Able et al.: Distribution, movements, and habitat use of small Morone saxatilis across multiple spatial scales 
179 
(9.1-18.3 m), and offshore (18.3-27.4 m). Trawl loca- 
tions were mapped with GIS (ArcGIS 3 , vers. 9.2, ESRI, 
Redlands, CA). The entire otter trawl data matrix con- 
sisted of 2872 records of catch per unit of effort (CPUE; 
number of individuals per tow), average depth, date, 
season (spring, April; summer, June-August; fall, Sep- 
tember-October; winter, January-February), and depth 
category (inshore, midshore, and offshore). Additional 
collections from the surf zone adjacent to and within 
the Mullica River-Great Bay estuary were collected by 
seine during 1998-99 and 2004-06 (Table 1, Fig. 1). 
See Taylor et al. (2007) for additional details. 
In order to determine the estuarine distribution of 
other small (<46 cm) striped bass in space and time, we 
sampled with anchored multimesh gill nets (15 mx2.4 m 
nets with five panels of five box-mesh sizes 2.5, 3.8, 5.1, 
6.4, and 7.6 cm) in the Mullica River-Great Bay estuary 
at several locations (Table 1, Fig. 1). Gill nets were set 
(for approximately 60 min during the day) at biweekly 
intervals during the spring, summer, and fall in upper 
creek, creek mouth, and nearshore bay habitats. Within 
each area, the position in which each net was set varied 
such that no two locations were sampled twice. See Able 
and Fahay (2010) for additional details. 
Another sampling program was conducted with small 
otter trawls between 1988-90 and 1996-2009 at a va- 
riety of stations and habitats located throughout the 
Mullica River-Great Bay-Inner Continental Shelf cor- 
ridor (Table 1). These stations were distributed along 
the salinity gradient from the ocean to tidal freshwater. 
Other individuals were collected in composite surveys 
in Delaware Bay with a variety of gear types and from 
habitats during 1998-2006 (Table 1; Able et al., 2007; 
Able and Fahay, 2010). Still others came from an exten- 
sive seine survey in the Hudson River estuary (Table 1). 
Tag-recapture 
The tagging procedure outlined in Boreman and Lewis 
(1987) for their study with American Littoral Society 
(ALS) data is consistent with the protocol followed in 
our study. After initial capture, code-specific loop tags 
were inserted into the dorsal region of each fish and the 
fish was released. Length, general capture and release 
location, and date were recorded for each animal on 
a supplied tagging card and mailed to ALS. The ALS 
sends raw data to the National Marine Fisheries Service 
in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, for processing and entry 
into a long-term database (Shepherd 4 ). We limited the 
query of records to two subsets of data: 1) striped bass 
initially captured in New Jersey waters and recaptured 
at less than 46 cm TL along the eastern United States 
coast; and 2) striped bass initially captured in nearby 
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. 
4 Sheperd, G. 2009. Personal commun. NMFS Northeast 
Fisheries Science Center, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 
02543-1026. 
natal estuaries (Hudson and Delaware rivers) and recap- 
tured in New Jersey waters at less than 46 cm TL (Table 
1). The latitude and longitude coordinates associated 
with each general capture and recapture location were 
assigned by ALS and NMFS by calculating the spatial 
average of each location submitted by volunteer taggers. 
Telemetry 
We determined dynamic habitat use and movements 
of small (32.4-42.5 cm fork length [ FL] ) striped bass 
in the Mullica River-Great Bay estuary using acoustic 
telemetry. Wireless hydrophones were moored as a series 
of gates in order to determine occurrence and residency 
of tagged individuals along the estuarine gradient (Fig. 
1). Fishes surgically implanted with individually coded 
acoustic transmitters (76.8 kHz) were detected when 
they came within range (approximately 500 m) of moored 
wireless hydrophones (WHS-1100, Lotek Wireless, Inc., 
St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada) suspended at a depth 
of approximately 3.2 m (see Grothues et al. [2005] for 
additional details). Permanent environmental-monitor- 
ing instruments in the Jacques Cousteau National Estu- 
arine Research Reserve included data loggers recording 
salinity, temperature, pH, and water depth (Kennish and 
O’Donnell, 2002) along the estuarine gradient (Fig. 1). 
In addition, mobile tracking methods were used to 
determine fine-scale patterns of habitat use. In order to 
spatially and temporally standardize tracking, 113-120 
fixed locations were georeferenced with a global po- 
sitioning system (GPS) unit in universal transverse 
mercator (UTM) coordinates by using a GIS software 
package (ArcGIS, vers. 9.2, ESRI) and visited with 
a directional mobile hydrophone on a weekly basis 
(LHP_1; Lotek Wireless). Listening range with the mo- 
bile hydrophone was typically about 500 m, determined 
by signal range tests. At each of the above locations, 
the hydrophone was lowered 1.0 m into the water and 
pointed at the four principal ordinates for 5 seconds in 
each direction. When a fish was detected, its position 
was triangulated by moving until a reading of 115 
dB or above was detected at a gain of 15 or less (ap- 
proximately 2 m from the hydrophone). Measurements 
of water temperature and salinity were collected (YSI 
Model 85; Yellow Springs Instruments, Inc., Yellow 
Springs, Ohio), along with date, time, tag number, and 
depth at each confirmed fish detection. Tracking was 
not conducted when the listening range was less than 
500 m (which corresponded to wind velocities greater 
than 30 km/h) or on days when there was heavy rainfall 
or thunderstorms. See Ng et al. (2007) and Sackett et 
al. (2008) for further details on mobile tracking proto- 
col. To determine patterns of seasonal habitat use in 
relation to physical habitat variables, the distances of 
individually tagged striped bass from emergent (marsh) 
and submerged (channel) embankment edges were cal- 
culated by using a GIS software package. The loca- 
tions of submerged edges were derived from estuarine 
bathymetry data by calculating high slope areas (i.e., 
channel edges; >2.5°) and submerged or emergent edge 
