Biology and Fishery for Atlantic Thread Herring, Opisthonema oglinum, along the North Carolina Coast
JOSEPH W. SMITH
Introduction the Gulf menhaden, Brevoortia pa in coastal waters from North Carolina tronus, reduction fishery, centered off to northern Florida to depths of about 9 Thread herrings, Opisthonema spp., the coasts of Mississippi and Louisiana m, while they concentrate off Georgia are small, nearshore, pelagic clupeid (Smith, 1991), catch minor quantities and north Florida during spring, fall, fishes that form dense, surface schools of 0. oglinum during the summer while and winter (Wenner and Sedberry, in tropical to subtropical coastal waters. searching for Gulf menhaden (Reintjes, 1989). Although small amounts of At Ecologically, thread herrings form an 1980). Studies in the Gulf report that lantic thread herring are harvested off important forage base for many large, Atlantic thread herring prefer "bluer" the east coast of Florida for bait predatory fishes (Finucane and Vaught, water, higher salinities, and higher wa (USDOC, 1984; Smillie, 1994), at 1986). Commercially, thread herrings ter temperatures than menhaden (Finu present, commercial landings of Atlan are targeted by artisanal to moderate cane and Vaught, 1986). Additionally, tic thread herring for reduction to fish sized seine fisheries off the coasts of schools of Atlantic thread herring are meal and fish oil are restricted to coastal Ecuador and Peru (Patterson and exceptionally fast and agile (Butler, waters between Cape Hatteras and Cape Santos, 1992), Costa Rica (Stevenson 1961) and are more difficult to catch in Fear, N.C., during late summer and fall and Carranza, 1981), Venezuela, the purse seines than menhaden (Kinnear (personalobserv.). continental margins of the Caribbean, and Fuss, 1971). Pristas and Cheek (1973) recognized the Gulf of Mexico, and near the islands On the U.S. east coast, Atlantic thread the significance of these autumnal of Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Ja herring range from Florida to Cape Cod maica, and Trinidad (Reintjes, 1978). schools as a supplement to the extant (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953; Robins Atlantic menhaden, B. tyrannus, reduc Most of the catch is reduced to fish meal et aI., 1986), although they are "not tion fishery (Smith, 1991), and devised and fish oil (Patterson and Santos, numerous" north of North Carolina a tagging study to determine the distri 1992), although minor quantities are (Hildebrand, 1963). During summer used for human consumption (Reintjes, bution and movement of O. oglinum off along the southeastern U.S. Atlantic 1978). the U.S. southeastern Atlantic coast. coast, they are distributed ubiquitously Along the northern Gulf of Mexico Internal ferromagnetic tags were in- and southeastern Atlantic coasts of the United States, the Atlantic thread her ring, O. oglinum (Fig. 1), is mainly har vested with purse seines. Directed fish eries for Atlantic thread herring (and other coastal herrings) in the northern Gulf of Mexico are concentrated along the northwestern coast of Florida where most of the catch is sold as bait or pro cessed into pet food (Finucane and Vaught, 1986). Purse seine vessels of
Joseph W. Smith is with the Beaufort Labora tory, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, 101 Plvers Island Road, Beaufort, NC 28516-9722. Figure I. - Atlantic thread herring, Opisthonema oglinum.
