THE ATLANTIC SURF CLAM FISHERY - 1970

J ol1n W. Rop s and Allan I. Ba l'k r

FISHL G RE

Cape 1\Iay-Wlldwood, T. J., Point Pl a ant,

.J., In at (

I LECT D ML' H s

N. J., andean City, l\Id., w r th major III

surf clam fishing areas in the hddl \tlantlc BIght in uno; Long Island, .. T. Y., and Vlrguua provided the remainder of the ca ch. Th New Jersey fishery continued to suppl most of the total landings, although th' 48.0 mtllion pounds landed were a small"!' p rcentag (72%) than in 1969 (Table). Landings at Cape 1\lay-Wildwood were almost triple th Se at Point Pleasant.

Sur! Clam Landings by r~

Area

Cape May-Wildwood, N. J.

Point Pleasant, N. J.

Ocean City, Md.

Long Island, N. Y.

Virginia

Total

'umber oi essels

19b~ 1)70

28 21

14

7 7

o -I

92 87

LandlDgs 1'.11 on 01 Lbs.

19t>. 1£<70

24. 34.

H.O 13.2

7.1 13.7

3.7 4.2

o 0.9

-19.6 b6.8

The areas fished by New Jersey boats in 1970 (Fig. 1) were similar to 1969 (Barker and Ropes, 1971) but more trips were made tothe southern areas. The Ocean City, Md., vessels worked mostly inshore and north of Ocean City Inlet, as in 1969. The Long Island, N. Y., landings were taken off Long Beach and Fire Island.

Th lint Pleasant fie t decrealje for h fourth con cutiv )ear rom ~8 v s eis 'n 19 9 to~1ll11 70. tlantlc it) boa \ere Included In the 1 70 otal because some op­erated from both pOI turing the year. Dl pths flSh:>d ran ed from 7 to 35 me er (24 to 115 feet), the average depth as ~4 meters (78 fe t). . lost 'essels landed daily but some 0\ rnight rips \\ere made to more distant grounds. Hours fi hed per boat -day ranged from 2 to 17 • lonthly averages are shown in Figure 3. The average for 1970 vas 9.2 hours, 0.3 hours less than in 1969.

The Cape :\Iay-\,i ildwood fleet decreased to 41--2 ,'essels fewer than 1969. Another large stern-dredger started operating in 1970, bnnging the total number of stern ­dredgers based at this port to 3. Depths fished ranged from 6 to 37 meters (20 to 120 feet), average depth was 15 meter s (49 feet ). Most vessels landed daily but s ome over ­night trips were made to the southern areas .

The authors are Fishery Biologists, NOAA, NMFS, Middle Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Center, Oxford, Md . 2 1654 .

36

MA RI~E FISH ERIES REVIE~ Reprint No . 9 47

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7

Monthly averages of hours fished per boat­day are shown in Figure 3. Effort rang d from 2 to 28 hours . The av rage for 1970 was7.1 hours,0 . lhourless than 1[69. v n ve sse ls landed clams at Lewes, D 1., in 1 70.

...... The s e landings were included in the ap May - Wildwood total because 5 of the vess 1 were based at Wildwood and all of the clams c a me from the areas fished by the Cape l\Iay­Wildwood fleet .

The Ocean City fleet stabilized at 1-1 ves­s e ls i n 1970 . Depths fished ranged from G to 37 meters (20 to 120 feet); average depth was 14 meters (45 feet). Most vessels mad'" daily tr ip s and worked during daylight hours. Monthly averages of hours fished per boat­day ranged from 4 .9 to 7.7 hours . Dally

~" effort ranged from 1 to 13 hours; the aver­a ge was 6 .1 hours (Fig. 4).

T he Virginia fleet consisted of 3 vess Is based at Chincoteague Island and 1 at Oyster.

LANDI G STATISTICS

Interviews by port samplers provided m­formation on fishing areas and effort in 1 ew Jersey and Maryland. Landings from other

.-1" areas within the Middle Atlantic Bight we r supplied by the NMFS Division of Statistics and Market ews.

