King mackerel migration and stock assessment study in the southern Gulf of Mexico. 1989 final (November 1988 - December 31, 1989) report.

Abstract

The following constitutes the final report of a project conducted by Mote Marine Laboratory and covers the period beginning November 1, 1988 and ending December 31, 1989. This report describes the results of a study that was undertaken as part of an attempt to understand the migration and stock identity of the king and Spanish mackerel in the Gulf of Mexico. The goal was to obtain mackerel historical landings data, to report length/frequency distributions, and catch per unit effort (CPUE) information for mackerel, to obtain mackerel specimens for electrophoresis, to assess the feasibility of collecting larvae off the Yucatan Peninsula, and to tag the mackerel at specific Mexican locations. These locations were chosen so that the tagging effort would correspond with mackerel migration patterns off Mexico. Tagging efforts were concentrated off Yucatan and Campeche for the winter portion of the study, and the spring tagging effort occurred off Veracruz.