Abstract

The tripletail (Lobotes surinamensis) is a pelagic species that occurs seasonally in coastal waters of the southeastern United States. Despite its increasing popularity as a target of recreational anglers, seasonal movements and migratory patterns of this fish are poorly understood. Based on the need for data for management purposes, a directed, angler-cooperative tag and release study for tripletail was initiated for southeastern U.S. waters in 2001. Prior to this time, tripletail had been tagged sporadically by a few anglers on Florida’s east coast. From 1996 through July 2006, a total of 1,650 tripletail were tagged and released, and to date 169 of those fish (10.2%) have been reported as recaptured. Tagging of tripletail ranged from the Gulf coast of Louisiana to the Atlantic coast of Georgia. However, because no size or bag limits are currently in effect for the tripletail fisheries in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas waters, the majority of fish tagged (84.5%) and recaptured (89.3%) have come from Florida coastal waters. Recapture data collected from these Florida fish involve primarily short-distance movements, as 71.1% of recaptured fish had moved 20 nautical miles or less. However, several movements of more than 100 nautical miles by tagged tripletail were reported, with the greatest distance traveled being 510 nautical miles by a tripletail tagged off Port Canaveral, Florida, and recaptured off Topsail Beach, North Carolina. Preliminary results suggest seasonal movements by tripletail primarily within Florida’s coastal waters, with the exception of interstate movements by two tagged fish, one each to Georgia and North Carolina waters

PDF Preview