Burton et al.: Age, growth, and mortality of Balistes capriscus from the southeastern United States 
37 
250,000 - 
Figure S 
Historical landings of gray triggerfish ( Balistes capriscus ) for the hook and line 
fishery of the commercial sector and the headboat component of the recreational 
sector in the southeastern United States in 1950-2012. 
Our estimates of Z from catch curve analysis are 
substantially higher than the values found by John- 
son and Saloman (1984) for gray triggerfish in the Gulf 
of Mexico. The average annual estimate of Z was 0.95 
across all sectors pooled, compared with Johnson and 
Saloman’s (1984) estimates of 0.40-0.69, depending on 
the method used. Whereas they found that recruitment 
to the hook-and-line gear occurred at age 3, results 
from our study indicate that full recruitment occurred 
at age 4 or 5. These observations compare with Moore’s 
(2001) finding of no fishery-dependent samples younger 
than age 3. 
A benchmark stock assessment of gray triggerfish in 
the SEUS is unavailable, although one is currently un- 
derway. A report on trends of static spawning potential 
ratios estimated for 15 species of reef fishes showed 
that mean weights for gray triggerfish decreased by 
an average of 50% in both the recreational and com- 
mercial sectors in 1983-99, and catch per unit of ef- 
fort (CPUE) for the headboat sector increased eightfold 
during 1989-97 before declining (Potts and Brennan 7 ). 
This drop in CPUE in 1997 coincides with the enact- 
ment of the 305-mm minimum size limit in Florida wa- 
ters; however, we doubt that the regulation caused the 
drop in CPUE because a small percentage of overall 
gray triggerfish landings come from waters in Florida. 
7 Potts, J. C., and K. Brennan. 2001. Trends in catch data 
and estimated static SPR values for fifteen species of reef 
fish landed along the southeastern United States, SEDAR4- 
DW-28, 41 p. [Available from http://www.sefsc.noaa.gov/se- 
dar/.] 
Both the commercial sector and the headboat fish- 
ery of the recreational sector showed marked increases 
in magnitude of landings around the period from 1989 
to 1996 (Fig. 5). Landings leveled off in 2000 for both 
fisheries but increased again in 2002. We interpret in- 
creased landings through the 1990s as an increased 
desirability by the public for gray triggerfish as a food 
fish. Before this time, gray triggerfish were mostly dis- 
carded by anglers or commercial fishermen because 
they were perceived as trash fish and unmarketable. 
Figure 5 shows that the perception of this species as 
undesirable changed considerably beginning in 1990. 
Fishermen, especially commercial fishermen, began 
keeping gray triggerfish when a viable market devel- 
oped for them. As new regulations limited the harvest 
of other, more desirable species, fishermen began to 
target gray triggerfish. The dramatic increase in land- 
ings (as well as decreases in mean weight in all fisher- 
ies), increases in CPUE in the headboat fishery, and 
fairly high estimates of total mortality all indicate that 
gray triggerfish populations in the offshore waters of 
the SEUS need to be rigorously assessed in terms of 
stock health and overfishing status. 
This study has shown that spine sections in gray 
triggerfish are reliable structures for aging. The data 
from this study of gray triggerfish in the SETTS indi- 
cate that growth rings are laid down once a year in 
the spring months and that growth is moderately fast 
for the first 5 years of life. Estimates of M are reason- 
able for a fish with moderate life spans (maximum age 
of 15 years). Estimates of Z are relatively high in the 
commercial sector and in both components of the rec- 
