284 
Fishery Bulletin 1 10(3) 
1998; Stunz et al., 1999; Stunz and Minello, 2001) and 
offshore habitats as adults (Beckman et al., 1988). Red 
drum reach adulthood and emigrate from the estuaries 
into offshore waters, typically between 3 and 6 years of 
age (Murphy and Taylor, 1990). Once offshore, these fish 
are believed to inhabit the waters along the continental 
shelf during most of the year. During the fall, adult 
red drum are known to aggregate near inlets to spawn 
(Overstreet, 1983). Spawning occurs along the continen- 
tal shelf and within some estuary complexes, indicating 
that there is plasticity in spawning locations (Holt et 
al., 1985). Although not characterized as a coastal pe- 
lagic, adult red drum can be highly mobile; red drum 
have been recaptured farther than 700 km from where 
they were originally tagged (Overstreet, 1983). Because 
of this capacity for large-scale movement, management 
of red drum is dependent on cooperation among all 
GOM states and the federal government. 
Harvest of red drum by both the commercial and rec- 
reational sectors has seen a marked change since the 
implementation of the FMP in 1987. Before the 1980s, 
the harvest was primarily commercial, with catches 
typically around 1-2 million kg yr -1 . By the mid-1980s, 
and the marketing of “blackened redfish,” the harvest 
increased to a maximum of 6 million kg yr -1 . The in- 
creased harvest occurred mostly in the offshore waters 
of the GOM and coincided with the development of a 
purse-seine fishery for adult red drum. Owing to the 
schooling behavior of red drum and the tendency of 
large schools to remain near the surface, red drum were 
easily targeted with the use of aerial spotters that di- 
rect purse-seine vessels. This expedited reduction in the 
number of adult fish led to decreased spawning stock 
biomass and resulted in the implementation of a FMP 
that required a total cessation of red drum harvest in 
federal waters in 1987. Since that time, commercial 
red drum harvest has remained near or below 40,000 
kg yr -1 (a small commercial fishery, however, exists in 
Mississippi state waters). 
The recreational harvest of red drum is limited to 
state waters and remains heavily regulated. In contrast 
to the offshore commercial fishery of the 1980s, the his- 
toric and current recreational fishery targets primarily 
juveniles (1-4 yr old) in inshore habitats (Murphy and 
Crabtree, 2001). Annual landings have increased to 
over 6 million kg yr -1 . Even at this level, escapement 
of juveniles into the adult stocks was reported to be 
in excess of the 30% as required by the FMP (Powers 
and Burns 2 ) for all GOM states. This increase suggests 
that the stock may be on a trajectory for full recovery; 
however, there is little current information about the 
2 Powers, S. P., and K. Burns. 2010. Summary report of 
the red drum special working group for the Gulf of Mexico 
Fishery Management Council. Special red drum assessment 
report. Prepared for the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 
Council, Scientific and Statistical Committee. [Available 
from http://gulfcouncil.org/Beta/GM FMC Web/d own loads/ 
BB%20AUGUST%202010/G%20-%204%20Report%20of%20 
the%20Red%20Drum%20Working% 2 0Group.pdf, accessed 
March, 2012.] 
age, growth, condition, and population status of red 
drum that inhabit offshore waters, to evaluate this 
conclusion. To address this deficiency, we examined age 
composition, distribution, and condition of red drum 
from offshore waters in the ncGOM, using red drum 
collected during fishery-independent surveys from 2006 
through 2010. 
Materials and methods 
Sample collection 
Red drum (>660 mm total length, TL) were collected 
from Alabama, Mississippi, and federal offshore waters 
in the ncGOM during a monthly bottom longline survey 
(n = 428 red drum, May 2006-May 2010). All longline set 
locations were randomly generated in predefined strata 
within the study area. From May 2006 through Novem- 
ber 2008, sampling was stratified in blocks established 
along the shelf (east to west) as well as across the shelf 
(north to south). In both instances, sampling occurred 
from the shoreline (-2 m depth) to approximately the 
20-meter isobath. Twelve stations were selected each 
month, allocated evenly across blocks and across the 
2-20 m depth. Effort varied during the sampling period, 
with 93, 148, and 141 stations sampled in 2006, 2007, 
and 2008, respectively. Beginning in 2009, nearshore 
sampling was complemented with transect sampling 
wherein a line of longitude between 88°30' and 87°30'W 
(the approximate longitudinal boundaries of Alabama) 
was randomly selected. Once chosen, stations were 
fished from the shoreline to approximately 200-m depth. 
Eighty nine stations were fished in 2009 and 30 in 2010 
(Fig. 1A). For each longline set, commercial-style bottom 
longline gear was used. A monofilament mainline (454- 
kg test, 2-km length) was deployed off the stern through 
a block. High flier buoys were used at the start and 
end of each set. Five-kg weights (start, mid set, end 
set), and 3.66-m gangions (318-kg test) with 15/0 circle 
hooks were clipped to the mainline during deployment. 
Soak time was determined from the time the last high 
flier buoy was deployed until the first high flier buoy 
was retrieved to begin the haulback. Hooks were baited 
with Atlantic mackerel ( Scomber scombrus) cut to fit 
the circle hooks (Driggers et al., 2008; Drymon et al., 
2010). Measurements of abiotic variables were collected 
at each station with a Seabird SBE91 1-plus or an SBE25 
conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) probe (Sea-Bird 
Electronics, Inc., Bellevue, WA 3 ). Nominal catch per 
unit of effort (CPUE) of red drum caught on the monthly 
longline survey was calculated as red drum 100 hooks - 
Tour 1 . To standardize CPUE, the delta-lognormal 
index of relative abundance (7 y ) as described by Lo et 
al. (1992) and Ingram et al. (2010) was estimated as 
3 Mention of trade names or commercial companies is for 
identification purposes only and does not imply endorsement 
by the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 
