| Summary: | pgs. 66-107 Data from 20 years of fish tagging in Texas were compiled and examined. Approximately 77,000 fish, including 30,692 black drum (Pogonias cromis), 21,717 spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), 13,862 red drum (Sciaenops ocellata), 6,516 sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus), 1,704 southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma), 1,275 sand seatrout (C. arenarius) and 829 Atlantic croaker (Micropogon undulatus) were tagged between 1950 and 1970. Red drum recovery rates of 10.26% exceeded those of black drum (5.57%), sand seatrout (5.41%), spotted seatrout (3.09%), southern flounder (2.41%), Atlantic croaker (1.82%), and sheepshead (1.44%). Most recovered fish of all species were recaptured within 1 year with indications of a high tag shedding rate. Movement of recovered tagged fish was normally less than 8 km (5 mi) and few fish tagged in the bays were recovered in the Gulf of Mexico. Spawning runs were detected as were emigrations from hypersaline areas. Average growth rates of recovered fish agreed with those obtained from age - length frequency studies but some fish grew over twice as fast as others in the same age group. Factors which affected recovery rates included relative skill of tagging personnel, type of tag used, method of capture and degree of public response.
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