Reproductive Biology and Recreational Fishery for Spotted Seatrout, Cynoscion Nebulosus, in the Chesapeake Bay Area
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W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1981 Reproductive biology and recreational fishery for spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus, in the Chesapeake Bay area Nancy J. Brown College of William and Mary - Virginia Institute of Marine Science Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Fresh Water Studies Commons, Oceanography Commons, Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons, and the Zoology Commons Recommended Citation Brown, Nancy J., "Reproductive biology and recreational fishery for spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus, in the Chesapeake Bay area" (1981). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539617519. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25773/v5-0b6g-v375 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY AND RECREATIONAL FISHERY FOR SPOTTED SEATROUT, CYNOSCION NEBULOSUS, IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AREA A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the School of Marine Science The College of William and Mary In partial fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Nancy J. Brown 1981 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts f Nancy J. Browrk Approved, December 1981 r A ^ V i iV John y.\ Merriner, P'h. D., Chairman Cr~ X'/VV A l^L JpKh FL Mu sick, Ph. D. Herbert M. Austin, Ph. D. ") ,'"9 s ' i j / . ^ / Evon P. Ruzecki,Ph. D. David Engel, Ph. D. NMFS, Beaufort DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my parents, who introduced me to the Sea and encouraged my love for it. i i i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................... vi i LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................... xi GENERAL INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................... 2 SECTION I: AGE AND GROWTH......................................................................... 5 INTRODUCTION............................................................................ 6 MATERIALS AND METHODS ...................................................... 8 RESULTS...................................................................................... 10 DISCUSSION................................................................................. 25 SECTION II: REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY............................................................ 36 INTRODUCTION............................................................................ 37 MATERIALS AND METHODS ...................................................... 39 RESULTS...................................................................................... 41 DISCUSSION................................................................................. 56 SECTION III: RECREATIONAL FISHERY............................................................ 64 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 65 MATERIALS AND METHODS ...................................................... 68 RESULTS...................................................................................... 70 i v Table of Contents (Continued) Page DISCUSSION,............................................................................. 94 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS.................................................................................. 107 APPENDIX................................................................................................................. 110 LITERATURE CITED ................................................................................................. 114 VITA......................................................................................................................... 120 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. John Merriner for suggesting this research topic and for reviewing the manuscript. I would also like to thank Drs. Jack Musick, Herb Austin, John Ruzecki and Dave Engle for reviewing the manuscript and offering useful criticism. The following people at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science offered invaluable help and advice: Patrice Mason on histology work, Frank Wojcik, Brenda Norcross, Robert Harris, Hugh Brooks and Marion Hedgepeth for unending patience with my innumerable computer questions and problems, Dr. Gene Burreson on photomicroscopy, Ken Thornberry for everything connected with photography, Mary Ann Foell for help with drafting the figures, all the people in the SAV project for helping me collect data, Dick Cook for drawing the frontispiece, to the late Clarence Richards for his help with coding and analyzing citation data, and to my fellow graduate students and friends for providing the moral support necessary for getting through this project. A special thanks to Jess Hawkins and Sheryan Epperly of the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries for sharing their data with me. To all the speckled trout fishermen who took the time to fill out a fishing form or talk with me, the third section of this thesis is for you. An extra thanks to John, my family, and Dr. Jay Wright; this never would have been finished without you. This study was funded by a grant from the Sport Fishing Institute. vi LIST OF TABLES ige Mean back calculated total length for 247 Cynosoion nebulosus .................................................................. 16 Observed and calculated total lengths of 68 male and 92 female Cynosoion nebulosus.................................... 17 Comparison of mean empirical, back calculated and von Bertalannfy total length/age for all Cynosoion nebulosus .................................................................. 20 Comparison of mean empirical, back calculated and von Bertalannfy total length/age for male and female Cynosoion nebulosus ................................................... 23 Comparison of 1ength-weight relationships ofCynosoion nebulosus .................................................................. 26 Comparison of mean back calculated total lengths at age for several populations ofCynosoion nebulosus. 33 Mean GSI values for mature, ripe and running ripe male and female Cynosoion nebulosus by age group ....................... 52 Total number of citations for Cynosoion nebulosus from twenty catch locations and number of years citations issued, 1958-1980 ................................................................................. 73 Cynosoion nebulosus catch by year from the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament........................................................... 75 Number of citation size Cynosoion nebulosus by 25 mm length increments taken at 20 locations ................................ 76 Gear (brands) used for catching Cynosoion nebulosus in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament....................... 85 Out of state Cynosoion nebulosus anglers in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament .................................... 86 vii List of Tables (Continued) Table Page 13. Catch locations and seasons for Cynosoion nebulosus from the North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Tournament. 88 14. Home state of Cynosoion nebulosus anglers fishing in the North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Tournament .................. 88 v i i i LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Length-weight relationships ofCynosoion nebulosus........................ 11 2. Length-weight relationships of male and femaleCynosoion n e b u lo s u............................................................................ s 12 3. A. Scale from young-of-the-year Cynosoion nebulosus................... 13 B. Scale from age XV Cynosoion nebulosus......................................... 13 4. Length frequency histograms ofCynosoion nebulosus for age 0 through XV (sexes combined) with mean lengths and 95% confidence intervals........................................................................ 15 5. Walford line for Cynosoion nebulosus (sexes combined) age data with estimate of asymptotic le n g th.................................... 19 6. Empirical lengths at age, back calculated lengths at age and von Bertalanffy lengths at age forCynosoion nebulosus (sexes combined)............................................................................. 21 7. Walford lines for male and female Cynosoion nebulosus age data with estimates of asymptotic le n g th................................ s 22 8. Empirical lengths at age, back calculated lengths at age and von Bertalanffy lengths at age for male and female Cynosoion nebulosus -. ...................................................................... 24 9. Gonadosomatic indices for male and female Cynosoion nebulosus and water temperatures in the Ware River and Hungars Creek, by two week intervals, April through September................................................................................................................