Determination of angler reporting level for red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)in a South Carolina estuary

Angler reporting of tagged red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) was examined usin g three tag reward messages: "No Reward"; "Reward"; and "$50 Reward". "Rewa rd" is the standard message used in all state sponsored fin fish tagging pr ograms in South Carolina (SC). Hatchery produced red drum were tagged with external tags containing the various messages and released in four replicat e areas (n = 100 fish/message/area) near Port Royal Sound. Analysis of the return data for "Reward" (18.7%) and "$50 Reward" (22.9%) tags found no sta tistical differences (P > 0.05) between the two groups. However, significan tly (P < 0.05) fewer "No Reward" (11.1%) tags were returned than tags conta ining the other messages. if $50 is an adequate incentive to elicit 100% re porting, then reporting of fish tagged with the standard reward message acc urately represents angler capture level while the offer of no reward would result in only 48% reporting. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights res erved.