459

40.00

0.2

91.6

Miscellaneous

10.262

468.856

45.70

8.6

100.2

Total

M

126,756

$5,471,557

45.20

100.2

Fertilizer.

Menhaden (dry and acid)

n

62,874

12,280,214

$36.50

96.5

96.5

Aleirife

B

618

29,575

47.80

1.5

97.8

Blue crab

«

646

10,418

16.10

0.4

98.2

Miscellaneous

■

2.570

42.067

17.76

1.8

100.0

Total

■

66.608

$2,562,264

$55.50

100.0

OUs.

Pilchard

Tuna liver

Menhaden

Shaurk liver

Whfile

Liver, misc.

Herring

Cod liver

Tuna & mackerel

Salmon

Miscellaneous

Total

gallons

$3,761,160

2,851,791

1,504,720

1,152,570

952,164

870,624

606,722

255,168

125,801

81,910

106.548

24,815,538 $12,025,178

12,626,849

226,555

5,774,671

241,102

2,561,518

41,709

2,241,169

281,257

447,526

97,746

275.658

$ 0.50
12.50
0.22
4.69
0.57
20.88
0.27
0.90
0.28
0.84
0.59

51.5
25.6
10.8
9.4
7.9
7.2
5.1
2.1
1.0
0.7
0.9

100.0

51.5
54.9
65.7
75.1
85.0
90.2
96.5
97.4
98.4
99.1
100.0

505

:^

(D ;< en

0) 0) a) _ ^

^ j3 a bo t u

to (C > CO c3

•H E CO lO -H

(D - H

bo I u

> CD C

aj to -H

'O (Q bO I

H ■« O

o a o
9 3 o

OirHtoOOiOWOOOOOrHtOlOUiCUiOOi-IW

b<5CSOiOU5{oO«DH<OOi^-r-4iOinHe^»OC~t-K5|

cntD«Dl-^oi75a^lO^-^^^o«oOl^waJvo«Dl^-o>o>

to to tDi-H iHt^ r-trH^WtfJ rH

^

w

o

H

W

eu

H

o

w

o

m

CW

M

on

lO

to

•*

«if

m

Kfl

r.

N

CM

C<1

o

R

"^

CO

CO

CO

MS

t^

c~

w

cv;

Oi

H

o

rH

K)

in

a>

to

;:}

to

f^

Oi

lO

( ■>

'I'

r-l

>*

V)

to

tO

w

w

U)

to

c-

00

t-

KJ

CO

1/5

to

(O

«*

a>

to

to

rH

o

to

03

w

r-H

cu

m

t-

U3

to

rH

to

»o

in

b-

lO

't r^

rH

(T)

bO

T>

o>

o»

1^

<y>

KJ

r-

H

•«1<

Oi

Ol

to

•*

■*

•^

b»

to 1-1 rH

rH

rH

u>

rH

05

M

rH

O

*

en

tO(MOrHOiOtOCVi03W0500000t^OiOirHOUJlO
rHOlOtOC>(MtOOOlOrHlOtOCVJC--tpiOtdOOUJO)K}
t^"*© tDOJC\ilOt~rHlOCMtO»JilOlOcoOtOtO'<<

W(OOC\i'^ to Oi r-\ r-\ m r-{

lO o

•*

00 o

W

W rH

lO

lij

fJJ

OD

lO

rH

o

■*

CJ

I o o

S -^ "*

Q,43 05

aJ O «J rH

>» 3 ^ e ^

•H O O CTtJi

CI, ^ to cn

O tD •5*'

In a O

ID JS (M

d, o -

iOrHtDt-OC^OC>-O00O(OOWlOCJC\J'^'<l«tDO
CnO>C\205tOO»OWWOOOHCOinOO>^OrH^flO
CM«#iOWOiOWOCViOOiOOlOtDtOO>tOlOtDtDrH

^-
to

o to
to

CO

010505tOTliC^C\i^ t^CVilOC-CMtOtOlOrHtOtOtO
rH H H rH H rH H

to

1

ooaot-t~^w^totoiO'^'*toOt^iooe*irtej>t^

•^t--tJ>evJ'J<Tl<eO'^l005'»J<CNi«trHlOCOOOr-tOtD
■<3'tOrHe\2K3tO^I'C\JrHWinrHmWCWCViCnWK3rHtO

CO

'*C\irHrHOJt-rHt-HiOro»Ot-OOH^OOWtDflO

IC

to

t-01U3rHCOOOOC~CD'*CDtOiOCOWr-tOC»W'<<t^
r^ H H WIHlHINrHCvi r^ r^ H ,-\

05

to

rHrHlOO'<<'CviCDOirHOevJO

0><J>C^lOC~r-lO«Q

tON*«>'-IOCMlOOOlrHCV20000>05tOtOOO'«J<W
W'^rHtoOflDtOrHOiO'<l'iOOrHCDO>'«J"OOtOtOO
00000«#0>CJCOC^CVilOir}lO'*OCVJCv2rHtOtOrHtD

lomioiotorHOtoioOc^oototomcncnioomrH

lOCViH rHiHM5 rHrH CVJ^rH f-t r-1 t-i rH

■»j<totowTj<cncoooiot>-^tooootooooot^0505
(^205^-ooa^•<l^^torH^ocJ5oowc^iOto^~oo^O'*ci

00500K5tOtOOC\irHlOOitOCOtDt--OtDt-rHOO'*

rHtO'^lOlOOTt<t~lOOtOOOOO'^Oit--'*rH'<l<rH
lOe>lrH rHrHCvi r-i t-i Qi -^ t-i r-f r-f r-i t-^

M M

•H to (D a> cd 0) -H

?-p(:i'd-Pfc>t4«>a).po-*' rHrHcr'g

0)03 0)0

0) •rl
U 00

CO

506

m

m

u

A!

o

o

o

o

m

■p
o

s

r-l

g

Oj

-p

u

(d

U

<u

liH

e *

p.

o

m o

CO

o

r-l

e

•p

h

p

h

03

•a:

9>

tM

>1

r^ HCViWWrHrHWrHHrHrHC- CVWHH i-l >H r-l

otDU3tDW'*iOt-iOcO'*oDOH«oto'nex'fi3I

loocJ5^^lo«Dao^o(^ilco•*f-^oooiWr-^u5o>«o^-

r-iOOtocOCviOr-lkriOOtD'OOQOOtDt^tOODtO^

WOeviin>0«Dt-0^rH-*<<lOH«OtOW05C>-C^WH

« 0) 0)
> -H O

I iH CTS CTi to rH lO

> w tc w ^ to ^

<.\icvic~tD'*cnioosioH03 0wwt-(oOtcioiooi

sJ'tOt-WWtDTj.rHCniOOJtOCOOOWOOOH^^

3-*OWr-(331rtl0Oa5-<l"t0OWrHaWrHt02r^
c35<iOrHtOC)tOW'<*tOCOKJ-<l' «0 (T^tC^O O^W >* to

wcnwe^ oaoaD'*Tj<«owe~<0'<J<e-rHO(^toO
o oo* ^^ P w 5^* uj ^* w w* £ 5S d si S* '^ ^ "^ '^

^ao^-to^-tD^-cD

to oo to to

fr>in^.-<rl<eO«O00»OCD(OcOtP'«*'CDtO5(<l«tD2O5

So?wS38c8SSowSCwog2;;5;50}oo5tD

ra

to CTJ

ci

t~ to at

0)

w . t^

o

• o *

03 H to

tM

J<l

0}

_ 3: Cj f-( fl C -P

p4aCxl-PS>h
3;.3§bO«fH

CQpacQooooo

o

10 Cm
(U (U -P
h -P t<

0} « a)

Q o aa

C (d

•H DC
» 'P

^ 53 S

^

+> 6 r

O (h -H r

0 4) S

m a u

01 <D «

s z o a. &< <^ pli

Pi SS -P

Id CO

t> tM

o -o

o o a

s Pu p

:^

507

/#^^^

^

-^

p -P CO 2 Q
i-l to Cvi O
(S 0) <& Ih O

I

o

P C 4J W '-^

T3 O <iH '^ O

O -H » 05 O

^^ +3 13 H O

-g Q) CO -p o

S 43 to Ch O

i5

O -P -P 1-1 T3 O

> m ^ ^ o

(D rg 4)

p 0) (h 0) C

H -o a> no H ^

> cd F «>

p <B P P O

r-) T3 >> G -P O

> 3 B w^-'

00^^
P P o
fH X) O
as O O

> h^^

M-H o

m

\s <a

HOOoioe^rHOr-

^lODOrHOtOOOD
to tC W <\i N 01

i/>o>to«D«D^oo^ao«oe~C5|

iHoOtOC^tOpoppiOKJ" ~

H K5

W rH C^ Tf ■<1' I

to

'* 00

■* to

5S

(O

03 10

to 0

10 to 0 w to t^

<-» 0 1/5 CO lO 00
rH <Ti evi Cvi K5 W

10 10 (o t>- 0 •*

CU to 10 '1' 0 O)
t- K3 tQ Ui rH to

00

co

to
to

OD

00
10

05 0

c-

OJ

W 10

to

»* to w <o W t^

rH W

to OD to 10 to 0
W rH H H rH

H

10

0

0

«4<tOtCtor-rHOOtDVOC^'^0:rHCCtOtOtO"5rH»0
CDOUi^rHOCDOrHrHWO'gitOcOaOUSOlt^lOrH
05t>-tO'*iOrHtOIQC\irHOO'*OrHt^WNlOtOlOrl<

to to to
CD -"t CO
^ C^ t-

oj CO to

03 to 00

to o to

to 00 05 10 rH 'i'
to t- ■* •* OO U5
05 to 03 (O to 10

e_ ^- ^

CO 05 CO
O CO »o

C- 00 to

w H e-

U) ■^ iO

w w ^

•^i H (3

to w to

O t- r-H

10 O to
CO X3 10

C\i ^ C~ O 00 o
t- en U5 ^ 00 to
rH 00 to r-{

t~-QlOC005rHW050

OOtoe»cDWcooto

•»J<lOOrHT»'00l0C--O
W to rH CVi rH rH r-<

rHlOC~t-tO"*e-"5

wiotooootousoo

r-t r-i >* rH to W

tooe^^oiototvicvi

rH to ^-

ODCOrH rH^O COrH05C35rHlOU5WW

eviOOO t^OOrH 'I'OOCOaDr^rHt-tOaD

lO'<tCO lOrflO 0OtOU3tOCO'S''OlCU5

Tj<lO'«llt>-rH>*Wt^rH
t^CvOO 005tOCJCO

to 00 rH

CD to C>i
^ to H

0>CO00t^05CDOOC*

trtO'trHtOWtOODt^
W CO rH CO W W W

(!) fe

M

(U

O

a (d

O +J

(6

<iH-tHtQ(D(UaS(C-H tOftH -i-,M-,v*.n^».

p^ja'a-ple>h(U4)-pa)43 HrH cr"s| ^
^5^^petlOJ^^^^■p^^^3H»»5a«oa^^
a>a)ti3Gdx:(4pcoa) iD>>aJajBacd(Da)

IQPQiaOOOOOQC3 KKSZ!0(l<P-iCUPU

£3

rH O -P

O • «J

u :s; -p

tl 4* -rj

o u a

2 a< D

Oj M

^ c^

508

uof^B-[ndod

/t speq
•dsoq aequmf^

o c- w t~

C~- irt CJ: I a>

. . . I .

I I I to m

1 10> 00

I 00 ^

03 o

518

::^

^

■';J<'DOiO00'5l'05OHO'*O'*i-(K5iOC^OU5W<D OiliO t--
OLOOt^KStc^C: c^eccotou3U5n;oOTf'!a't--wt^OiOt-

HrHrH rHi-li-l iH i-l r-\ K> CVi H r-l f-i rH

p^

wl

00CVi-ICOeO{OO>O5Cvi^W'4'U3-^«JiH00(CtOtfj

t^lfi050CaOCOOOCDCDlOt0005tDWWrHCOtOO>
O'* (rtD'^i-ICVir-IOOiHU)U5UJWO>iO'*rH^

OtOrH0DtOt^tDCr>i-ltOi-IO3OU5rHC5»OC^O00

t^u5He^o«0'<s'Ti<i-iw<Dtot-t^cRHir)Wr-(oo

10«Oi-t'5»-tOmHrHCv2'«l<iH<OlrttOrHt>(OOirHOJ

to o

.-I ^

c- o

o (o

C\i oo

O 00

rH O

<;u8oaad

q.7un jdd
uof^Bxndod

^aaoaed
jaqmnjii

nod 6361
aoufs \\\nz

•^od sjfBdsJ
aopBVi paan

"^od ^axToq.
spfsuf aq.BAT-t(J

•^od ja!}.Bi4

•q.od s^qSix
ofa^oaxa

jaqnmN

»

CD r- 05

'J5 ■* 00

U5

•Ji O

O

c^ oo

to

t^ T»l

00 fo

U5

to w

O 00

(C C5 CV2

rf w m

in <x> \n

lO -"S" ^

'^ rH
«3 '3'

OO

K3 Tj<

00

to

1-^ 0>

to w

CD t^

O rH

■a

CD 00
to CVi

to

lO

rH
OO

o

rH

oo

UJ

o

oo

U3

to

SO

T.
lO

to

to

lO

O

■*

^<

^ -^

•^

■<t

'*<

^

•^

•^

>*

•>*

\n

ro

^

■*

'ij'

«*•

■^

'^

•«1<

•*

^

00

3D

t- 00

\n

lO

CO

to

o

•*

lO

cv

oo

to

w

o>

to

CVi

o

o

lO

r-i

■^

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OIO o

iflirtt^e-to'«J't~tDinc>acvicv;'*iooot~t^ioc^rH on o

rHtOtoC>icaujtQtD'^rHOC-rHOt--rHOOt^<MNtoN'0
aOU310rH'<4'Cvit^rHrHC\irJ"rHU5C\itOW^tOWrH C\i rH O

r-i 00 0>

O CO

to o

c>-

to o

<n

CVi

r^

\n

■^

to

lO

CD

to

to

O

to

lO

H

r^

r-^

rH rH

CVi H

CV2
CV2

rH rH

t.^ to

r^ to

H

O Tf
rH rH

CVi

evi

CVi

o

CVi

o

CVi

oo

to

CVi
rH

Ol
rH

CVi

CVi

«;)< 30

Ivi to

o

to lO

CO

05

w

Tj«

>*

CO

to

to

•*

(T.

to

en

iH

rH

U3

to

OJ to

OO 03
CO to

to

CVi

O CVi
to CVi

§

S

rH

to

■«1'
U3

to

CVi

o

CVi

^

CVi
lO

lO

to

o
to

J3 T-

O CVi

to

00 C>-

t^

'^

t-

■^

C^

CO

t~

so

O)

<T>

to

C--

to

CO

o

CO

O 00

rH ';»'

rH

00
CVi

Cvl CVi
CVi Cvi

CD

to

CVi

CO

CVi

CVi

o

c^

lO

o

rH

to

rH
rH

U5

cv;

o
to

M a

r^ O

O

■* OO

CD

U5

to

t-

U5

to

to

o

CO

rH

05

lO

c^

rH a>

^

evi rH

to to

t

OO OO
CVi Cvi

a-.

OD
CVi

•d'

rH

to

rH

oo

CTJ

00

CVi
U5

d

S

05

to cn

rH CVi

to

•* Oi

O CO

lO

OO C^

^

O

O

^

1/3

C^

;vt

CO

CVi

to

00

o

oo

-

to

•<*<

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOQ

•<i<ocvirHOa>o-*rHt-rHcooccior~cvicO'*too

r~'*aDCOtOCO>-C^OOrHHa5tOtDO>CViOrH'«J'eviC~
rr>U3[OtH'^CVit^rHrHCVi'*rHlOtOeOCVilO'<*CVirHCvi

o c

e- o
t- o

to o

• o
o o

h -H

0)

3

^

O ffl *

c

(H C

G -P

O

V. -H m

(U

av s)

(D -H m

Cm

3 +J a

■rt

■p s

> fi <B <J)

+>

a> ^ 7

u o

P 3 3 c3

U

» a> ^
PQ el CQ

en

rt ^

a

O

o o

U O O C5

X

> a c o rH .

g rt aj -P fci o z

COJSOO^I-HrHS td=M •

•H3:o-Hpaj3aj.HHOO<

■P HrHO-'gOtlXIld ••

ti^tQecQS^Hr-in-P (.pen

^3 N

tw S

Ql, a

(U

'^'3

^

to to

05 03

Q Q
>> >>

o o

» ID

*3 -P

03 <a
-p -p
CO m

HltOl

509

EH

;:?l

Q

a> 9

C\2 c\i ^
«0 rH O
W »o •*

1 N ^-
: to M

I 00 CM

I O r-l
I U5 rH

■^ ei CD I I

I >*iOCvii-HtOOrHeM'»J<tOTflOW|

t» (» U3

U3 to 0>

to H •

4^CO

^

0.0^
O Q.

OMOOOOlOOON^OptnNkOO^OOCD^USCM
0>«JHevib-H>ONC-'ii«WO^OtO(-|lONt^«OlO

>o CO a>

uJ|-lo>cD^-^^i^-^-ooaooc>i•*•«l'lO'♦o>e^ic^i^Dlo

IOr-( NtOtO HIO CsJt^ i-lr-lrH Cvi

Oi r-i

CO N CO

to O lO
H

t^K«)iootQO«)oo«DOtooii5->i<<sicou>o>'*'io

to o

(P'^iOOtO^Cv2«iit~CQCvtOOO>i-IOtOO>Oa>iOQ

iB»r-u>o>H5Doooa^iHio«pooioo><Dioto«oo

OOlO'^J»Ot^t^'*iOOOC»rH»OrHCnK3lOi-INt5o>

to ^•

?:S

to to r-l lO to r-l H lO <0 t>- to CM r-l Oi
H i-i W CM

CM lO

C4 (O

£g

^

^

&

H t! - • -
o • » a 14 d

W -rl n 0) (D d

» H P i % O 01

fl> c Ki a « •□ (4

CQCQ03UOUOO

O Pi < » O Q ^

V( ^ 5 O -rl 3 O

O Q O

m O O a 0 9 <D >% cS

• o
'3 o

I

;^

510

O "H

m (1,

a.

m

■p

9

d

•H

0)

o

o

0)

h

o.

»

w

O.

t

o

M O
«l -P
U

.c oo
•P oo

U r-i
O

z •.

n
v>

-P rH m

C cd 0) >H
« -P 3 Pn

O O H

e-i oj T)
u > o

^

1

>

i "^

t

OH

XI

43

10

d

o -^

T3

h

tM

o

NOitOO'^l'rHOOOO

005"*lOCVJ(CrHU3eOO

Oa>mr-<t-r-IC0^(QCNJ

iSt^inoooujoocio

n

a Si j3 a (D

«

to -o O^^ (0 -H ^

> +>

u <o V -H a-P

•ct^

« -P Ui to (H cd o

-P .p ^. E Q) (h

S * d

00 O 3 a 3 P H

to 3 a

>> ft-P rH H 0) H
O CO K) CJ CQ Eh aj

CitOrHC-tO^t^tOOO

cvir-tcotooioonocn^oo

* rH

O00rHOOOt>-O«tO
WtOWOiOOlOrHWOS
lOtO WrH05{D-«l<(OrHtH

•i fc Vk wv *

U5 to to rH e-

g

Cm

g

Tl

■p

O
--N O

s)

TJ tM

::^

0)

m

^

3 tn
0*^.H ^

09

«•

« X)

ta

0)

> -.

h d)

•rH

« a,-p

•H

•H 01

S -P ^

bo OQ (It o

O

Alew
Mull
Shad

+J -p

<D
3
H

Stur
Clam
Terr
All

CO

O CO

(Q

■p

fcl o

A u OQ a

-P -H (D 3

_ t* ^^ O

CO 0) A

H x: u

d e -p ^

0.1H 00 a,

arH a

3) Tj Cd 0)

iH ® -P

J3 -H B -H

OS ^

2 - « *

T] «

q (8 0}

3)

<0 JC Jii

O (Q U

^ iH CB

■P !«, rH

_ Xi

h 2 ••»

CO cd oJ

ti

OQ CO Q)

0) 9 -P

rH -H «

C 3 Q X!

tH cd a u

m m u

B U «>

at 3 •> o.

