46 



Fishery Bulletin 91(1), 1993 



springtime spawning periods. Tautog in peak spawn- 

 ing condition were collected on both inshore and off- 

 shore sites throughout the spring-summer period 

 (late April-early August). Additionally, it was not 

 unusual to observe large fish (>25cm) at inshore 

 sites during winter, especially in deeper areas. In 

 more northern areas, other researchers (Olla & 

 Samet 1977, Eklund & Targett 1990) have also noted 

 that some adult tautog in the population remain off- 

 shore throughout the year. 



Tautog are rapidly gaining popularity as a prized 

 food and sport fish with recreational anglers and 

 spearfishermen in Virginia waters (Bain 1984, 

 Arrington 1985). Recreational angling for this species 

 in Virginia has received increased interest since the 

 recent capture of a world record tautog (24 lb, 10.89 kg) 

 by an angler fishing off the eastern shore of Virginia 

 (IGFA 1990). This increasing popularity has also been 

 reflected in the number of awards issued annually to 

 recreational fishermen by the Virginia Salt Water Fish- 

 ing Tournament for outstanding catches [tautog weigh- 

 ing 4.1kg (9 lbs) or more]. Awards for outstanding 

 catches of tautog increased from mean values of 122/ 

 yr for the period 1976-80 to 282/yr for 1981-86 (C. 

 Bain, Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament, VMRC, 

 Virginia Beach VA 23451, pers. commun. ). Most re- 

 cently, however, citations for outstanding catches have 

 decreased to 106/yr (range 91-130/yr) for 1987-91. 

 Commercial catches from 1922 (Hildebrand & 

 Schroeder 1928) to the present (E. Barth, Deputy Chief, 

 Fish. Manage. Div., VMRC, Newport News VA 23607, 

 pers. commun. 3 Jan. 1991) show little annual varia- 

 tion in weight of reported catches in landings for this 

 species. Reported commercial landings of tautog in Vir- 

 ginia from 1973 to 1988, for example, ranged from 234 

 to 3586 lb/yr (x = 1840 lb/yr). However, these landings 

 are insignificant compared with unreported catches by 

 commercial and recreational rod-and-reel fishermen. 

 According to statistics compiled by the Marine Recre- 

 ational Fishery Statistics Survey conducted by the Na- 

 tional Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), estimated rec- 

 reational catches of tautog in the mid-Atlantic Bight 

 from 1979 to 1989 ranged from 70,000 (1982) to 815,000 

 (1984) fish/yr (x=383,200 fish/yr). In 1985, landings of 

 tautog taken by recreational anglers in Virginia alone 

 were estimated to be 743,600 lb, representing 3.6% of 

 the total estimated poundage for fishes taken by recre- 

 ational fishermen in Virginia (VMRC 1985). 



Aspects of the tautog's biology, including its associa- 

 tion with hardbottom areas (Bigelow & Schroeder 1953, 

 Cooper 1967, Olla et al. 1974, 1977, 1979), which are 

 limited and generally discontinuous in Virginia, and 

 its relatively slow growth (Cooper 1967), render this 

 species susceptible to overexploitation (Briggs 1977). 

 This situation is further exacerbated by recent techno- 



logical advances in LORAN and recording depth finders 

 used by fishermen that have simplified locating even 

 the smallest, isolated substrates. Populations of slow- 

 growing fish species concentrated in reef areas can be 

 severely depleted by fishing pressure exerted by recre- 

 ational interests (Briggs 1977, Turner et al. 1983, 

 Manooch & Mason 1984, Matheson and Huntsman 

 1984, Moore & Labisky 1984, Harris & Grossman 

 1985). Based on informal surveys of charterboat cap- 

 tains, recent declines in citation awards for large fish, 

 and personal field experiences, the catch-per-unit- 

 effort of tautog has already decreased in Virginia, and 

 the relative abundance of tautog (especially larger-sized 

 individuals) has been detrimentally affected in the more 

 popular fishing areas. 



In coastal waters of Rhode Island and New York, 

 Cooper (1966), Olla et al. (1974), and Briggs (1977) 

 noted a seasonal inshore-offshore spawning migration 

 in tautog with no significant north-south component. 

 None of these studies reported the recovery of fish 

 from areas outside the general area in which they were 

 tagged, indicating that little, if any, mixing of adult 

 tautog takes place between fish inhabiting even rela- 

 tively proximate areas (Rhode Island and New York 

 waters). 



This study was undertaken to estimate age struc- 

 ture of the population, growth, longevity, and seasonal 

 patterns of reproduction for tautog occurring in lower 

 Chesapeake Bay and nearby coastal waters of Virginia. 

 Growth parameters estimated for tautog collected in 

 Rhode Island 25+ years ago may not be applicable for 

 the population! s) occurring in more southerly waters. 

 Also, in coastal waters of Rhode Island and Virginia 

 where tautog occur, environmental parameters (pri- 

 marily seasonal temperature regimes) and habitat 

 availability are different, and these factors may influ- 

 ence growth rates in different populations or segments 

 of the same population. Occurrences of large speci- 

 mens, such as the current (IGFA 1990) and previous 

 (IGFA 1986) world-record tautogs in coastal waters of 

 Virginia, may also indicate that fish in the lower Mid- 

 Atlantic Bight comprise a separate population, with 

 growth characteristics different from their northern 

 counterparts. 



Materials and methods 



Tautog were collected opportunistically from March 

 1979 to July 1986 by spearfishing, rod-and-reel, com- 

 mercial fish pots, and as bycatch in trawl tows from 

 other research studies. During the course of the study, 

 fish were taken at 19 different locations, at depths of 

 2-35 m and representing a wide variety of ecological 

 conditions characteristic of tautog habitat within 



