646 



Fishery Bulletin 93(4), 1995 



1989 



fish occurred in Chesapeake 

 Bay, making up 99% (rc=200) 

 of the fish analyzed from the 

 VIMS juvenile trawl survey. 

 However, young-of-the-year 

 fish were not present in mar- 

 ket grades, and yearlings 

 were not fully recruited, as 

 evident by their low fre- 

 quency in annual age compo- 

 sitions (Fig. 2). 



Older, larger weakfish oc- 

 curred in Chesapeake Bay 

 primarily in the spring, when 

 they appeared to arrive be- 

 fore younger fish. Fish age 4 

 and older occurred in the 

 spring in relatively large 

 numbers, making up 51% 

 and 27% of April and May 

 samples (1989-92), respec- 

 tively (Fig. 4). However, few 

 fish older than age 4 were 

 sampled after May, and they 

 never made up more than 8% 

 of the fish observed in later 

 months. In contrast, few age- 

 1 fish were observed in either 

 market grade samples or in 

 the VIMS trawl survey until 

 June, after which they made 

 up roughly 30% of the mar- 

 ket grade fish sampled. 



Mean monthly size at age 

 also differed seasonally. Mean 

 size at ages 3-6 of Chesapeake 

 Bay fish collected in April and 

 May, 1989-92, were larger 

 than those collected in Au- 

 gust and September (Table 

 1). In 1992, mean monthly 

 TL of age-2 and age-3 fish (the 

 most abundant ages in the 

 samples) decreased steadily 

 from April through July (Fig. 

 5). Although the pattern was 

 less clearly defined in other 

 years, a decrease in mean TL 

 for the observed age-3 fish 



from April to June was evident. The mean TL of age-2 

 fish also declined from April to May in 1991 and 1992. 



There was no evidence that weakfish from Dela- 

 ware Bay reached a larger maximum size or age than 

 those in Chesapeake Bay. Maximum observed age of 

 Chesapeake Bay fish was 12. However, annual ob- 



200 300 400 500 



700 800 



n=2,079 



200 300 400 500 



600 900 



n=1 ,146 



n=403 



200 300 



600 700 



800 900 



Age (years) 



Total length (mm) 



Figure 2 



Age and length frequencies of Chesapeake Bay weakfish, Cynoscion regalis, by year 

 (1989-92) pooled over gears. Sample sizes are indicated above each age. Total annual 

 sample size is noted for lengths. 



served maximum age of fish not selected for their 

 large size varied: 8 in 1989 (n=378), 5 in 1990 (ra=775), 

 6 in 1991 (n=l,110), and 7 in 1992 (n=391). Maxi- 

 mum observed age in Delaware Bay was 11. Fish 

 older than age 6 were rare in both regions. Only four 

 fish >3.6 kg were collected in 1992 in Chesapeake 



