Industrial Fisheries

Abstract

These fisheries are particularly interesting for two reasons. They have supported the major fisheries in the United States in terms of total weight landed at one time or another, and they are used almost entirely to make fish meal and oil. The Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) reached peak landings of nearly 800,000 tons in 1936, maintained an average annual catch of more than 500,000 tons until 1944, then fell off sharply, and commercial sardine fishing now is prohibited in California waters. At its peak in 1936 it accounted for about 30 percent of all United States fishery landings. The Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) reached peak landings of nearly 800,000 tons in 1956, maintained an average annual catch of more than 500,000 tons until 1962, and then fell off sharply, reaching a low of less than 240,000 tons in 1967. At its peak in 1956 it accounted for over 29 percent of all United States fishery landings. The Gulf of Mexico menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) reached peak landings of over 900,000 tons in 1978, and has maintained landings of over 500,000 tons, except for one year, since 1969. At its maximum in 1982, it accounted for more than 43 percent of total United States landings. Another industrial fishery, which developed fairly recently, was for Pacific northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax), which reached peak landings of over 160,000 tons in 1975, and at that time accounted for about 6.8 percent of all United States fishery landings.