56(4), /994 jected into nearly 1,600 Atlantic thread herring off the North Carolina coast. Tag recoveries (from magnets at menhaden reduction facilities in North Carolina and Florida) indicated that schools of O. oglinum migrate south along the southeastern U.S. Atlantic coast during fall at up to 11 kIn per day. The Atlantic thread herring resource, especially the stock in the eastern Gulf of Mexico (Houde, 1976), has been ex tolled as a latent resource and an alter native to menhaden for a reduction fish ery (Bullis and Carpenter, 1968). Pristas and Cheek (1973) estimated that the population size off the southeastern U.S. Atlantic coast could vary between 22,000 and 92,000 metric tons (t). Ob jectives of this study were to I) describe the purse seine reduction fishery for * Locatlone 01 pur,a 181n8 lela lor Cape Faar Atlantic thread herring in North Caro Allantic thread herring durlng lall 1993 lina and 2) determine the size, age com position, and reproductive condition of Figure 2. - Study area: Raleigh and Onslow bays, N.C. Stars indicate sites of purse seine the catch. sets for Atlantic thread herring, O. oglinum, during fall 1993; set locations exaggerated off shore for illustrative clarity. Biology of the Atlantic Thread Herring histological techniques (Humason, each in June (n=50) and July (n=50). Sampling 1972) to confirm gonad staging in the Specimens ranged from 125 to 200 mm Atlantic thread herring were col field. In 1988 juvenile Atlantic thread and from 30 to 140 g. Length-length and lected from purse seine catches un herring were collected with a cast net length-weight relationships are shown loaded for reduction at Beaufort, N.C. from the Newport River estuary, about in Table 1. Mean size of Atlantic thread (Fig. 2), between 1985 and 1990. Sam 4 kIn from Beaufort Inlet (Fig. 2); these herring in the samples increased across pling routines for menhaden (Smith et fish were processed similar to the purse months sampled: 146 rom and 50 g in aI., 1987) were followed with minor seine samples. June, 154 rom and 62 g in July, 166 rom adjustments. Briefly, a port agent ac and 85 g in September, and 172 rom and Seasonality and quired a bucket of fish from a purse 93 g in October. Specimens taken by cast Age/Size Composition seine vessel at dockside. Fish on top of nets near the laboratory from June through the hold were assumed to be from the Twenty-one biological samples were September ranged from 62 to 118 rom ( x last purse seine set of the day. Date and collected from purse seine sets that di = 77 rom) and 3 to 27 g (x =7 g). Juve location of the set were determ.ined from rectly targeted schools ofAtlantic thread nile Atlantic thread herring disappeared a crew member. herring. A total of 12 samples were ac from this estuarine site by October. At the laboratory, up to 50 Atlantic quired in September (n=473 fish), 7 Atlantic thread herring scales were thread herring were randomly chosen samples in October (n=175), and one projected on a macroprojector and were from the bucket. Each fish was mea sured for total (TL), fork (FL), and stan dard (SL) length and weighed to the Table 1.-Length-weight and length-length relationships (natural logs and lunctional regressions, Ricker, 1973) nearest gram; subsequent text refer lor Atlantic thread herring Irom North Carolina. Wis weight in grams; FL, TL, and SL are lork, total, and standard lengths, respectively, in millimeters; I is immature fish; MSE is mean squared error. ences to length are fork lengths. From Size range the first 25 fish measured, a patch of Functional equation Sex No. MSE (mm FL) scales (from the midline below the dor log W ; -13.2 + 3.4 log FL ,; 179 0.93 0.0056 125-190 sal fin) and the sagittal otoliths were log W ; -13.1 + 3.4 log FL ~ 297 0.94 0.0047 136-200 removed and stored in labelled enve log W ; -12.6 + 3.4 log FL ,;+~+I 879 0.99 0.0068 62-200 TL ; -0.5 + 1.2 FL ,; 179 0.98 125-190 lopes; each fish was sexed and macro TL ; -3.9 + 1.2 FL ~ 297 0.98 136-200 scopically staged for maturity follow TL ; 4.0 + 1.2 FL ,;+~+I 879 0.99 62-200 SL ; 0.1 + 0.9 FL ,; 179 0.97 125-190 ing Waltz et al. (1979). A few gonadal SL ; -3.1 + 1.0 FL ~ 297 0.97 136-200 samples were prepared using standard SL ; -4.5 + 1.0 FL ,;+~+I 879 0.97 62-200
