Preliminary Assessment of Sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus) Age, Growth and Movement in Georgia's Waters

Arnold Woodward, John L. Fortuna and Paul Medders
Coastal Resources Division, Brunswick Georgia 31520,912-264-7218, spud@fisheries.dnr.state.ga.us

The sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus) is a widely distributed Sparid common along the coast of the Southeastern United States and the Gulf of Mexico. In the South Atlantic, the sheepshead's importance as a commercial and recreational food fish has grown markedly in recent years. In addition, sheepshead appear to form spawning aggregations on nearshore reefs in the winter and spring, making them vulnerable to concentrated fishing effort. Sheepshead were collected from Georgia's waters through fisheries-independent sampling programs and the GA DNR Carcass Recovery Program. A total of 509 sheepshead were sampled for age-growth analysis. Sizes ranged from 171 mm to 579 mm fork length. Ages were determined by counting annuli in thin sections of sagittal otoliths and age determination techniques were validated by marginal increment analysis. The maximum age determined through otolith analysis was 17 years. A total of 388 sheepshead have been marked with external tags. Of these, 67 were returned by anglers and 13 were recaptured during fisheries-independent sampling. The maximum time at large for sheepshead was 413 days and the maximum distance traveled was 70 miles.