ID eo >.

iH of 9)

0 •> C J3

0) a us-p
a o

01 mH •> ••>
c oa e ta

to OQ 80

«H -H -P «>

O g 3 J3

J3 «J rM~
I m « X)

Eh c

CO x: o 0)

S -p a -p

d • 10)

o s g a> »

•H s bc

•P 03 «1 t| -P

a) x: (D d H

CJ -P a rH d

•H o 3.^

tn

XJ -rt
to a

OQ to „ ^ . _

cd -P <D ch

rH h -P ^

O O 4) (D to

Oi 3 a <D

4) u cr 3 ti

x: ^ CO botH

^^5,

511

^

«

rH

o

■^>^

T^

•

U

n

Ol^

■P

u

« -P 9 ^
O O H _^

Eh «8 T3

h > O

S) Vi O

(U O (^

9

^

3^

« o o

Oh (^

■H '

■♦5

>

lOOTO^WOoO^OW

05QOO«^»0«Oe~rH«0
OtOtOCATlitOtOOCsZ

« O IB

jQ 3 « (0

■r* 9 9 0.+> »H Jd ^ O
'dFrH-P-HOCOUO.

^ n HK u P p a u u

,flrH3fe»+> O'l-liH ® O

QOCD-««'«£)tOOQOW
t^ •^ iH H

■P t4 a> -H o

0) 9

9 a>-P4H 0<JQ^ g

rc]rH-pa>«><HUUO<

;a 3 >> o*H -P e H o
coaorapQCOpLicq|i4

s

U5 ■>*

3

to «0
o r-

9 Vl
4-1 « «
•P H 4i

o « o
E-< a EH

^51

512

J3

t

-^3

«) .H

o

-p

3 P-

o

o

rH

u

|H

:g'H

o

<H

o

Ph

o

(x<

I

>

^ n

II

OS o

U3rHlQ«J<lOIOW10

aooooT}ioorH'<te-CT>i-<

tOtD(Dt-t^COCOCOCOO

CntCOHt-tOWOOr-lf-l

C\2lOtOCVi00tO00Ki(NiC--
Ol00^050WOrHO»

a

ca

at « go

^ p (D n

O OQ 'O V) aj ,o CO
»r-i.p-Ha)a)oa<u

« H ^ >>

(MCTOOJt^tONC-Oi

N^-r^O>0O^OO>U5lrt

^ ^. ^ lO to to iH

no evt

• •

■P (^ « -H (B

3 ^4 h e0 (^

Vi S CO

-31 -^

^

J3

•*

t~

•«t

03

OO

CO

K5

N

H

^

513

C3 O rH

oi m C) CO xa t~ t~

lOlOrHWOJUJtOlOW

CDUSOOt'-OtQtDt)

n3C-ioot--totptoc\i

rHWtOCTirHCCCDrHOO

■O -P

> -P o 0)
P rH <C

•0 £

GO n

m cn <u H 3
W O -a! 3 CO

cn Oi m cQ

21

o 3

:^

t~<Tl«OOt^OiOOlOiO

Cn<*O30OWU3<OCDO5
COiAcOt^OOCDOOCOOO

r^c\2t^'>*t-u}oi'3w

0>0«DCUC^U5K5rHO
COeOiOirtOCROOtOCvi

>* LO in to H

<«Ocoscoa)P->copQ

o

(Ol

H

Irt

to

•^

•

fO

00

to

31

O 0)
6h S

;:^

514

,0

lU

iH

o

^,

•H

•

ll

01

PU

■p

o

•P t-l to

Ci cd 0) -H

4) -P P pt,

O O rH

6-1 a) T3

h > o

(U Eh O

iH'J'Or-tOO'O'^WtO

lCC^OtOrJ<t~C5rHf-ltO

K3«J<tOOOOtONCVO(Ni
OC-tOOl'^tOtOCViCviiH

OLOcOC\2(I)CDrHC--TllO

o

•H O

u

o

5m +>

10

(«

0)

O) S)

(Q

Icfl

ra §)x; "^

0)

P4

0)

03 (S Cd 03 ^T^

^ ra

*

V( <D

U > *» <D -H O

00

-p

■O

(u -H » +3 vi o, ja

J<f o

o

'^1

TJ -P » H 0) <D ^

o

o xi

5 to fl) H 3 P ;-<

^ >.r-l 3 CTH -P

CO o <i a w ca w

^ §

+3 C
O <D

cu

cQ cy

ena

oo

rH

en

b-

■^

rH

•k

rH

to

rH

rH

O

rH

■p

:^

■P CO

•H -a o

■p c o

fl p o

al O -

WrJtrHlOTjIOilOOOtO

lCifDOCri'^C>-CT>rHWW
^U3h-t>-CD0O00CT>O5O>

^OU5r^a>■*tOr^r^r^
•^ <-{ r-t

rHootowtoiooaDaoco

to in ■^ to rH rH

fn -P a) -H

Tj XI <n

•H (i)a)-peMj3Q.JiJO

tT3-PrHa)a)o^oj3
(uSmrHPPf^tiaJaJ

H ^ >» P CTrH 0) -P rH P

«»:coo:acooQa,co mcy

■>*

o

03

rH

H

■*

•k

00

Oi

to

r-t

t

;^

515

43

v

r-\

o

^v

•H

U

n

a.

■p

o

u
cw o

4) O O

•r* Tl O

-p a o
c 3 o

^

'*mOtOWtD"5WW'*rHlOHtClW

OtD^t~t-CvilOO300CDrHlrtt0tD
00<D<£)«30lOO>CVt'^t000050H

cvi^iOtoe~c^c~-ooopa3cocD05cr)

OtOOOtoOvOrHtOCr>anmTl<rHOi-ltO

rHOlOrHCOCVOlO'^iHWi-ICJWOCn
OOOOCVi(OOt-t-OtOCT>Ot-|lOOa>

CvirHt^USOOOtOtprJ'tQOOCD'ttOrHKJ

tO<<WCT>Ol"5lO^WWrHHrHrH

K3 CVJ H

J4 ^->,

D9 U

T3 -P

0) 03 EO cO

0 ^ Kl

3 ,Q ma

oa>Gd T) Di xih^::

0

r^><u-p(u -H CO m

0) -.

xJ-PtiuH^HBaJOodc
Stoa)PH^3pha}Oco

mo ■«iwamocoa, mow

U) to

■p

;3 CD c

0

a-p fH

03

CO 0

U3 00 Tl< to to H rH

T) -P

m

© tl <M

cd to

3 ctJ 0

43 CO

bO 43 (0 43 10

cd CI

02 (d CO ^

TS 43 0

fH 4J 0) ^ (1) •>

(U <B

0) 0) -P ^ ^ to

to r-^ 3 P 0 0) C

to

0,43 ^ bO

T5

s

+3

•H 0 0 !U

0)

c3

0

h t. cfl 3

43

^5 y-H ^^ ^H

0 s CO pa 0 0

rH

a,+j 0) H -p

CO

0

CO

CO p.. pq CO

OONOOOOrHtO lOlOCnujrHWOllO o

O00t^(OO5tOU3 t«-030Cyi'^lOlOtO Q

(0^lO«3C0t^t- r-t~-0OCO0O0DCD0O O

«0'*Cvi'X)Ot0iOO<J5C0t0<0«0r-tt-«0
Ot>-OCO«D(OC\i iHi-(pHrHrHiH

otoHOOcDcnoe-ooointomwr-t

CJ5«3'^HO>Cnc^'*QOtOlO^OtOt>tO

c-oit^'l'Otow cncricocoasuitrsto

to t~-

r~

to

f:i

05

CO

rH

-^i -3

^

516

A

•^ <-<

CO

c:

cd

0)

^

Q>

43

p

lx<

0

EH

>

-S

<D

«H

0

PL.

0

1*4

»o^W'^>H03t^«>o>i-teO'^wtoini

int\2C\JlOrHe-a3m01rHt-)r-ltOl.'3C>-

lOt-OHaacDrHc^nttWOoeuwci

00COC0CViCVi<DtD«DOt0WlrtrH050>

'*ao^-ocDtotoc\JCDcx3'^tooa>oi

00«DOOU5rHi-IOO<0'OtQtOKJC\irHH
K3 CSJ rH iH rH H

l.^-:

0)

TJ

>

0)

•g

•H

0)

U

i-H

+>

=<

CO

XI ^4 to t>>

(U -H U

aa £ ^ jii Vi o

rH

0

>*

CM

w

■*

•s

flO

r-l

0

to

^-

rH

-^

>

13 H -^
® H fe

" -o

p. <M 0

«) o

C P o
a) o -

P. Oh

r-ciooooooO'^oooaotocDto'O

KSt^rHtCrHlfiOOOtOUitDOOaiOH

Wtoi0{ot~t-t-ao<r>oooooooo030;

t-W0500rHIO»Oi-<OCOlO»<30t-
lO'^lOWOO'^WWWCVirHi-lrHH

lOU5t--tDiHO>U5lOC^HtOU5bOC--^
Ht-kOcot-O>H(-IOSO500«D«DiOeO

rHtOCDlOtOHrHH

m ^

(D a) ^ M

a

S n OQ ID

(D

V

Oysters

Squetea

Croaker

Clams

Striped

Bluefis

Perch

Spot

Hickory

Black b

e

r» 4»

^

IB i-l T3

0

0)

0

03

-al S W

•H iH (» O.

X)
o •>

o a

o a>

::5i

517

a 01 «
« -p p &,
o o H

Eh cd
U >
0) Ch

0>ir>"<J<«0i-<rHK3^1't-t>-

rHlOt^OtOr-IOO'<*aD05

rHt»-CiiWK5U3HCVJW

cncnc-'^Heoe'iOt-

(-(•<* W(0(oa)t--cD'*Hi-icnoooe>-i~-wo5oor-

oooooooo

OOQOOOQO

O O O O O O

O O O rH O

O O Q Q
_ _ O O Q O
O O O O 3 O

tOt^tplOOWlOTfOfDrHtO^rHOSaOOtO^r-t
t~-WOt--'!}<CD'*'d<^K3 tCtOeOC\iCviC\ii-lrHi-t

to W W iH H

(0 ^

0) -p a> ^

J3 TJ

n (m x: jid a< 10

J® O O -H jQ

3 h 0) (^ 3} I

H « f-l -p t<

O CQ (0<CQ CO u

Id Xi 2

I B m 01

I -H ^

n 0) Pi -H U in (c

7J ^ © «M O 1-1 -H

S cB -P ^J<1 -P V4 ch

nl O +J C O O hfl-P

CO Cv2

o

o

D

o

CD

m

•«

W

rf

05

t>-

«>

rH

>

cotf-<D^t^cDa3foaiOix>iat~o>r-ic^tn

CD05CT>OOlOrHOOOK50Cnt^<N2WC\irHiHt<3t^O>
U3rHOCD05«K5WWWrHrHi-(iH«-lt-IH

COOU305WW<DC^f5Wt--«Oi-IO'<J<tOC^tOt-C~
Wt^tOlO"*OlOI>-C5lOH(MrHHOt^U}r-|t>-E^
cr>OtDr-IO5eONH0icD00t^iOiO«ort<'«*r-<W(O

OiO'^'^eOr-lrHiH

5

^1 -H «j •>

O 13 -P 03
a 3 O W

•rtdJ-PO) <U<W<^X; <iHJQJ<!S,.H'H-HCO o o

&fH<l)-PT3-P(Utao+>tDao-HtM<MCXi AS

«>rH3toed-P30PiOCaJ(Oh-PMaicde « H

rH3D'>»^3rHt((UD.'H.HrH-Pa}iHafH -H rH

«»;swocomcQoouiWWopaOToa.mo ac <i

rH

o

f:>

05

■<1<

•<«<

«

!M

t>-

^

Ui

:^

518

fU -P

o o

EH aJ TJ

0) Cm

> O

e>-o^ooto«Dto^oooiooJtot>-o>ooo
ww«ocou^r^•^^o«)^-loa>r^Olc<^^^o

0«3Nt>-o>r^<HO»e^coiO(o ao^o^-^

0<0«OWWOO^OOOOOiOJQDr-<»4'lrt'S'r~-

OJtDtOlOOC-OSOOOODOt-tOrHWIOCM
i-IO5Ose^00eOO>O3«HiOt-0ON00<DH
Cv2«o^OCJrHIXU50tei-l«D05QOt^^05

HtDWHOKJOO

>* to Cv2

o o

Tj<

'^l'

en

H

H

UJ

•t

o>

CTJ

U>

O

to

to

H

H

M

■M at

a p-{ -H
0) iH tn

0)

03

- -p h

-P O 0) ^

a cd o n

a. m Vi »4

_ o ••H •• h D, «

»T5a)i-l-P0+>a.Hi-|0(D^ *i -tA ci

a)29HiQcdgShalr-i9iiJB.puo

OCV2r^t~-Tl<U0«3OO00WU5 000)0010

OWiOi-tOt^H'^OoO^KJUSOOiHOJ':-

'trHt--tO0000Or-4e-<-((Ot--CpT(<tO®t-
aDtOIOtOOJN^flOrHlOCViOO^eOCViOOOS
•"JitOtoevirHHOSt^tOUS^IOrHNlOWH

<* to rH H H H

a ja ca

•H » cd u
oa ^ j3 a. M

T3 +J

§ o

to G)

ID cS
> ID
■H -P

^ » 'O -P -P
(DPaJO<n-lfH, ...,___

rHa<^O.fc>p£P*>-IOtifH

ID(DBO>x:jidH^CD !hP.W

+» H -3 -P'o o H o3 ja 0) -H a
m-tu-t^UaiiaoaSK Pl^d

<M .P

o d

^ •

o v

o

H

Irt

lO

r-(

o>

•

o

(35

to

t^

rH

■5

31

"3

:^

519

a

n a> -H

0)

■P P (».

L>

O iH

Eh « TD

U

> O

C

«M O

PLi

O fe

I

05050^He^f3U5«)UirHiOCDOtO

w to r^ 00 00 cj

050H«*I>-tO«OCMi-(CJ5«)'>^i»Oe><<0»OIO^rHf-iO'5'

t-Ht~«OU5U2eOeClOWWCViCUC\2rH i-frHr-trHrHO

C\i r-i

^^«DCnr^'*«Dlou2^J'^~-low^-^05lOl^^a5c-cncDt<■J

Cvi050D^O>«DU:tD'^OtCOC~-a)(OU3t^CnWWr-<aD
00CNi<'Kir-(i-lt^«O«OtClO'ft'!»''!fK5 eMWCMWW

lO W rH rH r-( H

(4 OS

•P XI

(h -P -P
0) «
tJ -P H >^

0) t3 T) tc
> 4) (1) -H
■p P.«H 10
0) S

t1^

galr^ca<DO^^3(«00?^l3«5•Hed =

8

«3 K3

to to

CD ..V

o to

> OtftCO^e-'^J'OtOeOCyOuDlO (Mt^rHiOiOtDtO'^

•H • ♦

■P r-HOOaSlOrHe-WUSflOOrHtO

Id WeO^^iOtOtDt^t-t^ODOOOO

•p to

« l-tfe

:^

OCTJOtD«Ot-tD»OOOCOCDt~i-ltOiO^WWiHOCD

H010>C~t>-«OU>lOtOWlHl-trHiH r-l(-tr-)rHrHr-t •

WCnOOWiHOJOO'Sl'l^OTlfrHHWC^flOlOiHtOr-ltO
W0Ob-t~tO'OTjilOrHO3tO'OWtOC0t~tO00COtOCNitO

loootowe^t^tDOJasioioioiopHTjt^tototciocj

tOtOlOCViWi-lr-lrH

p bp ^-^,— ^ to

o a x: T3 p m js

Pi .h to in (m CO CJ

+> +> .H 01 O XI fn

;q r-( in Vi X. ot
T3 to x; ap

Q) E -P *H iH <U «,
^3 r^ ^ ^ <U UrH >ja
OrHf-iO3flce>-i(0 =
Q, p X: D-rH ^ tJ ^ -

IB oa ^

> fH -P

k -p >>'r)

0) to or Id

CO w cQ « to ac o

T3 D.

Oi

a. 0)
p x:

CO &

CQ

to

£d

Xi

to

fc'

0)

XI

O

p

•S"^

h^

u

«

crt

a)

•H

^

r-l

r-l

rH

PL.

tt

f^

(U

o

■<*

o

t-

03

o

w

H

t<J

KJ

CD

:^

520

Xi

0)

i-H

o

•H

U

to

Oi

-p

CJ

0 ai « •H

» -P 3 (X,

O O H

t4 > O

O 4-4 O

(1,0 Ci^

W t- t- « <D

05 O to lO O

in

K3

o O (^ o
I.V to 05 Lo

o 'i'

00 00
to U5

c^ to

to o

OO to w o o

to to rH t- O

o

«3

05

to

OJ to 00 1< iH

S

to O r-l Oi

w to

to to

w oo

lo to to lo 00

<D

o

t>- H 00 00 w

■>*

to O ^ "5

CM

to to

tO^OUJOOOHrHO

O rH 05 to to
OJ to to ^ lO

00

to 00 iH -^

to to C-- e^

0> rH
t~ 00

lO U5
OO OO

r- 00 ai H w

00 OO OO G> O)

to o

05 O

iH

e^^t-O1<NCvjTllTj<r-t00C5

^ o

O 00

to >o to W iH

O 05

>* to

O o oo c>- to

in

lO ^ to to

iH

C\2 CV<

W iH

rH H 1-1 H H

H to

to to
00 H

W W C\2 US w
05 0> ■* iH to
W H t- W O

<J0

rHOOlOOWC^r-HtOrH^
OOr-IOO'^J'rHlOCOOlO^.
'<J<Ol005lOOiWC-U}IO

00 03 t^ to ffj

o> evi w to ^

CO to M t-- cvi

05 t-
Q to
O H

lO O
O U3
lO 00

U3 W O W t^ 03
e- CO O to M" r-H
•«1< W W iH H i-i

05 1-1 e- o 05 "tf

rH O C- t«- i-H •*

Tj< lO
US ^

U3 O

lO lO 05 t~ U>
to to N W W

to 00

W lO

iH

(0

•H

"3

o

ta t<

S5
1^

O rH
H r-
1^ «(

o o>
o lo

to ■*
N

Shad

Mullet

Oysters

GS-ay trout

Alewives

Scallops

Striped bass

Spotted trout

Croaker

Clams

t2

m o
m

Bluefish

Shrimp

Spot

White perch

Carp

Hickory shad
Harvestfish
King whiting
Sea bass

Si

(0 •
•H O

1 =

■P c

h

s

a

>

43 a

"^■2 2
42 fl o
(3 p O
efl O -

to O 05

O '1' 00 w o

«oOr-ioo3tooeNjtO'*j«wo5

to

o

f

1-4 H

en

00

to 00

tn

to

OO H to

IO

CO OO O

rH W

to

^

•«1<

LO

8

H

to •<*

<i

IO

to to

t-

t-

c- OO OO

00

OO 00 05

05 cn

05

05

05

05

iO C^

C5

t-i

•* 'd'

<>

OO N

CO M H

05 05 r- ^ W H iH

CO

t~ C^

**■

o o

r-H 05

OO

OO

IO IO

«

N M

* el el

r-» H i-t H

rH rH

H

•*

A 05

to

to to

r-4 lA

N

H

CD C^

05

SJ8

(J3 lO 00

w

lO OO W

O UJ

t^

05

CO

IO

IO

05 tV

H C^

to

OO

O OO

U5

to "5 to

lO

to to to

to O

eo

•* H rH

^.

o CO

05 (O

05

IO

to to

05

«v2 a>

w o>. CJ>

OO

00 t- to

lA lO

■*

to

to

to

»* 05

A f^

*K

•s a^

•i

M

•^ •

to '*

to M Ol CUH H

rH

^g

■§

•H

«M

A

-o

« .

