Short-term hooking mortality of tailor (Pomatomus saltatrix) in Western Australia and the impact on yield per recruit

Recreational catches of tailor (Pomatomus saltatrix) in Western Australia are regulated by a size and daily catch limit. Shortterm mortality rates of angler-caught tailor were investigated to determine the effectiveness of these management strategies in coastal and estuarine waters around Perth, WA. A total of 1155 tailor were caught using five hook types. The overall mortality rate during a 2 h holding period was 3.0%. Legal sized fish had a higher mortality rate than sublegal size fish. Treble hooks produced a significantly higher mortality rate than the other hook types. Although yield per recruit curves calculated using the sublegal fishing mortality estimate for each hook type were similar, yield per recruit calculated using the treble hook mortality was lowest. Ganged hooks with/without terminal trebles were most likely to cause jaw injury while barbed and barbless single hooks were more likely to cause gill injury. Gill injury was responsible for a significantly higher mortality rate than other injury positions. These results suggest current management strategies, including discouraging the use of treble hooks, may be effective in ensuring the survival of a high proportion of sublegal and over the daily catch limit caught and released tailor. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.