FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 81. NO 4 



about 409 t (Huntsman 1976b). If the opportunity for 

 catching large fish were removed, anglers might pre- 

 fer to patronize smaller and less expensive boats that 

 fish inshore where large catches of smaller fish can 

 also be made. 



Relating fishing mortality to fishing effort is dif- 

 ficult because we lack a long series of concurrent 

 effort and mortality estimates. Catch curves for red 

 porgy, vermilion snapper, and white grunt suggest 

 that if M is indeed low, F through 1974 was about 0.3 

 to 0.4 and was mostly attributable to headboats. 

 Headboat activity for North Carolina and South Car- 

 olina was reported as 48,989 angler days in 1972, 

 59,515 in 1973, and 85,608 in 1974 (Huntsman 

 1976a). Because we know effort was underestimated, 

 we used the 1975 data to determine the percentage of 

 vessels omitted in earlier years. Our adjusted 

 estimates for 1972, 1973, and 1974 were 71,902, 

 85,561, and 88,513 angler days, respectively. The 3- 

 yr mean was 81,922, corresponding to about 2,350 

 headboat trips (using the 1974 average of 34.87 

 anglers/ trip). We suggest than anF of aboutO. 35 was 

 generated by this effort. 



Because F on the headboat grounds was quite likely 

 0.3 to 0.4 in the period 1972-74, the annual catch 

 (450 to 600 t exclusive of black sea bass) for that 

 period should be an estimate of MSY. This catch 

 could be taken with about 2,350 headboat trips (1 d), 

 1,679 handline vessel days (1.0 handline vessel day — 

 1.4 headboat day), 522 dof trawling (the range is 452 

 to 618 d depending on the coversion factor selected), 

 or with some combination of these vessel efforts. 

 Additionally, a headboat fishery at the 1972-74 level 

 should take about 273 t of black sea bass, if the trap 

 fishery remained at the 1972-74 level. 



It should not be surprising that near-maximum 

 yields could be taken by a small and apparently inef- 

 ficient fishery. Historically, reef fish stocks have been 

 vulnerable even to primitive fisheries. Munro et aL 

 (1971) described Jamaica's reef fish stock as overex- 

 ploited. Brownell and Rainey (1971) reported that 

 inshore reef fishes in the U.S. Virgin Islands were 

 heavily fished, even though handlines and primitive 

 traps fished from unpowered vessels were the only 

 gear. The hook-and-line red snapper fishery in the 

 northern Gulf of Mexico has been sustained by con- 

 stant expansion of the fishing grounds rather than 

 by continued good catches on existing grounds 

 (Crowley 1983). 



Continued laissez-faire management of the snap- 

 per-grouper fishery may result in a disproportionate 

 allocation of the catch. If the trawl and handline sec- 

 tors reduce the abundance of large species to such a 

 level that an acceptable CPUE of trophy fish cannot 



be experienced by headboat fishermen, the headboat 

 fishery might be weakened. During hundreds of 

 hours spent mingling with the public while sampling 

 headboat catches, we have observed that large (> 10 

 kg) snappers and groupers are very important in pro- 

 moting headboat ticket sales. Many headboat 

 operators use mounted specimens of large fish to 

 attract customers. Headboat fishing is arduous and 

 expensive ($40-$50/d in 1982) and large catches of 

 small fish can usually be made easily and cheaply 

 from piers and small boats in the Carolinas. 



In this paper we have employed yield per recruit 

 models to suggest guidelines for managing the South 

 Atlantic Bight reef fishery. We believe that we have 

 shown that large and intensive fisheries probably are 

 not needed to fully harvest reef fish in the South 

 Atlantic Bight and that the Carolina headboat fishing 

 grounds are probably fully exploited. A low intensity 

 fishery should take most of the yield available, pro- 

 duce large, high value fish, and allow a sufficient num- 

 ber of fish to live to ages of maturity and sexual 

 transition to allow sustained high yields. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Anonymous. 



1971. Small fish sighted on artificial reef near Adelaide. Aust. 

 Fish. 30 (2):12-13. 

 Beyerton, R. J. H., and S. J. Holt. 



1957. On the dynamics of exploited fish populations. Fish. 

 Invest. Minist. Agric. Fish. Food (G.B.) Ser. II, 19, 533 

 P- 

 1959. A review of the lifespans and mortality rates of fish in 

 nature, and their relation to growth and other physiologi- 

 cal characteristics. In G. E. Wolstenholme and M. O'Con- 

 nor (editors). The lifespan of animals, p. 142-180. Little 

 and Brown, Boston. 

 Breiwick, J. M., E. D. Mitchell, and D. G. Chapman. 



1980. Estimated initial population size of the Bering Sea 

 stock of bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus: an iterative 

 method. Fish. Bull, U.S. 78:843-853. 

 Brownell, W. N., and W. E. Rainey. 



1971. Research and development of deepwater commercial 

 and sport fisheries around the Virgin Islands plateau. 

 Caribb. Res. Inst. V.L EcoL Res. Stn., Contrib. 3, 88 p. 

 Chittenden, M. E., Jr. 



1977. Simulations of the effects of fishing on the Atlantic 

 croaker, Micropogon undulatus. Proc. Gulf Caribb. Fish. 

 Inst 29:68-86. 

 Crowley, M. 



1983. Management plan still in limbo as red snapper landings 

 drop. Natl Fisherman 63(2):10-11. 

 Cupka, D. M., R. K. Dias, and J. TUCKER 



1973. Biology of the black sea bass, Centroprixti.s striata (Pis- 

 ces: Serranidae) from South Carolina waters. Comple- 

 tion report, Commercial Fisheries Research and 

 Development Act PL 88-309, Project No. 2-138-R, South 

 Carolina, [91] p. 

 Ehrlich, P. L. 



1975. The population biology of coral reef fishes. Annu. Rev. 



694 