2 Marine Fisheries Review scrutinized for annular rings using cri 1988). I counted translucent zones in the 3 (Fig. 4). Nearly all fish taken by cast teria developed for Atlantic menhaden posterior field of the sagitta as presumed net (91 of 92 fish, 98.9%) were young (June and Roithmayr, 1960). Whole annuli. Sagittae were "read" twice. of-year (age 0), except one specimen that sagittal otoliths were embedded in Where discrepancies in the two read was age I. Paired age estimates, that is, black, opaque well plates (Pentilla et aI., ings occurred, the specimens were otolith and scale ages, were only avail 1988) with a microscopy fixative and eliminated from further age analyses. able for 46 specimens; 80.4% or 37 of 46 viewed under a dissecting macroscope Mean fork length of Atlantic thread otolith:scale pairings were in agreement. with reflected light at 16x magnifica herring increased with increasing age Reproduction tion (Fig. 3). Sagittae of Atlantic thread estimates (Table 2); the oldest Atlantic herring were nearly identical to sagittae thread herring was estimated at age 8. Paired determinations of sex using of Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus, Modal age for the purse seine samples was macroscopic and histologic observa with narrow translucent zones adjacent age I (33.2%), followed by age 2 (30.4%) tions agreed for 34 of 35 comparisons. wide opaque zones (Fig. 3), as docu and age 3 (22.0%); 85.4% of the fish aged The sex ratio of pooled purse seine mented in the latter species (Dery, from purse seine samples were ages 1 to samples was skewed toward females (0 :
56(4). /994 3 Table 2.-Mean size at estimated age for Atlantic thread herring from North Carolina. Values from the literature shore and in depths to 18 m between shown for comparison. Cape Lookout and Cape Fear, N.C. Present Study' From 1983 to 1993 most sets on Atlan Houde et al. Fuss et al. tic thread herring by vessels from Beau Est. FL(mm) Weight (g) (1983)' (1969)2 age fort occurred between 2 September and (yr) Mean Range Mean No. mean FL (mm) mean FL (mm) 14 October. Two noteworthy sets oc 03 76 64-98 7 91 curred near Cape Hatteras, one in July l' 155 135-183 64 93 108.2 146 2 172 154-190 91 85 152.4 149 1986 and the other in June 1990. 3 178 163-196 102 63 171.0 148 Several aircraft spotter pilots and cap 4 180 168-193 109 25 179.5 5 183 171-190 114 8 186.8 tains of purse seine vessels from North 6 180 171-185 114 7 202.7 Carolina related that schools of Atlan 7 186 108 1 8 175 101 1 tic thread herring were rarely encoun , Aged using sagittal otoliths. tered during summer in the state's 2 Aged using scales. coastal waters (personal observ.). Oc 3 Specimens collected by cast net. casionally, schools were sighted in the 4 Specimens age 1-8 collected from purse seines. ocean along Virginia's Eastern Shore and in the vicinity of Cape Henry, Vir ginia, in late August. In general, large, fishable schools of Atlantic thread her AgeO (n = 91) Age 1 (n = 95) ring arrived in nearshore waters adja 50 --- Age2 (n = 87) cent to Cape Lookout, N.C. (Fig. 2), in 45 early September. Purse seine vessels ---- Age 3 (n = 63) 40 ./ \ from Beaufort harvested Atlantic thread Age 4 (n = 25) 35 / herring during September, as the \ Age 5+ (n = 17) .c schools moved south and west along the (f) f'.. -= 30 I coast toward Cape Fear, N.C. During 0 \ Q; 25 I / \ most years, the purse seiners stopped .0 \ E pursuing the fish once they moved south ::J 20 I Z \ / of Cape Fear, which was usually by 15 I early to mid-October. \ 10 / During September and October, I \ catches of Atlantic thread herring I \.. / supplement landings at the fish reduc tion plant in Beaufort at a time when 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 the abundance of Atlantic menhaden in Fork length (em) the vicinity has waned, and prior to the fall migration (mid to late October) of Atlantic menhaden from areas farther Figure 4. - Fork length frequency distributions of Atlantic thread herring by age from cast north (Smith et aI., 1987). During fall, nets (age 0 fish) and purse seines (age 1-5+ fish). the visceral cavity of Atlantic thread herring is heavily lined