SEA 



SCIENCE 



The Tar Heel state is famous for its trophy-size 

 red drum that weigh more than 40 pounds. 



Red Drum: 



Coastal Cruisers 



By Ann Green 



A. or years, researchers have been 

 tagging along with red drum. 



While collecting data from tags attached 

 to red drum, a team of biologists determined 

 that a fish had traveled more than 188 miles 

 — from being tagged at the Avon Fishing Pier 

 on Hatteras Island — to its recapture in the 

 Chesapeake Bay. 



Researchers also found that the average 

 distance between tagging and recapture 

 locations for adult red drum — the state's 

 saltwater fish — is 20 nautical miles. 



And the longest time a red drum was in 

 the water between tagging and recapture was 

 nearly 12 years. 



The data also reveal the size of red drum 

 caught by fishers, as well as the mortality rate, 

 according to Summer Burdick, the 2005-2006 

 marine fisheries management fellow for North 



Carolina Sea Grant and the N.C. Division of 

 Marine Fisheries (DMF). 



"By knowing the portion of tagged 

 red drum recaptured in various class sizes, 

 fishery managers can estimate the size of fish 

 most commonly caught by commercial and 

 recreational fishermen using various gear 

 types," says Burdick. 



North Carolina State University professors 

 Jeff Buckel, Joe Hightower and Ken Pollock, 

 as well as NC State graduate student Nate 

 Bacheler and DMF biologist Lee Paramore also 

 are on the research team. 



Commercial fishers primarily use gill 

 and pound nets to catch red drum, while 

 recreational anglers prefer a hook-and-line. 



"Preliminary results show that fishers use 

 gill nets and hook-and-line to catch legal size 

 red drum from 18 to 27 inches," says Buckel. 



"In comparison, red drum that are 18 inches 

 long or less are being caught in pound nets 

 and released." 



Estimates of size selectivity and 

 mortality rate can be used to estimate the 

 total number of fish harvested, says Bacheler. 

 This information can help fishery managers 

 maintain a stable population of North 

 Carolina red drum, he adds. 



State fisheries managers estimate that 

 recreational anglers account for 60 percent of 

 the annual harvest of red drum. 



"Red drum are consistendy rated as 

 one of the top target species by shore-based 

 recreational anglers," a DMF report says. 



Overall, DMF reports that North 

 Carolina's recreational red drum fishery 

 generated more than $13 million during 1997, 

 the latest data available. 



24 Coastwatch I Autumn 2006 I www.ncseagrant.org 



