300 
Fishery Bulletin 109(3) 
and Sadovy, 2004; Munday et al., 2006a; Munday et al., 
2006b). The low number of juvenile transitional fish is 
indicative of a stable sex ratio in the red porgy popula- 
tion, low to moderate local red porgy densities, or any 
combination thereof. 
There are a variety of fishing regulations for red 
porgy that may act to counter differential fishing 
mortality on young, large fish. Red porgy currently 
have a commercial minimum size limit, a 120 fish/ 
trip limit, seasonal closure, and a total gutted weight 
quota [SAFMC 2 ]. Despite these regulations, red porgy 
continue to be hooked throughout the year or after a 
limit has been reached because of their close association 
with other targeted snapper-grouper species. These red 
porgy must be discarded, but, as a study from 
Stephen and Harris (2010) indicated, all sizes 
may experience high immediate release mortal- 
ity. During the closed season or after trip limits 
or quotas are reached, all red porgy experience 
the same release mortality, and this mortality 
counteracts any differential fishing mortality. 
Furthermore, discarded sublegal-size red porgy 
are also experiencing a high release mortality 
that may remove many of the small old fish from 
the population. 
Scamp 
Scamp were classified as experiencing overfish- 
ing through a population study in 1998 (Manooch 
et al., 1998), and this has remained the official 
NMFS status (NMFS, 2010). Scamp have been 
managed with a commercial 20 inch TL (471 mm 
FL) minimum size limit since 1992. There have 
been no other commercial regulations for this 
species until recently when a seasonal closure 
(January through April) was implemented to 
protect the species during their spawning season. 
In contrast to red porgy and vermilion snap- 
per, legal-size scamp comprised almost entirely 
older fish. This finding indicates that the com- 
mercial catches are not retaining a high propor- 
tion of fast growing phenotypes (young, but large 
fish). Sublegal- and legal-size scamp had mini- 
mal overlap in age ranges with mean ages differ- 
ing by more than three years. Ages 5 and under 
were predominately sublegal-size fish, and nearly 
all immature scamp were sublegal size and fe- 
male (Fig. 2; Tables 3 and 4). Size and age at 
maturation and transition are similar to values 
from the 1970s through the 1990s (Harris et al., 
2002), indicating that scamp are not undergoing 
increased fishing mortalities and that minimum 
size limits are an effective management tool for 
scamp. Comparisons of von Bertalanffy curves 
from previous studies (Matheson et al., 1986; 
Harris et al., 2002) show similar growth rates 
and asymptotic lengths (Fig. 4C). Furthermore, 
since the 1992 minimum size limit regulation, 
landings, although variable, have shown no in- 
2 SAFMC (South Atlantic Fishery Management Coun- 
cil). 2008. Final, amendment number 15B to the 
fishery management plan for the snapper grouper 
fishery of the South Atlantic region, 159 p. + appen- 
dices. South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 
One Southpark Circle, Suite 306, Charleston, SC 
29407. 
400 
A (vermilion snapper) 
200 
100 
500 
400 
300 - 
- 200 
100 
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 
800 
600 - 
400 
200 
C (scamp) 
10 15 
Age (years) 
Figure 4 
Comparison of von Bertalanffy growth curves from various 
locations in the Atlantic Ocean for (A) Rhomboplites auroru- 
bens (vermilion snapper), (B) Pagrus pagrus (red porgy), and 
(C) Mycteroperca phenax (scamp). All curves represent a two- 
parameter function, with t 0 set to 0, to allow for a comparison 
of growth rates between time periods. For R. aurorubens, the 
1985-93 and 1979-81 curves are modified from Zhao et al. 
(1997). For P. pagrus, curves from 1979-81 and 1988-90 are 
modified from Harris and McGovern (1997), and for M. phenax 
curves from 1979-89 and 1990-97 are modified from Harris 
et al (2002). The dashed line in each graph represents the 
minimum size limit for that species. 
