Intrinsic rate of increase is unknown, and age at 50% maturity is currently undergoing reconsideration (Branstetter, pers. comm., 2006). Male Spanish Mackerel usually reach sexual maturity by year 1; while females reach maturity between years 1 and 2. Spanish Mackerel have a maximum age of 11 years (Collins 1994; GMFMC and SAFMC 2004), although they typically live for 5 to 8 years (ASMFC 2002a).

Spanish Mackerel is a migratory species that inhabits coastal ocean waters off the eastern United States from New York (and occasionally New England) to the Florida Keys and the Gulf of Mexico (ASMFC 2004b). Extensive tagging studies identify at least 2 migratory groups of Spanish Mackerel: the Atlantic group and the Gulf of Mexico group; however, recent genetic analysis indicates that Spanish Mackerel comprise a single, intermingling population (Buonaccorsi et al. 2001). Both groups winter off South Florida. During spring and summer, the Atlantic group moves northward along the Atlantic coast to North Carolina, whereas the Gulf of Mexico group migrates to the Gulf of Mexico (USFWS 1986; GMFMC and SAFMC 2004).

Spanish Mackerel spawn in relatively shallow waters along the inner continental shelf from New York to Florida and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico (USFWS 1986; Collins and Stender 1987; GMFMC and SAFMC 2004).

Spanish Mackerel are highly fecund, repetitive spawners (Branstetter, pers. comm., 2006). Spawning occurs from April to September. Egg abundance is correlated with length and weight of the mature female. Estimates of egg abundance range from 194,000 for females 35 cm long to 1,491,000 for females 66 cm long (USFWS 1986).

Extensive Spanish Mackerel fisheries began off New York and New Jersey in the 1880's and gradually extended southward to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico (NMFS 1999; ASMFC 2002a). By the mid-1980's, fishing had severely depleted Spanish Mackerel. Since, stringent management measures have enabled the species to rebound (GMFMC and SAFMC 2004; SEDAR 2004).

Surveys of Spanish Mackerel during the 2002–2003 fishing year placed their abundance at levels higher than fishery managers’ targets. Spanish Mackerel fishery managers define target population size as the biomass needed to produce maximum sustainable yield in the fishery (BMSY). In 2004, fishery scientists reported that the abundance of Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico groups was 178% and 134% of BMSY, respectively (GMFMC and SAFMC 2004).

Spanish Mackerel are no longer overfished (ASMFC 2002b; GMFMC and SAFMC 2004).

Abundance of Spanish Mackerel has been increasing since 1995. The Atlantic migratory group is now at an estimated high of 29 million fish; double its abundance in 1995 (ASMFC 2002b; Ansley et al. 2005).

Historically, fishers have primarily used gillnets to catch Spanish Mackerel. In 1995, however, Florida - the state responsible for the highest catches of Spanish Mackerel - instituted a statewide gillnet ban. This ban altered the dynamics of the largely coastal Spanish Mackerel fishery (GMFMC and SAFMC 2004). Following the gillnet ban, Florida fishers shifted to using cast nets in state waters to catch Spanish Mackerel. The cast-net fishery now accounts for approximately 60% of the total South Atlantic commercial catch. Fishers set cast nets directly on schools of Spanish Mackerel and cause little damage to the habitat (Branstetter, pers. comm., 2006).

In other state and federal waters, gillnets continue to be the primary gear used by fishers to catch Spanish Mackerel. The majority of fishers in federal waters off Florida use runaround gillnets, which they set directly on Spanish Mackerel schools. In state and federal waters off North Carolina, fishers primarily use sink gillnets, which are anchored in place on the ocean floor, to catch Spanish Mackerel (GMFMC and SAFMC 2004).

The majority of Spanish Mackerel are caught by fishers using surface gears, which do little damage to the surrounding habitat. However, lost gears can have harmful consequences to habitat. Lost and abandoned nets may snag and damage benthic structures such as coral, and they continue to fish without discretion. Divers in Florida have reported several sightings of these nets. However, this appears to be more the exception rather than the rule (Branstetter, pers. comm., 2006).

Since surface cast-net and gillnet fisheries, which have minimal effects on habitat, contribute the majority of Spanish Mackerel in the U.S. market (NMFS 2006), we decided to award the high score of 3.00 points here.

Effects of cast nets and runaround gillnets on habitat are likely minimal.

Effects of cast nets and runaround gillnets on habitat are likely minimal.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) and the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (GMFMC) manage Spanish Mackerel fisheries in federal waters with the Fishery Management Plan for the Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources (1983 and subsequent amendments). The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission manages Spanish Mackerel fisheries in state waters with the Fishery Management Plan for Spanish Mackerel (1990 and subsequent reviews; Ansley et al. 2005). Although recent genetic analysis indicates Spanish Mackerel in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico comprise a single intermixing population (Buonaccorsi et al. 2001), the SAFMC and GMFMC monitor and manage these Spanish Mackerel fisheries separately (GMFMC and SAFMC 2004).

During the mid-1980s, fishery managers declared both the South Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico groups of Spanish Mackerel to be overfished. The management councils implemented several successful regulatory measures that enabled the populations to recover. In 1995, the Mackerel Stock Assessment Panel announced that Spanish Mackerel had rebounded and were no longer overfished (GMFMC and SAFMC 2004).

