Movement patterns of adult red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus, in shallow Florida lagoons as inferred through autonomous acoustic telemetry

Acoustic telemetry was employed to resolve seasonal and daily movement patterns of adult red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) in the northern Indian River Lagoon system, Florida. From May 2006 to September 2008, 44 tagged fish were tracked within an array of 34 autonomous receivers with individuals detected for up to 654 days. Most red drum exhibited strong site fidelity from winter through early summer with movement rates increasing significantly during fall spawning months. While some fish migrated to the nearest ocean inlet at this time, the majority remained within the lagoon year-round suggesting that true estuarine reproduction, a behavior uncommon or poorly documented elsewhere is the dominant life history strategy locally. Diel movement patterns were also pronounced and indicated changing depth preferences over a 24 h period. Despite a harvest prohibition on large red drum, long-term estuarine residency coupled with high angling pressure (41% recapture rate in 50 months) suggest that post-release angling mortality and sub-lethal effects to growth and reproduction may strongly influence the strength of adult size classes.