".

Record landings of 66.8 million pounds of meats were 17 .2 million pounds (35 0) higher than in 1969 (Table). ~Iost of the IncreaSe was due to the greater amount (10.0 milllo.1 pounds) landed by the Cape i\lay-\\ ildwood fleet. New Jersey produced -18.0 mllhon pounds--9.2 million pounds (24%) more than in 1969. Maryland landings were up by 48 (to 13.7 million pounds) and Tew York land ings also increased (0.5 million pounds). Virginia landings totaled 0.9 million pounds in 1970. ew Jersey landmgs were 72 of the total; Maryland, 21%; and. Tew York, 6 . Contributions by the respective States 1

1969 were 7 8~o, 14%, and 80"!. L ss than l of the total catch was used for bait.

Fig. 1 . Area a nd inte nsity of surf clam fishery by the New Jersey and M a r yl a nd flee ts, 1970 (based on 3,579 in· te rviews) •

The percentage of the total. 'e\\o Jers landings contributed by the Cape 1ay- \ lld­wood fleet has increased signifIcant!,) recent years. Cape. Iay-\ lldwood proVlded 73% (34 .8 million pounds) in l!nO--up r 62% (24.8 million pounds) in 196 . Th P

3

r? I ~ 500 '-o Cl.

o 111400 -

\J C o III

:J o ~ 300 l-

V

I

~ 100-J: ~

Z o ~ 0 1,---,1_--,-1_--,-1 _--L-1 _-<1_ _1_ ~ 1

J F M A M J J A SON MON T HS

, 1

r----~---------... - ----.-.--- -__ .. ________________ __.

~ 1 1 « 0 I:Q 10

" ·0 C>w

9

~~ 8 .,' , 10&.. , ......... .,,' , ...... '" 7

, .. , a::

, ........ -.--. , J: .. -..

6

-L 12

POINT PLEASANT • • 11 CAPE MAY-WILDWOOD .. -4

~ :.. «

" w 10 I \ ~

I , I ~ .... -1 I \

9 I , I \ 10&.. I \ 0

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'" 8 , I 0

, I

Z 7 \................ I ~ 0 " ... -~ Q. 6

........ 10&..

0 5

'" c 4 w a:: 0 3 z ~ J: 2

1

J F M A M J J A MONTHS

L.-______ -=::::::::=====---.------Fig. 3 - Monthly averages of daily effort (upper) and catch per hour (lower) at Point Pleasant

and Cape May-Wildwood, N. J., 1970.

40

~ T - ----------~ 7 c

·W 6 C>~ >11') <t u:: 5

II') 4 0:: ~

17

16

15 II')

~14 <t w 13 :E U- 12 o II') 1 1 c ZlO :::l 0 9 0..

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6 w CI: 0 5 Z :::l 4 ::I:

3 -

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o ,--, __ l __ '---L-~' _____ L _

J F M A M J J MONTHS

__ L __

A L S

Fig . 4 - Monthly averages of daily effort (upper) and cat ch per hour (lower) a t Ocean City, Md., 1970.

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.0·""- -::: '" :::: ,., ~ .,

( . .." ("AllU

! ::

\

\

D 1 - 21 IOI~III / Hr ~ ]0 - 51 lulill / Hr _ 60 + ",~.I, / Hr

~ UVllt,t,l IIUS

~"

+ 1-

1-

Fig. 5 - Catch per hour within the area fished by the New Jersey and Mary land surf clam fleets in 1970 (based on 3, 579 inter­views).

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Pleasant fleet decreased more than Cape May-Wildwood (7 less at Point Pleasant and 2 less at Cape May-Wildwood). Although the fleet size decreased at both ports, landings increased at Cape May-Wildwood because of

. the operation of 3 large stern dredge vessels.