"O

A3 O Si

01

t3

a) X

§>

8

•H O

Cm 4>
«

49

&

tn U <ti

cd

£ o

•H

1c?

b

O -P -H

^

10 h

+»

U

(4

(0

5

JC

CO %-i

Si

01

0)

•H

h

ea

i

O (3

3)

(h

r;

m

T3 4J

tL

ax)

ts ft*

(D

n

^ a>

> 4^

0>

4^

u

a -

<U (0

•rH

O <B

(^

r

1

cd

+»

rH-S

■S5

Jbit

«

S 03

4j a>

Cm

rH O,

O 0)

Xi

to

o

a

+3 13

CO a

45

o

4» >

c O ti

p

rH -H D,^ +>

at vi H o iH

gf

§

0)

§

H

^•s

t;

u

<^5

o.

a. (d

rH

o 43 a)

•H J3

■H

H

<D

rA

H

£ 3

o o

w

CO o

WKCQCOWOW^

t<i

6^ W

O

-«

fH S

a

521

^<

<fl

Ph -p

0

0)

1

t>

•H
■P

01

.0 H

^

-p

r-\

01

fi

<B

0)

•H

a>

■P

3 fe

o

O

H

f-

0)

-a

u

>

0

a>

Cm

0

pL.

O

Fx

N

O -as

•H -g o

C P o

>

CDU2C^U3P5rHUjHlH'S'W00«O'O«;}<tO«D<DmWCO

l-\ t~ tti Oi (O

00<D'tt-C^U3tD'*0'«*'OOHlOWcr>

COeOC-tOlft '*U5'<*lOtOCviC\irHi-(rHrHr-lr-t

C^COOtOIOiHUJC-NVOCMOOO t~IOC~l>-'S'Ot^Cv2

in evi H r-t r^ rH iH

ID ^ CO m

4)

s ^

fn -P O •>

-P rH r-j ^ P

tti H ai aj = 0)
>j 3 o ^1

o s w o

^ -H +3

CO <M

a^-3 ^

O CQ

(4 CQ -H (Q

0) CO (h (h (D

a. cn 0) -P J3

o, cc -c w CO

E 0) XI S O -H

U, MnH -P 3 >• «M

■ b r) * O fn -P

r-i h -p S.i-1 rHa-H,2iia)i-i«8aJ r-j

r~ 03 w t- 00 CO CO

OOr-lrHOCnt^kOt-OOOTOOC--

e^WtOUSi-IOuJOlOlOOOJCJiOOaDtVrHr-lrHOt^
aJtDWt^t>-tDU5WHtOCVipHrHrHrHr-li-lrHrHrH

C0lOC~00Tl'WI>-t^O3T)<U3rHOU3'tt^lO00lO'^^

>- CO lO CO C\i CVZ Cvi

•a -p

A ca en

CO

(U 43 t4 -

4J t) Q) m

0) T3 +> r^ +3 XI

pi ca o f-i CO a) r

o X! o, 3 >^ u

w oi CO i= o cj

•H +3

CI, +J J3

O P. to »
H H 0)

XI (i> 0) P^ n

en t:} XI a, 0) ca

^ (B CO -O (0

Cm p. iH 0) q X) <n

^,-r. r -4/C1.(Ut^Cm-P P S

BifHt(?h3tl-P'rjO0)a

ox! 03-H carH+> OJXlrH <Ur-l

t ^

t- to

-^1 -i

0

W

w

0

OD

KJ

H

Oi

•«*<

o>

-31 -3

:^

522

h
P-. -U

o

0050eviWU5i-lt*05^tDtOtO'i'OOiHOoO

to «C CO to o «D o

iNOe^»fj«ot^t-'J'ioeo

S «.« nH

O O iH

_ Eh <B -rt

Ji > O

a) (h o

to O lO 00 ^ <0 ^-00 05K5t.«5WrHOt~i-la3
05'*tOcDtOlO'^ CV2(OCvlCJNCv2Nr-lr-l

^tOtOt-C^lOOOOOlOOOH'?0'^0^0> t^

WCntOWcDWCvit^WTrWHWcoOCOlOW t~-

TlllO«OC^U3lMlOi-ltOOOMmC\2C3100"5»QO W

O'*'lOtO?DWOlOCJCn0Dt-rHI>COOO'a< 05

■A m

C- rH

to to

t>- OD

H rH

oo e^

ce

B)

0) h +3 0) >

■P O V ^ -H (Q

T3 (D-PrH^ ^-PXl

5pt0lHO(UO«J

5D">»3f<rHCUh

to V(
IQ 4A

10 <u x) o.

^ X) 0) o
to V( 2 <Xr^

-p d
o e

E-i a

to iH t- W CO "l Ol

tt)c^^ocTi(0^-cnao■^o

J< <H O

0) o o

{O>O«O'O'i'O>'<*O>0OrH«3CO^^WO3tOCD
'S'b-rHt^eOlrt'i'H CvirHHr-lfHrH

t~O>OO00C0lOU3i-lt^U3tOrHtDt-OrHtD
tDt^C35i-IWtDr-tlOlOO>WOOlOrHWOOCO'<*
e~tDOtOCDLOOOOtOOOt--tOtD«OlOtOWOi

O t-- Irt to W Oi rH

CD "^

::5i

m

(h Cm

aS O

t. -P

^ -P (DO) 0}

«3 (U -P P rH T3 J3

O 3 O to rH 0) «

ti cr a >> p J3 h

O to W O S CO o

(Q

a)

0) Ol CO -p n d

OiX! o -ri to «d 0)

sSrH^O) injao.

f-o'cdpSs'SoJh

S r-i OrH efledr-i <C-P

coP^coaaffioococo

31

;^

523

t
«°1

WC»0'<<<lO'*COWt«-WrHWrHr-l05lOI/3tD«Oi-l
H H

cnoo«i<»ou3a5CT)aoOHtOrHNO'*wq>t-oot-

00'l't0i-IO5tDiHOirtl>-W0DlO00K^01OOiOirt
CnWrHWODC^UJOriOOOlQi-IOOODWWOt^M

Ou5CJoo^^lO^-«o<clOu^^'*^^f3lOlOoJ^^H

01 o

- h

^ -P u

mm n ,c O)

«-■ 0) tj tj p. to P-

> 0) (D o -H a

THO.4irH«HSt0 0)

p.H+>rH ®-H S-P-t-'

0(U(HOcd?hc3o

h rH -P a. CJ r-+.i: 1-1 o

:j •ajcocococqwocQ

o

rH

U5

KJ

00

<0

•

C3

Ii5

n

UJ

lO

U)

H

^

WtOt^^OOH U5e\i«oOOeOtD0lW-^"*(Oe\i O

00 ^ W 0» lO sv
N rjt lO U3 ID C~

tOOCOtOOOWOr-IK. -^lOtDt^

^*coooa^Qoooo^<TiC^'C50c^<7>

00«>flOtOtOCDtOrHeOK5W«\irHrH«-IHr-lrMOO

oiooto«ot»«DOoo>wtrjTj<oot^wwovrc-

IOOtO»OtOO«Dt«-0>t-'*Cr>t~«piOTj<(Ou;)WH
OOC~OOtOWWHtOWr-tOO{D'^'^'i<^''J'f5K3tO

h r^ m

0) +5 -p Vt ••
Mm (U Ui

O cH C8 O w a) c

U O U Cu^U

O Si C3 CO O O

JS » 0) to ^(

a. -HO) i»$ otjm
a vh-p ^&a)rH(3otQ

•3tJ ffv-P &i4-|.H+3i-( ^ M S
^^aJpOVj+a^i-HoJOoa
^J3rH a.3 <a-PJ3 Or-I^HH

wwmOToocoSm(i<aaij

t~

rH

a>

U)

on

O

•

■*

'S'

KJ

WJ

H

:^

524

^

•"' H (-1 iH

••••• ••»• •••••••••• «

'^S? oo<Mincoo»HMO'*m o

fO to t>- C^C000aDCDO>O>O»O>O> o

0»<Oi-JCONrH<OC>-<00
OW«0(MC0He0W0»lO

tJ +» O

'4<inr-4«OCD<Or-4(Or-|in
• •••••••••

^COeOCMrHrHrHHHO

»ine>.iN(Otoo>OrHi-i

to •^ o

■* w to

lo t- in to to r-i in

CM iH iH 1-1 1-1 i-l

H CQ 0) (D

■p fH > -g -

•o >> +> S 3 ^

01 0) (Q (D O (0 C

a> o o

+» Jd rH
-P (0 VH

o o (3

p. h o

Worn

4» H P.H

a CO o oj PQ o CO

53

4» 4J

o m

tOtootomTj«OrHC\]eO'<4iT]<^no

9SP?2J!Q£:*0'Hwio^w<oo
e-t-c^a3a)cocoo>cno»o>»o»o»o

■S)< N 0> r-( O O
« ■<# 0> <0 iH C*

to O ■^ 01 r-i ■^

<7> r-4 C» in iH 01
C» to 0> CO to (-4

C>- O O CO 0» CM «o
in lO to to CM CM H

1-1 i-« o o 0> t-
iH H H 1-1 O to

in H oo ■* co<oincDcMcotOTjiooo
i-iooi-icoe»o>cotocMcMoo>ton
c^inHofflo. ^cotototoncMCMH

(0 -ct o

jO a
o a) Jd

D.'d V) ^

o P n

_ • ■ *i 3 ® p. « y(

•d 0)i-li-l S-p-h+jVi

CO D.

« Ibi-

epaJajtiH o«ooa)3^h3^h-P-pn^H

CO c» o

• • •

H 00 O

CM

<o

m

«o

(»

U)

to

rH

U)

to

•*

c^

o»

o»

m

c»

o

(D «

-35

r)

O iH

Vt a> cd

O O) O

M a H

«
>

525

&

a a n y^

O ^ _

tH "tJ o

•p a o

rt 3 o

::J1

<si

Q to «o lo a> CO o>
S >-< t> 00 o> a> o

c^ to ^

n

to

CM

CM

a>

O W CM
rH 00 CM

CM O to

rH

in

rH

to to

to "* rH O O CO

^ rH O

tl<

CM

rH

to CM

rH rH to

H f-t rH

CO (M c- o a> CO

Vi CO -^

^-

(O

9

CM

in

o to to o

• • • « • •

• • •

•

«

•

•

*

• • • •

«o e« lo to 0* <o

CO 0> (A

9

CM

Tl<

IS

o>

rH CM to O

rH N rt ^ Tjt W

to to C^

c^

00

CO

CO

00

CJ> C» Ol O
rH

__

00 •* lO to ■* lO CJ»

00 CM to

to

CO

■*

to

to

in to to ■*

• •••••«

• • «

•

•

•

•

•

• • • •

<o o 00 ^- CM Tji .0

to to in

■*

CM

CM

CM

CM

rH rH rH ^

iH rH

«o to c- <o CO ,H in

0» CM »

IS

CM

rH

CO

0>

CO o to ^

WtOO>rH^NcOtO'>^<»

0>

O

CM

ts

S

00 to to 55

<* to o tn ■* o» <o

to to 00

D-

to

00

CM

in CO •* -^ CO co'rH
w e^ to to rH to lO

H

rH to rH

CM

rH

IS

C^

to

rH 0> (» CQ

in ^ ^

to

CM

H

rH

rH

jd

<0

•H

u

•o

■p

o

a CD — — .

o

p CO <d -p

& 4» CO fH *H

^

XI <S

o

M

4» 3 ^ g O
o Jd o
•d f< tJ

u

•H n h

n u o

Pi

J3

03

^^5 5

<D +» O ~ 43
■P ft (D (D

f^ <D >

-c)

•H

n 0} ft -p

n o ID

cl

<D

n

<U

1^ 43 fj rH

Shad
Spot
Gray
Stri
Crab

Mull

0
o

^13

C^ O to to to H

rH 0» to

CM

CO

to

in

rH

C>- to Tf o

• • • • • •

• • •

«

•

•

*

•

• • • •

o in to •* o c^

CM to -i" lO to to

CM in cj»

CM

ti<

ts

0>

rH

CM lO Tf o

IS c^ t-

OO

00

00

OO

0»

o> o> o> o

rH

^-.

IS to lO CO o^ o

O OO •«JI

o»

to

in

CM

to

«0 0> 00 to

Q •««< rH C> to lO rH
Ci rA rH

lO to to

CM

CM

CM

CM

rH

rH c> c> in

T* O to CM to CO 0»
00 ^ lO C» o> ^ Q

in in to ■* 00 CO rt

C- rH C^

in

CM

o

C-

in

C~ CM rH «J>

00 o IS
in CM o

CM

o>

3

OO

to

CM

in

o o» to to
in CM CM c^

to •5l< to CM rH H

rH rH >-{

rH

a

■d

■P

o

3 — — .

n o

p "d -P
■P fi %| %-i
3 +i d o

XI

J3

n <n

CQ

o

<a

•rl

U

to

Xi ^>

no ja 09
« p t< "d

<0 4^

K

a

s

l> (D +» 4» ® «

h 01

•a

•H

<n

® O. -P

ft S CO o

Alewl

Croak

Gray

Mulle

Spott

Crabs

0) a>

o

r)

Vi

•H

■p -p [>•

•d

+»

=t

3

^

'H -H g

t^tll

o

■P

o

h 5l 3 rH
+> i3 rH rH
CO W O <<

m

in

to

o

to

'i'

to

rH

e^

«

rH

in

to

in

c^

CM

c-

CO

4h (D 0)

+3 ri -p

00 to

■*

+>

to c-

rH

IS Tit

CM

4»

0)

rH ^

to

!-,

to in

CO

tH

<»H

d

o

526

h Vi o

!!I S C^ 2 2 S ?: ri 5 n o t- e^ « « m o

in CM CM H ^ in H O lO H W •* Tj. o» » ■* H

k

•H

t- •* 'i"
* • •

CO <o in ^ lo
• • « • •

E

+»

^ CO <o

'<i* r-i CO in H

5

01

H w rt

■* K tn <o P

• ••••••••

'<^toooincMo-ooto

S « S ?3 sJ '^ '^ ^ «

H O 01 to

ooooooe>-(oooo
• •••••*•»

C>-00C0(DO0>0k0tO

tnooocMC-or^oo
• ••••••••

in^'^tncMCMHHco

intncMomc^ioinc^

tOHOtint-TjI^CMiO

oinoH<o<oni<] "

toome>«ooi-io
9coo«ona»o>o>

S 8

ntoNinncMc\]o>
♦oin^totoMHco

is

8

+> 4» -

C 09

>?<-l ^

ft ^ B<

to a g> *o

43 rf ft

A S p4 CO 0) (D ,
OapOfHS-rjfjrH

N 00 to

&- HW^t-COOOINrHO<OCMO

to c>c>-o0(Ocoo»a>99a>ako>o

ci «o in o '^

O M ffi <di Ej
07 Co o in CM

^(OintOr-IClIOCo^OtOOTti
•••••••••••••

OOO'^lltOtOOjeaHrHOOON

Sot^a>fo^Ht-ocioi(D--
go-^tOt-tOOOCMCMtOlOCO

c-cDin(oe>-cMHa><Dinntoto

■* to 01 rTf-Tr-TH ^

:3

M Q

(l> ^ h

•a 4»
d o

S^c^fi

CM to

in Q

<o in

H in

n CO

l-l

H

CM

H

tn

to

00

o

■*

<o

«

W

in

o

o

H

H

O rH

4-* <D <□

527

s5

s
2

S^S88S

e» H

ft •<> N

• • •
o

eHn»H•G0lo^-0IlOf-4

»>eO'«ii»<«iooHonioo

;;

C^ '« M CO to O
• •••••

'<■ o «o M CO ^-

O H «

H Ok iH m H 9 <0 O to Q
• •••••••• |»

io^'«nnNi-tHO -^

S !^ ">

f-i CM n ^ «o o

^ N CQ Q «> «0
•-4 M lO « »• <0

w ca H

». to S M H O O
H H H r-l i-i H H

^^•'^gseg^sjrf

a • _ • f4 «
■ « (j 0 o o

• • •

H'#a>40«'4>Hao«b-okO«o
— ooeQi9e»akON0}^««

oNe«ffi3a>c09O

q» annMMrHHHr-lr-IHOiO

IS9 no«OHiOQ<Qai«K}ion«(Dn^

0»0 »-« «ncaNrH>-IHfH M

rj oto »-« «ncacaH<-iHiH

*,8

<« n

at

M 'i#

«>

« <-!

C'

in 9

"*

n at

n

H lO

fr-

ea

Ml

•4» O ■♦»

O

e- O

5 «* d

^51

528

+» IH

O

(0 0) -H
■P S |5=4

o

fl > o

(D *H O

Pi O 1^

4^ a
•^ -d o

4* a o

a 3 o

|s-

^

lO C>- O CO (B H iH

oc « o 1-1 t- N e^

lO CO C3> CM

c» i-H in o»

•5liHO»0»OrtlOW

ooo>o>ocoto«o

CMcOtOi-HininrH TjiOOrHlO 0>rHt-NmNtOi-|

o>o)o>i-io>n<o lO'*

• •••••• ••

•*-*OJi-tCD«DeM COCQ

rHNcO'^'l'cn<0 tDC~

0» to IN CVJ CO T)! to
• •••«••

■^ 0> 00 CO C» IS <o

0» CO N 0» H iH Ifi

C>- r-t to «3

in m to iH

rH iH 00 O
H O to O

O IS to to

Tttino'-iicoi-ir-icoo

• •*•••••*

coc>-o>rHW'#inino
QOCDCoa>o>a>o»o>o

CDtH'tllin'^IOOC^N

rJ'rHlO'OOCDe^OOtO

W50'i<o>o>c~c^<oin

CM CM rH •-( rH in

8t

■P 'P p. o ^

« E ^ <D

>> rH -H to +5 "O

* H fH O CO m

Ij d a ^, !>,^

C5 S W O O CO

«0 to C^ O CO O

«ISTjicOCM00-*tOCD
• ••••••••

Ol-^r-tOCOC^tO to

H H rH rH

COmOOO'*'*<OCMrH
00CMrHO00tSt}"'*';H
0>lOOOCMr-IO>CMrH(3>

o»tsinm'<*coto rH

(0 d jd liH

C

(0 -H m

-d

O +> (0 t} -rl M

O .-i

n -H p (Q a> 4h «

O fl rH
Vh <D £0

<D t. 5 "rt m 03 +>

•O

Strip

Alewi

Clams

King

Floun

Gatfl

Drum,

Harve

All 0

S) A CO

O «D O

EH a EH

ino>tOC^OCMrHO»C>-0
• ••••«*•••

c^ooorHto^iniooo

COCOO>0>0>0>0>9(3>0

flO'*'<i'*COCMO>OOCOtO
rHrHrHrHrHrHOOOtO

rHCMtO00c0Hr-)O-*rH
OCMcHO'^'^'^'^OO
0>C-b-«O<0tO';»<'>*'<J<tS

3 go

O M jd 0}

fn -rl (0 03
+i 4J XI 03 -H Ij ^1

■d

O rH

1

S3

•H 0) Vl O ^4 ®

O cl H

*4

U U V <o

0)

-OxiT:) J3+>P (DJa

« 43 > Pi 49 •> F^

•H

ff) 5 <D 0) CO "0+3

"d

0)

M r* S <D n <D

«>>&4>'HrH,0 +»

«f-l

Spott

King

strip

Shad

Catfi

Harve

Drum,

Clams

Floun

All 0

-di-d

C«

0<d<D0F4rHCJS CO

4» U 4>

>

o

rH

rH

«o

to

o>

CN

in

CM

(I)

a>

m

to

t-i

U3

■*

CM

to

rH

rH

0»

to

in

til

o

lO

o

ts

c>-

H

rH

CM

in

to

r-i

529

CO >0 <D O

• • • •

W to W rH

,H W « •*

CM <0 O CO O O

o c» o o> I}' o

• ••••••• ••••••

<o\nr-ii-iiOr^c-a> tfi c- iO 01 to to

cMO'*«o e-mrHiot-ooo>

• ••• •••••••

t00>«0 0>r-4LO'*lO<00

c^tNcooo ooc»c»o>c3>o>o

■p H n

rt 00 « JH

(D -P 7 m

CO CO o ■*

• • * •

e^ ^ "O

M O 0> 00

rH rH

^1 > o

m *-» O

ft O pq

0> rH 0> C»

§

^i« o !D in

OO lO ^ o»

•d

lO ■^ c^ c^

>

<J» <0 CO N

lOrtOCONOO'^M
• •••••••

cooocoinwOHOO

tOOC-lOtOINcON

'1<lf5COTlt«0<OrH<0

r-l CO O '<^ N iH H

• ••••••

to rH rH 1-1 rH rH 'd*

^ «0 O CM O •* <D

to tn o oi o "it «D
•* t>- o CO o e^ CM

4^

P< fr.

