Weakfish become sexually mature by age 2, with the majority naturing at 

 age 1. Spawning occurs in coastal and estuan'ne areas from May to October, 

 with peak spawning in May and June. The eggs are buoyant and hatch within two 

 days (at 20°-21°C). Little is known regarding larval dynamics. 



Feeding takes place throughout the water column. Young weakfish consume 

 invertebrates and smaller fishes, while adults eat shrimps, squids, crabs, 

 worms and clams. 



Some weakfish are recruited to the fishery in the first year and strong 

 year-classes, as indicated by NMFS inshore trawl survey during the mid-1970's, 

 should continue to support catches for the next several years. 



Bottom Trawl Survey Results 



The cumulative spring and autumn distributions over the time series are 

 shown in Figures 16.1 and 16.2. The plots are an excellent representation of 

 seasonal weakfish distribution in the Mid-Atlantic area. Weakfish were, for 

 the most part, absent from the study area in the spring (Figure 16.1), and 

 those that did occur were in southern or offshore areas. The offshore 

 occurrences in the spring, although very limited, support the hypothesis of an 

 offshore component to the winter distribution of the species. The autumn 

 distribution (Figure 16.2) clearly shows the preference of a coastal habitat. 



The mean weight and numoer per tow summaries in Figures 16.3-16.6 show 

 the recent increased trends in abundance, especially in the northern strata 

 sets of the Mid-Atlantic. The inshore strata were not occupied before the 

 autumn of 1972. 



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