The number recaptured at a station was even more weighted towards 

 station 1 with annual recapture percentages of 82.3 to 95.1% from 1977 

 through 1980; in 1981 the percentage dropped to 57.1% as 33.2% of the 

 recaptures were made at station 5 (Table 13). This is not totally 

 unsurprising as many winter flounder tagged at other stations may have 

 been recaptured when leaving the River at station 1 which is near the 

 mouth. This was examined in greater detail as winter flounder were 

 oranded with a station code as well as a week code from 1977 through 

 1979 and interstation movements could be discerned (Table 14) . Most 

 recaptured fish branded at station 1 were also retaken there. Recaptures 

 of fish branded at station 2 were taken mostly elsewhere, with many 

 found at station 1. Although recaptures of fish branded at other stations 

 were sparse, a relatively high percentage was made within each station; 

 most recaptures off station were at stations 1 and 2. Again, this is 

 not unexpected given the relative effort expended at those two stations. 



Another comment on methodology concerns the 15-cm size separation 

 of winter flounder branded and the estimation of fish smaller than 15 

 cm. The 15-cm size limit was somewhat arbitrary when originally chosen, 

 but has proven adequate in separating 1 year olds and older fish. Some 

 2 year olds were smaller than 15 cm, but aging of specimens from 10 to 

 15 cm allowed for an estimate of this relatively small number. As 

 explained previously, a proportional method was used to estimate winter 

 flounder smaller than 15 cm. However, the actual number of small winter 

 flounder produced from the Niantic River will probably never be adequately 

 determined. One reason, also previously mentioned, was the suspected 

 considerable mortality from branding of small winter flounder which 

 would preclude a mark-recapture methodology using the present techniques. 



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