A commonly cited reason for the failure of time-area closures to achieve fisheries management goals is the displacement of fishing effort from inside the closure into the surrounding area still open to fishing. Designing time-area closures that are predicted to achieve management goals under multiple spatial patterns of effort redistribution will increase chances of success. Using data from an estuarine gill net fishery, we tested if there are time-area closures predicted to reduce bycatch of two protected species groups while maintaining target catch under four simulated effort redistribution patterns. We found that the pattern of effort redistribution had a substantial impact on the amount of predicted bycatch in each closure scenario. Multiple closures were predicted to reduce bycatch of these species under all four simulations of effort redistribution. However, some combinations of closure and effort redistribution pattern resulted in estimated bycatch being higher than without a closure. We did not find any time-area closures that resulted in a predicted reduction in bycatch while maintaining target catch at original levels. We demonstrate a simple way for fisheries managers to account for the uncertainty in fishers' behavior by designing time-area closures that are predicted to reduce bycatch under multiple potential patterns of spatial redistribution of fishing effort.

Prompted by concerns about the status of Atlantic Sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus, in 2012 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration listed one distinct population segment (DPS) as threatened (Gulf of Maine) and listed the remaining four DPSs as endangered (New York Bight, Chesapeake Bay, Carolina, and South Atlantic). To provide information for recovery planning, we estimated the survival of subadult and adult Atlantic Sturgeon in two river basins within the Carolina DPS (Roanoke and Cape Fear rivers, North Carolina) and two basins within the South Atlantic DPS (Ashepoo–Combahee–Edisto rivers [ACE], South Carolina; Altamaha River, Georgia). Estimated detection probability varied strongly by season but was similar among river basins, likely reflecting a winter migration into marine waters with minimal receiver coverage. Apparent monthly survival was very high and precisely estimated for the Roanoke River (0.985; 95% credible interval [CI] = 0.970–0.995), Cape Fear River (0.979; 95% CI = 0.971–0.986), ACE (0.989; 95% CI = 0.979–0.993), and Altamaha River (0.985; 95% CI = 0.973–0.994) basins. A pooled estimate for 87 adults from all four basins was 0.988 (95% CI = 0.982–0.992). The monthly rates implied annual apparent survival rates of 0.839 (Roanoke River basin), 0.778 (Cape Fear River basin), 0.871 (ACE basin), and 0.842 (Altamaha River basin); the pooled estimate for adults was 0.860. Our estimated survival rates were similar to other recent estimates for Atlantic Sturgeon but lower than recent estimates for several populations of Gulf Sturgeon A. oxyrinchus desotoi. Recovery of Atlantic Sturgeon in these southeastern rivers will occur more quickly if survival can be increased to a level that is consistent with published estimates of true natural mortality (0.03–0.07; annual survival ≥ 0.93). Received March 18, 2015; accepted August 26, 2015

Cape Hatteras is a major topographic feature on the continental shelf of the U.S. eastern seaboard that changes the dynamics of nearshore large ocean currents, including the Labrador Current and Gulf Stream. Cape Hatteras constricts shelf habitat and restricts the migratory corridors of highly migratory species through this area. Our objective was to describe the seasonal patterns of presence for three species-the Spiny Dogfish Squalus acanthias, Atlantic Sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus, and Sandbar Shark Carcharhinus plumbeus-and analyze environmental conditions associated with fish presence near this feature. These species are managed under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and two of them are also listed as species of concern under the Endangered Species Act. Transmitter detections from tagged fish recorded by the Cape Hatteras acoustic array, which was deployed just south of the cape, indicated that these species are present year-round. The greatest number of detections occurred from November through April. This simple baseline of seasonal presence can provide insights for regional offshore development activities, which have the potential to affect movement patterns of migratory species through the Cape Hatteras constriction. Our results show the value of strategically placed acoustic arrays for observing fish habitat use and provide presence/absence data to enhance our understanding of species ecology and distribution.