694 
Abstract.— A total of 12,180 king 
mackerel, Scomberomorus cavalla , col- 
lected from 1986 to 1992 from North 
Carolina to Yucatan, Mexico, and 2,033 
collected in 1977 and 1978 from North 
Carolina to Texas were aged with whole 
or sectioned sagittal otoliths. Data were 
analyzed by region — Atlantic Ocean, 
eastern Gulf of Mexico, and western 
Gulf — reflecting the currently recog- 
nized stocks. Maximum sizes of females 
aged were 152, 158, and 147 cm FL in 
the Atlantic, eastern Gulf, and western 
Gulf, whereas the largest males were 
121, 127, and 117 cm FL in those same 
regions. Maximum ages from the 1986- 
92 fish were 26, 21, and 24 yr for fe- 
males and 24, 22, and 23 yr for males 
in the Atlantic, eastern Gulf, and west- 
ern Gulf, respectively. Females grew 
faster and larger than males at every 
age in each region. A very consistent 
pattern of greatest growth in the east- 
ern Gulf, intermediate in the western 
Gulf, and least in the Atlantic was 
present each year during 1986-92, 
most noticeably among females. Dur- 
ing 1977-78, Atlantic females also had 
distinctly lower growth than Gulf fish. 
These consistent regional differences 
support the current hypothesis that 
there are three stocks as suggested by 
previous analyses of other types of data. 
Within a region and sex, growth was 
lower in 1977-78 than in 1986-92 in 
both the Atlantic and eastern Gulf, but 
higher for western Gulf females. 
Manuscript accepted 11 April 1997. 
Fishery Bulletin 95:694-708 (1997). 
Spatial and temporal variation in age 
and growth of king mackerel, 
Scomberomorus cavalla, 1 977-1 992 
Douglas A. DeVries 
ChurchiSS B. Grimes 
Panama City Laboratory, Southeast Fisheries Science Center 
National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA 
3500 Delwood Beach Road 
Panama City, Florida 32408 
E-mail address (for DeVries): devries@bio.fsu.edu 
King mackerel, Scomberomorus 
cavalla, are economically valuable 
and highly sought after by U.S. rec- 
reational and commercial fisher- 
men from North Carolina to Texas 
(Manooch, 1979). They also support 
a substantial commercial fishery in 
Mexico (Gulf of Mexico and South 
Atlantic Fishery Management 
Councils 1 ) Some populations have 
been overfished and since 1983 the 
species has been managed by a joint 
fishery management plan of the 
Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic 
Fishery Management Councils. 2 
The species is managed as two 
stocks, an Atlantic migratory group 
and a Gulf migratory group, al- 
though the Councils recognize that 
there are actually two groups in the 
Gulf — an east and a west (Grimes 
et al., 1987; Johnson et al., 1994; 
Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic 
Fishery Management Councils 3 ). 
However, the paucity of data from 
the large Mexican fishery, which 
has a major impact on the western 
Gulf stock, precludes managing the 
two Gulf groups separately. Because 
tag return data (Sutter et al., 1991) 
collected during 1975-78 indicated 
considerable seasonal movement 
between the Gulf of Mexico and At- 
lantic Ocean, the boundary between 
the Gulf and Atlantic stocks was 
defined as the Volusia-Flagler 
County line off northeast Florida 
during November-March and the 
Monroe-Collier County line off 
southwest Florida during April- 
October. The Gulf stock has been 
heavily overfished throughout much 
of its management history, unlike the 
Atlantic stock, which has never been 
considered overfished (Mackerel 
Stock Assessment Panel 4 ). 
1 Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Fishery 
Management Councils. 1992. Amend- 
ment 6 to the fishery management plan for 
coastal migratory pelagics in the Gulf of 
Mexico and South Atlantic. Gulf of Mexico 
Fishery Management Council, The Com- 
mons at Rivergate, 3018 U.S. Highway 301 
North, Suite 1000, Tampa, FL 33619-2266; 
and South Atlantic Fishery Management 
Council, Southpark Building, Suite 306, 1 
Southpark Circle, Charleston, SC 29407- 
4699, 35 p. 
2 Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Fishery 
Management Councils. 1982. Fishery 
management plan, final environmental 
impact statement, regulatory impact re- 
view, final regulations for coastal migra- 
tory pelagic resources (mackerels) in the 
Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic region. 
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Coun- 
cil, Tampa, FL; and South Atlantic Fish- 
ery Management Council, Charleston, SC, 
var. pagination. 
3 Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Fishery 
Management Councils. 1990. Amend- 
ment Number 5 to the fishery management 
plan for the coastal migratory pelagic re- 
sources (mackerels), 33 p. Gulf of Mexico 
Fishery Management Council, Tampa, FL; 
and South Atlantic Fishery Management 
Council, Charleston, SC, 33 p. 
4 Mackerel Stock Assessment Panel. 1994. 
1994 report of the mackerel stock assess- 
ment panel. Miami Laboratory, Natl. Mar. 
Fish. Serv., NOAA, 75 Virginia Beach Dr., 
Miami, FL 33149-1003. Contrib. Rep. 
MIA-93/94-42. 
