James E. Weaver

Trends In Spotted Seatrout And Red Drum Abundance In Texas Coastal Waters Influenced By Commercial Netting Activities

Spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) and red drum (Sciaenops ocellata) populations in Texas bays were randomly sampled with 183 m long gill nets November 1975 through March 1976 and November 19'76 through March 1977. Catch rates in areas closed to commercial netting for spotted seatrout were about twice as high as those from areas open to netting. There was no difference between the mean total length of spotted scatrout from closed areas and trout from open areas. Closed areas produced about twice as many red drum as open areas. No generalizatilln could be made about the size of red drum...