Flounder, Paralichthys Dentatus, Off Southern New England
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752 NOAA Technical Report NMFS SSRF-752 Movements of Tagged Summer Flounder, Paralichthys dentatus, off Southern New England F. E. Lux and F. E. N ichy December 1981 u.s. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service NOAA TECHNICAL PO National Marine Fisheries Service, Special Scientific Report-Jo1 ..iUlftlM both frckral and s. ..c T1wy lie Il1O JVaJlahle In hange for be alncd fromt DIll wr Branch. Env\ronmenlal fe 7:2. (,ulf menhaden. Brr"/JI"',, palronu • I'u dCll\lt .. and Ige .lnd Il ",mpo It In. Icholson 1a"h' Q" • \I r . I fl 12 "~4. Emma' d average dall I - rClal f. hcrmen and boater cnt coastal at n. 19" j B ·Igs .. II tables. '::~ Sea onal boltom-.. ater temperature rend n the <..u <Jeorge, Bank. 1963- ~~ B) Uarence \\ Dol I 'Igs .. Stables .f.. The Gulf of MaJOe temperature tructurc bet een Bar H rb r 1aone lrd Yarmouth. ova Scotia. June 19'~- o'ember 19'6 B R ber' J P ... 1- .. ,k\. December 19" . III .. 10 1'.. 4 figs. I table tabln 'r Expendable bath)1hermograph bser atlon from the hip of Oppoflunit) Program for 19'5 73 En lronmcntal budJna 1ft lona bland Sound lins. and ChnstlRe S. Clfty. B Framr. and F DruJcr OI!ambcr 1m. I app. f,ss. 728. "ertlcal sectIOn. of emlmonthl, mean temperature n the San Fr n , ")9 Botlom water tcmpcnaurr trends 1ft the MIddIr AlIanlic .... Honolulu coute' From expendable bath'1hermograph obscnall n. June spnna and aUlumn. 1964-76 By C1armcr W 0._ December 1972. • I966-December 19':'4 liy J. F T. Saur. l. E. Eber. D R ~ Lain. and t E I' . 10 figs • 9 tabln Dorman. January 19"1. Iii .. 35 p .• 4 figs .• I table 740 food of firtern nonhwnt l!antIC pdirorm 729 ReferenCe<> for the Idenllficallon of manne on'<rtebrat n the outhern lanlton and Ra, E Bowman February I • I' AtlantIC coast of the Lnitcd States. By RIChard E. Do .. ds. pfll 1979. IV • 17 p. 741. OlSlnbullon of pmmaridcan mphlpoda (CruscKft) In the Middle lanll Bllhl region By John J Die Inson. Roland l WiaIc'Y. Richard D 730. Surface cin;ulatlOn In the northwestern Gulf of MexICO a deduced Irom deur. and usan Brown-Leger. o.:tobcr 1910. VI 46 P • 26 rIP•• 52 drift bottles. By Robert F Temple and John A. Marton. May 1979. III .. 11 p .• 8 figs .• 4 tables. 742. Watfl' tructurr al <>can Wralher Scallon • north ntnn PacirIC 1966-7\. By D. M_ Husby and G R Seckd October 1910. II fip. ... 731. Annotated bibliography and subject index on the hortno e turgeon . .4el penser breV/fOSlrum. By James G. Hoff. April 1979. III + 16 p. 743. Averale den ity index for walleye pollock. n.na.ra elNlkor __•• 732. Assessment of the North .. est Atlantic mackerel. Seomher ,eombrus. Berinl Sea. By Loh-Ler Low and Ikuo Ikeda ovcmbrr 1910. w + II stock. By Emory D. Anderson. Apnl 1979. iv + 13 p .• 9 figs .. 15 tables. figs .• 9 tablr<;. NOAA Technical Report NMFS SSRF- 752 Movements of Tagged Summer Flounder, Paralichthys dentatus, off Southern New England F. E. Lux and F. E. N ichy December 1981 u.s. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Malcolm Baldrige, Secretary National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration John V. Byrne, Administrator National Marine Fisheries Service The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) does not approve, rec ommend or endorse any proprietary product or proprietary material mentioned in this publication. No reference shall be made to NMFS, or to this publication furnished by NMFS, in any advertising or sales pro motion which would indicate or imply that NslFS approves, recommends or endorses any proprietary product or proprietary material mentioned herein, or which has as its purpose an intent to cause directly or indirectly the advertised product to be used or purchased because of this N~FS publication. CONTENTS Introduction . ............ .... .... .. .... ..... ........................... Tagging procedure ... .... ..... ... .......... ... .......................... Results ... ........ ...... .. ... .. ............ .......................... Offshore tagging, April 1961 ...... ....... .. ...... ....................... 3 Inshore tagging, September 1962 ... ................. ......................... Discussion ...... .. .. .... ... ....... .. ...... .... .......................................... Literature cited .... .. .. ..... ........ .. .................................................... 15 Figures 1. Map of the Middle Atlantic Bight showing locations where summer flo under were tagged and released in J961 and 1962. 2 2. Length-frequency distributions of summer fl ounder tagged in April 1961 on offshore grounds and of tho. e subsequently recaptured. 3 3. Tagged summer flounder release positions for April 1961 releases and recapture locations in April-J une 1961 4 4. Tagged summer flounder release positions for A pril 1961 releases and 1961 recapture positions In July- September and October-December . .. ......... ... 