Abstract. — Capture of trans- 

 forming larval and newly settled 

 juvenile (age-0) summer flounder, 

 Paralichthys dentatus, over four 

 years (1986-1989) in the seaside 

 salt marshes of Virginia's Eastern 

 Shore and in the lower Chesapeake 

 Bay verifies Virginia waters as a 

 nursery area. Gear specific for ju- 

 venile flatfish was used and sam- 

 pling was conducted in a broad 

 range of habitats in all months. 

 This study demonstrates a fluctua- 

 tion in the timing of the appearance 

 and magnitude of abundance of 

 age-0 summer flounder in Virginia 

 waters over a four-year sampling 

 period. Age-0 summer flounder 

 ( 11-27 mm TL) began entering the 

 area in October 1986 and were 

 present throughout the winter of 

 1987. The 1988 and 1989 year 

 classes did not appear until April 

 at larger sizes (22-83 mm TL). 

 Highest catch per unit of effort 

 (CPUE) occurred between April 

 and August and abundance de- 

 clined in the fall. Data indicated 

 that year-class strength declined 

 from 1986 to 1988 and increased 

 slightly in 1989. To monitor year- 

 class strength of age-0 summer 

 flounder, we recommend sampling 

 Virginia estuaries in April, May, 

 and June when both abundance of 

 flounder is high and small-mesh- 

 lined trawl gear is most efficient. 



Interannual variation in the 

 recruitment pattern and abundance 

 of age-0 summer flounder, 

 Paralichthys dentatus, 

 in Virginia estuaries* 



Brenda L. Norcross 



Virginia Institute of Marine Science, School of Marine Science 

 College of William and Mary. Gloucester Point. Virginia 23062 



Present address Institute of Marine Science 



School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. University of Alaska Fairbanks 



Fairbanks. Alaska 99775-1080 



David M. Wyanski 



Virginia Institute of Marine Science, School of Marine Science 

 College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062 



Present address: South Carolina Marine Resources Research Institute 

 South Carolina Wildlife and Marine Resources Department 

 PO Box 12559. Charleston, South Carolina 29422 



Summer flounder, Paralichthys 

 dentatus (Pleuronectiformes: Both- 

 idae), is an important commercial 

 and recreational species along the 

 eastern coast of the United States. 

 It ranges from Nova Scotia (Scott 

 and Scott, 1988 ) to Florida ( Gutherz, 

 1967) and its center of abundance 

 occurs in the Middle Atlantic Bight 

 (Scarlett, 1981). Though it is known 

 that commercial landings of P. 

 dentatus in the Middle Atlantic 

 Bight fluctuate widely (Wilk et al., 

 1980), fluctuations in abundance of 

 age-0 summer flounder have not 

 been investigated. Because of the 

 economic importance of summer 

 flounder in Virginia, our first objec- 

 tive was to design a sampling plan 

 based on the early life history of 

 summer flounder to assess the rela- 

 tive yearly abundance of age-0 sum- 

 mer flounder in Virginia waters. 

 This index will provide the fishing 

 industry and fishery managers with 



knowledge of fluctuations before 

 those fluctuations affect the fishery. 

 A part of designing an effective sam- 

 pling plan was evaluation of appro- 

 priate gear. Therefore, the second 

 objective was to examine the effec- 

 tiveness of sampling gear. 



Age-0 P. dentatus have been cap- 

 tured in small numbers from Chesa- 

 peake Bay (Orth and Heck, 1980; 

 Weinstein and Brooks, 1983) and 

 the Eastern Shore of Virginia 

 (Richards and Castagna, 1970). 

 Poole ( 1966) hypothesized that Vir- 

 ginia waters and the sounds of 

 North Carolina constitute primary 

 nursery areas for summer flounder, 

 but an insufficient number of speci- 

 mens have been captured to sub- 

 stantiate this hypothesis. Recruit- 

 ment and distribution patterns of 

 age-0 summer flounder have been 

 investigated in estuaries in North 

 Carolina (Powell and Schwartz, 1977; 

 Miller etal., 1984; Burke etal., 1991 1 



Manuscript accepted 16 December 1993. 

 Fishery Bulletin 92:591-598 ( 1994). 



Contribution 1748 from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. 



591 



