Patterson et al.: Age and growth of Lutjanus campechcinus 
625 
and it is estimated that over 15,000 artificial reefs cur- 
rently exist off Alabama (Hosking and Swingle, 1989; 
Szedlmayer and Shipp, 1994; Minton and Health, 1998; 
Havard 1 ). 
The correlation of catch rates with artificial reef con- 
struction has caused some to conclude that artificial 
reefs off Alabama have increased the production of red 
snapper, as opposed to merely aggregating fish from 
surrounding areas (Szedlmayer and Shipp, 1994; Min- 
ton and Health, 1998). Among the evidence cited in sup- 
port of this conclusion was that red snapper grew fast- 
er, attained larger sizes, and lived longer over artificial 
reefs off Alabama than other places throughout their 
range (Szedlmayer and Shipp, 1994). More recent data, 
including those from the current study, indicate that 
GOM red snapper off Alabama grow similarly to and 
reach similar sizes as fish from the northwestern GOM 
and the Atlantic (Render, 1995; Manooch and Potts, 
1997; Wilson and Nieland, 2001). It is also apparent 
that the maximum longevity of fish off Alabama is no 
greater than that of fish of other locations in the GOM 
(Szedlmayer and Shipp, 1994; Render, 1995; Wilson and 
Nieland, 2001). 
These results have important implications for man- 
agement of GOM red snapper. That growth of fish off 
Alabama is similar to growth of fish in the north- 
western GOM is consistent with the management par- 
adigm that northern GOM red snapper constitute a 
single stock (Goodyear, 1995a) and contrary to the hy- 
pothesis that fish off Alabama are unique (Szedlmayer 
and Shipp, 1994). Moreover, if fishing mortality rates 
are higher off Alabama than other places in the north- 
ern GOM but growth is the same, production of red 
snapper may be lower off Alabama than in other areas. 
Furthermore, if red snapper recruit to artificial reefs 
off Alabama from other areas in the northern GOM, 
Alabama’s red snapper fishery may serve as a net sink 
for stock-specific production. Future research is needed 
to compare mortality as well as growth of fish from dif- 
ferent areas in the northern GOM and to estimate the 
source of recruits to Alabama’s artificial reefs. 
Acknowledgments 
Funding for this project was provided by NOAA 
through MaRFIN (grant numbers NA57FF0054 and 
NA87FF0424). We thank Scott Baker, Forrest Davis, Andy 
Fischer, Walter Ingram, Jessica McCawley, Dave Nieland, 
and Melissa Woods for help in sampling red snapper and 
sectioning and reading otoliths. We thank Mike and Ann 
Thierry for allowing us to tag red snapper onboard their 
charter fishing vessel Lady Ann. We thank volunteer fish- 
ermen who helped on tagging cruises and commercial 
1 Havard, R. 1999. Personal commun. Alabama Department 
of Conservation, Marine Resources Division, P.O. Box 189, Dau- 
phin Island, AL 36528. 
and recreational fishermen who reported recaptured fish. 
Lastly, we thank Amada Gonzales for collecting data from 
fishermen who reported recaptured fish. 
Literature cited 
Acosta, A., and R. S. Appeldoorn. 
1992. Estimation of growth, mortality, and yield per recruit 
for Lutjanus synagris (Linnaeus) in Puerto Rico. Bull. 
Mar. Sci.. 50:282-291. 
Baker, M. S„ Jr. 
1999. Radiometric age validation of red snapper, Lutjanus 
campechanus, and red drum, Scianenops ocellatus, from 
