Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T18:13:01.758Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Biology, Movements and Population Dynamics of Bass, Dicentrarchus Labrax, in English Waters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

M. J. Holden
Affiliation:
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Fisheries Laboratory, Lowestoft, Suffolk
T. Williams
Affiliation:
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Fisheries Laboratory, Lowestoft, Suffolk

Extract

Nine hundred and fifty-four bass were tagged, mainly by anglers, in the river estuaries and off the coasts of Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorset and Hampshire, England, in 1970 and 1971. To date 59 bass have been recaptured, 86 % by anglers, 12 % by commercial fishermen and 2 % by research vessels. Forty-seven bass were recaptured within 16 km of their release point. Of the 12 bass recaptured at a greater distance, four were taken within 90 days and had moved by an average of 1.4 km/day. From the tag returns and the length distributions of the bass tagged by areas it is concluded that bass form permanent populations in estuaries until they are 2–3 years old, when they move offshore, eventually becoming very mobile as evidenced by the long-distance movements observed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1974

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

NATIONAL OPINION POLL MARKET RESEARCH LTD, 1970. National Angling Survey, 1969–1970. A report prepared for the Natural Environment Research Council Steering Committee, 4 (Sea Angling). (Unnumbered.)Google Scholar
Beverton, R. J. H. & Holt, S. J., 1957. On the dynamics of exploited fish populations. Fishery Investigations, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Series 2, 19, 533 pp.Google Scholar
Cox, R., 1973. Taking the lid off Essex bass. Angling, June, pp. 3841.Google Scholar
Dickson, R. R. & Lamb, H. H., 1972. A review of recent hydrometeorological events in the North Atlantic sector. Special Publications. International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, 8, 3562.Google Scholar
Holiday, F. W., 1973. Bass and super bass. Angling, March, pp. 1213.Google Scholar
Kelley, D. F., 1968. Bass fishing prospects. Angling, June, pp. 2627, 43.Google Scholar
Kennedy, M. & Fitzmaurice, P., 1972. The biology of the bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, in Irish waters. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 52, 557–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murie, J., 1903. Report on the sea fisheries and fishing industries of the Thames estuary. Kent and Essex Sea Fisheries Committee, Part 1, 250 pp. London: Waterlow Brothers and Layton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paloheimo, J. E., 1958. Determination of natural and fishing mortalities of cod and haddock from analyses of tag records off western Nova Scotia. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, 15, 1371–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schott, F., 1970. Monthly mean winds over sea areas around Britain during 1950–1967. Inter-national Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Service Hydrographique, Charlottenlund Slot, Denmark, 17 pp. (mimeo).Google Scholar
Wheeler, A., 1969. The Fishes of the British Isles and North-west Europe. 613 pp. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Wilson, D., 1972. Bass in Scotland's forgotten corner. Angling, July, pp. 4647.Google Scholar