A decade-long connectivity study of Permit (Trachinotus falcatus) in Florida supports a spatial management approach

摘要: Understanding the scale of fish movements is essential to establish appropriate fisheries management boundaries. In Florida (USA), Permit (Trachinotus falcatus) is a valued recreational species as a sportfish and as table fare. The Permit fishery in Florida occurs in two geographic sectors: (1) in the Florida Keys and in Biscayne Bay, most anglers value Permit as a sportfish and generally practice catch and release; (2) north of the Florida Keys and Biscayne Bay, where a higher proportion of anglers are harvest oriented. In 2011, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) established a Special Permit Zone (SPZ) in the Florida Keys and Biscayne Bay to reduce harvest and to improve the shallow water flats fishery, but maintained regulations friendly to the harvest fishery in the remainder of the state. To determine the extent to which the SPZ is an effective spatial management tool to protect the …