Does the concept of spawning per recruit make sense?

Type Article
Date 2000-08
Language English
Author(s) Rochet Marie-Joelle
Affiliation(s) IFREMER, Lab Maerha, F-44311 Nantes 03, France.
Source ICES Journal of Marine Science (1054-3139) (Elsevier), 2000-08 , Vol. 57 , N. 4 , P. 1160-1174
DOI 10.1006/jmsc.2000.0803
WOS© Times Cited 20
Keyword(s) Teleost fishes, Population dynamics, Life history, Density dependence, Biological reference points
Abstract Density dependence means that exploited fish populations exhibit earlier maturity, a faster growth rate, increased fecundity and reduced egg size. Here, the consequences of these effects on population dynamics, the estimation of spawning biomass per recruit and associated biological reference points are examined by a simulation model. The model is a self-regenerating model in which the population parameters (age at maturity, growth, fecundity, egg size) vary according to three classes of population abundance. Early life stages are characterized by a size-dependent growth and mortality model. It is concluded that spawning per recruit is an ambiguous concept because, if density dependence occurs in the adult population, the spawning biomass of a cohort is not proportional to the number recruited. This leads to significant level of uncertainty in the estimates of spawning biomass per recruit and the associated biological reference points such as F-low, F-med, F-high and VSPR.
Full Text
File Pages Size Access
publication-485.pdf 28 467 KB Open access
Top of the page