These assessments are the largest In area and most comprehensive to be documented In the literature with known levels of precision. Methodology used provides reasonably precise estimates which managers can use to assess extensive widespread kills and subsequent Impacts on affected populations. It Is recommended that managers consider reducing fishing mortality on the remaining economically Important populations after extensive kills to speed recovery of those populations.

A bstract. hooking mortalities of red drums Sciaenops ocellatus and spotted seatrout Cynoscion nebulosus caught with single-barb hooks were compared with hooking mortalities for those caught with treble hooks in Texas bays in the summers of 1989 and 1990. Natural baits (primarily penaeid shrimp) and artificial baits (spoons, worms, and fish-shaped lures) were used with both hook types. Overall mortality of 121 red drums was 4.1 % at the end of 3 d after capture, and there were no significant (P = 0.67) red drum mortality differences between hook types or bait types. Mortality of 124 spotted seatrout was 7.3% by 3 d after capture, and no significant (P -0.27) differences between hook types or bait types were found. Restricting anglers to one hook type (either single-barb or treble hooks) would not reduce unintended fishing mortality for either species.

A model of gillnet selection is developed to accommodate the possibility that some catch observations will be known more precisely than others and allow for nonlinear relationships between the selection parameters and mesh size. The model is used to show that gillnet selection for red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) in Texas bays may be explained as a unimodal process approximating a skewed Laplace distribution, where the optimal length varies in proportion to mesh size and the variance in proportion to the optimal length. It is also suggested that the number of encounters with the net ought to depend on swimming speed of the quarry, which in turn varies predictably with length. This information, along with the estimates of selection, is used to develop indices of abundance for each length-class. The results indicate that the recruitment of year-old red drum to Texas bays has fluctuated markedly since 1975, but without any persistent trends. However, the survival of these and older fish has increased dramatically owing to various regulations promulgated since 1981.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) conducted surveys to determine the accuracy of trip durations reported by marine sport‐boat fishermen. The surveys were conducted at boat ramps on 21 d during May‐August 1982. The fishermen's reported trip duration (nearest 0.5 h) was compared to TPWD's observed trip duration (nearest 0.1 h). No significant differences were found between the reported and observed trip durations by sport‐boat fishermen. Eighty‐six percent of all differences between reported and observed trip durations were within ± 1.0 h of zero, and 68% of those differences were within the precision desired (nearest 0.5 h). Therefore, the mean trip duration reported by sport‐boat fishermen during 1‐d fishing trips is an empirically unbiased estimate of actual mean trip duration. The accuracy of trip duration reported by sport boaters was not influenced by the actual trip length.