Dippold et al.: Growth, mortality, and movement of Rachycentron canadum 
471 
in the spring, followed by summer residence in the 
northern Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana. These patterns 
are similar to patterns reported in other cooperative 
tagging studies (Shaffer and Nakamura, 1989; Burns 
and Neidig 6 ). However, to our knowledge, this is the 
first study to quantify and statistically test potential 
trends in seasonal distribution of cobia recaptures. The 
observed seasonal movement patterns may have impli¬ 
cations for cobia management in the Gulf of Mexico. 
Inappropriate designation of the stock boundary could 
affect the spatial extent of the indices of abundance 
used in the assessment, as well as on the spatial allo¬ 
cation of harvest patterns on the Atlantic coast of Flor¬ 
ida. However, we do note that differences in seasonal 
fishing effort may be in part responsible for observed 
differences in recapture distribution. 
Acknowledgments 
We thank the numerous anglers whose tremendous 
tagging efforts made this study possible. We also thank 
D. Gibson for management of the database. Funding 
for the Sport Fish Tag and Release Program was pro¬ 
vided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Sport 
Fish Restoration Program and the Mississippi Depart¬ 
ment of Marine Resources. Funding for this study was 
provided by the Mississippi Department of Marine Re¬ 
sources Tidelands Trust Fund Program “Mississippi 
Stock Assessment Panel” grant awarded to J. Hendon 
and R Leaf. 
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