with fat depos its. Accordingly, yields of fish oil from purse seine sets by location and distance weight of individual Atlantic thread her Atlantic thread herring in the fall are from shore, and provide an at-sea esti ring in 1993 port samples was used to exceptional, averaging 9-10 U.S. gal mate of the quantity of each purse seine estimate numbers of fish caught per set. lons of fish oil per 670 pounds of fish catch. I examined CDFR's from two CDFR data documented 48 success (the menhaden industry's unit of mea North Carolina vessels that logged data ful purse seine sets on Atlantic thread sure; Smith, 1991), while yields of 15 for sets on Atlantic thread herring dur herring schools by two North Carolina 16 gallons are common. By compari ing September and October 1993. I as vessels between 28 September-14 Oc son, fish oil yields from Atlantic men sumed that each purse seine set was tober 1993. Sets were distributed from haden during late summer in the U.S. made on only one school of Atlantic Core Banks near Cape Lookout to southeastern Atlantic average less than thread herring. Although captains are Wrightsville Beach near Cape Fear and 2-3 U.S. gallons per 670 pounds of fish adept at judging the quantity of fish in from 0.4 to 2.4 kID from shore (Fig. 2). (personal observ.). each catch, individual at-sea catch esti Individual catch estimates ranged from Menhaden vessel captains keep daily mates were adjusted slightly and con 5.8 to 204.2 t, and the mean catch was purse seining activity logs (Captain's verted to metric tons based on daily 55.9 t. Mean weight of individual At Daily Fishing Reports, or CDFR's; amounts offloaded at the fish plant lantic thread herring in 1993 port Smith, 1991) that tabulate individual (from company records). The mean samples was 85 g; thus, a school of av-
4 Marine Fisheries Review Owing to the brief time when Atlan 12 tic thread herring were available in purse seine catches, I was unable to properly validate sagittae as ageing 10 structures for Atlantic thread herring. Ci Nevertheless, Houde et al. (1983) -'" 0 8 judged the "alternating hyaline and 0 0 opaque zones" on sagittae of O. 0 oglinum 0 from the west coast of Florida to be o. 6 ::::. annual marks, while Arce and Sanchez lJ) Ol c (1991) used otoliths to age O. oglinum 15 c 4 CO from Yucatan, Mexico. -' Similar to the results of Houde et al. 2 (1983), I found that the mean size of O. oglinum increased with estimated age, and that age 1 was the modal age group in the samples. Estimates of mean size at age 1 and 2 (155 and 172 mm, re Year spectively) for fish from North Caro lina were considerably larger than for Figure 5. - Purse seine landings of Atlantic thread herring for reduction in North Carolina, specimens from the Gulf of Mexico 1965-94. (108.2 mm at age I and 152.4 mm at age 2; Houde et aI., 1983), although re sults of both studies were in closer erage size was estimated to contain tagging studies (Pristas and Cheek, 1973) agreement for age 3 (Table 2). Using 657,650 fish, while extreme sets dur and coastal trawl surveys (Wenner and scales, Fuss et al. (1969) tentatively es ing 1993 were estimated to contain Sedberry, 1989) suggest O. oglinum timated that age 1 fish along the west 68,250 to 2,402,350 fish. overwinter off northern Florida. coast of Florida averaged 146 mm FL, Commercially exploitable schools of which is in close agreement with this Discussion Atlantic thread herring are apparently study. Atlantic thread herring are mod An autumnal migration of adult At not available in coastal waters «3 miles erately long-lived, and I estimated the lantic thread herring along the south from shore) north of Cape Hatteras. Pre age of two fish at ages 7 and 8. Houde eastern U.S Atlantic coast begins in the sumably, the menhaden purse seine fleet et al. (1983) aged fish up to age 6, and nearshore ocean waters of Raleigh and from Virginia, with up to 20 vessels Arce and Sanchez (1991) reported fish Onslow bays in the vicinity of Cape collectively making 7,000-9,000 sets of age 8 in their samples. Lookout, N.C. Purse seine vessels from per year in coastal waters of the Mid Based on the gonads of adult fish, Beaufort, N.c., opportunistically har Atlantic states (unpubl. data), would Hildebrand (1963) determined that At vest Atlantic thread herring for reduc have occasional encounters with lantic thread herring spawned off North tion from September to mid-October in schools of Atlantic thread herring. In Carolina in May and June, whereas, the vicinity of Cape Lookout to Cape stead, catches ofAtlantic thread herring spawning in the eastern Gulf of Mexico Fear. On average, migrating schools by Virginia vessels are rare, especially was protracted from April through Sep consisted of about 56 t of fish each, and in Chesapeake Bay (personal observ.), tember (Houde, 1977). I collected re ranged up to 204 t. Proximate analyses except as by-catch (Austin et aI., 1994). cently spent female O. oglinum from a have shown that the protein content of Relative to ageing Atlantic thread purse seine set near Cape Hatteras in Atlantic thread herring (20.65%; Hale, herring, agreement was good for paired early June; this tends to confirm spawn 1984) is slightly higher than Atlantic age estimates using scale:otolith pairs, ing in spring off North Carolina. Later menhaden (14.50-17.02%; Dubrow et but the sample size was small. Scales in the year, the gonads of adults col aI., 1976), and fish oil yields from At of Atlantic thread herring are highly lected in autumn were resting, which lantic thread herring in the fall are ex deciduous. After the catch was pumped suggests that the fall migration south ceptional. Together both factors contrib from the purse seine into the hold of the along the southeastern U.S. Atlantic ute substantially to fish factory produc carrying vessel, key scales from the coast is for the purpose of overwinter tion at a time when local abundance of midline below the dorsal fin on sampled ing (Pristas and Cheek, 1973; Wenner Atlantic menhaden has temporarily fish were difficult to find. Specimens and Sedberry, 1989). waned. By mid-October, schools of O. were often naked or contaminated with Otolith analyses indicated that O. oglinum migrated south of Cape Fear, scales from other fish. Sagittal otoliths oglinum taken by cast nets in the vicin N.C., and were unavailable to the purse are, therefore, a more reliable tool for ity of Beaufort during summer were al seine vessels from Beaufort. Results of ageing Atlantic thread herring. most exclusively young-of-the-year;
56(4),1994 5 opment, rather than traditional uses such Dubrow, D., M. Hale, and A. Bimbo. 1976. Sea average size was 76 mm. From "a few sonal variation in chemical composition and measurements" in the Beaufort area, as boat yards and fish houses (Houla protein quality of menhaden. Mar. Fish. Rev. Hildebrand (1963) surmised that Atlan han, 1987). In this developmental cli 38(9):12-16. Finucane, J. H., and R. N. Vaught. 1986. Species tic thread herring attained a length of mate, it would be exceptionally diffi profile of Atlantic thread herring, Opistho 35-60 mm at age 1 and 90-120 mm by cult to site a fish reduction plant in the nema oglinum (Lesueur 1818). U.S. Dep. the end of their second summer. Wenner coastal Carolinas, Georgia, or north Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-SEFC 182,30 p. and Sedberry (1989) probably portrayed Florida. Moreover, South Carolina pro Fuss, C. M., J. A. Kelly, and K. W. Prest. 1969. a more accurate description of the hibits purse seining within its state ter Gulf thread herring: Aspects of the develop growth of O. oglinum through age I, ritorial sea. Thus, further exploitation ing fishery and biological research. Proc. Gulf Caribb. Fish. Inst. 21: 111-125. based on modal distributions of fish of Atlantic thread herring along the Hale, M. B. 1984. Proximate chemical composi collected during a quarterly trawl sur southeastern U.S. Atlantic coast, be tion and fatty acids of three small coastal pe lagic species. Mar. Fish. Rev. 46(1): 19-21. vey in coastal waters (to 9.1 m deep) yond the reduction fishery in Beaufort Hildebrand, S. F. 1963. Family Clupeidae. In from Cape Fear to Cape Canaveral. during September and October, would H. B. Bigelow (Editor), Fishes of the western They suspected that fish 4-6 cm FL dur presumably and necessarily be seasonal, North Atlantic. Pt. Three, p. 257-454. Mem. Sears Found. Mar. Res. Yale Univ. 1. ing summer were young-of-year; this and in the form of modest operations for Houde, E. D. 1976. Abundance and potential for group grew to a modal size of 8 cm FL bait whose catch could be utilized in crab fisheries development of some sardine-like by fall and winter. During the follow and crayfish trap fisheries, or as bait and fishes in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Proc. Gulf Caribb. Fish. Inst. 28:73-82. ing spring age-l fish ranged from 9 to chum for hook-and-line fisheries. _----;:---,--_. 