A quantitative life-cycle model to identify research priorities and test management strategies for the Mackenzie River broad whitefish, Coregonus nasus Pallus

• Main Author: Thera, Trevor M.
• Language: English
• Published: 2007
• Subjects: Mackenzie River; Mackenzie river
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1993/1380

Effective management of the Mackenzie River broad whitefish (Coregonus nasus Pallus) requires detailed knowledge of life history and an overall understanding of the dynamics of the system. I propose a simulation modeling framework for analyzing the life cycle of the broad whitefish and for identifying areas where future research should be conducted. The model incorporates all sources of mortality (density-dependent, density-independent and fishing mortality) a broad whitefish may encounter during its entire life cycle. Due to the lack of empirical data, model parameters were varied randomly around a mean parameter value, which is defined by a normal distribution. Estimated means were calculated by drawing on data about broad whitefish biology or that described similar phenomenon in related species, and through experimentation with the model. Sensitivity analysis was carried out using a series of simulations involving model parameters set at values that were determined to be at the high and low biological ranges for that parameter. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)