270 
Fishery Bulletin 112(4) 
19 B 
Figure 5 
Observed (A) total length at age and (B) total weight at age for red snap- 
per ( Lutjanus campechanus ) sampled in 2009 and 2010 from 6 recreational 
fishing regions in the Gulf of Mexico: South Texas, North Texas, Louisiana, 
Alabama, Northwest Florida, and Central Florida. Plotted lines represent 
the region-specific von Bertalanffy growth functions fitted to the data. 
fish sampled in previous in previous studies showed 
that 75% maturity was reached between 4 and 8 years 
of age (Woods et ah, 2003; Fitzhugh et al. 9 ; Jackson et 
9 Fitzhugh, G. R., M. S. Duncan, L. A. Collins, W. T. Walling, 
and D. W. Oliver. 2004. Characterization of red snapper 
(Lutjanus campechanus) reproduction: for the 2004 Gulf of 
Mexico SEDAR. NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center 
al., 2007). Truncating the age distribution of the stock 
decreases its reproductive potential and limits the 
rate of population recovery because fecundity increas- 
es with size and age and longevity extends reproduc- 
Panama City Laboratory Contribution Series 04-01, 29 p. 
[Available from http://www.sefsc.noaa.gov/sedar/.] 
