FISHERY STATISTICS A UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE OF THE U^ PUBLICATION UNITED STATES 1970 ''ft,, o» • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service ^^^S^mtt.. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Frederick B. Dent, Secretary NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION Robert M. White, Administrator s^^" NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE ^1)6 MT 0\ '^° Robert W. Schoning, Director Woods Hole OoeRnonrgohfc fnstftution STATISTICAL DIGEST 64 . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The data in this edition of "Fishery Statistics of the United States" were collected in co- operation with the various States and tabulated by the staff of the Statistics and Market News Di- vision under the direction of HoytA. Wheeland. The material was prepared for publication by Thelma I. Bell and Susan Flint. Field surveys were supervised by the various regional and area offices. Program leaders in charge of field surveys were: Francis Riley for the New England, Middle Atlan- tic, Chesapeake, Great Lakes, and northern Mississippi River States; George Snow for the South Atlantic, Gulf, and southern Mississippi River States; James R. Bybee, California; Victor J. Samson, Washington an,d Oregon; Henry Jimmie, Alaska; and Robert Iverson, Hawaii. The cooperation of the many contributors is gratefully acknowledged. Contributors are given credit for their information in the section of the report in which the data appear. PREFACE This report contains a review of the fishery statistics for the year 1970. These statistics include data on the volume and value of landings of fishery products, employment in the fisheries, quantity of gear operated, number of fishing craft employed in the capture of fishery products, in- formation on the volume and value of the production of processed fishery products, data on freez- ings and cold storage holdings , and on foreign trade in fishery commodities Data on employment of fishermen, fishing craft and gear in the fisheries, and on the land- ings of fish, shellfish, and other aquatic plants and animals, are shown for States having commer- cial fisheries. There is also information on the pack of canned tuna and industrial products for Puerto Rico and American Samoa included in the processed products tables. In Section 11, Puerto Rico landings data are also shown. In all of the landings tables in this report, except the one on page 42 entitled, "U.S. Land- ings, 1970-Live Weight Basis," the volume of fish, crustaceans, and such moUusks as squid is shown in round (live) weight. However, the weights shown for univalve and bivalve mollusks (cohchs, clams, oysters, scallops, etc.) represent the weights of meats, excluding the shell. The weight of shells omitted from the catch in 1970 amounted to about 1.2 billion pounds . It should be noted, however, that the data in the table on page 43 "World Landings of Fish, Crustaceans, Mollusks, etc. , by Countries" are shown on a live weight basis. All appropriate records collected by the various State fishery agencies were used in assem- bling data on the fisheries. In certain areas, information complete enough to be used by the sta- tistical agents was available from State agencies, and in these States, only partial surveys were conducted. Information on the means of collecting the data and an explanation of terms used may be found in Section 13 of this publication. Complete statistical surveys covering the fisheries of the United States were conducted in all areas for 1970. The first complete survey of the fisheries of the United States was made by the Bureau of the Census for 1908. Others were made by the Bureau of Fisheries and the Fish and Wild- life Service for the years 1931, 1950, 1954-60, and 1962-69. FISHERY STATISTICS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1970 Statistics and Market News Division CONTENTS Page SECTION 1. - GENERAL REVIEW 4 U.S. summaries H U.S. landings off foreign coasts 33 U.S. landings for human and industrial use 34 Relative volume of the landings, by species 39 Relative value of the landings, by species 40 Seed oyster fishery 41 U.S. landings, live weight basis 42 World landings of fish, crustaceans, mollusks, etc., by countries 43 Processed fishery products 44 Canned fishery products 57 Industrial fishery products 69 Packaged fishery products 74 Fish sticks and portions 77 Frozen fishery trade 78 Foreign fishery trade 87 SECTION 2. - NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 94 Sectional summaries ,. 