Determining size at maturity and minimum size limits for the lane snapper, Lutjanus synagris (Principal Investigator: Prof. Mark Tupper).

An important component of sustainable fisheries management in Trinidad and Tobago is the reduction in the catch of juvenile fish. Growth overfishing occurs when fish are harvested before they reach the size at which biomass loss to natural mortality equals the biomass gained from individual fish growth in a cohort, thus reducing fishery yields. As such there is a need to determine the size at maturity for harvested fish species in order to develop minimum size limits in the fishery. This information is also useful for improving data-limited stock assessments and developing fisheries management plans. The Southeast Data and Assessment Review of red hind states that "studies on basic life history (e.g., age‐growth relationships, length/age‐at maturity) in the US Caribbean will greatly enhance the utility of the existing length‐frequency data and should provide the greatest benefit to providing management advice in the short term. This should be placed as a top priority for key species. Fishery‐independent surveys should be considered as a top research priority for additional data collection".