302 
Fishery Bulletin 109(3) 
phenotypes (Biro and Post, 2008). Although growth 
rates have increased for both vermilion snapper and red 
porgy, it is interesting to note that asymptotic lengths 
are only slightly greater than the minimum size limits. 
Because this increased growth rate is not seen in fish 
larger than the minimum size limit, this finding may 
imply that the portion of the population that is larger 
than the minimum size limit consists of more slow 
growing phenotypes. 
Conover and Baumann (2009) noted that after re- 
moving a minimum size limit regulation, even if the 
shift in the population’s size-at-age was due solely to 
phenotypic plasticity, the population had not regained 
its previous size-at-age distribution after four genera- 
tions. In fish such as snappers and groupers, which 
have long generation times, it could take many decades 
before a recovery is seen. Managers need to consider 
the life history characteristics of each species in light 
of its susceptibility to phenotypic shifts due to mini- 
mum size limits. Therefore, in a multispecies industry 
where species-specific minimum size limits are aiding 
in a shift to smaller sizes at age, an ecosystem-based 
management plan that includes a multispecies quota 
system is a good precautionary approach to maintaining 
a sustainable fishery. 
Acknowledgments 
We gratefully thank K. Shertzer and S. Woodin for their 
valuable suggestions, advice, and discussions that con- 
tributed to this article. We especially thank the commer- 
cial fishing captain and his crew for their hard work and 
valuable participation in this study. Research on which 
this article was in part funded by the National Marine 
Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) Cooperative Research Pro- 
gram (NA04NMF4720306) and a NOAA research grant 
NA04NOS4780264. This is South Carolina’s Department 
of Natural Resources Marine Research Center’s contri- 
bution number 673. 
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