1962 BLOCK ISLAND SOUND 



TAGGEDf N=406) 



RETURNED (N= 203) 



i^S. 



50 55 60 



TOTAL LENGTH (CM) 



,1962 N ANTUCKET SOUND 

 TAGGED (N=600) 

 RECOVERED (N=245) 



Figure 7. — Length-frequency distributions of summer flounder tagged in September 

 Island Sound and of those subsequently recaptured. (All lengths are those obtained 

 lagging.) 



returns were reported, both from south of Nantucket. In 

 December there were eight returns: Seven from offshore 

 grounds and one from intermediate grounds south of Nantucket 

 (Fig. 9). 



In January-March 1963 there were 110 tag recoveries, 105 of 

 which had return positions noted. These were caught over the 

 outer shelf area from Veatch Canyon on the east to Baltimore 

 Canyon on the southwest, with many recaptures coming from 

 around Block Canyon (Fig. 10). The recaptures from these 

 releases were spread over an area that extended considerably far- 

 ther south than that recorded for recaptures from the 1961 off- 

 shore releases. 



Of the 59 tag returns obtained during April- June 1963, 53 had 

 return positions noted. These were from offshore, intermediate, 

 and inshore grounds, showing the spring return of summer 

 flounder to coastal areas (Fig. 10). The 17 returns in April were 

 from offshore grounds, while the 36 caught in May and June 

 were from coastal areas. Two of these latter were from south of 

 Nantucket, and the rest were from more inshore points from 

 Long Island to Nantucket Sound; none were from the New Jersey 

 shore or from inshore areas south of there. 



There were 88 tag returns in July-September 1963, of which 

 83 had return locations. These were from inshore areas except 

 for one which was recovered on intermediate grounds south of 

 the eastern end of Long Island in September (Fig. 11). The 82 

 inshore returns were almost entirely from waters east of Long 

 Island, with many being caught near or at the locations of 

 release in 1962. One, however, was caught far to the south just 

 east of Cape May, N.J. 



The 11 tag recoveries in October-December 1963, of which 8 

 had return locations, included 3 from inshore grounds in Oc- 

 tober, 1 from intermedial grounds in November, and 4 from off- 

 shore ground southwest of Hudson Canyon in December (Fig. 

 11). 



The tag return locations for the 86 recoveries in 1964 (Figs. 

 12, 13), while fewer in number than those of 1963, reflect much 

 the same pattern of movements as was shown then. 



From January 1965 through January 1968, when the last recap- 

 ture was reported, an additional 33 tags were returned from the 

 inshore releases: 22 in 1965, 7 in 1966, 3 in 1967, and 1 in 1968. 



I'M,: in Block 

 at the time of 



40 45 50 



TOTAL LENGTH (CM) 



Figure 8. — Length-frequency distributions of summer 

 flounder tagged in September 1962 in Nantucket 

 Sound and of those subsequently recaptured. (All 

 lengths are those obtained at the time of tagging.) 



The locations of these returns, while not plotted here, followed 

 the general seasonal migration patterns described above. 



A breakdown of the tag recoveries by commercial and recrea- 

 tional fishermen from the inshore 1962 releases (Table 2) in- 

 dicates that commercial fishermen caught about 95% of the 

 recoveries. More than 95% of the commercial fishery returns 

 were by otter trawl. A few were caught in traps, one in a scallop 

 dredge. The recreational catch recaptures from these releases 

 amounted to <4% of the total, all of which were caught by 

 anglers. The proportion of returns caught by anglers for the 

 Block Island Sound releases was 5.9%, compared with 1.6% for 

 Nantucket Sound fish, suggesting that the former releases were 

 subjected to a somewhat greater angling effort. The mean 

 length, at tagging, of all 16 angler-caught returns in these 

 releases was 43.6 cm. This is slightly smaller than the 44.9 cm 

 mean length of the commercial recaptures. 



All of the returns by recreational fishermen were caught from 

 spring to fall, when the fish are close inshore (Table 2). The 

 commercial catch was taken in all months, but few of the tagged 

 fish were caught in October-December when they were moving 

 offshore. The highest numbers of commercial recaptures 

 generally were made in the January-March quarter. 



The sex of 60 of the summer flounder tagged in Block Island 

 Sound and 132 of those tagged in Nantucket Sound was deter- 

 mined when the fish were recaptured and returned for 

 measurements. The length frequencies, by sex, of these fish (at 

 time of tagging) show that the females were larger than the 

 males (Fig. 6). For both areas there was a length mode at about 

 40 cm for males and a less clear length mode at about 45 cm for 

 females. There also appeared to be a secondary mode at about 

 45 cm for males from Block Island Sound. 



DISCUSSION 



From the 1,833 summer flounder tagged on offshore grounds 

 in the Block Canyon area in March 1961 there were 155 recap- 

 tures, 8.4% of the total released. Recaptures were reported 

 through August 1963, or 30 mo following tagging. From the 



