Document Type
Report
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Publication Date
1990
Abstract
Observational data on abundance of Atlantic croaker, Micropogonias undulatus, and boxes of specimens from which to obtain biological data for life history/population dynamics wor~ were collected at weekly or fortnightly intervals from Chesapeake Bay commercial :fisheries, primarily pound nets, in 1988 and 1989. A special collection of 24 boxes of one commercial grade was purchased from one fishery in 1989 to evaluate box-to-box variation in total lengths and sex ratios, and how it affects interpretation of routinely collected data. Length composition data from 25 years of York River trawling were used to compare length frequencies in trawl and pound net catches. Size compositions were markedly different in pound net and trawl catches.
Sizes were much smaller in trawl catches (generally _s 200 mm TL; maximum some 290 mm in some 24,000 fish measured from 1956-1980), than in pound net food grade catches (generally~ 210 mm; maximum 400 mm in only some 700 and 800 specimens measured in 1988 and 1989, respectively). A large fraction of the pound net catch, some 10-25%, exceeded 300 mm, a size not even captured in York River trawling. (...)
Keywords
Atlantic croaker -- Chesapeake Bay (Md. and Va.)
Recommended Citation
Chitteneden, M. E., Barbieri, L. R., Jones, C., & et al. (1990) Initial information on the Atlantic croaker : a final report on "Development of age determination methods, life history - population dynamics information, and evaluation of growth overfishing potential for important recreational fishes. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/reports/2687
