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Survival and movement of hatchery‐reared red snapper on artificial habitats in the northern Gulf of Mexico
Author(s) -
CHAPIN A. M.,
SZEDLMAYER S. T.,
PHELPS R. P.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
fisheries management and ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1365-2400
pISSN - 0969-997X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2400.2008.00620.x
Subject(s) - habitat , predation , hatchery , stocking , fishery , biology , fish <actinopterygii> , ecology
Hatchery‐reared age‐0 red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus (Poey), were released onto artificial habitats in the Gulf of Mexico. Fish showed 12.7% survival after 7 months on small habitats (0.86 m 3 ) and 3.1% survival after 8 months on large habitats (3.9 m 3 ). Emigration was estimated by the movement of fish to unstocked habitats and accounted for 76.8% of the total decline in abundance at release sites after 26 days. Fish showed higher survival and growth rates on small habitats (27.6% at 26 days; 0.33 mm day −1 ) compared with large habitats (13.2% at 34 days; 0.26 mm day −1 ), which may have been due to increased predation and competition on large habitats. Fish became evenly distributed among adjacent habitats 26 days after release, indicating that stocking densities at release habitats were above carrying capacities. These observations suggested that providing additional habitat around red snapper release sites would increase survival.