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Effects of Fishing on the Atlantic Menhaden Stock: 1955–1969
Author(s) -
Schaaf W. E.,
Huntsman G. R.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1972)101<290:eofota>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - fishing , fishery , catch per unit effort , stock (firearms) , population , tonne , geography , environmental science , biology , demography , archaeology , sociology
To determine the effect of purse‐seine fishing on the Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) population, we analyzed data from 1955–69 on fishing activity and catches. Changes in fishing efficiency necessitated establishment of an abstract effort unit, the 1965 vessel‐week. Catch per unit of effective effort in 1965 was one‐fifth that of 1955. Our instantaneous natural mortality rate (M) estimate was 0.37. At the current recruitment age, 1.5 years, reducing F, instantaneous fishing mortality, to about 0.8 would slightly decrease the yield per recruit, but would increase the spawning stock and ultimately allow annual catches of 400,000–500,000 metric tons, the maximum sustained yield.