99 Maine HO New Hampshire 113 Massachusetts 115 Rhode Island 121 Connecticut 125 SECTION 3. - MIDDLE ATLANTIC FISHERIES 128 Sectional summaries 132 New York 140 New Jersey 144 Delaware 148 Supplementary survey - Hudson River shad fishery 150 SECTION 4. - CHESAPEAKE FISHERIES 151 Sectional summaries 155 Maryland 161 Virginia 165 Landings by waters 171 Supplementary survey - Potomac River shad and alewife fishery 174 SECTION 5. - SOUTH ATLANTIC FISHERIES 175 Sectional summaries 179 North Carolina 188 South Carolina 193 Georgia 195 Florida, east coast 197 Supplementary surveys: Florida, operating units by districts 202 Florida, landings by districts 203 South Atlantic shrimp fishery 205 SECTION 6. - GULF FISHERIES 207 Sectional summaries 211 Florida, west coast 221 Alabama 226 Mississippi 228 Louisiana 231 Texas 235 Supplementary survey - Gulf shrimp fishery 237 CONTENTS - Continued Page SECTION 7. - PACIFIC COAST FISHERIES 244 Sectional summaries 251 Alaska 263 Washington 270 Oregon 280 California 285 Supplementary surveys: Landings of halibut fleet at Seattle, Washington 300 Whaling 301 Fur seal industry of the Pribilof Islands 302 SECTION 8. - GREAT LAKES FISHERIES 304 United States and Canadian landings 306 Sectional summaries 309 Operating units and fishing effort, by gear 322 Landings of catch by lake. State, and gear 328 SECTION 9. - MISSISSIPPI RIVER FISHERIES 337 Sectional summaries 338 Operating units and landings by States and waters 351 Supplementary survey - Great Lakes and Mississippi River landings by State and species 378 SECTION 10. - HAWAII FISHERIES 380 Sectional summaries 382 Operating units by island and gear 385 Landings by islands 387 Landings by gear 390 SECTION 11. - PUERTO RICO FISHERIES 395 SECTION 12. - REVIEW OF CERTAIN MAJOR FISHERIES 397 U.S. cod fishery 398 Atlantic coast haddock fishery 400 Pacific coast halibut fishery 401 Atlantic ocean perch fishery 402 Pacific coast salmon fishery , 403 Atlantic coast tuna fishery 413 Pacific tuna fishery 414 Landings of tuna by U.S. flag vessels, by ocean of capture and species, 1960-70 . 417 U.S. menhaden fishery 418 U.S. clam fishery 422 U.S. crab fishery 426 U.S. oyster fishery 434 U.S. shrimp fishery 440 U.S. fish otter trawl fleet 445 SECTION 13. - STATISTICAL SURVEY PROCEDURE 450 Local and special surveys 455 Practices and terms 457 Conversion factors 458 SECTION 14. - GLOSSARY 462 SECTION 15. - PICTORIAL SECTION 469 SECTION 16. - STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS 487 SECTION 1 - GENERAL REVIEW The commercial fisheries of the United States yielded a harvest of 4.9 billion pounds worth a record $613.1 million —an increase of 580.4 million pounds (13 percent) and $86.6 million (16 percent) compared with 1969. Landings were the best since 1962, the record year. There were record landings of Gulf menhaden, shrimp, yellowfin tuna. Pacific anchovies, surf clams, Dun- geness and snow crabs, American (northern) and spiny lobsters; and near-record landings of alba- core tuna. Landings of Atlantic menhaden, salmon, spot, and blue crabs also increased signifi- cantly compared with 1969. Declines occurred, however in landings of alewives , haddock, sea herring, jack mackerel, mullet, and sea scallops. Fishermen took 898. 3 million pounds of shellfish worth$286.1 million, anaverage of near- ly 32 cents per pound — slightly less than in 1969 . Shellfish accounted for 47 percent of the value, but only 18 percent of the volume of U.S. landings. The value of shellfish exceeded the value of finfish in the New England, Middle Atlantic, Chesapeake, South Atlantic, and Gulf States. Disposition of landings . In 1970, as in the previous year, landings for human food (2.5 billion pounds) exceeded the quantity taken for industrial products (2.4 billion pounds). NMFS statisti- cians estimate that the 1970 landings were used as follows: 2,537 million pounds (round weight) for human food--of which 1,479 million were used fresh and frozen, 987 million were canned, and 71 million were cured; and 2,380 million pounds for industrial purposes —of which 115 million were used fresh or frozen, 163 million were canned, and 2,101 million were reduced into meal, oil, and solubles. In addition to the latter items, the quantity processed into industrial products includes fish used for bait, fed to fur-bearing animals and pets, and manufactured into such items as shell buttons, and pearl essence and novelties. Per capita consumption . The per capita consumption of commercially caught fish and shellfish in the United States was 11.8 pounds (edible weight) --compared with 11.2 in 1969. Per capita consumption of commercially caught fish and shellfish, 1961-70 (Edible weight) Year Pounds Year Pounds 1961 10.7 1966 10.9 1962 10.6 1967 10.6 1963 10.7 1968 11.0 1964 10.5 1969 11.2 1965 10.9 1970 11.8 Note:--Data have been revised for 1963, 1966, 1967, and 1969. — Principal States . Louisiana again led the Nation in volume of landings with 1. 1 billion pounds 23 percent of the U.S. landings. California was next with702.7 million pounds, followed by Vir- ginia, 550.6 million; Alaska, 545.3 million; Mississippi, 301.0 million; and Massachusetts, 286.9 million pounds. These six States had 71 percent of the U.S. landings. Alaska led all States in exvessel value of landings with $96.1 million--16 percent of the value of the Nation's landings. California was next with $86.4 million, followed by Louisiana, $62.5 million; Texas, $53.6 million; Massachusetts, $47.0 million; and Florida, $43.3 million.