Can Sex-At-Length Keys Generated from Federal and State Survey Data Be Applied to Recreational and Commercial Landings of Summer Flounder?

As part of the 2008 benchmark assessment of summer flounder, a sex-structured model was considered for summer flounder that would take into consideration the differences between the sexes (e.g. growth, natural mortality).  This model requires sex-structured information (e.g., sex-specific survey length-frequency data) to estimate sex-specific parameters (e.g., sex-specific M).  The federal survey databases can be configured by sex because this information is collected.  However, the sex structure of the commercial and recreational landings is unknown.  Implementation of a sex-structured model to better evaluate natural mortality rates and establish more precise biological reference points cannot proceed without this information.   In 2010 and 2011, we carried out a program to collect sex-at-length data for commercial (n=11,090) and recreational (n=6,494) landings of summer flounder from Massachusetts to North Carolina.  We then compared sex-length keys obtained from our study to those from state and federal surveys.  Results of this comparison will be presented.  The results of this project are important in assessing the need to incorporate the collection of sex data into port-sampling protocols for summer flounder.