Catch‐and‐Release Fishing on a Spawning Aggregation of Common Snook: Does it Affect Reproductive Output?

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Abstract
Interactions between fishing and the reproductive biology of an exploited stock are broader than the parameters historically considered (e.g., spawning seasonality, spawning biomass, and size or age at maturity). However, few studies address these broader interactions. Here we characterize a spawning aggregation of common snook Centropomus undecimalis, evaluate the feasibility of acoustic telemetry for monitoring the movement of released fish out of the spawning aggregation, and determine whether the stress of capture and release affects reproductive output. A spawning aggregation of common snook was studied in Lake Worth Inlet, Florida, during summer 1998 and 1999. The aggregation was made up of large, mature fish that were actively spawning, as indicated by females with hydrated oocytes or postovulatory follicles and males with flowing milt. Individual courtship behaviors by a few fish were observed by divers, but no spawning events were observed. Acoustic telemetry indicated that the stress of...
Funding Information
  • U.S. Department of the Interior
  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

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