Fine-scale behavioral responses of red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) to bait

Details

• Journal Title:
  Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• Personal Author:
  Bacheler, Nathan M. ; Runde, Brendan J. ; Shertzer, Kyle W. ; Buckel, Jeffrey A. ; Rudershausen, Paul J.
• NOAA Program & Office:
  NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; SEFSC (Southeast Fisheries Science Center)
• Description:
  The behavior of fish around bait is poorly understood despite it being important for the fish catching process and estimating relative abundance. We used a fine-scale acoustic positioning system to quantify the movements of 26 red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) around 120 bait deployments in 2019 at a natural reef site (∼37-m deep) in North Carolina, USA. There were 39 instances of tagged red snapper approaching bait during four baiting days, some of which approached due to apparent sensory cues (28%), while most approached incidentally (72%). Tagged red snapper approached bait from initial distances of 1 to 1147 m (median = 27 m; mean = 86 m), and took 0–77 min (mean = 22 min) to approach. Fish were more likely to approach bait if they were located close to, and down-current of, the bait at deployment. Our estimated effective fishing area of 2290 m2 (within which >50% of red snapper responded to bait) could be used along with video counts and other information to estimate densities of red snapper.
• Keywords:
  Lutjanus campechanus
• Source:
  Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 79(3): 458-471.
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2021-0044
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Rights Information:
  CC BY
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:6c24034db9cf447654475719a4a9407e0fb88a7bf90890b8d449b65940f584b5
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/36944/noaa_36944_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.50 MB ]