LOVE ET AL.: LIFE HISTORY AND FISHERY OF WHITE CROAKER 



constant rate throughout the species' life. A majority 

 of both males and females matured at about 1 yr and 

 all were mature by 4 yr. We noted a difference in 

 spawning season between southern and central 

 California. Off southern California, significant 

 spawning occurred between November and April, 

 while central California individuals spawned all year, 

 with large-scale activity occurring from July through 

 February. Our ichthyoplankton survey indicated that 

 two spawning centers occurred off southern 

 California — one located from Redondo Beach to 

 Long Beach and the other centered about Ventura. 

 White croaker larvae, which were second in abun- 

 dance to northern anchovy in nearshore waters, were 

 found in greatest abundance near the substratum in 

 15-22 m of water. The abundance of white croaker 

 and its ease of capture make it a major sportfish in the 

 skiff fishery and a growing component of the com- 

 mercial gill net fishery. Our study indicates that the 

 vast majority of fishes taken in both fisheries were 

 adults. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



We thank J. Stephens for his continual support of 

 our work. J. Palmer, T. Sciarrotta, and J. Stock of the 

 Southern California Edison Company and G. Brewer 

 of the University of Southern California assisted in 

 project design and logistical support. 



L. McCluskey helped estimate batch fecundities, 

 and L. Natanson and E. Taylor conducted the small 

 vessel creel census. T. Keating supplied numerous 

 Monterey specimens, and J. Balesteri supplied data 

 on the southern California commercial operation. 



Majority of the larval identifications were made by 

 D. Carlson, D. Chandler, D. Eto, R. Feeney, S. Good- 

 man, N. Singleton, D. Winkler, and R. Woodsum of 

 the University of Southern California and the Natural 

 History Museum of Los Angeles County. E. Gray and 

 L. Games of the Southern California Edison Com- 

 pany and the Natural History Museum of Los 

 Angeles County, respectively, assisted with data 

 reduction and computer programming. We also 

 thank M. Butler (illustrations) and R. Meier 

 (photography) of the Los Angeles County Natural 

 History Museum. Lastly, we thank the many people 

 who assisted in the sorting and collecting of samples, 

 especially the crews of RV Vantuna and RV 

 Seawatch. 



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