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Fishery Bulletin 89(2). 1991 



seconds after dehooking. Lati- 

 tude, longitude, and condition 

 of each release were recorded. 



The tagging program was pub- 

 licized through posters, news- 

 paper and magazine coverage, 

 and contacts with fishermen 

 and fish dealers. To enhance 

 returns, tag numbers were ran- 

 domly selected for rewards of 

 $5, $10, or $25. Recreational 

 anglers and commercial fisher- 

 men were encouraged to pro- 

 vide the following information 

 with each return: date, latitude 

 and longitude, fork length, 

 weight, sex, and type of recap- 

 ture gear. 



An accurate description of 

 the length of each tagged and 

 recaptured fish was needed to 

 examine the relationship be- 

 tween size and movement. To 

 determine whether particular 

 length categories were dispro- 

 portionally reported, we used 

 chi-square tests to compare the 

 length distributions (50 mm FL 

 intervals) of all released fish 

 with the length-at-tagging of 

 recaptured fish for each of the 

 four tagging regions. Length- 

 at-tagging for recaptured fish 

 was used because accuracy of 

 recaptured-fish length measure- 

 ments could not be determined 

 and because the effects of 

 growth prior to recapture were 

 unknown and could bias the 

 comparisons. 



Temporal recapture relation- 

 ships were determined by group- 

 ing returns into seven subareas 

 for each of the four tagging re- 

 gions along the SE U.S. (Fig. 

 1): South Atlantic Bight (SAB 

 = Georgia, South Carolina, and 

 North Carolina); northeastern 

 Florida (NEFL = Georgia/ 

 Florida line to north side of 

 Cape Canaveral); southeastern Florida (SEFL = north 

 side of Cape Canaveral to Monroe/Dade line); the 

 Florida Keys (FK = Monroe/Dade to Monroe/Collier 

 line); southwestern Florida (SWFL = Monroe/Collier 

 line to Apalachee Bay); the northeastern Gulf (NEG = 



Figure 1 



Location of seasonally shifting boundaries (labeled A and B) of the two stocks of king 

 mackerel in the southeastern United States. The 'transition' zone formed by these two 

 lines is outlined by the shaded area. Recapture subareas as defined in the text are also 

 given (dashed lines). 



Table 1 



Number of king mackerel tag releases, by year. 



Location and month of release 



Year 



South Carolina' 

 May, June 



Ft. Pierce 2 

 December-March 



Jupiter 3 

 May, June 



Florida Keys 4 

 February, March 



1975 

 1976 

 1977 

 1978 

 1979 



Total 



809 

 809 



880 

 1904 

 1666 

 1966 



6416 



372 



1318 



588 



396 



2674 



974 

 844 

 776 



2594 



'Northern boundary of release area defined by 33 C 50.0'N latitude, and southern bound- 

 ary by 32°03.0'N latitude. 



-For all years, except 1975, annual totals for the Ft. Pierce area include December releases 

 of the previous year. Northern boundary of release area defined by 28°45'N latitude and 

 southern boundary by 27°07'N latitude. 



'Northern boundary of release area defined by 27°07'N latitude and southern boundary 

 by 26°19'N latitude. 



4 Eastern boundary of release area defined by 81°10'W longitude, southern boundary by 

 24°10'N latitude, western boundary by 83°30'W longitude, and northern boundary (Gulf 

 of Mexico, only) by 27°00'N latitude. 



Apalachee Bay to Mississippi River); and the north- 

 western Gulf (NWG = Mississippi River to Texas/ 

 Mexico border). Subareas for this analysis were chosen 

 to provide as much resolution as possible given the 

 distribution of tags and recaptures. Current stock 