At Cape May-Wildwood, landings per boat­day ranged from 51 to 1,460 bushels (867 to 24,820 pounds of meats) and averaged 338 bushels (5,746 pounds). The average in 1969 was 289 bushels (4,913 pounds). Monthly landings varied seasonally, with the catch declining when the boats moved offshore in good weather. Catch per hour increased from 43 bushels (731 pounds) in 1969 to 48 bushels (816 pounds) in 1970. Figure 5 shows the catch per hour in the areas fished.

Seasonal Shift

The catch rate dropped sharply in May when the fleet moved offshore to fish for large (150 mm.) clams (Fig. 6). About two­thirds of all trips made in 1970 were to in­shore areas. The average catch rate for inshore and offshore clams was 57 bushels (969 pounds) and 25 bushels (425 pounds), respectively. Monthly average length re­flected the seasonal shift in effort from in­shore to offshore beds, but the change was less than in 1969 because the larger vessels fished the dense beds of small (120 mm.) in­shore clams throughout the year (Fig. 6). Lengths of clams landed ranged from 113 to 173 mm . (4.4 to 6.8 inches). The average length of inshore clams was 128 mm. (5.0 inches) ; offshore clams averaged 160 mm. (6.3 inches); and the average for all clams measured was 137 mm. (5.4 inches)--the same as 1969.

The Point Pleasant share of the New Jersey landings declined from 36 0/0 in 1969 to 27 0/0 in 1970. Most of the decrease was due to the higher landings at Cape May-Wild­wood, which were 40 0/0 larger than 1969. At Point Pleasant, the landings per day-trip ranged from 28 to 505 bushels (476 to 8,585 pounds of meats) and averaged 190 bushels (3 , 230pounds). The average in 1969 was 221 bushels (3,757 pounds). Catchper hour aver­aged 21 bushels (357 pounds) in 1970 and 23 bushels (391 pounds) in 1969 . Monthly catch rates and landings were relatively stable in 1970 (Figs. 3 and 6). Most of the variation was due tothe effects of bad weather. Lengths

42

160

E E

-150 ::I: ..... ~ Z w -' 140 w ~ <t CI: w 130 > <t

120

-III

" 2 .5 c ::I 0

Q. -0 2.0 III C 0

~ 1.5 -VI ~ Z o 1.0 Z ~ ....I

~ 0.5 ::I: .....

• ,'~~ A ,. ... 1 ~." \ .-.' \ , \ , ~-; ~ ',,' ~ . ~.

POINT PLEASANT ••

CAPE MAY-WILDWOOD .. -.

.-... --. . , \ r~ , \ I ,

.' \ I .. ,~, " , l

"'-.' " ~ I . \~

~ _O _J _ _ F __ ~ ___ ~ _ ~M-~:~t~-k -t-i,-~ N 0

Fig . 6 - Monthly mean l eng th of surf clams (upper) and landings (lower) in New Jersey , 1970.

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

160

E -E-1S0 :J: .... C) Z ~140 W

! C)

« CI:: w > 130 «

120

-III

." c ;:)

2.5 0 Il.. -0 III

2.0 c 0

~ en 1.5 i

C) Z

~ 1.0 « .... >-.... :J: .... .5

I Z o :E o '-..1-L-_-L_i_. ____ L ___ . __ L

J F M A M

__ 1 ___ .. L _____ 1.. __ . 1. _. __ ._1 __ J

J J A SON o

Fig _ 7 - Monthly mean lengths of surf clams (upper) and landings (lower) at Ocean City, Md., 1970.

43

of clams landed I'angl'd '\' 1Il 12b (5.0 to 6.7 in Ill's) ,nd (6.2 inch s) in lD70. '[ h 2 mm. (0.1 inch) gl', .tt"l t!JUIl av rag' 1 ng-ths \\'('1' raid until Decembvl' wh 'tl t~H fl to fish on a Iwd ) smull land, ,T.\. (hg. ).

Landinfs lnci a. a

'T

f'ish111g effort declm d were less hours fish d p I' rip b Jerseyvesselsancl3 \ erboats 111 th surf clam fleet. The southward ShIft 111 fort, which started in 1 "67, conhnu cl 111 1 7n.

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B R R, 1 71.

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