Monitoring of coastal finfish resources for sport fishing management October 1980-September 1981

Seasonal (November-March) catch rates of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) in gill nets declined approx. 50% from 1977-78 through 1979-1980 within each bay system except East Matagorda Bay and the lower Laguna Madre. The 1980-81 seasonal catch rates declined to approximatly the 1977-78 levels in Aransas and Corpus Christi Bays; and declined slightly from the 1979-80 levels in the upper Laguna Madre. Catches of red drum in East Matagorda Bay have remained at about 0.3 fish/h during 1976-1980, the 1980-81 seasonal catch rate increased to 0.7 fish/h. In the lower Laguna Madre seasonal catches of red drum declined ~50% from about 1.0 fish/h during 1975-77 to about 0.5 fish/h during 1978-1981. The highest seasonal mean catch rate (1.4 fish/h) of red drum occurred in 1979-80 in Matagorda Bay; the lowest catch rate (0.1 fish/h) occurred in 1977-78 in the upper Laguna Madre. Season mean lengths ranged from 371 to 522 mm. Seasonal catch rates of spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) declined at least 50% within each bay system from 1975-76 through 1980-81. The highest seasonal mean catch rate of spotted seatrout (1.6 fish/h) occurred in 1975-76 in the lower Laguna Madre; the lowest catch rate (0.1 fish/h) occurred at least once in each bay system except Matagorda and Aransas Bays and the lower Laguna Madre. Mean total lengths ranged from 387 to 552 mm. Seasonal catch rates of black drum (Pogonias cromis) in Galveston Bay, Aransas Bay and the lower Laguna Madre have declined ~50% from 1975-76 through 1979-80 followed by increases in 1980-81. In East Matagorda Bay, San Antonio Bay, Corpus Christi Bay and the upper Laguna Madre the seasonal catch rates of black drum have remained low and within narrow ranges. In Matagorda Bay catch rates have declined greater than 50% from 1975-76 (1.3 fish/h) to 1980-81 (0.4 fish/h) except during 1978-79 (1.1 fish/h). The highest seasonal mean catch rate of black drum (2.3 fish/h) occurred in 1975-76 in the lower Laguna Madre; the lowest catch rates (0.1 fish/h) occurred in 1977-78 and 1978-79 in Corpus Christi Bay. Larger black drum (383-455 mm total length) occurred in the upper and lower Laguna Madre than in the other bay systems (304-412 mm). Seasonal catch rates of sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus) with gill nets were either too low or erratic to detect annual patterns or trends. Seasonal catch rates of sheepshead generally remained less than or = 0.3 fish/h in all bay systems during 1975-81; the highest catch rate (1.0 fish/h) of sheepshead occurred in the lower Laguna Madre during 1975-76. Seasonal mean lengths ranged from 253 to 408 mm. Season catch rates of southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma) remained at less than or = 0.1 fish/h in all bay systems from 1975-76 through 1980-81. Seasonal mean total lengths of southern flounder ranged from 279 to 468 mm. The season catch rates of atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus) except in 1975-76 in the lower Laguna Madre when the catch rate was 0.2 fish/h. Seasonal mean total lengths ranged from 238 to 363 mm. The individual meshes of the gill net were selective for species and size. In each bay system, the 7.6- and 10.2-cm stretched meshes caught primarily red drum and spotted seatrout. Black drum and southern flounder were caught primarily in the 10.2- and 12.7-cm meshes; sheepshead were caught primarily in the 12.7- and 15.2-cm meshes. Atlantic croaker were restricted almost exclusively to the 7.6-cm mesh. Red drum catch rates with trammel nets were generally higher in each fall (October-November) than those in the following spring (April-May) in each bay system. The highest trammel net catch rate of red drum (7.24 fish/h) occurred in the spring 1980 in Matagorda Bay. Seasonal mean total lengths for red drum were larger in the spring (361-502 mm) than in the fall (346-459 mm). Seasonal trammel net catch rates of spotted seatrout were generally highest during the fall in Galveston, Matagorda and San Antonio Bay and Laguna Madre. The highest seasonal catch (7.35 fish/h) of spotted seatrout occurred in spring 1981 in the lower Laguna Madre. Season mean total lengths ranged from 398 to 578 mm. Fall trammel net catch rates of black drum were generally higher than spring catch rates in all bay systems except in Aransas and Corpus Christi Bays. The highest seasonal catch rate (9.46 fish/h) occurred in fall 1987 in Matagorda Bay. Seasonal mean total lengths ranged from 226 to 388 mm. Spring 1981 trammel catch rates of sheepshead in each bay system except the upper and lower Laguna Madre exceeded the catch rates of the previous years within the same season. The highest seasonal catch rate (9.67 fish/h) occurred in spring 1981 in Matagorda Bay. Seasonal mean total lengths ranged from 238 to 422 mm. The seasonal mean trammel net catch rates of southern flounder varied among bay systems. The highest seasonal catch rate (1.40 fish/h) occurred in spring 1980 in Corpus Christi Bay. Seasonal mean total lengths ranged from 202 to 399 mm. Seasonal mean trammel net catch rates of Atlantic croaker in Matagorda Bay, San Antonio and Aransas Bays were substantially lower than those in the other bay systems. The highest seasonal catch rate of Atlantic croaker (11.36 fish/h) occurred in spring 1987 in the lower Laguna madre. The seasonal mean total length ranged from 244 to 310 mm. Annual catch rates (1977-81) with bag seines indicated considerable variation in relative abundance among bay systems of juvenile red drum variation in relative abundance among bay systems of juvenile red drum (0.35-70.09 fish/h), spotted seatrout (0.34-39.41 fish/h), black drum (0.00-37.04 fish/h), sheepshead (0.00-15.74 fish/h), southern flounder (0.00-10.98 fish/h) and Atlantic croaker (0.35-1086.92 fish/h). Monthly catch rate patterns revealed specific seasons during which red drum (October-April), spotted seatrout (July-November), black drum (May-September), sheepshead (May-August), southern flounder (February-May) and Atlantic croaker (January-June) were most available. During the season of highest availability, the mean total lengths of red drum, black drum and Atlantic croaker generally increase monthly.