Marine - Species - Sheepshead

Recreational Fishery in SC

Total recreational catch for sheepshead increased through the 1980’s until reaching a peak (for the series) in 1992. After 1992, annual total catch was variable with both increasing and decreasing time periods. The recent 10 year average catch has been 156,855 fish per year with this level being maintained since 2008. The current 14 inch minimum total length size limit went into effect in 2012.

Commercial landings, while also variable, have been declining since the 1960's. The majority of commercial landings were by-catch from the shrimp trawl fishery (41.3%) and the handline/trotline fishery (38.5%). I recent years there have only been 3 years of reported commercial landings since 2000 (2004, 2010, 2011).

The recreational catch data is provided by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which conducts phone and angler-intercept surveys to monitor angler activities and catches. For more information see: https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/.

The commercial fisheries data is provided by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which compiles commercial information provided by state agencies. For more information, see: https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/.

Additional Graph Information

Commercial and recreational catches are measured in number of individuals or pounds of fish caught. Changes in catch among years may be the result of changes in abundance, fishing effort, or a combination of the two.

On each graph, the horizontal dotted lines above or below the "10 year average" represent one "standard deviation" unit, which is a measure of how variable the annual data are around the 10-year average. In general, the area between one standard deviation above the mean and one standard deviation below the mean includes approximately 68% of all values. Approximately 95% of observations in the data set are found within two standard deviation units of the average and is referred to as the prediction interval.