;:5i

>.

+i

U)

■rl

Tl

c>

+>

^

o

d

<">

(0

O

3 ft

^

'-^'-» 3 09

>» <c( -n rH

o to to a

(I) 10
0> 4h

^ ^^

O 0) S O O f^

o o CO to to

ae^^cSfi^s!

«o in

• •

H CM

CM r-{

OCOOO'^CMCOOO
• •••••••

rH 0> CO C^ to CO to

oocnt»o^toc3»to

C0O»tOlOCMC>--ditS

c^oincDrHCMOOin

OtOOrHrHrHrHCOO
• «•••••••

c»ocMco«*intotoo

0«0"*rHOOOC^CM

• •••*••••

CMrHrHrHrHrHrHOtO

CMOOCOrHOCOrHOOO

to-^rHOOiocvioinco
O(i)^mininm«to

--»-—.

to

Xi +i

a

=( So

O 5 00

•H

■P

M

0) xl

O Fh

u

(0

t> (D

♦» p. ~

4*

•rt S

Pi

■g-S

S 03

<U

<M

(D

+»

>> -H JO

rH

§§>

+i

V o

o

O M (0 c

1

£P

CO

Sa

>>
O

p, a CO o

3 P. iD-ah+frHHH
C0(0Ot0PC0Pt»O<<

to

to

to

IN

<>

IN

IfJ

in

O

LO
CM

to

CM

2

UJ

^

<3>

H

r-\

?H -H

4* d +>

to

(T»

in

■*

rH

to

CJ»

00

rH

to

ro

KJ

■*

o>

rH

rH

O d H

-a

(d ^ d
+» d +»

530

If rd "•

d 0] « -H

* -p 3 fe

=1 -H
6 -P
3 03

>

incooe»(D'*coin
too»<oo<oncoo

0'<i<eMO>0'0«0'«OCM

o»oioo>rHOo»toa3

H '^ H <0 O -4I

• •••••••

0> CO

* •

in lo

>ntOi-iO>tO>-l<OCVlC^O
• •*•••••••

N«OOtOC^OM^lOO
C*t^COCOQOO>0>0»0*0

■<i<cDcocD'<*t(Dm<ointo
inntoniowoirHrH-*

t-oo o-^tooiOinin^rHO

0} CO a

3-^-^

a M x:

out

tro
hard
soft

•H CO n

P 0} /3 -rt

(S

»4 XI -H ID U

n (D 03 jd -3 tJ +>

u u -a

«>

+> 0) « "

>

fH TJ -rt 3 CO m (0

J>1 -P o

•H

Oyste

Floun

Clams

Bluef

King

Catn

Strip

Ifarve

a) O o CD c

■p 5

O O

c5 o CO o

^^

M4

J 3

OC^'*000>aOtOC^OHH«D-<i«iHO

to tOtOntONCMCVlcvJWNrHOOtO

Tj< 00 ri »
H lO r-i «3
C^ O 00 "*

c~ in ■* '^

O -3 4*

o ^ o

o uj CO

■>J<tOO'*'*'<*in<D<J»00rHO>00C»'*O>

ine''i'in«ocOHinoc^o»inMtoc»'*

a)rHCDflO'<J«nNOOCJ>OOCD«OtO<M«S

CMWMHHrHrHrH •"

+> O

—i-~ M ;3 ^ CO p

13 +» op •'^ to 't-t

f^ 4h 4A ^ ti 0} CO

do3+>-PW "H ^ h

U si "vi si m <o 0 ■¥> rs si

> ^^a^tcnu-r^'cin at -p

0) (0 4'-H(D^d(l> OOP. o

cjc air-l»0'P°}30F44<uh%>H

h L,:d^O,C0>>r-lrH.^-^'-l'PcdH

c3 SawcooomKtatoocoo^

o»

■*

to

to
in

S

51

to

to

o

f)

U)

»

to

u;

00

H

«-n

rt -p

o>

on

C^

a)

to

in

'!<

o>

•*

Cvj

H

•*

Tl*

(I)

w

rH

N

(D ffl

-d^

c?

531

0)

i >

3 "^
e -p

P CO

Xi

■s

-d

«>

0)

■p

P bl

o

o

-^

•o

t4

>

o

a>

<^

o

d.

O

Px

i

U5tO«il<rHinr-IOOW'^HHt--tOOOOOt-t<5-<*'*ev2

TjiKiOWtOlOOOtOOtOOSTjiOltOlOW

WOCO"5r-l02C-WrHWtCflO'*ltO«D"5l0^005
t003CDU5(OC^«DtOCDU5'5j<(CtOtQCviWi-tHHO

U5WU5r.O<DWOO«DWaiO?Dt~-«*'*WCv2«*U5
Tj<a>OU5Oi/iC^OtOtOa0tOH«£)'*i-HOcD00trt

cotomocJicocoo.ioootoiOi-locDoouJtot^t^-

rH H H rH

c6

C5 CO CO o

(O 09

4) 0) -P

(0

•s^-s

<d c 0) o o

'ja

_ >4

'O n js ma)

tt) fn W -H TJ

O. (D -H DO <<-l C

+J -H -p V< a d) 3

03 -P

n Cm

m P

cd m

«<C0USC0C0OCJ

3 D O H t^
H H i-t <H ed

o pa fe w o

o

"*

U)

<0

■«1<

rH

Oi

m

r^

en

to

•*

H

-P CI

:5j

■p

o 3

1^

h 4h

"3

(D O

o

P^

u.

^0)

•H -g O

■p 2 o

S P O

cd o >
af»4

CV2IOtOrH<MTtiNNCn(00)Cvi'<diiO(Ob-U3

CviUJcot^r-tOoDrHCMODOt^t^trstOWrHrHiHOO
i-IOCnOOOaOiOiOWWHHrHHHr-IHrHO

t~lOOWi-HO<OOtQrHCOCDtOlOVO^'^^'#K3

(U M

0) o

rH h

•a; u

O 0)

U. -p -p 01 V
B 0) -H -P tt)

•H+> |>jr-4CM+JT3-P

S ft fn p Bl

OJ J3 T3
fH & 0)

o, to g I.H

. _ . MiH a P 0)

OdKis^^oop

•H CO oJ

' tt «
M A-.M4H p«lia<J-ip->'>-l+Jr-1i— Ir-lUJCBa)

CJ COCOCJSOCOCOOisiCOOPuBQOKCO

(7) N
GO O)
05 lO

o a

::5)

532

S fe

$

a>

1

>

3

•rH

■P

a)

O

rH

■p t-i tj
rt 3 o

-il

O 00 c^ o o o

oocoot-tooooinoooowo

OOC CMrHC-0»0'*0000000

o o ■* o o o

• o • • • •

00 i-i rt CO in Q

i-l CM «

in00rHCMOfH0>O<OCMCDCMCMin«OlO

CM tOiHiHCM rH r^ 1-1

CO •^ N tN N

eMo>tocMin<otoincMo>'^HcOi-('^inrHO

*••*•••••**••••••

00 Q 0> <0 -^

rH n to •* to

tH<OrHmC0H'^<0C00>rHCM^in«Dt-O
tOtDC-t-C^a5000000C0O>O»O»<3»C»04O

CO «o CO in lo w

oi;>^o>tOrHC»e>ie^t-inTj<(oio»H«oo»

CD rH 00 C^ <0 rH

t-inT}lcOcOtOCM;MrHrHHi-lrHHrH CM

•-i l-i

O N O CO O O

intocococ^cM®H<oo^'^oincMtO'*
too>HOO-i<ioinina)ocMO'ii<cMOoin

«0 cvj H O W 0>

rH ■^ W W CO CM

CMCNatOt-'<i<CMi-t<Ofr-OCMCOCMO>0>'^i-(

o» in o t- ^ in
># CM o to 00 in
00 in ■* to CM

^0>C0«OrHHH0»inin00OOC~00i0CM

rHino»isinTj)eMO»t-c»<Dto<oin'<*cMio

IOCMr^Hr^r^r^ rH

f3

n

rH '»H

® _

+» (1) o

i^^'"'^

to 3 •« ^ ^ ^ p
niJ no 050X30X1 Vi

■P fH *H

fn cOfH jdmo-HO

3 go

O ©■T3'T3-°(nb,XlD.fl+^ -d
+> l> " 'rt (DVCQ-HHOl BtO -P

P to F^

p, +» fn (D ~

= (D M fi

Spot

Mulle

Shad

Alevd

Clams

Floun

Strip

Spott

Catfi

Span!

White

King

Harve

Carp

All 0

•H >, -P CO X)

fj oj to o CO e
CO o o o o

t- o> o •*

CDCM0>0>Or-trHC-t000

CMtO-*lOCMrHOO

• • • •

• ••••«*eft*

• «•*••••

CO CO ■<j< ^

c^jomaOrHtoin<ocoo>
toc^c^c^oocoojoooooo

rHCMtO'l<in<0«NO

rH [o ■* in

a>a>a>ato>o>a*o

D- CM H rH to

^'i'C^OrHrHO'OtOin

•^rHrHO>»0>0»0

CO •* rH C>

CDC^intOCMCMCMrHrHH

rH rH rH CO

r^ ri r-i M

•^ CM in to ^

rH CM to 0> CO
to O CM to rH

C^tnrHC>-'*CMCOCMeM'<i<

cOrH-^ooc>-inrHSin

C^CMCMC^CMrHrHO»0O0O

CMt-(OI>-CMrHO<0

oototo2?«ininc^

o CO <o in

rH

^ ^ to H rH rH rH

rel

d fish 1

^^

M &

<0 -P o

■tf -p

a o

Xl 01 o ta XI o vi

U 4h

+3 -rH Jd

CO 0) CO Fh O ^1

(0 S a

3 OO B +> O

+» CO "rt ^ & "rt jd

o u ca -ri -d
U u m s> S ^ xl

Shrimp
AlevJivi
Spot
Crab a,

n

+j (B -p ^1 -a n S

>; «) (D o -H "

to ^ m CO « «> -P

<D t<-t Pi-H CO (D+>0

c0OrHno+>d5fiS
5 o a o E o M w o CO

Harv
Blue
Stri
Span
Clam
Ihit
Spot
All

r-i

H

CM

W

to

Hi

to

«o

CM

«■

o

■*

in

CM

C^

o»

Mi

o>

•*

■*

in

CO ^

•H (Q

IM fl

O C] rH

O •^J« O

• • •

CO H f'

CM b- o

«0

to

a>

to

to

to

<o

in

rH

tn

r^

CO

u>

^

o>

r-{

rH

P ^ ri
■p rt -p

533

>>

-p

m

.'^

f-t

•rt

o

+5

C!

o

C!

3

o

a1

O

3

Pk

ooc^oioinio<ocOiHto«oincoocOrHO»o
lOioocoNwc^mot-co^wc^iointoo

I I C^tOOI>-«0010aDt.OrHC-t-inL'5-*iM<OCO
N CM iH H

l<3 to

t>.

■p

(0

T^

■rt

o

§

o
o

1

S

CO w c>- to w CO o
Hcot-ointoQ- _ --

lOOCDtOC^WOtOCDMCOlO

t-in^jtintooiowco^D

totoo»cM<ootnirj

OC-lOin'DC-<OCOt-CM>;t<HCO<Ot-«OOOt-0»0>COC>-

<.j ■^cooi'^cnc^inNoiointO'^c^cOtONin'^o^N

— • tOC-00t0O0>NIOQ0C0C^<OC0«Dt0C-OtDC0O-<4<<0

1

o

«
S

,o

s>

p.

«

^

(0

>.

o

s

-p «^

a

•H -g o

Tt

-p d o
d 3 o

CO O •'^

M

tNCJNCMr-IIOOe^P-

WtOlOOrHHOtOCM
tOOrH'^«300i-HN

CMO>OOOlOcOrH>Hi-l
(3>rHWOtOtOf-|inN

•«-l i3 O

■p a o

d 3 o

CO O -^

a ^

C^INCOCOCOO>H10rHHCO <DCO
- -- ----- .,„.,_tOW030Wa>0>-!0,HCOIOOO

OlOtO <0OWOIM'!j4OC^CMt0C^CDa>t0'*(MrHC0C^

tOr^^nTl^l^-^oor^o>^-OlMCO

a)<00»HOtO(D^Nr-IOOC»-0>tO'*C^OOOOO>-*C>CM
H'i'00(DO»C^CMOOC\JrHO<OCOC3>COO»MiHHrHOCM

cototo^j'e~i-ic»^irto>cDiscDo>i/5coo>coND-c^o

c^ooo»oc^cvjcoaDcoc^ooo>"Oi-iw-*<oc-a)a>oin

5DflOSO>0»OOiHCMWWNtOcOtOtOtOtOtOcO>4<'*
00a300CDC0O><J»O>O»O>C7>O>O>O»O>CJ>O>O>O>O><J>O>
_J ^ I I I I I I I I I I I 1 ■ ■ I 1 ^ J ■ 1

534

CI 3 „
a o —^

•rt "O O

+» d o

0»mO00«0C\lt0<0OlOC»NTl)«0t0O0»W
r-^COCMN•<#C3>10lO'^«tOtONn^M■<<'lrt

^OI>-^l<CVI0>Cnr-ia>rH0>r-|<0C\]'^H3(0
C»WC\3WHNtDtOtOlOnNNrH,-IHN

^rHlrHlrHl

rHrHOJrHO«-lrHO»t010a3rHO>N^(MtOm'^ino>CO

rHirHlrHlHl

rHrHrHrHNrHtDiOinjNinCS

i-lrHCOO>COCDMCDCOmWNCOCOO<D

>>

crj

'— ^

•w

T)

o

+J

a

c>

;_J

y

o

1

(ii

£?R'5S5^9'0'*oa3[.'3oincot-«ototooc--c^

w^r^NotNtooinoOf-icotoc^w <otoco ^-toO'3<

CO «3 cc w lo (O n (d Tjf OrHoTooc^io'uT'i^e^oinH
r-iintDCOvj<toc~«oin-<i<tOrMiOc^«(MiO'*in

£92'G5S5'"<o'^'^>""*c>«^WHCOo»o(DoooN

rH<HWO>rHC>-^CM:OcOncOtO<MtQCO>*CO«3lOm

>>

-p

(0

^-^

•r^

T)

o

+3

CI

t>

e!

3

o

(0

o

^^

^r-JCO«DtOrMOtOINrHt\10»e^tOOtQ<000(MOtDtD

^S'B'*'*'*^C)co^t>-c>-ajoo>oi>-'^iNo>Ki-ioo

inir3CVJW(00»Ot>.COC>-OtOCOrH«OrH'#-<J<«CMrHCi

cnojir5^jtNiO'i<mif3tOL-oa>oomtOrHtooo

rHrHmLt5 0>00010lOCOO>«DO>W'£)b-:nrH

to 00 in e- CM

H i-H IS

(M CO r-l

■p

U)

^-^

•(-4

T(

o

■P

^

o

«

o

lO

o

^—^

5

P-,

«000>QOCOl>-\l<0»HO«0(DcO'i<COC\JcO
rHOrHCOO>tsOOm'*i-IOWLOi-l<OtO
rHOtO';l<00'>l<QOtJ<cO 'OcOi-IOO»0<0%J<

^ to CM o a> <o

oOLQO»wioe-oocoo>i-i^'<i<t4<aDcM

NUJOLOWCMD-tOCMOrHNCMCncOCO
CMrHCM«Dt?-lO'<l<CMf-trHiniOCMCM'<l<00

£:592C)t>-cMcooococ--coo>Oi-HCM'si<toc>-coo»om

SSCSSCnOO'-ICMCMCMCMCOtOtOcOcOtOiOcO'*'*

cnoocx}coxa30»oio>a>o>o»o>o>cno>o»o>o>oio>o>
r^HH^^l-^r^^^r-tr^r^^^^^Hl^■^r^^^f-^r^l-lHH

^51

5S5

a>

CM CO

D

to lO

-^a

o w

>

«o to

CO CD 03 0» C^ tN

— _. „ CO o» CM «o in in - -..._.- _ _ -_
I iininomintncMinajooototon'i'oc^cM

' ,}l «3 T^l CM C>- rH 00

03 O —
5^

rHiniN00t-IOl>-0»'#CMt-OrHOi-4t0«O'#

CO 00 [s in CO to o> H CM o> — -- - . _ ._ .^
cMoDeOi-icointoeotOiH

■H -d o

CO O — •

3 Pi

I I I I I I I

i>t-c-o>rHcoooinocoHoincM

,-1CMtOCMr4"^incMOtO'^'^COO
I CMCMinOi-ICT>COlOtO«C3>OC^<»

.HCMc-IOCMrHCMCO
H rH rH rH CM .-I ^Jt

rHOOHtOtOCOCSOCOH<'»'H'*W
CJtO00i-l-*-<i<f>-CMO>'<i'CMO>lOr^

ino>t-5Dto ocDoctO'«j<cO'*co

>>

+>

to

-— »

1-1

Tl

<■>

■p

^

O

d

n

^

o

' —

cy

CM'il<0>tOOCMa»0>OiH00CMC^OOOOC-'J'CM

c^o>cj>u'iocMcooinHincDo>incMCj>o-^rHto

COOOrHCMOOOOuOintJirHO-t-IOi-IOCMOOCJ

CM CM CM •>!< rH t> to

ooo>'«jicMtOHtoo>inino'i<oc>-in'>i<rHCOco-<j<
■*'^iNtooc3>cO'*incMin.H<;»cot>ooi>-t3>o

I-ICM-* COCO'*t>-tOOt-0>rM'*'inC3»Tl<CM

C^tO<OtOrHCMOtO<DOtO'*t-CM'>»tOtDCJ><OCMin,H

<3»coc^cMin-x)otocO'^in-«j<ajc~i>-<j<cMtOQinoco
cM<*->j<c^oo>'Ocootoi>!Oc^tocoo-<i<toffltoo>in

too»Tjio>intot-iMintDO'OHCMtocM(0-<i<coin

na o
d o
d o

(Otslnr^t^«^-co^n
in to cj> Q in
i-i in CM

<-{ r-l r-i

_ C'e^cM»itis^'«j<rHeMinco«o

tOC^O^H^'*=OCJ»r-iOC«-rH
rH H rH f-l

\,^--»-cM t-tooocM!OincMi>-oj<ocMco<oo>coincooo

CM|CM|t>-tOcOCMOHO>OOtO<OHO>'*incM'<ltt>0>00
iHCOO>tOOO><3>tOtOin'«l<C-<OOC^tOCOOCMCM

iH -CJ O

4J d O

a B o

0 O ■

cM|cM|to rHCj>o>«>c^cMcM inoJcooQtOrtCOincooin

aOrHC^CM(SCO«OCOC^C^OiH^OO'<l'®C>-inrHrH
I ICMCOCMO»pHCOCMCJ»C-*J3C^lOin«OC^O»Tt<OCOCM

HrHrH cMco<oc^in'*-<j'c>-o>o»<oin'*'*

536

o

lOO>Wt-0>WQOa)WOlOOOi-ICnNHHOO«*00

rtr-INl0053(CWU>t>-'<*«DrHOMO<DO'«l<0>lOCV!