Spanish Mackerel is important to both commercial fishers and recreational anglers, who use them as bait for big game fishing. Total annual catch limits are allocated on a 55:45 basis between commercial and recreational fisheries. Managers regulate the commercial Spanish Mackerel fishery with annual catch quotas, trip limits, size restrictions, and seasonal closures. The annual catch quotas are "hard," meaning managers close the fishery once the quotas are met. To regulate the recreational fishery, managers use bag and size limits (ASMFC 2002b; Ansley et al. 2005).

The National Marine Fisheries Service's Southeast Fisheries Science Center collects data on length and weight at age, fishing mortality, migration, fishing effort, gear usage and bycatch in the Spanish Mackerel fishery. It also monitors bycatch of Spanish Mackerel in other fisheries, such as the shrimp trawl fishery (NMFS 2003; Ansley et al. 2005).

The Mackerel Stock Assessment Panel (MSAP) has met annually since 1985 to review the status of Spanish Mackerel and make recommendations for Allowable Biological Catch to the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils. Allowable Biological Catch is the amount of fish that scientists determine can be removed from a wild population without driving it below a target level of abundance. The Mackerel Committee, which includes an advisory panel of representatives from Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states’ mackerel fisheries, also assists the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council in its deliberations about annual catch quotas (NMFS 2003).

Spanish Mackerel have rebounded fully from being overfished in the 1980s, and a recovery plan for this species is not currently needed (GMFMC and SAFMC 2004; Ansley et al. 2005).

Managers have taken several measures to reduce capacity in commercial Spanish Mackerel fisheries. In 1997, North Carolina placed a 2-year permit moratorium on new commercial licenses for Spanish Mackerel. Since 1999, it also has restricted eligibility and capped the number of new licenses. Until 2002, Maryland capped the number of commercial licenses at the 1997 amount. And, New York has an ongoing restrictive period for commercial licenses of non-residents (Ansley et al. 2005).

Discard reporting programs during the 2001 to 2002 fishing year reported no interactions of Spanish Mackerel gillnet fisheries with sea turtles or marine mammals (GMFMC and SAFMC 2004). However, Read et al. (2003) reported frequent encounters (where encounters were defined as approaches within 500 meters of the net) between gillnet fisheries and Bottlenose Dolphins in North Carolina. But, they observed no entanglements of the dolphins. The report concluded that while Bottlenose Dolphins may frequently encounter gillnets in North Carolina waters, entanglements are rare (Read et al. 2003).

Although the statewide gillnet ban in Florida was an integral step in addressing bycatch in Spanish Mackerel (and other) fisheries, bycatch levels in Spanish Mackerel fisheries using alternative gear, including cast nets, remains poorly understood. Logbook data on bycatch from gillnet, cast-net and handline Spanish Mackerel fisheries during 2001 reported bycatch of 51 species with 81% of individuals released alive (NMFS 2001).

In Atlantic waters, the primary gears used to land Spanish Mackerel are cast nets and sink gillnets (GMFMC and SAFMC 2004). Fishers launch cast nets directly on identified schools of Spanish Mackerel, and this fishery is, therefore, associated with limited bycatch. There is growing concern, however, that lost and abandoned nets continue to fish without discretion and detection (Bolin 2004; FWC 2004). In the Gulf of Mexico, fishers generally use runaround gillnets to catch Spanish Mackerel. Fishers set runaround gillnets directly on schools of Spanish Mackerel, resulting in little associated bycatch.

Since gillnet fisheries for Spanish Mackerel interact with Bottlenose Dolphins and the extent of finfish bycatch in Spanish Mackerel fisheries is largely unknown, we chose to award a medium score of 2.00 here.

There is some concern that the shrimp trawlers catch significant numbers of Spanish Mackerel as bycatch. Fishing mortality from bycatch in shrimp fisheries is believed to be higher than anticipated, though remains largely unknown (NMFS 1999). Estimates of Spanish Mackerel taken in Southeast Atlantic shrimp fisheries between 1984 and 1992 number over 15 million fish and represent a potential hindrance to the recovery of populations. These numbers, however, do not take into account the abundance of King Mackerel populations during that time (Harris and Dean 1998). Moreover, the required usage of bycatch reduction devices on shrimp trawl boats operating in Florida and Texas state waters and in federal waters has reduced the overall level of finfish bycatch in the fisheries (NMFS 2003; GMFMC and SAFMC 2004).

Since the abundance of both Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Spanish Mackerel populations has been increasing since the mid-1980s, we chose not to subtract for this factor.

The U.S. Office of Protected Resources lists the North Carolina inshore, South Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico gillnet fisheries and as Category II fisheries, which means they pose a medium level of threat to protected marine mammals, specifically Bottlenose Dolphins (FR 2006). However, discard reporting programs during the 2001-2002 fishing year reported no interactions of sea turtles or marine mammals with gillnet gear (GFMFC and SAFMC 2004). Read et al. (2003) documented that entanglements of Bottlenose Dolphins in the coastal North Carolina gillnet fishery were rare.

Since 1999, federal regulations under the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan have prohibited gillnet fishing in coastal waters from November 15 to March 31 from Savannah, Georgia to Sebastian Inlet, Florida when endangered Right Whales are likely to be present. These regulations also prohibit the year-round use of gillnets at night in this same area (GMFMC and SAFMC 2004).