Acoustic tagging and monitoring of cultured and wild juvenile crimson jobfish (Pristipomoides filamentosus) in a nursery habitat

The views and opinions expressed or implied in this article are those of the author (or authors) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. Abstract—The movements of cultured (n=18) and wild (n=28) juvenile crimson jobfish (Pristipomoides filamentosus) are reported for a known nursery off windward Oahu, Hawaii. The 2 batches of fish were tagged with acoustic transmitters in separate years (2006, 2007) and monitored with a receiver array for up to 10 weeks. Of the cultured fish, 75% left the nursery within 3 days, more than twice the exit rate for wild fish tagged the following year. The number of wild fish detected peaked during daylight hours, indicating that the fish were diurnally active. Tidally driven changes in bottom temperature did not explain the behavioral patterns of the wild fish that remained in the nursery for multiple weeks. Additional receivers deployed on the slope adjacent to the nursery detected that two-thirds of the wild fish departed from the nursery after a short period (mean: 1.2 days [SD 1.69]), by crossing areas with soft substrate similar to that of the nursery. In contrast, the fish that exited by rock ledges stayed near the rock ledges longer (mean: 13.3 days [SD 20.9]). These movement patterns provide insight into the early life history of this deepwater snapper and a glimpse at some of the challenges for future stock enhancement efforts. Eteline snappers compose an important , high-value component of tropical insular fisheries throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and catch of sizeable portions is exported from their country or archipelago of origin. The crimson jobfish (Pristipomoides filamentosus), also known as the pink snapper, composes more than a quarter of the commercial landings by weight of the Hawaiian bottom-fish fishery (Brodziak et al., 2011). In addition, this species is thought to account for roughly the same percentage of bottomfish recreational landings, which, when added to commercial landings, would increase the overall catch of this snapper by a factor of 2–3 (Zeller et al., 2008). Because of the high market value of crimson jobfish, scientists of the University of Hawaii spent a considerable effort during 1997–2006 attempting to breed this species in captivity for potential use in aquaculture and stock enhancement. They were successful at maintaining broodstock, producing larvae, and rearing fish to 20–24 cm in fork length (FL) (C. Kel-ley, unpubl. data), which is similar to the …