00<O'^iOH00t-OO5Qt-WlOCViiHbOOWgpNCviO

HrHWCMCvi NCVJHWH i-lrH Tf

-a-

Ol *> PL. ■

HHHOHe^-COOe-
t-tOtOU5^^i'3Cn00O>00WOOOtD00'^WlrtO>O

O to O O 00 W
00 O cvi to H rH
0> t^ to N 00 CO

8W00iOi-(»O'«*'CvJlOevJr-l<MO'<fO^
lOOTtOtOCUbStOtOWOr-ltOHWCJo/

eXJT^tTco'wiotDCJj-'t'^cviHi-iogoQH'j'w^;^

t-IOOOincsiiOHiO(<3HrHi-(mt-IOOiOK3rHOp)
WCviO0000Or-W'O'*'*iO'*WW<M»OtOK5eCNi#t

3

go.^

OrH>OtO00lQC)iOCnC«JtOt~^WlOO3rHlOO>OtD CO

ioiorf.Tj((O^Ot-<DO>oowtou5ooooa>5''otoK;a>

WOO3C>2^'5«0OOt-^^«^^•'4'O>tDWWOcnt000W
tDtO0005CJlC0l>-CT)'«J'«D^WCT>'«l'''2OWlCWO00iO

■«<<O«vi»OOiOO00C31lOW00C0''l'WC5tH'^«3'<*tDH
OOt--OW^t~OrHt-lOU5l5oOrH'*00-*0>WOOOW
f-H'rHtO(OlO(0inr-lr-('^C\;C\2WWl.\itOtD«OK'JCviCvilQ

5<.<*<^C^OWOOOtOU>03rHl<J*lOOTi'tOO'^lOtO
Tt<WU3i-tt~'<l'O^CnCV<CJ3lO5OrHH"Jr-l>OlO00HtD

Ki to rf rf t~ m

to lO (Ni ^ UJ Tjf OS

-B C O
fl 3 O
« O O

pa.--
cy

O) 00 N to
C--C0t-^toS'*0>CsIO5t«3<tO00'>#tDOt^C0oSU5U5

•<i<(Oa0WH00C^O5lOC005lOTl<c^'<'tDOH

^^ r^^^^^lot~tDO>c73^-(o«o>rt^->lOtD

ep r-l CT» H
^ OO cvi ^
r-l H i-t r-4

^

«0(OtOf-|U5tDtO(_)C<3tD^HC>ilO

OOWi-(tO>«Q tO(OK5HU5tDtO(_)C<3tD^

050<Dtotoa5Q cvitou>a><DO>tO'*05O)cp

C-OOOWHKSO jtOt-OrHrHtriOW'i'W^

H H rH to CO

a

0 3 0
(BOO
p. (i,w

OlOiHiOWOt*- I Oe^OI>-CvJiHOW®WtOTj<tOOO
r-i^>. ^ l0^t^lOCviHtOtOWt-U5sj<<OrH

t>-ooa>Ot-wopooiot-eocnoHW5f«oe^®gJO»2
oooocoo5cno3HWWNeMtQiototototoioio<p'*
oocoooooaDO>cno505cno>05<jio>CT>OJO>o>oicno>o>

S3^Jii;i:^^Hr-I.HrHHrHrHHHrH,HrHrHrHrHrH

:^

537

>.

+»

CO

^— ^

•H

•rt

( )

■p

3

o

c

<•>

cj

o

3

fXi

cy

m-*c-cooootoo»>*ocMooD^ooco<0'4<
mocca>-^|-*cDrHiO'^t-(iDtoWi-tocOrHCOo

rHrHlOrHrHWrHHH CVJiHiHiH «0

tOCMrH'^C^CartOtONrH

Tji cvi N N ,-t in

p

CO

•H 12 O

•P d o

coooiomoouTw^op-oNiotoiNi-iwcftNinQ
omococDooooc--o%'<«omD-o><£<'*

■* UT ^ -^ 'd?
CM to tJi ^ CO

rHO00tOinC~0>aD(M-*Uj
rH WOitOCJCOCOCJtOMlOCO

0> rH «3 'i"
O rH lO rH
lO CO rH «5

W £0 ■'J* •<1< ■* ^ O

->.

0>0>ajlrtrH00O^rHMI>-#0>0>!CIC-C>-rHrHOlO«
OWO<rHHOOa>0>0>OWCDO(MCOC\Ii..)C^rHOrH

oOrHOOO(DO'Dmc\iO'^o»'^c3>rH<OrHincom'0

como«ocj-<i<cOtoNmi.ooo>o>ii^LQ«Dto^c^o»cn
cna>roo«3cDc^c^coc^c^uTOtowo>c-o<ot.OrHO>

WWevJtOtOWCOCOin-^incONrHrHrHrHrHrHiHiHrH

•H "O O

■P =1 o
CJ a O

oco<oootot^wt--oc~-a)rONtoii'5'i'mcowa>rH

>4'0>lO<O«)<O'J<tOC^C0rHrHC^00WC^G>a>tOinQ
C^tOtOt-omo^i^tOrHOrHCOONOtOOCOCO

vltininiOCOuaCOrHIMN LOrHrH rHrH rH

lOocnco^foooot-cOsf'ci'inorHtnoinoiO'^o

C^rHCOli^<DWONrH'4*C^lOI>rHmvl<COtOC,JinajO>

intDo>rHir3o>wo>Nc\jcocoo>(3>woNc^nt<3c^m

!»

+>

n

•rl

Tl

o

+J

3

o

^5

r>

ki

o

d f^

C2?

mioo»iocr-t>-wNWtO'5i<rHcoc^wme~co«3C-«OrH

rHrH(MtOOOint-rHOrHN<OC^inOC^OrHtOOOO>
rH f-tr-itn^(Slr-ii-{Oi rHrH rHCOrH

-3

>.

+>

CO

•rl

Tl

o

■p

§

o

:3

o

o

3 a,

cy

LO O

lo oc

50 c»

^ -I' to CO CO CO

OD-^c^lOOLOOOOlOOrHOmO
rHrH«0'^tDWm«50t>Q3INtOCDI>
<0WC>-C0C»0aNlOOrH'00>tOt0C^

"^ rH C^ 'O £0 IN

«Tl<lfirJI-,0e0inrH«OO><MO!0'SfCM

win!Oc»coto<J>o»LOO>«D:OcocOCM

■* to CO to «o ^ ■*

;^

COOOCOO>0>OOrHCvJNC\lc\2t?>CO;OcOlOlOtOcO'<d<^

coocccoocDcno>o»cj>o>o>o>o>o>aioo>c»o>cr. oio>

rHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrHrH

538

r I I I I I I I lo N

«Da>OlrtrHO(I)N<OTjl

coo«ocDr-Hr-<o>coro c<i

&

j:;^

+J

to —^

•w

-a o

§^

m

o —

5

p^

— I I I I I I I I

O H
C^ CO

o in

tO'4<<oo»o>minoo>i>

too>tot>-o>mocot£)c^
wwcoc-cOD-inwcO'*"

(O CO
rt O

rHC-COinCUrHiH'^WrH

c-co«Dtoootoo>c~-in

NintOiH-^t-rHtOUJttJ

+5

n

^— «

•H

T)

n

^

^

o

03

o

^^4

O"

0) o ^

■*cotoc3>o>rHa3'*cno
cnoo^cno^coino

«Dr-<Q0C0cOO>CDcOi-im

^

co-^toiDot-otoe^cocotO'^tootOHOot-e-tQ

c^QDWLOr-i-*oo>'^cooc»co«otoinocoa3c^i-ic^

^Nr^COWCJO■*CO(^^COlnQ^^l^■^C^tOC-0>0>I<30
N<*'>;l<COLO'J3<DO>OCOt-'*Oa»WO'MC-NrH'>a'in

WN'<ii'*a)inoointoo>m'4<«o-*i>-ocotot>-c^N

rHN(MCVj(WCMa3rHr-(r-|N-*MC\JrHW«0

4-5 to ■

^OrHt^'OOrHinrH'd<'5j<t>OC^WNro(D«DCO'<l't-C^
<£>HOCOCJ>T^tO«3CO:^Na>iMOLOtN<OW^C^CDtO

c^coc^cooc^tDtOo>inHOOrHmintO'*(3>rHt>N
rHrHcoco^co«"^inincO'i<mo>ocnin^'5j<cn

1 g|

nInI

c^(^JC^«ooa>^-l-^cM(D•*^J^r^lntOln^-a^Nln

0>(0O>,-(OC3>a>!0C0Mt0OWC0f00»C^C^t<JC0
C~C0rH.HOC\i:OinrHmOC^03O«0rH'£):QOW

wlwl

ocoocowtOr-icS'^otNinc^cotoo'DOJrHio
«5oioc--inwinioiniHi<ii-i(nQD'*c>-co«otD?o
EO^cococDwtNO>a>cONc-Lnc^'i<cMc-Tj<o<M

rHrHrHC\JlOCJrHrH'*C-intO'#'<J<tO

C^000>OI>(M0000tOt>-000>OHW'^<0C^000>Oin

a)cocoo»o>oOrHNoj(M(MioMwntotocotO'j''*
cna3cococoo>o>o>o>o>o»o»o>(3>o»o>o»o»o><3>o>o>

rHrHrHrHr-lHrHrHi-li-trHr-»HrHfHlHi-)rHi-)i-(rHrH

m| rtl

539

a 0>t>-0>«3-*tDOm^t-y3COO>MQ^i-1CDr-IOO>^

1^ 0>0>OiC^O«DOcHC^lrttO'i<0>0?5cOCVi';}<NOC>-N

■<^mr^<^''*W'*iHCOOOlOC^tOrHWO«DtD'*«0

^ "d o
a 3 o

OC^cOOtOrHtOe-ODinoOrHNCOCvJNcOH'Oi-tCOrH

rHcOQOOO'«i'o>Hcoomca'5j<c\iiowcRtO'«i<rHOQ

■^■<#m<O000>O>tO'*lrt'*C\l^C0C0mrHrHrHiHrHlO

vjip-i^coioHOOtOHin-iJOio^oinc^nticoinOTto

•^COrHtOtOCOOcOUTCOtOtMLOiMrHC^lOWCvJinCOlO

o>o>tDr-io«3000>'i<o>cviinmiotDW'^tDC>-[Oi-i
T*c^OPJcotO'Otoir3o>rHrHO»i<'<i<inf-ici>cotoo>i-i

.§'

oOi-iaDinu:)0<oiNcoc^«3i>-«oc-NCOtQtoo>oco

0«OtO«5->*INrHOOC^tOO'*lONO«0«)rHNtO-<l<0

toioinincD.-(ir5ca'*c^ir3W<*t'5mtoe^p-iotou->«o

l>000>OC>-OJCOCOt<3«NCDO>Or-4N'l'<OC-aOO>giO
OOCOCOOiOiOOHNlMNWlOtOtOtOt.OlrttOfJ'^'^

®ro(Dcoooo>o»o»o>o»o»o»o>o»o»o>a>o>o>o>a>o>
Hr^•-lr^r^^^r^Hr^HlHr^HH•^r-^^^r-l^^>^r-^r^

540

INDEX

Abbe, Cleveland, Jr., theory of cuspate shore-
line, 17; (chart) 20; 21; 55
Abert, S. T., letter concerning inlets, 50, 52
Abundance, fluctuations of, 80; fishing, effect
on, 81; menhaden, 97; Spanish mackerel,
117; speckled trout, 128; fish generally, 135,
136; effect of on quantity and value of pro-
duction, 388. See Fluctuations, Cycles
Accessibility, of fish to public, effect on distri-
bution, 347-49
Adams Creek, 6

Advertising, of fishery products, 351
Advisory Board, vi; members of, ix
Agar, nature and properties of, 234; uses of,
234-36; California industry of, 236; indus-
try in North Carolina, 236-41 ; manufacture
of, 234, 241, 246; imports, 240; world con-
sumption of, 241 ; North Carolina, 244-45 >
research needed in, 247. See Seaweed
Agardhiella, 234

Agricultural Experiment Station, Raleigh, v
Agriculture, and fisheries compared, in produc-
tive efficiency, 301-04; in technical progress,
308-12; in standards of quality, 321; re-
moteness from markets, 316, 361; animal
productivity, 366; fertilizer, 367
Airborne fish distribution, 350, 460
Alaska, fishing area, 365, 366, 367; food fish

production. Appendix table No. 52
Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal, 46
Albemarle Sound, area and volume of, 3 ;
description of, 5 ; discharge into, 11; ice in,
36; drainage into, 41; salinity, 46; alewife
fishery in, no; striped bass in, 121-24
Alewives (Pomolobus species), distribution of,
109 ; fishery, by-products of, 109 ; geographi-
cal range, 109-10; general, natural history,
109-11; mentioned, 85, 270
Algae, brown, 232, 233; red, 231, 232, 234,
247-48; bluegreen, 231, 232, green, 232. See
Seaweed
Algin, alginic acid, 233. See Seaweed
Aller, H. D., terrapin, 225
Alligator River, 5

Amberjack (Seriola), angling for, 265
American Chlorophyll Co., agar, 236
American Wildlife Institute, striped bass, 120
Anadromous fish, affected by pollution, 59;

mentioned, 5, 6
Anderson, A. W., 291

Anderson, Lindner and King, shrimp, no de-
pletion of, 203
Angling (marine), as recreation and an eco-

541

nomic asset, 252-54; advantages for, in
North Carolina, 255-58, 279; regional dis-
cussion of, 258-61; seasonal discussion of,
261-65; available types of fish for, 265-79;
recommendations, 280-82

Antilles Current, merging with Florida Cur-
rent, 13

Areas, of North Carolina sounds, 3, 69, 155;
drainage, 39, 69, (chart) 40; of Piedmont
Plateau, N. C, 65; of Chesapeake Bay, 65;
of North Carolina offshore, shallow, 65; of
oyster bottoms restricted for pollution, 152 ;
sea and land, 301, 364; fishable bottoms,
365; farm land, 366, North Sea, 368; Gulf
of Mexico, 368

Atlantic Coast Fisheries Co., v

Atlantic sailfish {Istiophorus americanus) ,
angling for, 274

Back Bay, 3, 5

Back Sound, and shrimp fishery, 192, 193

Bailey, Josiah W., Jr., 292

Bait, statistical correction for, 378

Bar, offshore, and its inlets, 50-57

Barker and Tallman, founders of menhaden
industry, 88

Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, salinity of, 44

Barney, R. L., terrapin, 225, 226

Barracuda (Sphyraena), angling for, 265, 266

Bass. See Blackfish, Sea bass. Striped bass

Baughman, J. L., oyster, bibliography of, 142

Baver, L. D., v, ix

Bay of Fundy, alewives in, 109

Bean, T. H., menhaden, effect of temperature
on, 100; striped bass, 120

Beaufort, North Carolina, 7; harbor, tem-
perature fluctuations in, 33, 36, (chart) 34;
terrapin farm at, 222

Beaufort County, blue crabs in, 210, 214; can-
neries in, 217; population. Appendix table
No. 63. See also Counties, coastal, N. C.

Beaufort Inlet, 6, 7; tidal currents in, 15;
salinity, 39, 49

Beaven, G. F., river discharge, salinity, 44

Behavior, economic, of whole fisheries dis-
tinguished from particular species, 314; as
affected by multiplicity of kinds, 314-15;
by movements and geographical distribu-
tion, 315-16; by remoteness from markets,
315, 361; by selectivity and versatility of
methods, 317; perishability, 321, standard
of quality, 321; of trend of volume produc-
tion, 382 ; of species, 404-19, (tables) 406-09,

542

INDEX

Behavior, continued

416, 418, (chart) 413. See Regions, U. S.
Fisheries, Cycles, Fishermen

Belding, David L., hard clam, pioneer worker
on, 161; natural history, 161, 162, 163, 164;
soft clam, spawning, 171, 179, 181

Bertie County. See Counties, coastal, N. C.

Bethke, R. M., chick rations, 358-59

Bigelow, Henry B., food relationships, plank-
ton, 83; water filtering mechanism of men-
haden, loi, 102

Bigelow and Sears, no movement southern
waters to Middle Atlantic, 21

Bigelow and Welsh, menhaden, north of Cape
Cod, 96, fluctuations of, 97, incubation
period of, 99, sexual maturity, 99; Spanish
mackerel in New York, 116; bluefish, 118;
striped bass, number of eggs, 121; gray
trout, 125; food of fish, 313

Billard, Minerva C, 292

Biologicals from fish, 356

Black bass. See Blackfish

Black bonito (Rachycentron canadus), angling
for, 269-70

Blackfish {Centra pristes striatus,), description
of, 133; angling for, 267

Blake Plateau, 12, 14

Bloxton, A. E., 292, 448

Blue crab {Callinectes sapidus), early history
of, 205-06; statistical history of, (table)
206; distribution of, 207; natural history of,
207-09; fishery, 211-17; production of, his-
torical, (tables) 212, 213; industry of, 217;
economic behavior of, 407, 417, (table) 418,
423, 432, 442

Bluefin tuna {Thunnus thynnus), 255; angling
for, 277-78. See Tuna

Bluefish {Pomatomus saltatrix), as enemy of
menhaden, 97-98, 103-4; geographical range
of, 118; history of, 118; angling for, 268;
economic behavior of, 406, 432, 442; men-
tioned, 67

Bluegills, 68

Blue marlin (Makaira nigricans anipla), at
Diamond Shoals, 255; angling for, 272-73

Boats, sport fishing, 256 ff.; party, rentals,
258-60

Bodie Island, trawl fishery, 32

Bogue Inlet, 6, 7

Bogue Sound, area and volume of, 3, 6; and
oyster enemies, 151; oyster set in, 155-575
and clam production, 165, 166; scallops, 173,

174
Bohnecke, G., salinity, 38, 39
Bonito, species, angling for, 268-69
Bost, R. W., V
Bottom, nature of, 57, 58; oysters, 149; hard

clams, 163; scallops, 172-73; soft -shell clam,

180; areas of, 365-67
Bowes, Anna de P., oysters, food value of, 152

Breder, C. M., dolphin, 271

Brevoortia (menhaden), species of, 91-92

Brewer, Ellen, 292, 448

Brickell, John, blue crab, mentioned (i737).
205-06

Brooks, W. K., oysters, larval, 147

Brown Shellfish Harvester, 168

Brunswick County, oyster bottoms, leasing of,
159. See Counties, coastal, N. C.

Bucephalus, enemy of oyster, 151

Bumpus and Wehe, shrimp larvae, transported
by currents, 200

Burbot, 86

Burkenroad, Martin D., oyster, sex reversal,
150; shrimp, species of, 194, distribution of,
195, temperature effects on, 196, migrations
of, 198, 199, 200

Butterfish {Poronotus triacanthus) , 132-33

By-products, economic effects of, fish com-
pared with meats, 342; in manufacture, 352,
355-58

Cabio (Rachycentron), angling for, 269-70
Caldwell, N. McK., Shellfish Sanitarian, N. C,

151-52
Calico scallops {Pecten gibbus), 178
California Sardine Vessel Owners, 323
Call, L. E., agricultural efficiency, 308
Camden County. See Counties, coastal, N. C.
Canada, production, historical, 403 ; herring
family, 370; index of industrial production,
384, (chart) 387; value fish products, 388,
390, (chart) 389; percentage of world fish
production, (chart) 369
Canaveral, Cape, Florida, 12; water tempera-
tures, 26, (chart) 27
Cape. See under names — Hatteras, Cod, etc.
Cape Fear River, drainage area of, 3, 9, 41;
mouth of, tidal currents in, (table) 15;
region, striped bass in, 125
Carbon fixation, by plankton, 64, 65, 66, 302,

365

Carp {Cyprinus carpio), 134

Carteret County, clam dredging permitted in,
166; scallop industry in, 174; blue crabs,
new industry in (1890), 206; production in,
(tables) 210, 214. See Counties, coastal, N. C.

Cavin and Burk, total food consumption,
analysis of, 329-31, (table) 330, (chart) 332,

335

Cedar Bog Lake, 64

Central production area, for North Carolina
fisheries, 434

Cero {Scomberomorus cavalla), angling for,
270

Chain stores. North Carolina, 457

Chang, .C, feeding habits, herring and men-
haden compared, loi

Channel bass {Sciaenops ocellatm), angling
for, 266-67

INDEX

543

Channel net, 192

Charleston, S. C, 7

Chesapeake Bay, 5 ; river discharge into, 44 ;
eddy currents from, on North Carolina
coast, 65; area of, 65; menhaden in, 93-95,
100; alewives in, 109; Spanish mackerel in,
116; striped bass in, 122-123, 124; gray
trout in, 126; croakers in, 130; butterfish
in, 133; oysters in, 143, 416; oyster shuck-
ing plants, 157; crab fishery in, 206-17,
passim; diamond-back terrapin, 220-24, pas-
sim; statistical data, 397, 398, 400; Ap-
pendix tables Nos. 43, 49. See Regions

China, fish production, percentage of world
(chart) 369

Chipman, Walter A., Jr., decline of oyster, 142

Chowan County. See Counties, coastal, N. C.

