478 
Fishery Bulletin 1 10(4) 
data necessary to conduct stock assessments, a feat that 
is not possible by monitoring annual nest counts alone 
(Chaloupka and Limpus, 2001), is arguably an intel- 
ligent investment in the management and recovery of 
long-lived species. In addition to monitoring catch rates, 
in-water capture methods, such as trawling, enable the 
collection of demographic data (Roberts et al., 2005) and 
health assessments (Deem et al., 2009; O’Connell et ah, 
2010). Although such data may also be obtained from 
stranded animals (Monzdn-Argiiello et al., 2009), the 
opportunistic nature and reporting of stranded animals 
(NRC, 1990) render those data, unlike data from in- 
water captures, inappropriate for assessment of relative 
abundance trends. 
A significant interannual catch trend was detected 
only for loggerhead sea turtles that measured 75.1-80.0 
cm SCLmin, a size class that represented just 2% of 
loggerhead captures in 2000 but that was observed 
nearly 10 times as often in 2011. This size class 
is slightly smaller than the size at which log- 
gerhead sea turtles reach sexual maturity in 
the NW Atlantic (—82 cm SCL; TEWG, 2009); 
therefore, increased catch rates for this size 
class through 2011 may not reflect mature in- 
dividuals that had returned to their region of 
natal origin (Bowen et al., 2004). Alternatively, 
increased catch rates for loggerheads in this 
size class likely stemmed from growth of resi- 
dent individuals (Mansfield et al., 2009; Arendt 
et al., 2012b) hatched in strong nesting years. 
Braun-McNeill et al. (2008) estimated that it 
took 17.4 years for loggerheads in the NW At- 
lantic to grow from 50 to 80 cm SCL, the size 
range associated with prevalent size classes in 
our study. Assuming neritic recruitment at age 
11 (Conant et al., 2009) and ~50 cm SCLmin 
(Bjorndal et al., 2003) plus another 17.4 years 
(Braun-McNeill et al., 2008) to reach 80.0 cm 
SCL, loggerhead sea turtles of 75.1-80.0 cm 
SCLmin captured in 2000 likely hatched in the 
mid-1970s versus the mid- to late 1980s for log- 
gerhead sea turtles in this size class captured 
in 2011. Given increased nest counts recorded 
through the 1980s (Witherington et al., 2009), 
increased conservation efforts in the past 3 
decades, and, notably, large openings of TEDs 
since 2003 (Federal Register, 2003), a cohort- 
biased explanation seems plausible. 
Stable catch rates in this study for logger- 
head sea turtles that measured 55.1-75.0 cm 
SCLmin indicate that catch rates for logger- 
head sea turtles 75.1-80.0 cm SCLmin are not 
likely to decline in the near term, with the as- 
sumption that high annual survival rates will 
continue and that catch rates observed in this 
study are indicative of regionwide trends. How- 
ever, we also anticipate a substantial reduction 
in the relative abundance of the smallest log- 
gerhead sea turtles between 2009 and 2017, 
consistent with a 41% decline in nest counts 
between 1998 and 2007 (Witherington et al., 
2009) and assuming a neritic recruitment of 
age 11. Because a future decline in catch rates 
for the smallest turtles should eventually re- 
shape future foraging ground demographic dis- 
tributions, size-based monitoring is imperative. 
A nonsignificant decline in catch rates for log- 
gerhead sea turtles that measured 55.1-60.0 
cm SCLmin was noted between 2000 and 2003. 
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2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 201 ! 
Figure 4 
Annual variability in modeled catch (mean ±95% Cl) of logger- 
head sea turtles ( Caretta caretta ) per linear kilometer among 
5 prevalent size classes recorded in a sea turtle trawl survey 
conducted between 2000 and 2011 in a coastal foraging region in 
the southeastern United States. (A) Interannual trends for sea 
turtles with minimum straight-line carapace lengths (SCLmin) 
<70.0 cm were not significantly different (P>0.05) for turtles 
55.1-60.0 cm SCLmin (squares), 60.1-65.0 cm SCLmin (triangles), 
or 65.1-70.0 cm (circles). (B) Interannual trends for the largest 
loggerhead sea turtles were not significantly different (P>0.05) 
for turtles 70.1-75.0 cm SCLmin (squares) but were significantly 
different (P= 0.004) for turtles 75.1-80.0 cm SCLmin (triangles). 