5 5. Tagged summer flounder release positions for April 1961 releases and 1962 recapture locations in Januar)- March and April-June .......................... .................................. .......... 6 6. Length-frequency distributions, at tagging, of m ale and female summer flounder recaptures from fish tagged in 1961 on offshore grounds and in 1962 on inshore grounds. 7 7. Length-frequency distributions of summer flounder tagged in September 1962 in Block Island Sound and of those subsequently recaptured . .. ............................................................. 8. Length-frequency distributions of summer fl ounder tagged in September 1962 in Nantucket Sound and of those subsequently recaptured . .....- . H 9. Tagged summer flounder release positions for September 1962 releases and 1962 recapture locations in September and October-December . .. .. 9 10. Tagged summer flounder release positions for Septem ber 1962 releases and 1963 recapture locations in January-March and April-June . .. .. ...... .. 10 11. Tagged summer flounder release positions for September 1962 releases and 1963 recapture location in Jul}- September and October-December. .. .. II 12. Tagged summer flounder release positions for Septem ber 1962 releases and 1964 recapture locations in January-March and April-June . .. ........ 12 13. Tagged summer flounder release positi,ms for September 1962 releases and 1964 recapture locations In Jul)- September and Octobe~-Decemb e r . ... .. .. U Tables I. Recoveries of tagged summer flounder from 1961 offshore releases by ~eason and fisherman I} pe, April 1961-0ctober 1963 .... ........................................................... 7 2. Recoveries of tagged summer flounder from 1962 inshore releases by sea on and fisherman type, eplember 1962-JanuaryI968.. ............ ................................................... .... 14 3. Numbers of tag recaptures north and south of lat. 39°N in January-March 1963 and 1964 from 1962 in~hore releases, and mean lengths and length ranges, in centimeters, at time of tagging .......... IS III Movements of Tagged Summer Flounder, Paralichthys dentatus, off Southern New England F. E. LUX and F. E. NICHY' ABSTRACT A total of 2,839 summer flounder were tagged on outer continental shelf and coastal grounds off southern New England in 1961-62. Tag recaptures showed the migration to offshore grounds in fall and winter and to inshore areas in spring and summer. Recaptures from coastal grounds were recorded from northern New Jerse) to south of Cape Cod; those from outer shelf grounds were from Baltimore Canyon on the southwest to Veatch Canyon on the north east. The overall tag return rate was 21.2"70 ; however, the returns from inshore tagging (44.5"70) were much higher than those from offshore releases (8.4 "70) , suggesting that tagging mortality was higher offshore. INTRODUCTION mm mesh cod ends, also showed a scarcity of summer flounder < 28 cm long. 2 Adults of summer flounder, Paralichthys dentatus, are found Marking studies off New York and New Jersey have shown in Atlantic coastal waters from Maine to Florida (Bigelow and the seasonal pattern of movement of this species: In the fall Schroeder 1953; Wilk et al. 1980). They are most abundant in from coastal areas to the outer continental shelf winter grounds, the Middle Atlantic Bight, the coastal concavity between Cape and in the spring returning to the coast (Westman and Neville 3 Cod and Cape Hatteras, where they are fished intensively (Fig. 1946; Poole 1962; Murawski 1970 ). These studies also indicated 1). From late spring to fall summer flounder are sought by that with the passage of time the tagged fish tended to be caught recreational and commercial fishermen in coastal areas; from farther to the north within the bight. December to April they are fished by otter trawlers along the To learn more about the seasonal and long-term movements outer continental shelf edge. Vessels from New Jersey to of summer flounder off southern New England, we tagged 2,839 Virginia fish this species in the southern part of the bight; those of these fish on both coastal and offshore grounds in 1961-62. from New York and New England fish the arpas from Long The results of this study are repo_ted here. Island to south of Cape Cod. The reported commercial catch of summer flounder in 1979 TAGGING PROCEDURE was 13,932 t, of which 3,220 t were taken within 3 mi (5.5 km) from shore and 10,712 t were from waters beyond 3 mi but The summer flounder for tagging were caught with otter within the 200-rni (370 km) conservation zone (Pileggi and trawls. For the offshore tagging we used the Bureau of Com Thompson 1980) . The recreational catch for 1979, which