Chowan River, alewives in, no

Church, P. E., 12, 15

Church Bros., early menhaden plant, Oregon
Inlet, 90

Churchill, E. P., Jr., oysters, salinity, 149

Circulation in sounds, 9-12; offshore, 12-21

Clam. See Hard clam, Soft clam. Razor clam,
Surf clam

Clark, Austin H., oyster, best known animal,
142

Clarke, G. L., productivity, 67

Climate, shift of, effect of Gulf Stream, 14-15

Cliona, sponge, enemy of oyster, 151

Clupeidae, 85. See Alewives, Menhaden, Her-
ring family. Hickory shad. Pilchard, Shad

Coastal region (North Carohna), population
of, 293 ; agriculture of, 293-95 ; manufactur-
ing of, 295; taxes paid by, 295; fish pro-
duction in, 295-97; standard of living of,
295, (table) 298; comparative conditions in
counties of, 297-99, Appendix tables 63-67

Cod, Cape, temperature barrier, 25; frequency
of fog at, 60

Cod, economic behavior of, 390-93, 406, 410

Coe, Wesley R., oyster, sex reversal, 150

Coker, R. E., v, vi, Ix, 2 ; mullet, food of,
115; speckled trout, food of, 127; oyster,
survey in North Carolina, 142 ; terrapin
substitutes, 220, in Mississippi River, 220, in
North Carolina, 221, 224

Cole, Leon J., carp, 134

Commission marketing, 324; North Carolina
fish, 444

Conch {Busy con caricum), enemy of clam,
165; production of, 184

Connecticut, striped bass in, 121, 122; scal-
lops in, 170; soft clams in, 179; conchs in,
184; squid in, 184

Connecticut State Board of Fisheries and
Game, striped bass investigation, Merriman,
120

Consent Decree, meat packers (1921), effect
of, on distribution, 342

Conservation, scallop, 176; seaweed, 243; legis-
lation, concerning fishes, 306-08

Consumption, all foods, per capita and total
quantity, 328-34; and the physiological basis
of food economics, 334-36; and dietary pat-
terns, 366-42, household and institutional,
349; of fish and meats, per capita, U. S.,
338; of seafoods in North Carolina, 447-52

Continental shelf, area, U. S. & Alaska, 365;
gross geography of, N. C, 7-9, (chart) 8;
and the Gulf Stream System, 12, 13-14, 15, 26

"Coon" oysters, 150

Cooper, Barton and Brodell, mechanization of
farms, 308-09; 366

Corporate form of business, in fisheries, 322

Cooperatives, in fisheries, 327-28

Coquina (Donax variabilis), production of,
185

Core Sound, area and volume of, 3; descrip-
tion of, 6; discharge into, 11; drainage into,
41; salinity, 49; oyster set in, 157; hard
clams, bulk of, produced in, 166 ; scallops
in, 173, 174; and shrimp fishery, 192-194

CorioU's force, 9, 15, 17

Corps of Engineers, 10, 11; run-off of rivers,
41 ; rainfall, evaporation, etc., 44, salinity
(charts), 47, 48; inlets, 51, 52, 55, 56

Cost of production, fish and meats compared,
302

Counties, coastal, N. C, statistical data, fish-
eries, agriculture, forestry, manufacturing,
comparison of, (table) 296; ranking in gen-
eral welfare and fisheries, (tables) 298-99;
population, and fisheries. Appendix table No.
63; agriculture. Appendix table No. 64;
manufacturing and forestry. Appendix table
No. 65; standard of living, Appendix table
No. 66; income tax, Appendix table No. 67

Cowden, Dudley J., Jr., 292

Cowles, R. P., area of Chesapeake Bay, 65

Crab. See Blue crab. Soft crab

Craven County. See Counties, coastal, N. C.

Credit, in fisheries industry, 321-22; losses,
effect on cost of distribution, 343

Croaker {Micropogon undulatus), geographi-
cal range, 129; fishery, 30, 32, 129, 131,
natural history of, 129, 131; angling for,
270-71

Croatan Sound, area and volume of, 3 ; de-
scription of, 5; drainage into, 41; striped
bass in, 124

Culture, oyster, 152-155; clam, 165, 180; sea-
weeds, 243

Currents, at lightship stations. North Carolina
coast, chart 16; wind, 17; (tables), 18, 19

Currents, in sounds, 9-12; influence of tides
on, 15; and Corioli's force, 17; influence of
winds on, 17-19, 21; influence of on inlets,
52, 54, 55; in Hatteras region, 59-60; influ-
ence of, on clams, 163; influence of, on

544

INDEX

Currents, continued
scallops, 172. See also Antilles Current,
Florida Current, Gulf Stream System
Currituck County, blue crabs in, 210-212,

(table) 214. See Counties, coastal, N. C.
Currituck Sound, area and volume of, 3; de-
scription of, 5 ; drainage into, 41 ; salinity,
46; white perch in, 133
Curves, goods, 384-88; money, 388, 389
Cuspate shoreline, theory of, 17-21; (chart) 20
Cycles, of abundance, 80; economic, and fish
production. United States, 383-90; Canada,
384, 387, 389; prices, fish and animal prod-
ucts, (table) 394; over-all effect of, on
fisheries industry, (table) 396. See Fluctua-
tions

Dailey, R. B., fog data, Hatteras, 60

Dall, William Healey, species, of hard clams,
160; of scallops, 169; scallops, range, 169

Dalton, Carter, ix

Daly, Reginald A., Carolina cusps (chart), 20

Dare County, blue crabs in, 210, 212, (table)
214. See Counties, coastal, N. C.

"Deep-freeze" cabinets, 350

Delaware Bay, oysters, 143, 157; squid, 184

DeLoach, properties of agar, 247

Delta, tidal, 6. See Ocracoke Inlet

Demand, reaction of, on prices and production,
318; per capita, for food, 328, ff.

Density, North Carolina waters, 44

Department of Conservation and Develop-
ment, N. C, vi; developing inlets, 52

Depletion. See Overfishing

Determinants, of fish production, 388-94; in
dietary, 349; of numbers of fishermen, 307,

319, 394-95

Diamond-back terrapin, history of, 219-23;
distribution of, 219-20; market for, 220-22;
farm, Beaufort, N. C, 222; kinds of, 223-
24; hybrid, 224; propagation of, experi-
mental, 225; natural history of, 226-29

Diamond Shoals, 9; lightship, currents at,
(chart) 16, 17, (table) 18; Florida current,
influence of, at, 21; temperatures at, 23,
(chart) 28; salinity records of, 38; blue
marlin at, 255; as a fishing ground, 258-59

Dietary constituents. Recommended Daily Al-
lowances, National Research Council, 333,
364; pattern, regional and national, 336;
gross composition of, 337; determinants of,

349

Discharge, from rivers, various. North Caro-
lina, 39-44, (chart) 42

Dismal Swamp, 5

Distributor-dealers, North Carolina, 452-54

Division of Commercial Fisheries, North Caro-
lina, 153

Division of Water Resources of the North
Carolina Department of Conservation and
Development, 52

Dolphin (Coryphaena hippurus), angling for,

271
Doxsee, J. H., hard clam, industrial enterprise,

166, 167
Drainage areas. See Areas
Drew, Oilman Arthur, sea scallop, 177
Duke University Marine Station, 245
Duncan, Charles, Beaufort terrapin farm, 222

Earll, R. Edward, menhaden, 89; bluefish, 118
Economic behavior patterns, various fishes,

404-15. See Behavior, economic
Edwards, Margaret, ix; 292; 448
Eel grass, relation to scallop, 170, 172, 173; to

soft shell clams, 179
Efficiency, improvements in, effect on fisher-
men, 395-96
Effort, fishery, economic distribution of, 319
Eimeria brevoortia, parasite of menhaden, 99
Elizabeth City, Public Utility Commission, 46
Ellison, William A., Jr., wreck charts, 256
Engels, W. L., describes Ocracoke Island, 50
English Channel, productivity, 364
Esthetic characteristics, of fish, effects of, 339
Etheridge, Mr., early menhaden enterprise, 90
Ethridge, R. Bruce, vi
Euphausiids, 103
Europe, northwestern, fish production, (chart)

387; percentage of world, 369
Evaporation from sounds, 11
Excelsior Guano Co., early menhaden plant,

Portsmouth Island, 89
Exchange value, fish, for other commodities

and foods, 381-82, (table) 383; 420
Executive Committee, University of North

Carolina, trustees, vii
"Extent of Stream Pollution in North Caro-
lina, The," 58

FAO. See Food and Agriculture Organization,
United Nations

Farmers' share in retail value, compared to
fishermen's, 344-47, (tables) 344, 347,
(chart) 346

Farming, efficiency of, 301-03, 308-09; mecha-
nization of, 309

Fathometer, 310

Fear, Cape, 55

Fertility of sea water. See Nutrients

Fertilization of natural waters, 68

Fertilizer, menhaden as a source of, 85, 86,
88; consumed. United States, 301; from
fish, manufacture of, 358-60; production,
statistics. Appendix table No. 62 ; elements,
in fish and sea water, 367

Fiedler,- R. H., hard clam in Florida, 161;
markets in inland cities, 347

Fiedler and Matthews, markets in inland
cities, 347

Field, Irving A., sea mussels, 182

INDEX

545

Filleting, 350, 353, 355; cost of, (table) 354;
at sea, feasibility, 361-63

Finfishes, edible, 109-34

Fish and Wildlife Service Laboratory, and
temperature records, 33

Fisheries, relation to physical environment, 28,
30, 36, 79; of N. C, general appraisal of,
70-71; geographic position of, 80; general
characterization, 80; potential production of,
82 ; as a whole distinguished from particular
species, 82-83, 307, 312-14; menhaden, 87;
menhaden, effect on other fish, 104-05;
Spanish mackerel, 117; bluefish, 119; striped
bass, 120; Pacific coast, 120; gray trout,
126; speckled trout, 128; spot, 129; croaker,
129, 131; shrimp, 192-93; blue crab, 211-17;
and agriculture, productive efficiency, com-
pared, 301-03, 308-09; earning power, 304;
economic nature of: as extractive commodity
industry, 304-05 ; not privately owned, 305,
311; communistic nature of, 305, 311; capi-
tal requirements of, 305; competition in,
306; unions in, 323; place of, in food in-
dustry, 328

Fisheries Commission Board, North Carolina,
inlets, 50

Fishermen, numbers of, and voting power,
311; number of, self-regulated, 319; unions,
323; cooperatives, 327; marketing by, for
canneries, freezers, etc., 328; share in retail
values compared with farmers', 345-47,
(tables) 344, 347, (chart) 346; (charts)
374) 375, (N. C.) 427; Appendix tables Nos.
38, 39 ; number, determinants of, 394-95 ; in-
comes of, 395, (charts) 374, 375, (table)
396; income of, affected by improvements,
395-96; N. C. (table) 427.

Fishermen's Union, 323

Fishery Council, New York City, 325

Fishing, communities, economic improvements
of, 81; small, disadvantages of, 355. See
Angling, Sport fishing

Fish meal, 86, 87, 358-61

Fish oil, 86-87, 357-58

Fish production. See Production

Five Fathom Bank, temperature at, 26,
(chart) 28

Flatfish, 68

Flavors of fish, 340

Florida, menhaden in, 92-94; alewives in, 109;
mullet in, 115; Spanish mackerel in, 117;
striped bass in, 120; hard clam (F. mortoni)
in, 161; scallops in, 170; shrimp eggs, 198;
shipments to New York City, (tables) 438,
439, 440, 442

Florida current, 9, 12, 13, 15; migrations of
organisms, 29; mentioned, 9, 26, 30; 59; 65

Flounder, summer, {Paralichthys dentatus),
trawl fishery, 32 ; geographical range, natu-
ral history, 133; 134; as game fish, 278;
economic behavior of, 318, 407, 411, 432, 442

Fluctuations, of river discharge, 41; of abund-
ance in fishes, 80, 81; menhaden, 97; Span-
ish mackerel, 117; speckled trout, 128; fish
generally, 135, 136, 320; in quantity and
composition of catch, economic effects of,
320-321, 351-52

Fog, in Hatteras region, 60

Food, demand for, inelastic, 328; quantities of,
eaten by man, various countries, 329, 363;
economics, physiological basis of, 334; per-
centages of, supplied by sea and land, 363-64

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),
302; 337; 363, 365; 368, 369

Food and Nutrition Board, National Research
Council, 333, 364

"Food chain," of hfe at sea, 302; 312-14; 367-
68

Food of fishes, general, 67; 135; 312-14;
"pyramid," 314. See also under particular
species

Fowler, H. W., menhaden, 96

Freezing, 350, 353; at sea, 361-63

Freight rates, index (table) 344

Friday, fish day, economic effects of, 341-42

Friedlaender, O. O., enemies of menhaden, 07

Frying Pan Shoals, 9; lightship, currents at,
(chart) 16; (table) 19; Florida current, in-
fluence of, at, 21; as a fishing ground, 260-61

Fulton Market, New York, description of,
324-26; shipments, North Carolina, 437-44

Furnas and Furnas, history of food, 337

Gage readings, tidal, at various points, 11, 12
Galtsoff, Paul S., oyster, gaps in knowledge of,

142, spawning, temperature, 147; feeding,

temperature, 148
Galtsoff and Seiwell, oyster. Survey of, in

N. C, 142; quality of, in N. C, 157
Gaskins, William, Wallace Fisheries, menhaden,

96
Gasterostomum, parasite, enemy of oyster, 151
Gates County. See Counties, coastal, N. C.
Gelidium, (seaweed), 234
General Education Board, vi
Geography, gross, of North Carolina sounds,

3

Georges Bank, mentioned, 7; and North Caro-
lina, productivity compared, 67, 71

Georgia, menhaden in, 94; shrimp, eggs, 198;
diamond-back terrapin, 221; as market for
N. C. fish, 446

Ginsburg, Isaac, gray trout, 125; Jewish
dietary laws, 341

Glaser, O. C, oyster, "coon," 151

Goode, G. Brown, fish scrap as animal food,
88 ; menhaden, common names of, 93 ; food
of, 100; enemies of, 103-04; Spanish mack-
erel, history, 117; bluefish, 118; speckled
trout, numbed by cold, 128; fishing methods,
310

546

INDEX

Goode and Clark, menhaden industry, early
history of, 88

Goods-curves, 384-88

Gottschalk, L. C, determining erosion, 50

Gowanloch, J. N., striped bass, 120

Gracilaria (seaweed), 234-48, passim

Graham, President [Frank P.] v, vi

Grand Bank, mentioned, 7, 316

Grave, Caswell, water densities, 44; oysters,
survey of, in N. C, 142 ; beds of, in Pamlico
Sound, discovered, 143; history of, 144;
spawning of, 147; "coon", 150; parasite,
151; culture of, on leased bottom, 153; in
North and Newport rivers, 154; beds, areas,
in Hyde County, 155 ; hard clam, ecology
of, 163

Gray trout (Cynoscion regalis), Hatter as dis-
persal area, and migrations, 32 ; geographi-
cal range, 125; natural history, 125-26;
angling for, 276; economic behavior of, 408,
411-12

Great Bridge (Va.), guard lock, 46, (charts)
47, 48

Great Lakes, fisheries, decline of, economic
effects, 289-90; region, fishery production in,
307, 397, 399, 400, 401, 402, 403, 412, 421;
Appendix tables Nos. 46, 50

Green, C. K., summer upweliing, 26, (chart)
27; mentioned, 30

Greenfield fishery, shad, 112-14

Green turtle, 219

Gross, Raymont, Nutman, and Gauld, fertiliz-
ing natural waters, 68

Gulf of Maine, menhaden in, 95, 96, 97, 102;
mullet in, 114; gray trout in, 125; soft
clams, 179; sea mussels, 183; surf clams in,
183; conchs in, 184; squid in, 184

Gulf of Mexico, menhaden in, 92 ; Spanish
mackerel in, 116, 117; striped bass in, 120;
hard clam in, 161; oyster, 416; fishery pro-
duction in, 397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 402 ;
Appendix tables Nos. 45, 50. See also Texas,
Louisiana; Regions

Gulf of St. Lawrence, striped bass in, 120;
oyster in, 141; hard clam in, 161

Gulf Stream and Gulf Stream System, char-
acteristics and flow of, 9 ff., effect on shift
in climate, 14, 15; in Cape Hatteras region,
23, 25, 30, 65; sport fishing in, 255

"Gulf weed," 233

Gunter, Gordon, mullet, in Texas, 115; Span-
ish mackerel, in Texas, 116

Gutsell, J. S., water temperatures, Beaufort,
33; scallop, natural history of, 170-73; eco-
nomics of, 176; conservation of, 176-77

Hachey, H. B., 15

Haddock, fishery, New England, rise of, 318;
economic behavior of, 390-93, 407, 410

Halibut, economic behavior of, 405, 407

Halibut Vessel Owners Association, 323

Hall, Irving Frank, ix

Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna Zygaena), 279

Hampton, Wilham Roy, ix

Hand, I. F., solar radiation, 66

Hardcastle, A. B., spawning of, menhaden, 98,
parasite on menhaden, 99

Hard clam (Venus mercenaria, and V. mor-
toni), names and species, 160; production
of, by States, 1940, 1945, (table) 161 ; geo-
graphical range of, 160-161 ; natural history
of, 161-63; ecology of, 163-65; culture of,
165; industry, 165-68; production of, his-
torical, North Carolina, (table) 167; me-
chanical harvesters, 168; prices of, 168;
economic behavior of, 406

Hard crab. See Blue crab

Hariot, Thomas, blue crab, early mention of
(1588), 205

Harkers Island, early menhaden plant, 89

Harper, F. A., food, quantities of, consumed,
various countries, 329, 335, 363

Harrison, R. W., distribution of menhaden, 92

Hartman, Olga, oyster, worm enemy of, 151

Harvestfish (Peprilus alepidotus), 132

Harvey, H. W., composition of sea water, 36;
photosynthesis, 364

Hatsel, Charles, terrapin, 225, 226

Hatteras, Cape, continental shelf, 7; Gulf
Stream at, 12, 14; water temperature con-
ditions of, 21 ff., 70; occurrence of fishes in
region, 29 ff., bluefish, 118; bottom charac-
teristics of, 57-58; wind, wave, and weather
conditions at, 59-61 (chart); fog at, 60; air
temperatures for, (table) 62-63; as a fish-
ing ground, 259; mentioned, 7, 55

Hatteras Inlet, tidal currents in, (table) 15;
trawl fishery, 32

Hatteras region, movement of water from, to
Middle Atlantic, 21; temperature barrier at,
21, 25, 26, 182, 232; organisms and tem-
peratures in, 28-30; temperatures at, 33;
water turbulence, 37; temperature record,
historical, (table) 62-63

Haul seine, 192, 317

Hay, W. P., terrapin, 220, 225

Heilner, Van Campen, 268

Henry, Cape, Va., winter trawl fishery areas,
30

Herring, family Clupeidae, 85; percentage of
total fish production, (table) 370

Herrington, William C, fish and competing
foods compared, 390-93 (four charts)

Hertford County. See Counties, coastal, N. C.

