Movement Patterns and Residence of Adult Winter Flounder within a Long Island Estuary

We implanted individually coded acoustic transmitters into 40 adult winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus (mean total length = 320 mm; range = 240-423 mm) and monitored them by use of passive acoustic telemetry from September 2007 to April 2009 to classify spatial and temporal movement patterns and quantify residency in Shinnecock Bay, eastern Long Island, New York. Overall, 94,250 valid detections were received. Winter flounder remained inshore, and 89% of the total detections occurred between May and October when bottom water temperature exceeded 15 degrees C. Residency in Shinnecock Bay was dependent on time of release and varied greatly from a few weeks to more than 6 months; total presence (number of days on which individual fish were detected within the bay) averaged 22.0 d (range = 1-132 d). Tracked winter flounder were classified as exhibiting three movement patterns: (1) inner bay movements (short term versus long term), (2) dispersal to offshore waters, and (3) connectivity to other inshore areas. The first two patterns were consistent with historical notions of spatially overlapping resident and migratory individuals, whereas fish that displayed the third pattern may have exhibited a larger home range. These results provide insight into winter flounder movements, residency, and stock structure in a coastal bay of Long Island and provide important information for management. The interaction of exploitation and divergent migration behaviors may be a factor contributing to the winter flounder's decline in Long Island bays; however, more work will be required to obtain a full understanding of the spatial behavior and stock structure of this species.