1977. Abundance and potential yield 13 cm FL and age-2 fish ranged from of the Atlantic thread herring, Opisthonema Acknowledgments 13 to 16 cm FL. oglinum, and aspects of its early life history in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Fish. Bull. As Atlantic thread herring migrate The author wishes to thank Neil 75(3):493-512. south along the southeastern U.S. At McNeil and Pat Raves for their assis _-=:-_,.-' C. Grall, and S. A. Berkeley. 1983. lantic coast in fall, they represent an tance in acquiring port samples. Dean Population parameter estimates for three shoaling pelagic fishes in the eastern Gulf of abundant forage species for several Ahrenholz, James Waters, and Douglas Mexico. Int. Counc. Explor. Sea, Pelagic Fish coastal pelagic fishes. DeVane (1978) Vaughan provided critical reviews of Committ., C.M. I9831H:43, lip. found Atlantic thread herring in 28% of initial drafts. William Roumillat gra Houlahan, J. M. 1987. Urban waterfronts: Does every use have a place? In O. T. Magoon, H. the king mackerel, Scomberomorus cav ciously processed histological samples. Converse, D. Milner, L. T. Tobin, D. Clark, alia, stomachs that he sampled in Jule Wheatly and Captains Bobby Mar and G. Domurat (Editors), Coastal Zone '87, Onslow Bay, N.C. Studies along other Proceedings of the fifth symposium on coastal tin and Elwood Willis of Beaufort Fish and ocean management, p. 3987-3996. Am. areas of the U.S. coast have identified O. eries, Inc., generously shared their Soc. Civil Engr., N.Y. oglinum in the diets of bluefish, Poma knowledge of the fishery for Atlantic Humason, G. L. 1972. Animal tissue techniques. tomus saltatrix (Wilk, 1977; Naughton thread herring. Freeman Publ. Co., San Franc. 641 p. June, F. c., and C. M. Roithmayr. 1960. Deter and Saloman, 1984); crevalle jack, mining age of Atlantic menhaden from their Caranx hippos (Saloman and Naughton, Literature Cited scales. Fish. Bull. 60:323-342. 1984); and Spanish mackerel, S. macu Kinnear, B. S., and C. M. Fuss, Jr. 1971. Thread Arce, M., and J. Sanchez. 1991. Growth and herring distribution off Florida's West Coast...... latus (Klima, 1959). When juvenile mortality of the thread herring. (Opisthonema Commer. Fish. Rev. 33(7-8):27-39. oglinum Le Sueur) from Celestun, Yucatan, Klima, E. F. 1959. Aspects of the biology and Atlantic thread herring leave estuarine Mexico (abstr.). Am. Fish. Soc. 121 st Meet., waters along the central North Carolina San Antonio, Tex., p. 56. the fishery for Spanish mackerel, Scom beromorus maculatus (Mitchill), of southern Austin, H., J. E. Kirkley, and J. Lucy. 1994. By coast in fall, bluefish and Spanish mack Florida. Fla. Board Conserv., Mar. Res. Lab. catch and the fishery for Atlantic menhaden, Tech. Ser. 27, 39 p. erel voraciously feed upon them in ocean Brevoortia tyrannus, in the Mid-Atlantic inlet areas (personal observ.). Bight: An assessment of the nature and ex Naughton, S. P., and C. H. Saloman. 1984. Food During the 1950's up to nine menha tent of by-catch. Va. Sea Grant Mar. Resour. of the bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) from the Advis. 53, 39 p. U.S. south Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. U.S. den reduction plants in the southeast Bigelow, H. B., and W. C. Schroeder. 1953. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS ern Atlantic states were located at Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Fish. Bull. 53: SEFC-150, 37 p. Morehead City, Beaufort, and South 1-577. Patterson, K. R., and M. Santos. 1992. The Bullis, H. R., and J. S. Carpenter. 