Abstract

Red snapper were sampled from the commercial and recreational fisheries of the Golf of Mexico from Texas to the west coast of Florida during 1998 and 1999. Sectioned sagittal otolitbs (n = 8,169) were used to estimate the age structure of the commercial and recreational fisheries and to compare ages between the western and eastern gulf. Ages of red snapper ranged from 1 to 47 years. Age 3 fish dominated the commercial and recreational hand-line fishery in 1998. In contrast, full recruitment to the commercial long-line fishery did not occur until age 5. In 1999, four year old fish were most common in the commercial long-line and hand-line catches, while three and four year old fish dominated the recreational catches. Similar to 1998, the commercial sector consisted of the largest percentage of older fish in 1999. In 1998 red snapper age structure landed by the commercial hand-line fishery was similar between the eastern and western Gulf of Mexico, while the commercial long-line and "for hire" data suggested older fish were collected from the western gulf. The commercial hand-line and "for hire" fisheries both indicated older fish were collected in the western Gulf of Mexico in 1999.

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