Protection of “harine Fish Stocks at Risk of Extinction- c

POLICY ‘The American Fisheries Society (AFS) recommends that reg&tory agencies closely scrutinize both marine fish and invertebrate stocks that may be at risk of extinction and take remedial action before populations are threatened or endungered. Initial AFS analyses of marine stocks at risk in North America show at least four primary geographic “hot spots ” with stocks at risk-the Florida Keys; the Indian River Lagoon area of Florida; Puget Sound, Washington and adjacent Canadian waters; and the Gulf of California. Further AFS analyses show that certain groups of fishes are particularly vulnerable because they have slow growth and late maturity Severe population declines have been documented for several snappers and groupers (Lutjanidae, Serranidae) in the Atlantic and the Gulf of California, several rockfishes (Sebastinae) in the Pacific, and some sharks (Selachei), skates (Rajidae), and sawfishes (Pristidae). Regulatory agencies should be apprised that these groups are extraordinarily vulnerable, and priority management should be given to these species, The greatest threat to many long-lived marine species may be bycatch (including regulatory discard) in fisheries,targeting other, often more-productive species. Regulatory,agencies must monitor bycatch of long-lived species and move to implement conservation actions if population declines are recorded. The most effective management strategy for some species taken as bycatch and for targete

Observations on spiny dogfish () captured in late spring in a North Carolina estuary

Five spiny dogfish were captured in early-mid May during gillnet and longline sampling targeting juvenile coastal sharks in inshore North Carolina waters. Dogfish captures were made within Back Sound and Core Sound, North Carolina. All dogfish were females measuring 849-905 mm total length, well over the size at 50% maturity. Dogfish were caught at stations 1.8-2.7 m in depth, with temperatures 22.9-24.2 °C, 32.8-33.4 ppt salinity, and 6.9-8.0 mg/L dissolved oxygen. These observations are among the latest in the spring for spiny dogfish in the southeastern U.S. and occurred at higher temperatures than previously recorded for this species. It is unclear whether late-occurring spiny dogfish in this area represent a cryptic late-migrating or resident segment of the Northwest Atlantic population