Blueback Herring Alosa aestivalis populations throughout the East Coast have declined precipitously since the late 1980s and were listed as a Species of Concern in 2006 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Natural resource agencies are attempting to restore this species to viable and sustainable levels with fry stockings cultured in hatcheries. To evaluate the long-term contribution of stockings to populations, agencies need an accurate method to track these stocking efforts. Genetic parentage-based tagging is recognized as a feasible means of assessing hatchery contribution of stocked fish to rivers of interest. However, Blueback Herring lack a reliable set of genetic markers to conduct parentage-based tagging. To this end, we analyzed previously described microsatellites as well as new microsatellite markers identified through NextGeneration sequencing to create a suite of 14 Blueback Herring markers useful for parentage-based tagging. The markers were successful in parentage analysis for Blueback Herring collected from the Chowan River, North Carolina. An additional challenge in the management of Blueback Herring is the ability to phenotypically distinguish Blueback Herring from the closely related Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus. Furthermore, recent studies provide evidence that these two species, collectively referred to as river herring, may be hybridizing with one another in some systems. Microsatellite marker AsaC334 can be utilized to discriminate between the two species, as well as to identify their F1 hybrids, thereby providing another genetic tool for hatchery management.

Crappies Pomoxis spp. are popular sport fishes but are often difficult to manage due to highly variable recruitment. To assess the factors influencing recruitment, we investigated the size and abundance of age‐0 black crappie P. nigromaculatus in relation to zooplankton density, adult stock abundance, and water clarity in three productive Florida lakes. Age‐0 black crappies were collected at Lakes Wauberg, Lochloosa, and Tarpon by use of surface and bottom trawls during the spring, summer, and fall of 2000 and 2001. Zooplankton abundance was measured concurrently with trawl sampling. Early‐summer juvenile abundance was positively related to stock abundance during the previous fall among lakes, indicating a relationship between stock size and juvenile black crappie abundance. Early‐summer juvenile abundance was positively related to juvenile abundance in the fall (i.e., at the end of the first summer), suggesting that year‐class strength was set by early summer in all lakes. Lake Lochloosa had the highest crustacean zooplankton abundance in both years, but this lake had the smallest age‐0 black crappie size and intermediate age‐0 fish abundance. Thus, we found no relationship between crustacean zooplankton density and black crappie size across lakes. Reduced Secchi depths due to high chlorophyll‐a values and wind resuspension of sediments may have reduced feeding efficiency for age‐0 black crappies at Lake Lochloosa relative to the other lakes. Age‐0 black crappie abundance and size during fall were not predicted solely by food availability, stock abundance, or water clarity, suggesting that these factors interacted to influence recruitment through the first year of life.

Cross‐stocking involves the use of fish from nonnatal sources to augment populations. This practice may not be effective, especially if fish from different populations are not well adapted to the environmental conditions of the areas intended for enhancement. Yet, the ecological consequences of cross‐stocking have received little attention, particularly in coastal environments. We used tag return data (1990–2010) from an ongoing stock enhancement program to compare the growth and mortality of hatchery‐reared Striped Bass Morone saxatilis of Roanoke River origin between their natal (Albemarle Sound estuary) and two nonnatal systems (Tar‐Pamlico and Neuse rivers) in North Carolina. Despite their Roanoke River origin, stocked juveniles exhibited high fidelity (>90%) to nonnatal systems and similarly high growth as in their natal habitat (von Bertalanffy K values were statistically similar among systems and ranged from 0.54 to 0.61). However, time‐at‐liberty estimators of total mortality (Z) indicated stocked Striped Bass experienced significantly higher mortality in nonnatal (Z values, 0.48–0.51) versus natal (Z = 0.33) systems. Therefore, while cross‐stocking may not contribute to stock rebuilding, it appeared to be an effective management tool for supporting local put‐and‐take fisheries for this recreationally and commercially important species. Received March 11, 2014; accepted July 16, 2014

Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides are the focus of a billion-dollar (US$1 × 10 9 ) recreational fishery in North America and are subject to widespread hatchery supplementation efforts. Parentage-based tagging (PBT) uses genetic samples taken from hatchery broodstock to genetically "tag" offspring and represents a valuable approach to inform fisheries management and assess hatchery contributions in the wild. This study used a robust microsatellite panel for PBT with Largemouth Bass that reliably discriminated among individuals and siblings and that had low parentage error rates (i.e., false assignments). Genetic data from three cohorts of hatchery broodstock (184 individuals sampled across 3 years) were used to quantify the impacts of planting 150,346 fingerling Largemouth Bass into Lake Mattamuskeet, North Carolina. Parentage-based tagging detected low overall levels of hatchery contributions in the wild (4.1%), which varied as a function of collection year (range = 1.5-7.7%). Furthermore, hatchery contributions varied by broodstock cohort, with PBT detections being attributed to broodstock from only two of the three stocking years. The application of PBT for Largemouth Bass represents a cost-effective and practical approach to tag large numbers of hatchery offspring, monitor supplementation efforts, and evaluate the efficacy of different hatchery practices.

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Total length and weight data of striped bass were sampled by boat electrofishing during the months of April and May (2007–2009) in the Roanoke River near Weldon, NC. Qualitative and quantitative measures were used to exclude errors and outliers from the data set; data were then log10 transformed to calculate length-weight regressions for each sex. These regressions predicted the weights of male and female striped bass. Our results were compared to striped bass collected from the B. Everett Jordan Reservoir in 2008 and found significant differences between slopes indicating that applying length-weight equations derived from striped bass collected in reservoirs to estuarine striped bass is inappropriate. The equations developed can be used in an online calculator that would allow anglers to estimate the weight of striped bass caught in the Roanoke River during the spring based on the length of the fish caught.

Black crappies Pomoxis nigromaculatus less than 60 mm total length were observed in December in Orange Lake, Florida, during fishery investigations. Sagittal otoliths were examined for daily growth rings to estimate hatch date. Hatch date ranged from 9 to 29 October 2001; mean hatch date was 20 October, which is the first published occurrence of off-season spawning of black crappies. Fishery managers should be aware of potential seasonal spawning variability when estimating

We developed an R package for the Inland Fisheries Division of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to help team members share R functions and data sets. The {NCIFD} package stores several functions that were developed for agency research, including cleanBIODE(), which cleans query results from a database of standardized fish samples and imports the data into an R session. In addition, {NCIFD} stores a variety of data sets including observations from ongoing research projects, hatchery records, and administrative information. Stored in a package, data sets are instantly available for exploration and analysis in an R session, can share a common naming convention, and retain their metadata. Although developing an R package requires effort, we believe it is a useful tool that other fisheries agencies should encourage interested staff to explore. We share advice to help others get started while avoiding some missteps we encountered.