FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 80, NO. 1 



Spawning 



Growth rates of juvenile tomtates (>130 mm 

 TL/first year) in the South Atlantic Bight and 

 rates estimated from larvae of similar species 

 support the spawning season indicated by analy- 

 sis of gonads. If growth of very early stages of 

 tomtates approximates the 14 mm SL/30 d for 

 white grunts (Saksena and Richards 1975) and 

 French grunts (Brothers and McFarland In 

 press), tomtates of 30-90 mm TL caught in early 

 September may have been spawned between 

 early April and June. Identification of peak 

 spawning period of tomtate by associated larval 

 abundance was impossible due to difficulties in 

 identifying larval haemulids. 



Populations of tomtates farther south appear 

 to have a prolonged spawning season. Munro et 

 al. (1973) reported collections of ripe females be- 

 tween January and August in Jamaica, while 

 Cervigon (1966) suggested that tomtates spawn 

 throughout the year in Brazil. Tomtates from 

 Campeche Bank spawn primarily during July- 

 September at depths of >50 m and again during 

 winter at shallower depths (Sauskan and Olae- 

 chea 1974). 



Management 



We believe management of the tomtate fishery 

 should be considered for three reasons. First, the 

 species is easily captured by a variety of fishing 

 techniques: hook and line, trap, and unlike most 

 other reef fishes, by trawl. Second, fishing effort 

 applied to this, and other associated, species will 

 probably increase. And third, the tomtate is a 

 member of a rather delicate faunal community 

 and is a major source of food for higher trophic 

 level, piscivorous fishes. Unwise harvest of one 

 species could have both physical and energetic 

 impacts on the community as a whole. 



While regional catches of tomtates may at 

 times be quite large, for instance by recreational 

 anglers on headboats fishing inshore waters, the 

 species ranks low in terms of poundage landed in 

 the South Atlantic Bight by both recreational 

 and commercial fishermen. Because tomtates 

 are small and not competitive in value with other 

 reef fishes in the commercial market, commer- 

 cial hook and line fishermen usually discard the 

 species or use it as bait for larger predatory 

 fishes, such as groupers and snappers (Wen- 

 ner 9 ). 



Given the geographical range of H. aurolin- 

 eatum, its abundance as indicated by exploratory 

 trawling, and relatively low harvest by fisher- 

 men, one could label it as an "underutilized spe- 

 cies" in the South Atlantic Bight. However, 

 assigning tomtates this status requires a thor- 

 ough understanding of currently operating fish- 

 eries plus a knowledge about the role of the 

 species in the ecosystem. We do not recommend 

 such a designation at this time. 



Although the distribution of tomtate is contin- 

 uous from the southeastern coast of the United 

 States to the Campeche Banks, the stock fished in 

 each area should be considered separate for 

 assessment and fishery management. Our study 

 and the studies of Sokolova (1969) and Sauskan 

 and Olaechea (1974) show that tomtates are a 

 relatively short-lived, fast-growing reef fish 

 with a high annual mortality rate when com- 

 pared with other reef fishes of the region. Fish 

 with these biological traits usually are not as 

 readily overfished as those that grow more 

 slowly, those that live longer, and those with a 

 lower annual mortality rate. However, many 

 fast-growing, high-mortality species such as 

 mackerels (Scomberomorus), some tunas (Thun- 

 nus), and menhaden (Brevoortia), which are im- 

 portant to large fisheries, have demonstrated 

 some signs of being overfished. 



By comparing our study with those on the 

 Campeche Bank, we can look at one stock caught 

 at present primarily by hook and line and the 

 other by a more intensive gear, the trawl. The 

 major difference between the South Atlantic 

 Bight tomtates and those from Campeche Bank 

 is that the Atlantic stock is older and larger. 

 There are several explanations other than bio- 

 logical changes in ecology or genetics for the dif- 

 ferences between these stocks. In our study, the 

 tomtates were caught by recreational fishermen 

 using hook and line while those from Campeche 

 Bank were trawled. Hook and line fishing may 

 be more selective of larger fish and some of the 

 smaller fish may be discarded by the fishermen 

 resulting in larger fish of each age being sam- 

 pled. A more likely explanation is that the large, 

 old Atlantic fish have a generally low exploita- 

 tion rate. The Soviet-Cuban trawlers have fished 

 Campeche Bank since 1964 with catches of 

 grunts averaging over 20,000 tons a year and ex- 



*C. A. Wenner, South Carolina Wildlife and Marine Re- 

 sources Department, Marine Resources Research Institute, 

 Charleston, SC 29412, pers. commun. January 1978. 



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