Allen and Franklin: Settlement patterns of Atractoscion nobilis in the Southern California Bight 



637 



and August. Stn. 22 (White's Cove, Santa Catalina I.) 

 was the only other Channel Island station where YOY 

 seabass were taken (Fig. 9). 



During 1989, 69% (n 59) of YOY white seabass were 

 taken at 5m, while 31% (w 26) were captured at 10m. 

 Most of the fish taken at the 10 m isobath were cap- 

 tured at Stns. 6 (Ventura) and 15 (Laguna Beach). Two 

 YOY white seabass were taken at 10m off Santa Cruz 

 I. (Stns. 17 and 18). 



In 1989, catches (CPUE) were then examined accord- 

 ing to distance block, month, and depth of capture. 

 Analysis of variance revealed the significant effect of 



distance block (Table 1; Fig. 10) which was highly 

 significant (p< 0.0001). Although month and depth 

 were not significant main effects, a significant month- 

 by-depth interaction was detected in the three-way 

 ANOVA. The month-by-depth interaction indicated 

 that depth distributions changed significantly over the 

 period of May- August. Catches of YOY white seabass 

 increased at the 10 m depth stratum and decreased at 

 5 m over the course of the summer (Fig. 11). 



The population estimate for 1989 based on mean 

 density along ~600km of mainland and offshore 

 islands coastland was about 118,000 individuals over 

 the 4-month sampling. 



2.0 



1.8 



1.6 



!l.4 

 ( 



1.2 



] 



;i.oh 



;0.8 

 I 0.6 



0.4 



0.2 



0.0 



MAINLAND 



ISLAND 



10 13 15 



17 18 19 

 STATION 



Figure 7 



CPL'E of YOY white seabass .4. nobilis by station, summer 

 1989. Bars represent 2 SE of the mean. Stations are grouped 

 into mainland and island sites for comparison. 