Hickory shad, family Clupeidae, 85

Higgins, E., shrimp, migrations, tagging, 200

Higgins and Pearson, gray trout, spawning of,
127; destruction of, by nets, 127-28

Hildebrand, S. F., species of menhaden, 92 ;

INDEX

547

teeth in young menhaden, 103; terrapin,
222-29, passim
Hildebrand and Cable, gray trout, young, 125;
speckled trout, young, 127; growth, 127;
spot, 128; croaker, 130; amberjack, 265
Hildebrand and Hatsel, terrapin, 229
Hildebrand and Schroeder, menhaden in
Chesapeake, 93 ; spawning of, 98 ; sexes of,
distinguished, 99; mullet, 115; striped bass,
food of, 121; spot, 128, 129; croaker, num-
ber of eggs, 130; food of, 131 ; barracuda, 265
Hoffman and Waugh, cost of food distribu-
tion, 345
Hogfish {Orthopristis chrysopterus), 132
Holmes, Joseph A., terrapin, 225
Hopkins, A. E., oysters, salinity, 149
Hopkinson, L. T., markets in inland cities, 347
Home, Josh, vi

Horse mackerel (Trachurus lacuta), 93
Hudson River shad fishery, 114
Humm, Harold Judson, ix
Humm and Williams, Hypnea agar, 245
Huntsman, A. G., on overfishing, 113
Hurricanes, 60; damage to oyster, 145
Hutchinson, G. E., photosynthetic efficiency,

64
Hyde County, oyster beds, area, 155; leasing
of bottom prohibited, 159. See Counties,
coastal, N. C.
Hypnea musciformis. See Seaweed

Imports, fish, into North Carolina, 447
Improvements, agriculture and fisheries, 301-
03, 308-12; effect of, on incomes, fishermen,

395, 396

Income, national, and fish values compared,
388-90

Independent food stores. North Carolina, 456

Index, All-Commodity Wholesale Price, 373,
406; industrial production, 382-84; com-
pared with fish production, 384-88; (charts)
38S, 386, 387; Canada, 384, (chart) 387;
all-food fish "1926 price index", 406; freight
rate, 344; wages, 344

Ingersoll, Ernest, oyster, markets for, 143 ;
clams, early history of, 168

Inland Waterway, S, 6, 7

Inlets, tides at, 12 ; tidal currents in, (table)
is; circulation through, 39; general descrip-
tion, 50-57; conditions historical, (table)
51; theory of Johnson, D. W., extensive
quotation, 52-56; (chart) 53, Ocracoke
tidal delta, Fig. 25, opp. p. 56; effect of
opening considered, 68-69. See under names,
Beaufort, Bogue, etc.

Institute of Fisheries Research, v; charting of
bottoms, 71; calico scallop, 178; 256

Institutional markets. North Carolina, 458

International Cup Matches, 253, 254

International Game Fish Association, 252

"Irish moss," 234

Iselin, C. O'D., 12, 15

Isohalines, Pamlico Sound, 46; (charts) 37,

38, 39
Isotherms, water, Atlantic coast, (chart) 25

Japan, seaweed products, 234; percentage of
world fish production, 369; "SCAP" (Su-
preme Command Allied Powers), 369

Jeffers, George William, ix

Jewfish, 86

Jewish dietary laws, 341

Johnson, D. W., 3 ; on inlets, quoted at length,
52-56

Johnson, Fred F., 291

Johnson and Lindner, shrimp fishery, 192

Jordan and Evermann, striped bass, 120

Jordan, Evermann and Clark, number of
species of fish, 315

Jumping mullet. See Mullet

Jupiter Inlet, temperature, 26

Jurisich oyster-clam harvester, 168

Kain, I., early menhaden plant, 90

Kellogg, James L., hard clam, in Louisiana,
161; pioneer worker in, 161; natural his-
tory of, 161, 162, 163, 164; scallop, range
of, 169; soft clams, attachment of, 179

Kelly, Samuel, crab gear, 211

Kelp, 233

Kendall, W. C, menhaden, young, effects of
temperature on, 100

Kincer, J. B., changing climate, 15

King, J. E., shrimp reproduction, 199

Kingfish {Scomberomorus cavalla), angling
for, 270

King mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla), an-
gling for, 270

King whiting (Menticirrhus species), 131-32;
angling for, 273-74

Kirkpatrick, C. A., 292, 448

Knapp Foundation, Inc., vi

Knobb Creek, 46

Korringa, P., oyster, review of, 148

Kuntz and Radcliffe, menhaden, spawning of,
98; embryology of, 99

Kyle, H. M., mentioned, 103

Labor, compensation of, 305, 311; in oyster
production, 157, 416-17, 423; in clam pro-
duction, 167; productivity of, fisheries and
agriculture compared, 303; in manufacture
of fish products, 342

Lagoons, 52, 54, 55

Lake herring, economic behavior of, 407

Lake Mendota, 64

Lake trout, economic behavior of, 407-08, 422

Lamar, W. L., nutrients from rivers, 50

Larsen, Reitz and Bergum, airplane distribu-
tion, 350, 460

548

INDEX

Lawson, John, history of menhaden, 87-88;
common names of menhaden, 93; bluefish,
118; speckled trout, numbed by cold, 128;
blue crab, 205

Leahy, H. S., agar factory, 237

Legislation, restrictive, relation to fluctuations
of abundance, 81; shrimp, 203; salt water
angling, none in North Carolina, 252; ef-
fect on fisheries industry, 306-08

Lindeman, R. L., photosynthetic efficiency, 64;
302

Ling cod, 86

Lobster, economic behavior of, 408, 412, 422

Local preferences for kinds of fish, 348

Lodge, F. S., fertilizers used, U. S., 301 ; 367

Loggerhead turtles, 219

Long Island Sound, plankton studies, Riley,
64; menhaden in, 97, 98, 100; oysters in,
143, 154; hard clam, 160; basic productivity,

364

Longley and Hildebrand, Spanish mackerel,
range of, 116

Lookout, Cape, Shoals, 9; lightship, currents
at, (chart) 16; (table) 19; Florida current,
influence of at, 21; salinity, 38

Loosanoff, Victor L., oyster, spawning, tem-
perature, 147; natural history of hard clam,
161, 162; soft clam, spawning, 179

Loosanoff and Engle, excessive micro-organ-
isms from fertilization, 68

Louisiana, shrimp eggs, 198

Lurcy, George R., vi

Luther, Robert W., 46

Liitken, C. F., dolphin, 271

McCarthy, G. R., 17

Mackerel, economic behavior of, 408, 410-11;
mentioned, 67. See also King mackerel,
Spanish mackerel

Mackerel shark (Isuriis tigris), 279

MacNider, William de B., v

Magnitude of fisheries, world, 363-65, 368-70;
United States, 365-69; 371-79, passim

Maine, oysters in, 161; scallops in, 170; soft
clams in, 179; sea mussels in, 182, 183;
periwinkles in, 185

Mako, 279

Malthus Law, in water, possible, 313, 421

Man-eater shark {Carcharodon carcharias),
279

Manufacture, relation to supply, capital and
labor, 351-52; limits to mechanization, 352;
main- and by-products, 352-61 ; concentra-
tion of, in few species, 360-61; at sea, 361-63

Marine fisheries, and conditions for produc-
tivity, 64-68. See also Fisheries.

Marine Section Base (Camp Glenn), N. C, vi

Marketing, diamond-back terrapin, 220; fish,
for processors, 328; effects of improvements
in, 350; primary, general, 324 ff., North Car-

olina, description, 434-47, information, 471,
commission, 324-26

Markets, primary, auction, 324; commission,
324; coastal dealers, 326-27; fishermen's
cooperatives, 327-28; inland cities, 347. See
Marketing

Mark-ups, excessive, by shore dealers, effect
on distribution, 345

Marlin (Makaira albida) . See White marlin

Marshall, Nelson, scallops, and eelgrass, 173

Martin, G. W., oysters, theories of feeding, 149

Martin, R. J., climatic data, 35

Martin County. See Counties, coastal, N. C.

Maryland, croaker in, 129; oyster in, 143;
oyster shucking plants in, 157; conchs in,
184; squid in, 184; crab fishery in, 212;
diamond-back terrapin, 221; shipments to
New York City, (tables) 438, 439, 440, 442

Masonboro Sound, 7

Massachusetts, striped bass in, 121; gray trout
in, 125; spot, 128; croakers in, 129; scallops
in, 170; soft clams in, 179; sea mussels in,
183; surf clams in, 183; conchs in, 184;
squid in, 184; periwinkles in, 185; seaweed
in, 233 ; fishery legislation in, 307 ; Court
decision in labor union case, 323. See also
Gulf of Maine

Maynard, L. A., animals as food converters,
efficiency of, 302

Meal, fish, from menhaden, 87; manufacture,
357) 358-61; in chick rations, (table) 359;
production statistics. Appendix table No. 62.
See Fish meal

Meat, consumption of, compared with fish
(table) 338; prices, compared to fish, 303

Meat Packers Consent Decree. See Consent
Decree

Meherrin-Chowan River, drainage, 41

Menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannm), family
Clupeidae, 85; as sardines, 85; fishery posi-
tion and magnitude, 85-87; roe of, 86; as
food, 86; source of oil, 86; oil, production
of, 86; uses of, 86; landings of, 86; meal
production and value of, (table) 87 ; fishery,
history of, 87; industry, present magnitude,
90; production (table) 191; species and sci-
entific names of, 91-92; common names of,
92-93; distribution and migrations, 93-96;
enemies of, 97, 103, 104; breeding habits of,
98-100; young of, 100; food of, 100-103;
water filtering mechanism, loi, 102 ; in Gulf
of Maine, 95, 102 ; fishery, effect on other
fish, 104-05 ; statistical data, historical. Ap-
pendix table No. 58; products, Appendix
table No. 62

Merchandising, technical improvements in, 350

Merriman, Daniel, alewives, in; striped bass,
120-25, passim

Metcalf, Z. P., v

Methods, fishing, 135; of dredging scallops,

INDEX

549

175; mechanical shellfish harvesters, 168;
and technical progress, 310-11 ; of catching,
selectivity of, 314

Mexico, fish production, percentage of world,
369

Middle Atlantic region, fishery production in,
397) 398, 400-01, 402; Appendix tables Nos.
42, 48; oyster, 416

Middle Sound, 7

Migrations of animals, affected by tempera-
tures and currents, 28-30; 36; 80; gray
trout, 32; menhaden, 93-96; fish generally,
13s, 315; shrimp, 200

Mitchie, Lake, Durham, N. C, evaporation
from, II, 44

Mitchill, S. L., mackerel, described, 117

Mollusks, miscellaneous, 182

Money curves, 388

Moore, H. F., oyster, eastern, to west coast,
141; hard clam, ecology, 163

Morehead City, yacht basin, 260; fishing
grounds at, 259-60; mentioned, 7

"Mother" ships at sea, 361-62

Movements and geographical distribution of
fish, economic effects of, 315-16

Mullet {Mugil species), migrations of, tem-
perature effects on, 29; range of, 114; geo-
graphic distribution, 114; seasons of, 115;
natural history of, 115-16; economic be-
havior of, 408, 411, 426, 442. See also Silver-
side mullet, Virginia mullet

Multiplicity of kinds, economic effects of,
314-15, 340, 422

Munden Point, tidal gage readings at, 11

Mussels, ribbed, 182

Mussels, sea, 182; production by States,
(table) 183

Myrtle Sound, 7

Nags Head, as a sport fishing ground, 258-

59

Nantucket, temperature barrier, 25

National Fisheries Institute, 461

National Research Council, 302, 333; 364

Navassa Oil & Guano Co., early menhaden
factory, 90

Needier, Alfreda Berkeley, oyster, sex reversal,
ISO

Nelson, John Allen, ix; oysters, history of, in
North Carolina, 144

Nelson, Julius, oysters, larval 147

Nelson, T. C, salinity strata, Barnegat Bay,
34, 44; oyster, spawning of, temperature
effect on, 147; larval, 147; soft clam, 179

Nematopsis ostrearum, parasite, enemy of oy-
ster, 151

Neuse River, 6, 11; drainage, 41; alewives in,
no; striped bass in, 124; oysters in, quality

of, 157
New Bern, 11

Newcombe, Curtis L., oysters, nutritive value,
152

New England, menhaden in, 94, 95, 97, 102 ;
alewives in, 109; bluefish in, 118; striped
bass in, 122, 123; hard clam in, 160; sea-
weeds in, 232-33; haddock fishery, rise of,
318; fishery production in, 401-02, 403-04,
421; vessel fisheries, 379-380, 399; oyster,
416. See Regions

Newfoundland, percentage of world fish pro-
duction, (chart) 369

New Hanover County, oyster bottoms, leasing
of, 159. See Counties, coastal, N. C.

New Inlet, closed by storm (1922), 56

New Jersey, menhaden in, 94; gray trout in,
125; spot in, 128; oysters in, 157; soft
clams in, 179; sea mussels in, 183; surf
clams in, 183; conchs in, 184; squid in,
184; seaweed in, 233

Newport River, 6; density, 44; oyster culture
in, 154

New River Inlet 7; area, quality of oyster in,
157; calico scallops off, 178

New York, menhaden in, 94; bluefish in,
118; scaUops in, 170; soft clams in, 179;
sea mussels in, 183; surf clams in, 183;
conchs in, 184; squid in, 184

Nichols and Breder, mullet, growth of young,
155; spawning, 115; menhaden, food of
gray trout, 126; white perch, 133

Norris, Simeon and Williams, vitamins in sea-
weed, 246

North America, fish production, percentage of
world, (chart) 369

North Carolina, basic production of, 64-72;
rank, in value fish production, (table) 426;
in oyster production, 155, (table) 156; oy-
sters, compared with northern, 157, 158;
potentialities of, 160; hard clam, production
of, historical, (table) 167; potentialities of,
168; scallops in, 170; production of, his-
torical, (table) 175; squid in, 184; agar
industry, 236-241; agar, 244-45; seaweed
in, 248; for sport fishing, 278-80; economic
conditions, 293-300; population, 293; Ap-
pendix table No. 63 ; fishery legislation in,
307; statistical data, fish, general, 427, 429;
fish catch, composition of, 429-30, Appendix
tables Nos. 68-91 ; as market for own fish,
445-47 ; imports into, 447 ; wholesale dis-
tributors, 452 ff.; independent food stores,
456; chain stores, 457. See Counties, coastal,
statistical data

North Carolina Fisheries Commission Board,
50

North Carolina Geological Survey, terrapin,
225

North Carolina State Planning Board, 41

Northern production area, for North Carolina
fisheries, 433-34

550

INDEX

North River, 6; ice in, 36; density, 44; oyster
culture in, 154

North Sea, production, 368; percentage of
world production, (chart) 369

Nova Scotia, alewives in, 109

Nutrients, upwelling and, 37; river discharge
and, 49-50; and land drainage, North Caro-
lina, 64-65; chemical fertility, of ocean, in-
exhaustible, 301 ; in sea water and fish, 364-
67. See Salinity, River discharge

Nutrient salts, distribution of, 36

Nutritive values, of oysters, 152; of fish, 304;
of fish meal, 359

"Nylock" (nylon), fish nets, 311

Ocracoke Inlet, 10; tidal currents in, 15; trawl
fishery in, 32 ; tidal delta, Fig. 25, opp. p. 56;
oyster enemies, 151; region of, hard clam
production in, 166-68; as a fishing ground,
259; mentioned, 46

Ocracoke Island, described, 50

Odors, effect of, 339

Offshore bar, geography of, 50 ff., 68

Oil, fish, from various species of fish, 86-87;
vitamins in, 86, 357; marine animal, quan-
tities and values, (table) 87; manufacture
of, 357-58; production statistics, Appendix
table No. 62. See Fish oil

Okeechobee Lake, Florida, 290

Old, Marcus C, oyster, enemy of, sponge, 151

Onslow County. See Counties, coastal, N. C.

OPA controls, lifted, 331, 448

Oregon Inlet, tidal prism in, (table) 10, 11,
(table) 12, (chart) 13; seaward flow
through, 11; mentioned, 5

Orton, J. H., oyster, European, sex reversal,
ISO

Orton Plantation, 261

Otter trawl, 192, 310; for shrimp, 417

Overfishing, general, 81, 289, 307, 314, 369-71;
economic limit to, 319; economic effect of,
403 ff.; of shad, 112-14; terrapin, 219; oys-
ter, 142, 144, 414

Oyster, Olympia (0. lurida), 142; Japanese
(0. gigas), 142

Oyster, {Ostrea virginica), importance of, 141-
42 ; history, ancient, 142 ; early and recent,
143-45; bibliography of, cited, 142; decline
in production, 142-43; surveys, 142; pro-
duction, Maryland, and North Carolina,
(table) 144; natural history of, 145-51; pro-
duction, historical (table) 146; spawning,
147; early development, 147-48; setting,
148; growth rate, 148; temperature effects,
148; salinity, 149; bottom, 149; food, 149;
water pumping, 150; sex reversal, 150;
"coon", 150-151, 154; enemies and parasites
of, 151, 158; sanitary regulations, 151;
pollution areas, 58, 152; nutritive value of,
152; culture, 152-55; on leased bottom, 153;

industry, 155-57; production, pounds and
value of, by States (table) 156; shucking
plants, location of, 157; labor in producing,
157; quality, (discussion) 157; marketing,
159; mechanical harvester, 168; statistical
procedure, 377; economic behavior of, 408,

413-19; 423, 432
Oyster Growers and Dealers Association of

North America, 461
Oyster Institute of North America, 461

Pacific coast, region, pilchard, 85 ; seaweed,
233 ; fishery statistical data, 398, 399, Ap-
pendix tables, Nos. 47, 51; discussion, 400,
401

Packaging, 350; at sea, 362-63

Pamlico County, oysters, leasing of bottoms
prohibited, 159; crabs in, (tables), 210, 214.
See Counties, coastal, N. C.

Pamlico River, 11; alewives in, no; striped
bass in, 124

Pamlico Sound, area and volume of, 3 ; map
of, 4; description of, 5; discharge into, 11;
salinity, (charts) 37-38, 39; drainage into,
41; salinity, 44, 46; isohalines, 46; gray
trout in, 126, 127; spot in, 129; oysters,
beds discovered, 143 ; oysters, bulk of, N. C,
produced in, 155; shucking houses on, 157;
shrimp in, 194; crabs in, 207, 209

Parr, A. E., water temperatures, Atlantic, 21;
extensive quotation, 23, (charts) 24, 25;
quotation, 26; seasonal changes, 32; men-
tioned, striped bass, 123

Pasquotank County. See Counties, coastal,
N. C.

Pasquotank River, 5 ; ice in, 36

Pearson, J. C, water temperatures, 23 ; winter
trawl fishery, 30-32, (chart) 31; offshore
bottom, nature of, 57; landings of catch,
66; speckled trout, spawning, 127; spot, 128,
129; shrimp, eggs and development of, 196-
97

Pease, Herbert D., oyster shells, Indian
mounds, 142 ; oysters, food value of, 152

Peck, James I., food of menhaden, 100-102 ;
on food of squeteague, 313

Pelican, Shrimp Survey (1940), 201

Pender County, oyster bottoms, leasing of, 159.
See Counties, coastal, N. C.

Penny, Shrimp Survey (1949), 201

Perishability, economic effects, 321

Periwinkle (Littorina), production of, 185

Perlmutter, A., spawning of menhaden, 9S-99

Perquimans County. See Counties, coastal,
N. C.

