Southeast Drum 

 and Croaker Fisheries 



INTRODUCTION 



Important recreational and commercial spe- 

 cies in the family Sciaenidae include the Atlantic 

 croaker, spot, red drum, black drum, kingfishes 

 (whiting), weakfish, spotted seatrout, and other 

 seatrouts. These have constituted an important 

 fishery resource since the late 1 800's, although sig- 

 nificant increases in commercial landings did not 

 occur until the 1950's when the pet tood industry 

 began harvesting them in the northern Gult ot 

 Mexico. In recent years the recreational harvest of 

 sciaenids has roughly paralleled and almost equaled 

 commercial landings by weight (Figure 4-1 ). How- 

 ever, since most recreational fishing occurs within 

 state jurisdiction, it is managed primarily through 

 state authorities. Some states have established regu- 

 lations heavily favoring recreational uses of 

 Sciaenidae resources: in particular the prohibition 



of commercial fishmg tor red drum and spotted 

 seatrout. The recent average annual yield ot 

 sciaenids is estimated at 33,'>00 metric tons (t) 

 (Table 9-1). 



Large numbers ot sciaenids are also caught and 

 killed as an incidental catch in the shrimp fishery. 

 The small mesh used in shrimp trawls can catch 

 nontarget species such as sea turtles, red snappers, 

 croakers, seatrouts, and other species. Sciaenids 

 constitute the bulk ot the fmfish bycatch biom- 

 ass, and since many are harvested as juveniles, their 

 mortality may slow recovery of overfished stocks 

 or otherwise prevent tuU use ot the adult resource. 



SPECIES AND STATUS 



Commercial landings of drum and croaker in 

 the northern Ciulf of Mexico peaked in 1956 at 

 over 32,000 t, more than 20,000 t above that of 



Unit 



9 



Red drum. 



1 35 



