Abstract

Fisheries independent sampling of species that form spawning aggregations is increasingly important as these fish may show hyper-stability (Erisman et al. 2011, Heppell et al. 2013). Constant landings and catch rates of species that aggregate to spawn can continue to occur even though populations may be declining overall (Robinson et al. 2014). In some cases, regulations that prohibit their capture during spawning months may affect the reliability of fishery dependent metrics. When spawning ready individuals aggregate to reproduce at predictable times and locations these stocks can potentially be assessed with surveys to determine size structure and reproductive parameters (Nemeth 2005, Nemeth and Kadison 2013,). In order to effectively and efficiently survey the population during spawning aggregations the spatio-temporal dynamics of each species reproductive behavior must be well understood. The months of spawning, days of maximum abundances, and the occurrence of multiple species at spawning aggregations can vary by location (Mann et al. 2010, Wall et al. 2014) or over time therefore, any sampling design focusing on spawning aggregations requires this basic knowledge.

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