FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 71, NO. 3 



Table 13. — Calculated numbers of tags recovered and percentage distributions for 

 summer 1967 releases recovered in summer 1969. 



Total 



1,228 1,565 81 19 

 Distribution of recoveries by area of recovery (where tagged fish came from). 

 ___ — ________ Percent 



N.Y. and N.J. 

 Chesapeake Bay 

 N.C. 

 Fla. 



NY. and N.J. 

 Chesapeake Boy 

 N.C. 

 Fla. 



8.6 



81.9 



5.1 



4.4 



0.5 

 77.1 



8.6 

 13.8 



1.8 

 38.2 

 12.7 

 47.3 





 







100 



Distribution of recoveries by area of release (where tagged fish go) 

 — __ __ Percent 



92.2 

 44.8 

 30.2 

 16.4 



6.5 

 53.8 



64.7 

 65.9 



1.3 



1.4 



5.0 



11.8 





 







5.9 



2,893 



' Adjusted numbers from Table 3. 



In the fall the shortest migration time from 

 the Chesapeake Bay to Cape Hatteras, N.C. 

 was 25 days indicating a rate of 12 km/day. A 

 fish tagged near Fire Island Inlet on the south 

 side of Long Island, N.Y., in October was re- 

 captured near Cape Hatteras 41 days later. This 

 fish traveled at a rate of 16 km/day. There was 

 no apparent difference in maximum rates of 

 travel between spring and fall migrations. 



Juvenile menhaden were first tagged in 

 Rhode Island in October 1969. Of 1,020 juve- 

 niles tagged, 3 have been recovered in North 

 Carolina and 1 in Florida as of July 1970 

 (Kroger, Dryfoos, and Huntsman, 1971). The 

 first North Carolina recovery was in January 

 1970 during the fall fishery, and the remaining 

 recoveries were in June 1970. The lone Florida 

 recovery was in July 1970. 



In general our recoveries of tagged fish sup- 

 port all three hypotheses: Adult menhaden 

 migrate northward in spring and early summer 

 and southward in fall, and menhaden migrate 

 farther northward as they grow older. Juve- 

 niles also migrate southward in fall. 



POPULATION STRUCTURE 



Previous conjecture by Hildebrand (1948) 



and from work based on morphology of Atlantic 

 menhaden by June (1958), Sutherland (1963) 

 and June (1965), summarized by Reintjes (1969), 

 led to the conclusion that at least two sub- 

 populations occur along the coast, one north of 

 Long Island and one to the south. Nicholson 

 (1972a) differed with previous interpretations 

 of the morphometric data and has presented 

 an alternative interpretation suggesting a single 

 population. 



Recoveries of tagged fish also indicate that 

 Atlantic menhaden constitute a single popu- 

 lation. Adult fish tagged in Florida, North Caro- 

 lina, Cheapeake Bay, and New Jersey have 

 been recovered north of the release sites in sub- 

 sequent years. Fish tagged in each area during 

 the summer have subsequently been recovered 

 in the North Carolina fall fishery. Juvenile men- 

 haden tagged north of Long Island show a 

 southward displacement from their estuarine 

 rearing areas. The pattern of recoveries sug- 

 gests an intermingling and mixing of menhaden 

 from various areas during the winter and a 

 resegregating by size during the following 

 spring and summer. This inference also agrees 

 with previous analyses of changes in age and 

 size distribution (Nicholson, 1971a). All recent 

 work has tended to negate the existence of a 



730 



