Between December 1980 and November 1981, Spanish mackerel gill-net catches were sampled in two areas of south Florida and in northwest Florida to determine the proportion by number of king mackerel taken as a bycatch in this fishery. Less than 1,000 king mackerel were observed in over 150,000 mackerels examined from landings totalling over 1.1 million pounds. Weighted estimates of the proportions by number of king mackerel in the catches were less than 1% in all areas (Ft. Pierce-Port Salerno, Marathon- Key West, and Panama City), and the overall weighted estimate for the entire fishery was 0.80%. Only one cero was seen in the entire study.

Public Domain