1968. Latent thread-herrings, Opisthonema spp., off Ecua port, N.C.; Younges Island, S.C.; and fishery resources of the central west Atlantic dor: review and population dynamics. Fish. Fernandina Beach, Fla. (Vaughan and region. In The future of the fishing industry Res. 14:273-294. of the United States, p. 61-64. Univ. Wash. Pentilla, J., F. Nichy, J. Ropes, L. Dery, and A. Smith, 1988); most of these plants prob Publ. Fish., New Ser. 4. JearJd, Jr. 1988. Methods and equipment. In ably processed O. oglinum during the Butler, J. A. 1961. Development of a thread her J. Pentilla and L. M. Dery (Editors), Age de fall fishing season. Only the Beaufort ring fishery in the Gulf of Mexico. Commer. termination methods for Northwest Atlantic Fish. Rev. 23(9): 12-17. species, p. 7-16. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA plant remains today, although factories Dery, L. M. 1988. Atlantic herring Clupea Tech. Rep. NMFS 72. in Southport and Fernandina Beach sur harengus. In J. Pentilla and L. M. Dery (Edi Pristas, P. J., and R. P. Cheek. 1973. Atlantic vived until the mid- 1980's. Coastal U.S. tors), Age determination methods for North thread herring (Opisthonema oglinum) west Atlantic species, p.17-22. U.S. Dep. Movements and population size inferred from regions are experiencing unprecedented Commer., NOAA Tech. Rep. NMFS 72. tag returns. Fish. Bull. 71 :297-30 I. population growth and waterfront prop DeVane, J. C. 1978. Food of king mackerel, Reintjes, J. W. 1978. Pelagic clupeoid and car Scomberomorus cavalla, in Onslow Bay, angid resources for fishery development in the erties have become more valuable for North Carolina. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Proc. Gulf resort, marina, and condominium devel 107(4):583-586. Caribb. Fish. Inst. 31 :38-49.
6 Marine Fisheries Review ____ . 1980. Marine herring and sardine re Smillie, R. 1994. Fish or cut bait? Fla. Sports Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., Stat. Dig. 71,407 p. sources of the northern Gulf of Mexico. In man 26(2):40--46. Vaughan, D. S., and J. W. Smith. 1988. A stock M. Flandorfer and L. Skupien (Editors), Pro Smith, J. W. 1991. The Atlantic and Gulf men assessment of the Atlantic menhaden, Bre ceedings of a workshop for potential fishery haden purse seine fisheries: Origins, harvest voortia tyrannus, fishery. U.S. Dep. Commer., resources of the northern Gulf of Mexico, p. ing technologies, biostatistical monitoring, NOAA Tech. Rep. NMFS 63, 18 p. 4-17. Miss.-Ala. Sea Grant Consortium, Publ. recent trends in fisheries statistics, and fore Waltz, W., W. A. Roumillat, and P. K. Ashe. 1979. MASGP-80-0 12. casting. Mar. Fish. Rev. 53(4):28--41. Distribution, age structure, and sex composi Ricker, W. E. 1973. Linear regression in fishery _-::--::-_' W. R. Nicholson, D. S. Vaughan, D. L. tion of the black sea bass, Centropristis research. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 30:409 Dudley, and E. A. Hall. 1987. Atlantic men striata, sampled along the southeastern coast 434. haden, Brevoortia tyrannus, purse seine fish of the United States. S.c. Mar. Resour. Cent. ery, 1972-84, with a brief discussion of age Tech. Rep. 43, 18 p. Robins, C. R., G. C. Ray, J. Douglass, and E. and size composition of landings. U.S. Dep. Wenner, C. A., and G. R. Sedberry. 1989. Spe Freund. 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast Commer., NOAA Tech. Rep. NMFS 59, 23 p. cies composition, distribution, and relative fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Stevenson, D. K., and F. Carranza. 1981. Maxi abundance of fishes in the coastal habitat off Co., Boston, 354 p. mum yield estimates for the Pacific thread the southeastern United States. U.S. Dep. Saloman, C. H., and S. P. Naughton. 1984. Food herring, Opisthonema spp., fishery in Costa Commer., NOAA Tech. Rep. NMFS 79, 49 p. of the crevalle jack (Caranx hippos) from Rica. Fish. Bull. 79:689-703. Wilk, S. J. 1977. Biological and fisheries data Florida, Louisiana and Texas. U.S. Dep. US DOC. 1984. Fishery statistics of the United on bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus). Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-SEFC States 1977. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA, NOAAINMFS Tech. Ser. Rep. 1 ), 44 p. 134,34 p.
56(4), 1994 7