Photosynthesis, efficiency of, 64, 65, 66; pro-
duction by, in ocean, inexhaustible, 301 ;
land and sea compared, 364

Phototropism, shrimp, 197

Physiological basis of food economics, 334

INDEX

551

Pierson, W. W., v

Pigfish, 278

Pilchard, California, family Clupeidae, 85; as
a source of oil, 86; as food- and non-food
fish, 376; cheap fish, 400

Fivers Island, temperatures, (table) 33;
monthly salinity, (chart) 45

Plankton, in Long Island Sound, 64; as food
of menhaden, 100-01 ; as food for oysters,
150; mentioned, 67; at base of food chain, 83

Pollution, 58-59, 81; shad, effect on, 114;
oyster, 151-52

Polydora, mud worm, enemy of oyster, 151

Pompano {Trachinotus carolinus), angling for,
274; economic behavior of, 408, 411

Ponds, yield of, in fish, 68

Pope, Clifford, H., terrapin in North Carolina,
219, 220

Population, of fish, shifts of, long term, 81 ;
(human) North Carolina, 293, Appendix
table No. 63 ; United States, and fish pro-
duction, (charts) 376, 377, 379; discussion
of, 381

Porbeagle shark (Lanina nasus), 279

Portsmouth Island, menhaden factories at, 88

Potter, J. H., pioneer in scallop industry in
North Carolina, 174

Power, E. A., 291

Precipitation, and run-off of rivers, 41, 44

Preserving methods, 353

Prices, of fish and land animals compared, 303 ;
retail, fishermen's and farmers' share, 345-
47 ; of fish, historical trend, and ratios to
all commodities and all foods, 382, (table)
383; as regulator of fish production, 318,
390-94; of regional fish production, 396-404,
passim; cyclical behavior of, 394, 396; of 21
common fishes, 405-12, passim; of oysters,
413-18; of shrimp, 418; of seafoods by
species, N. C, and elsewhere compared, 431,
(table) 432 ; Morehead City and New York
compared, 441, (table) 444; edible por-
tions, N. C, 451; retail, N. C, 455 ff.; of
North Carolina fish, how made, discussion,
467

Prism, tidal, in Oregon Inlet, 10

Producers share in retail value, farmers and
fishermen compared, 344-46, (table) 344,
(chart) 346

Production, of fish, ultimate sources of, 301-
02 ; efficiency of, fisheries and agriculture,
302-04; technical, and industrial progress,
309-12 ; of world, regions and countries,
(chart) 369; and population, 381-82; and
industrial production compared, 382-88,
(charts) 385, 386, 389; per capita of popu-
lation, 400; North Carolina, historical, 427-
31; areas of North Carolina, 433-34

Productivity of fisheries, dependent on physi-
cal-chemical conditions, 2 ; and river dis-

charge, 49-50; general discussion, 64-68;
efficiency. North Carolina fisheries, 66, 82;
North Carolina waters, 71, 72 ; and Georges
Bank compared, 67; fisheries and agriculture
compared, 301-03; sea and land compared,
363-68

Products, from fish, 352-61

Propagation, artificial, 81; diamond-back ter-
rapin, 225; seaweed, 243

Prytherch, Herbert F., v; ix; oysters, shell
planting, 145; parasite of, sporozoan, 151;
terrapin, 226

Pteropods, 103

Pulp mill wastes, effect on fish, 59

Pungo River, 6

Purse seine, 89, 317

Radcliffe, Lewis, sea bass fishery, 32; bottom

reefs offshore, 57; terrapin, 225
Ranking of States in fish production, 426; of
species of fish, U. S., historical periods, 404;
Appendix tables Nos. 53-56; of N. C. fish.
Appendix tables Nos. 68-90; of canned
fish. Appendix table No. 59; of frozen fish,
Appendix table No. 60; of N. C. counties,
See Counties, coastal, N. C.
Rathbun, Richard, surface temperatures, 21, 29
Raymont, J. E. G., fish farming, 68
Razor clams, Ensis and Solen species, 183
Recommendations, hydrography. North Caro-
lina marine waters, 68-72; finfish, 134-36;
marine angling, 280; North Carolina fish-
eries, 465-71
Red drum {Sciaenops ocellatus), angling for,

266-67
Refrigeration, economic effects of, 353
Regions, statistical canvasses in, 372, Appendix
table No. 37; U. S. fisheries, economic sta-
tistics of, fishermen, production, values, etc.,
(tables) 397, 398, 399, 400; Appendix tables
(all-fish products) Nos. 41-47, (food fish)
Nos. 48-51, Alaska, No. 52; discussion, 289-
290, 400-04; 419-20; oysters in, economic
behavior of, 415-16
Reliance, Shrimp Survey (1948), 201
Remoteness from markets, economic effects of,

316, 361
Retail, fish marketing. North Carolina, 455, ff.

See also, Prices
Rhode Island, oysters in, 156; hard clams in,

161; scallops in, 170; surf clams in, 183
Ribbed mussels {Modiolus plicatulus), descrip-
tion of, 182
Ricker, William E., productivity of fish, 302
Riley, G. A., 2; plankton studies, 64; carbon

fixation, oceanic waters, 65, 66, 364, 365
Risser, J., scallop, growth and spawning, 173
River discharge, 37, 39, (map) 40, 41, (charts)

42, 43, 44, 49, 50
Rivers, flood conditions, (chart) 43. See also

552

INDEX

Rivers, continued

under names, Roanoke, Tar, Neuse, etc.;

Discharge, Drainage
Roanoke Island, as a fishing ground, 259
Roanoke River, drainage, 3, 41 ; pulp mill

wastes, 59; bass in, 121
Roanoke Sound, area and volume of, 3, 5; and

river drainage, 41
Rock (Roccus saxatilis), as game fish, 267-68;

mentioned, 32. See Striped bass
Roelofs, E. W., decrease of finfish in N. C, 82
Rosefish, 86
Roundhead {Menticirrhus), as game fish, 273-

74. See King whiting
Rounsefell, G. A., 67
Rude, G. T., cuspate shoreline, 17
Ryder, F., Spanish mackerel, eggs, 117; oyster,

larval, 147

Sailfish. See Atlantic sailfish

Salinity, and nutrient salts, 36-50, (charts)
37, 38, 39, 45, 47, 48, 79; and oysters, 149,
151; clams, 163-64; scallops, 172; soft clam,
180; shrimp, 195-96

Salt fish, obsolescence of, 353, 381; correction
for, statistical, 378

Sanitary regulations, of oyster production,
151-52

Sardines, menhaden as, 85

Sargasso Sea, eastern margin of Florida cur-
rent, 13

Sargassum, 233

Scallop, bay, (Pecten irradians), range, 169;
production, by States and years, (table)
170; natural history, 170-72; industry, 174;
history, 174; production, N. C, historical,
(table) 175; methods of catching, 175;
yield, 176; conservation, 177; prices, 177;
shortage of, 465-66, 468-69. See also Sea
scallop. Calico scallop

"SCAP", Japan, 369

Schroeder, William C, feeding habits of men-
haden, 101-02

Scup {Stenotomus chrysops), migrations, tem-
perature, 30; trawl fishery, 32; 278

Sea bass {Centropristes striatus), migrations,
temperature, 30; trawl fishery, 32; angling
for, 267. See Blackfish

Seafoods, North Carolina, habits and prefer-
ences, 447-52

Sea mink, sea mullet {Menticirrhus). See King
whiting

Sea mussels (Mytibis edulis), description of,
182; production of, 182-83

Sea scallops (Pecten grandis), 177, 178

Seasons, sport fishing, 261-64

Sea trout {Cynoscion regalis), angling for,
276; economic behavior of, 408, 411-12. See
also Gray trout, Weakfish

Sea water, chemical composition of, 36

Seaweed, general description of, 231-34; agar,
uses of, 234-36; industry, in California, 236,
in North Carolina, 236; species utilized, 233,
248, passim; production, N. C, (table) 239;
N. C, biology of, 241-43; agars, N. C, 244;
manufacturing process, 246; vitamins in,
246; as fertilizer, 360; statistics corrected
for, 377-78. See also Algae, Agar

Seiwell, H. R., salinity charts, 37, 38, 39; car-
bon fixation, oceanic, 365

Selectivity and versatility of methods, eco-
nomic effects of, 317

Sergeant-fish {Rackycentron canadus), angling
for, 269-70

Shad (Alosa sapidissima) , pollution and, 59;
natural history of, 111-12; fishery decline
of, 112-13; overfishing, effect of, 113-14;
pollution, effect on, 114; economic behavior
of, 409, 411, 412, 432. See Hickory shad

"Shadines," menhaden, 85

Sharks, 86; angling for, 278-79. See also Ham-
merhead shark, Man-eater shark. Thresher
shark. Tiger shark

Sharpe, Evelyn, 292, 448

Sheepshead, 278

Shellfish, mechanical harvesters of, 168; as
delicacies, economic significance of, 339

Sher, Power, Kahn, and others, per capita con-
sumption, fish, (table) 338

Sherman, food consumption, 328, 335, 349

Shoals, of the continental shelf, 9. See also
Diamond Shoals, Cape Lookout Shoals,
Frying Pan Shoals

Shrimp, fishery for, 192-93, 203, 318; produc-
tion of, 192-93; names and species of, 193-
95; distribution of, 195-96; and salinity,
195-96; and water temperature, 29, 67, 196;
larval development of, 196-98; adults, 198-
200; food of, 200; habits of, 200-01; loco-
motion of, 200-01 ; migratory movements
of, 200, 201-02 ; economic importance of,
202; legislation and regulations concerning,
203; economic behavior of, 409, 417, (table)
418, 423

Shrimp Commission, North Carolina, vi

Shrimp fishery, gear used, 192; vessels used,
192-93; methods used, 193; legislation and
regulations concerning, 203; mentioned, 318

Shrinkage of fish, in distribution, 343

Silverside mullet (Mugil curema), 114

Skate, 86

Small volume, effort of, on cost of distribution,
343; of manufacturing, 355

Smith, E. v., 68

Smith, Hugh M., menhaden, 95; bluefish
enemj: of menhaden, 97; mullet in North
Carolina, 115; Spanish mackerel, maximum
size, 116; eggs of, 117; striped bass, 120;
menhaden food of gray trout, 126; abund-

INDEX

553

ance of, 126; spot, 128; croaker, 130; ter-
rapin propagation, 225

Soft clam (Aya arenaria), 178-82; production,
Atlantic coast states, 179; natural history
of, 179-80; ecology, 180; culture, potentiali-
ties in North Carolina, 181-82; economic
behavior of, 406

Soft crab, industry, 209; production of, 210-
II, 216; economic behavior of, 407, 417-18;
mentioned, 466

Sole, 86

Sounds, N. C, areas, 2, 57, 69; seavi^ard flow
through, 11; rainfall in, 11; discharge from,
11; evaporation, 11; freshets in, 11; areas
of bottom, characteristics, summary, (table)
57; general conditions in, 79; sport fishing
in, 254. See under names, Albemarle, Bogue,
etc., also Circulation, Salinity, Isohalines,
Areas, Winds, Waves

South Atlantic, region, statistical data, 397-99)
401; Appendix tables Nos. 44, 49; oysters,
416. See Regions

South Carolina, menhaden in, 94; diamond-
back terrapin, 221, as market for N. C. fish,
446

Southern Production Area, North Carolina
fisheries, 434

Southport, as a fishing ground, 261

Soviet Pacific area, fish production, percentage
of world, 369

Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus macula-
tus), migrations, temperature, 29; geo-
graphical range, 116; natural history of,
116-17; angling for, 271

Speckled trout (Cynoscion nebulosus), geo-
graphical range, 127; natural history, 127-
28; fluctuations, 128; angling for, 276; eco-
nomic behavior of, 408, 411-12

Speckled weakfish. See Speckled trout

Spoilage of fish, economic effect of, 343

Sport fishing, benefits of, to industry, 252-53;
geographical discussion, 254; regional dis-
cussion, 258-61 ; Nags Head-Roanoke Island-
Portsmouth section, 258-59; Morehead
City-Swansboro, 259-60; Wilmington-Shal-
lotte, 260-61; seasonal discussion, 261-64

Spot { Leiostomus xanthurus), geographical
range, 128; natural history of, 128-29; fish-
ery, 129; as game fish, 278

Spotted trout. See Speckled trout

Squanto, Indian chief, use of menhaden as
fertilizer, 87

Squeteague {Cynoscion regalis), in food fish
chain, example of, 313. See Gray trout

Squid, production of, 184-85

Stafford, J., oyster, larval, 147

Standards, quality, economic effects, 321; 460-
61

Stansfield, M. Wronker, ag^r, 237

Starfish, enemy of oyster, 151; of clam, 165;
as "trash" fish, 360

State Board of Health, North Carolina, pollu-
tion, oysters, 58; sanitary regulations, 151

State Planning Board, North Carolina, drain-
age areas, (chart) 40; mentioned, 41; sta-
tistical data, N. C, Appendix table No. 66

Statistics, commercial production, unreliable
indicator of abundance, 82 ; discussion of,
292

Stauber, oyster, spawning temperature, 147

Stevenson, C. H., shad, 114

Stiebhng and Coons, diets in United States,
335 -••^

Stieglitz, Edward, persons over- and under-
weight, 333

Stiemke, R. E., stream pollution in North Car-
olina, 58

Stoloff, L., properties of agar, (table) 244

Strahler, Arthur N., inlets, 55

Straits of Florida, 12, 26

Striped bass {Roccus saxatilis), dispersal area
and migrations, 32 ; geographical range and
migrations, 120, 124, passim; angling for,
267; economic behavior of, 409. See Rock

Stump Sound, 7

Subsistence, fishing not primarily for, by fish-
ermen, 323

Summary, of areas. North Carolina sounds, 2,
57, 69; of hydrography marine waters. North
Carolina, 68-72; of finfish, 34-36; of oysters,
157-60; of hard clam, 168; of soft shell
clam, 181; of shrimp, 201-03; of terrapin,
229; of marine angling, 279; of economic
conditions, N. C. coastal counties, 297-300;
of relative magnitudes of the fisheries, 370-
71 ; of quantitative fishery economics, 419-
23; of North Carolina fisheries, 461-71

Summer flounder (Paralichtliys dentatus), 32

Sumner, H. C, hurricane (1944), 60

Supply, of fish, natural characteristics of, 312;
discontinuity of, effect on consumers habits,
341; on manufacturing, 355

Surf clam {Spisula solidissima) , production of,

183
Survey, of North Carolina fisheries, to be

made, vi; purpose of, vii
Sverdrup, Johnson and Fleming, Gulf Stream,

13
Swansboro, fishing grounds at, 259-60
Swingle and Smith, yield of fish in ponds, 68
Swordfish, medicinal oil from, 86

Tallman, John, first menhaden factory, 88
Tallman and Lambert, early menhaden plant,

88
Tannehill, I. R., on hurricanes, 60
Tarpon {Tarpon atlanticus), angling for, 275-

76
Tar River, drainage, 41

554 INDEX

Taylor, Harden F., v, vi, vii, viii, ix, 2, 66
Temperatures, offshore, 21-33; surface and
bottom, Hatteras to Chesapeake, (chart) 22;
Cape Canaveral, (chart) 27; Diamond
Shoals and Five Fathom Bank, 28; Atlantic
coast, (chart) 27; Beaufort and Lookout,
29; influencing migrations, 29; in the sounds,
etc., 33-36; Beaufort Harbor, (table) 33,
(chart) 34; air, coastal area, N. C, (chart)
35 ; Hatteras, historical record, (table) 62-
63; North Carolina summary, 7°; effect on
young menhaden, 100; effect of on speckled
trout, 127; on spawning of oyster, 147; on
spawning of hard clam, 162; on shrimp,
196; on seaweeds, 232
Tennessee, as market for North Carolina fish,

446
Terrapin, diamond-back. See Diamond-back

terrapin
Texas, mullet in, 115; Spanish mackerel in,
116; speckled trout in, 127; spawning
(Pearson), 127; spot in, 128; croaker in,
129. See Gulf of Mexico
Thresher shark {Alopias vulpinus), 279
Tidal delta, 56

Tides, in North Carolina sounds, 9, 10, 11;
various points N. C. coast, (table) 12; gage
records Oregon Inlet, Roanoke Island,
Munden Point, (chart) 13; currents in N. C.
inlets, (table) 15, 21; influence of on inlets,

52, 54, 55
Tiger shark {Galeocerdo arctictis), 279

Topsail Sound, 7

Townes, H. K., Jr., striped bass, food of, 121

Townsend, C. H., 206

"Trace" elements in fish, 304, 359

"Trash" fish, 317, 360

Trawl fishery, winter, N. C, 30; (chart)
(Pearson), 31, 70

Trout. See Gray trout. Lake trout. Speckled
trout

Truckers, sales to, 445

Tuna (Thunnus thynnus), migrations, tem-
perature, 30, 86; angling for, 253-54, 277

Turtles, types of, 219-20. See Diamond-back
terrapin

Tuthill, Charles, invention, oil from fish, 88

Tyrrell County. See Counties, coastal, N. C.

Unfamiliarity of public with fish, economic ef-
fects of, 340

Unions in fishing industry, 323

United States, fish production, (charts) 375,
377, 379; Appendix tables Nos. 38, 39, 53-56;
percentage of world (chart), 369

U. S. Bureau of Agricultural Economics, 345

U. S. Bureau of Census, fishery canvas, 373

U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, temperature chart,
34; salinity, 38; striped bass, 120; 290

U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 382, 383

U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, tidal prism,
10; tides, 12, (table); Gulf Stream, 14; tidal
currents, 15; water temperatures, 23; sa-
linity, 38; wreck charts, N. C, 256; area of
fishing bottom, 365

U. S. Coast Pilot, 11; Supplement to, ice in
rivers, 36; effect of winds, 59

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, fog, Year Book, 60;
per capita food consumption, 329; Year
Book, 335, 345

U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, salinity charts,
37, 38, 39; statistics, 87, 290-91; calendar of,
historical, 371, (table) 372

U. S. Fish Commission, observations on men-
haden, 104; statistics, 290; legislation, 307

U. S. Fisheries Laboratory, Beaufort, v; tem-
peratures, 33; (chart) 34; diamond-back
terrapin culture, 224-29

U. S. Navy Hydrographic Office, 23, 38

U. S. Public Health Service, oyster regulations,

151
U. S. Weather Bureau, wind roses, (chart) 61
University of North Carolina, v; Institute of

Fisheries Research, 71

Van Sant Company, agar, 236-37

Virginia, gray trout in, 125; spot in, 128;
croaker in, 129; oyster shucking plants in,
157; scallops in, 170; sea mussels in, 183;
crab fishery in, 212; diamond-back terrapin
in, 221; shipments to New York City,
(tables) 438, 439, 440, 442 ; as market for
N. C. fish, 446

Virginia mullet (Menticirrhus), 131; angling
for, 273-74. See King whiting

Vitamins, in oysters, 152 ; ribbed mussels,
source of, 182; in seaweeds, 246; in national
dietary, 331, S33; in fish oils, 86, 357-58, in
fish meal, 359

Wages index, hourly (1913-1940), (table) 344;
industrial, and income of fishermen com-
pared, 328, 395, factory ships, 362-63

Wahab, R. S., hard clam, history, 166

Wahoo {Acanthocybium solandri), angling for,
278

Wallace, D. H., croaker, spawning, 130

Wallace, George, Wallace Fisheries, menhaden,
96

Washington, N. C, 11

Washington County. See Counties, coastal,
N. C.

Waves, 52 ff.

Weakfish (Cynoscion regalis), angling for, 276.
See Sea trout

Weather, 59, ff.

Webb,-N., leased oyster bottoms, N. C, 153

Webb, Warren W., 292, Appendix table No. 66

Wedgeport, Nova Scotia, International Cup
Matches, 253-54

INDEX

555

Weights, shipping, excess of, effect on cost of
distribution, 343-44

Wells, Daniel, early menhaden factory, 88

Wells, Bailey and Henderson, Chesapeake
drainage area, 65

Welsh, William W., quoted on menhaden, 97

Welsh and Breder, gray trout, 126; spot, 129;
croaker, 130

Westman and Bidwell, menhaden, spawning of,
98; young of, in Hudson River, 100

Weymouth, Lindner and Anderson, shrimp,
classification of, 193-94; kinds of, percent-
age, 196; temperature effects, 196; salinity
effects, 198; food of, 200

Whale, 86; world production, 364

White, John, ("Lost Colony"), blue crab men-
tioned, 205

Whitefish, economic behavior of, 409, 412, 423

White marlin {Makaira albida), migrations,
temperatures, 30; angling for, 273

White mullet. See Silverside mullet

White Oak River, 6

White perch {M or one americana), 133

Wholesale distributors, N. C, 452, ff.

Wilmington, as fishing ground, 261

Wind, currents, 16-19, 21; effect of, 44-49, 59,
ff. ; roses, Cape Hatteras, (chart) 61

Winslow, Francis, 6, 10, 12; salinity, Pamlico
Sound, 38; winds, currents, etc., (quota-
tion), 49; nature of bottom, 58; oyster,
survey in N. C, 142; beds of, at Ocracoke,
143; culture, on leased bottom, 153, 155-56,
157; areas of sounds, 155

Winslow, Rex S., vi, ix

Winter trawl fishery, 30-32, 70

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 23;
salinity tabulations, 39

Woosley, John B., v

World production, sea and land, 301, 363; by
principal countries and regions (chart) 369;
portion supplied by herring family, (table)
370

Worth, S. G., striped bass, size, 120; number
of eggs, 121

Yeast, protein production, cost, compared with
fish, 303-04

iiiliil
iiillii