The Weakfish Cynoscion regalis, an economically important species, has declined over the last 30 years, corresponding with an increase in total mortality according to the most recent stock assessment. We estimated estuarine‐specific and coastwide apparent survival of Weakfish by using a Cormack–Jolly–Seber model to provide insights into the spatiotemporal component of mortality. Telemetered Weakfish (n = 342) were released across five estuaries ranging from North Carolina to New Jersey between 2006 and 2016. In estuaries from Delaware Bay and northward, egress peaked around the third week of September; in North Carolina, egress peaked by the first week of November. For three estuaries with adequate sample sizes, apparent survival estimates were similar and a joint model including all telemetered Weakfish estimated an extremely low annual apparent survival rate of 0.001 (95% credible interval [CrI] = 0.002–0.0003) or annual apparent instantaneous total mortality of 7.25 (95% CrI = 6.28–8.05). At a minimum, 61% of telemetered Weakfish emigrated in the fall, but only 2 of 149 fish with long‐lived transmitters were detected as returning to estuaries the following year. This is a small proportion for a fish that exhibits spawning site fidelity. We conclude that the disappearance of telemetered Weakfish represents mortality that occurs between emigration and the spring spawning period, potentially during overwinter periods on the continental shelf. Our study provides insights into the magnitude, timing, and location of Weakfish loss and facilitates an improved understanding of Weakfish population dynamics for use in stock rebuilding.

中文翻译：

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使用声学遥测技术估算美国东海岸的弱鱼成活率

在过去的30年中，具有重要经济意义的弱势犬Cynoscion regalis有所减少，根据最新的种群评估，总死亡率增加了。我们通过使用Cormack–Jolly–Seber模型估计死亡率的时空组成部分，估计了河口特定的海域和整个海岸的表观存活率。遥测弱鱼（n  = 342）在2006年至2016年期间从北卡罗莱纳州到新泽西州的五个河口释放。在特拉华湾和北部的河口，出口在9月的第三个星期达到顶峰；在北卡罗来纳州，出口在11月的第一周达到高峰。对于三个具有足够样本量的河口，其表观存活率估算值是相似的，包括所有遥测弱鱼的联合模型估算出的年表观存活率极低，仅为0.001（95％可信区间[CrI] = 0.002-0.0003）或年表观瞬时总死亡率。 7.25（95％CrI = 6.28–8.05）。至少有61％的遥测弱鱼在秋天移居，但在149个带有长寿命发射器的鱼中，只有2个被发现在第二年返回河口。对于显示产卵部位保真度的鱼来说，这是一小部分。我们得出的结论是，遥测弱鱼的消失代表了在迁徙和春季产卵期之间发生的死亡率，这可能是在大陆架的越冬时期。我们的研究提供了对弱鱼流失的幅度，时间和位置的见解，并有助于对弱鱼种群动态的更好理解，以用于种群重建。