Fishery Bulletin articles from July 2003

Fishery Bulletin archives from July 2003

Reproduction in the protogynous black grouper (Mycteroperca bonaci (poey)) from the southern Gulf of Mexico.
July 1, 2003... Abstract--An analysis was made of sexual pattern, spawning season, sizes at sexual maturation, and sex change in black grouper (Mycteroperca bonaci) from the southern Gulf of Mexico. Samples were taken between 1996 and 2000, from industrial and...

The effect of timing of tagging on streamer-tag recapture rates for American lobster (Homarus americanus).
July 1, 2003... Abstract--Streamer tags are commonly used to study the ecology and population biology of the American lobster (Homarus americanus). Aquarium observations suggest that streamer tag loss, either through tag-induced mortality or tag shedding, is...

Estimation of bycatch in shrimp trawl fisheries: a comparison of estimation methods using field data and simulated data.
July 1, 2003... Abstract--Bycatch, or the incidental catch of nontarget organisms during fishing operations, is a major issue in U.S. shrimp trawl fisheries. Because bycatch is typically discarded at sea, total bycatch is usually estimated by extrapolating...

Applications in adaptive cluster sampling of Gulf of Alaska rockfish.
July 1, 2003... Abstract--Adaptive cluster sampling (ACS) has been the subject of many publications about sampling aggregated populations. Choosing the criterion value that invokes ACS remains problematic. We address this problem using data from a June 1999...

Migration patterns of young Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) determined with archival tags.
July 1, 2003... Abstract--We investigated the migration and behavior of young Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) using archival tags that measure environmental variables, record them in memory, and estimate daily geographical locations using measured...

Swimming depth, ambient water temperature preference, and feeding frequency of young Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) determined with archival tags.
July 1, 2003... Abstract--We investigated the migration and behavior of young Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) using archival tags. The archival tag measures environmental variables, records them in its memory, and estimates daily geographical...

Demersal groundfish densities in trawlable and untrawlable habitats off Washington: implications for the estimation of habitat bias in trawl surveys.
July 1, 2003... Abstract--Demersal groundfish densities were estimated by conducting a visual strip-transect survey via manned submersible on the continental shelf off Cape Flattery, Washington. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the statistical...

Diving behavior of immature Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus).
July 1, 2003... Abstract--Understanding the ontogenetic relationship between juvenile Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) and their foraging habitat is key to understanding their relationship to available prey and ultimately their survival. We summarize...

Spawning cycles and habitats for ballyhoo (Hemiramphus brasiliensis) and balao (H. balao) in south Florida.
July 1, 2003... Abstract--Two halfbeak species, ballyhoo (Hemiramphus brasiliensis) and balao (H. balao), are harvested as bait in south Florida waters, and recent changes in fishing effort and regulations prompted this investigation of the overlap of halfbeak...

Diets of thornback ray (Raja clavata) and tope shark (Galeorhinus galeus) in the bottom longline fishery of the Azores, northeastern Atlantic.
July 1, 2003... Abstract--Tope shark (Galeorhinusgaleus) and thornback ray (Raja clavata) are the two most captured elasmobranch species by the Azorean bottom longline fishery. In order to better understand the trophic dynamics of these species in the Azores,...

Abundance of cetaceans in the southern U.S. North Atlantic Ocean during summer 1998.
July 1, 2003... Abstract--The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act requires that the abundance of marine mammals in U.S. waters be assessed. Because this requirement had not been met for a large portion of the North Atlantic Ocean (U.S. waters south of Maryland),...

Modeling red sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) growth using six growth functions *.
July 1, 2003... Abstract--The growth of red sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) was modeled by using tag-recapture data from northern California. Red sea urchins (n=211) ranging in test diameter from 7 to 131 mm were examined for changes in size over...

Age and growth of the blue shark (Prionace glauca) in the North Atlantic Ocean *.
July 1, 2003... Abstract--Age and growth estimate for the blue shark (Prionace glauca) were derived from 411 vertebral centra and 43 tag-recaptured blue sharks collected in the North Atlantic, ranging in length from 49 to 312 em fork length (FL). The vertebrae...

Genetic analysis of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) off Oregon and Washington reveals few Columbia River wild fish *.
July 1, 2003... Abstract--Little is known about the ocean distributions of wild juvenile coho salmon off the Oregon-Washington coast. In this study we report tag recoveries and genetic mixed-stock estimates of juvenile fish caught in coastal waters near the...

The statistical properties of recreational catch rate data for some fish stocks off the northeast U.S. coast.
July 1, 2003... Abstract--Recreational fisheries in the waters off the northeast U.S. target a variety of pelagic and demersal fish species, and catch and effort data sampled from recreational fisheries are a critical component of the information used in...

Scales of spatial variation in demography of a large coral-reef fish--an exception to the typical model?
July 1, 2003... Abstract--Spatial variation in demographic parameters of the red throat emperor (Lethrinus miniatus) was examined among 12 coral reefs in three geographic regions (Townsville, Mackay, and Storm Cay) spanning over 3[degrees] of latitude of the...

The occurrence of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) at Espiritu Santo Seamount in the Gulf of California.
July 1, 2003... Pelagic fishes are not evenly dispersed in the oceans, but aggregate at distinct locations in this vast and open environment. Nomadic species such as mackerels, tunas, and sharks form assemblages at seamounts (Klimley and Butler, 1988;...

Larvae of Dactylopsaron dimorphicum (Perciformes: Percophidae) from oceanic islands in the southeast Pacific.
July 1, 2003... Percophids are a family of small marine benthic fishes common over soft bottoms from inshore to the outer slopes in tropical to temperate regions of the Atlantic and in the Indo-West and southeast Pacific (Reader and Neira, 1998; Okiyama,...

Assessment of sampling methods to estimate horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus L.) egg density in Delaware Bay.
July 1, 2003... Each spring horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus L.) emerge from Delaware Bay to spawn and deposit their eggs on the foreshore of sandy beaches (Shuster and Botton, 1985; Smith et al., 2002a). From mid-May to early June, migratory shorebirds...

Larval abundance, distribution, and spawning habits of spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) in Florida Bay, Everglades National Park, Florida.
July 1, 2003... The spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) is one of the most sought after recreational fish in Florida Bay, and it spends its entire life history within the bay (Rutherford et al., 1989b). The biology of adult spotted seatrout in Florida Bay...

Effect of analytical conditions in wavelength dispersive electron microprobe analysis on the measurement of strontium-to-calcium (Sr/Ca) ratios in otoliths of anadromous salmonids.
July 1, 2003... The use of strontium-to-calcium (Sr/Ca) ratios in otoliths is becoming a standard method to describe life history type and the chronology of migrations between freshwater and seawater habitats in teleosts (e.g. Kalish, 1990; Radtke et al.,...