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Gulf of Mexico tripletail live life in the fast lane

By: Amanda Jefferson / Published: Jul 30, 2020

Many saltwater anglers would agree that tripletail, aka “blackfish,” have the whole package. They’re found in predictable nearshore locations (e.g., beside channel markers and underneath floating debris), they put up a thrilling fight once hooked and – best of all – they taste quite delicious. Given these characteristics, along with progressively strict regulations on historically depleted species like red snapper, tripletail have become increasingly popular among Gulf of Mexico anglers.

Previously underutilized fishes, like tripletail, can provide considerable benefits to anglers; however, sudden intensification of fishing pressure on any given species can spell trouble. In such instances, fisheries biologists must gather accurate, up-to-date data to ensure increases in popularity don’t result in population declines.

Ultimately, managers use the results from these analyses to help ensure the sustainability of fished species, since fast-growing and short-lived species can generally be harvested more heavily compared to slow-growing and long-lived species.

A new tripletail study

A couple of northern Gulf tripletail age and growth studies exist, but they were published in the 1990s, which means they likely don’t reflect the current dynamics of the stock and fishery. Realizing that fishing pressure on Gulf tripletail has increased considerably, we decided to conduct a new study.

By last fall, we had aged 229 tripletail measuring between 8 and 30 inches and weighing between 1 and 30 pounds. Remarkably, ages ranged from just 0 to 4 years, with most specimens only 1 or 2 years old! The resulting growth models indicated very rapid growth during the first year of life.

A colossal tripletail

Just when we were ready to call our study complete, Josh Jorgensen – avid angler and host of the online fishing show BlacktipH – hooked a colossal 37-inch, 39.3-pound tripletail (the fourth largest on record worldwide!) off Venice, Louisiana. Realizing that this would be the largest tripletail ever aged, we contacted the angler and asked if we could include the fish in our study. Luckily, he’d mailed it home to Florida for preservation purposes, and he enthusiastically agreed to let us age it.

Josh Jorgensen and Captain Blake Rigby (Tripletail Charters in Venice, Louisiana) proudly display the enormous tripletail that we aged in our study. (Photo by Davis Bennett)
Josh Jorgensen and Captain Blake Rigby (Tripletail Charters in Venice, Louisiana) proudly display the enormous tripletail that we aged in our study. (Photo by Davis Bennett)

When we examined the otolith (ear-stone) cross-sections under the microscope, we were astonished: the otolith contained only five rings. The Louisiana giant was likely only five years old, despite weighing almost 40 pounds!

Based on our results, northern Gulf tripletail live fast and die young – in fact, most fish caught by anglers are just 1 or 2 years old. While much still remains unknown about this species, particularly with respect to its spawning and migration patterns, our study indicates that tripletail here in the northern Gulf can likely withstand moderate to high levels of fishing pressure without becoming overfished – which is excellent news for anglers and tripletail alike.

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