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



900 



800 



700 



600 



O 500 

 CC 



111 



co 



E 



Z 



400 



300 



200 - 



100 



100% 



!=□_ 



10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 



TOTAL LENGTH (cm) 



M 



28 



30 32 



FIGURE 17. — Lengths of white croaker retained by skiff sportfishermen off southern 

 California, 1980-81, with length at IOO'a maturity noted. 



old. Small fish were only occasionally hooked, and 

 rarely retained. 



Within the Southern California Bight, about 10 

 vessels fished white croaker full time. Two areas, 

 Long Beach south to Dana Point and Oxnard to 

 Santa Barbara, were fished most heavily, which cor- 

 responded to the sites of peak white croaker larvae 

 concentrations reported here. 



This is a gill net fishery, and an informal agreement 

 among fishermen sets the net mesh at 7.0 cm (2.75 in) 

 stretch. Nets are 1.3 km (0.8 mi) long and are set on the 

 bottom in depths of 5.5-37 m (3-20 fathoms). Mean 

 catches of white croaker are 270-400 kg (600-900 lb) 

 per set with maximum catches of 680-770 kg (1,500- 

 1,700 lb). Largest catches occurred in January and 

 February, during spawning season, when white 

 croaker aggregated in large numbers. The prices for 

 1982 to fishermen were 13-18«/kg (30-40*/lb). Most 

 fish taken during our study were 26-29 cm long 



(Fig. 18) and 8-10 yr old. We found no immature 

 fish. 



DISCUSSION 

 Depth Preference 



Though most species of Sciaenidae prefer inshore 

 waters, white croaker are distributed over a wider 

 depth range than other northeastern Pacific species. 

 Queenfish was the fourth most abundant species 

 taken in our survey at the shallowest station (Table 

 3); its abundance declined rapidly with depth. 

 Though it was present in deeper water, it contributed 

 <0.1% of the fishes taken at 59-73 m. The white 

 seabass is common within the 30 m contour (though 

 they are taken as deep as 90 m during winter months). 

 Umbrina roncador, Roncador stearnsi, and Men- 

 ticirrhus undulatus prefer sandy beaches and bays to 



193 



