Distribution, age and growth, and sexual maturity of American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides (Fabricius)) on Flemish Cap (NAFO Division 3M

• Main Authors: W. R. Bowering, W. B. Brodie
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1994
• Subjects: Key words; Age; American plaice; distribution; Flemish Cap; growth; maturation; temper- ature; Northwest Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.490.6512; http://journal.nafo.int/J16/bowering.pdf

American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides) distribution, age and growth, and sexual maturity on the Flemish Cap from 1978 to 1985 were determined. American plaice were distributed mainly in the shallower areas, generally in the central, southern and south-western areas of Flemish Cap. Densities were much lower on average than in the adjacent Grand Bank area. There was no size selective distribution by depth or temperature. Examination of otoliths revealed that females grew at a faster rate than males after age 3. The maximum age recorded was 15 years, which was considerably lower than the value for adjacent stocks of American plaice. In many years the population was dominated by one year-class, which comprised up to 68 % of the catch numbers. The M50 values for age and length for males were 3.8 years and 26.4 cm, respectively, and the corresponding values for females were 6.2 years and 39.7 cm. The lengths at M50 were similar to those for American plaice in other areas of the Northwest Atlantic, although the ages at M50 were considerably lower.