An individual-based approach to year-class strength estimation

Estimating year-class strength-the number of larvae hatched in a given year-from survey data is key to investigating fish population dynamics. Year-class strength can be estimated from catch-at-age data using catch curves. In practice, most catch-curve assumptions are violated, which can result in s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ICES Journal of Marine Science
Main Authors: Thanassekos, S, Latour, RJ, Fabrizio, Mary C.
Format: Text
Language:unknown
Published: W&M ScholarWorks 2016
Subjects:
Catch-Curve Data
Striped Bass
Largemouth Bass
Cohort Analysis
Chesapeake Bay
Barents Sea
Larval Fish
Survival
Growth
Model
Fisheries Science Peer-Reviewed Articles
Aquaculture and Fisheries
Online Access:https://scholarworks.wm.edu/vimsarticles/794
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/context/vimsarticles/article/1794/viewcontent/fsw067.pdf
Description
Summary:Estimating year-class strength-the number of larvae hatched in a given year-from survey data is key to investigating fish population dynamics. Year-class strength can be estimated from catch-at-age data using catch curves. In practice, most catch-curve assumptions are violated, which can result in spurious estimates of year-class strength. Among the simplifying assumptions is that pooling individuals into annual age-classes provides a representation of the population age structure that is adequate for estimating mortality. This oversimplification is unnecessary when age data are available at finer scales, and can lead to biased results. We present a new method to estimate past year-class strength with a set of equations that apply to each sampled individual. Through the reconstruction of individual histories from hatch to capture, this approach takes full advantage of the individual resolution of survey data, enables the incorporation of the processes that violate catch-curve assumptions, and provides more accurate year-class strength estimates.

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