The availability of data to improve indices of stock reproductive potential was reviewed for 42 Northwest Atlantic groundfish stocks comprising gadoids, flatfishes, redfishes and grenadiers. For many of the stocks, information on population parameters such as stock size and size/age composition estimates exists for three or more decades. Data on fish age, weight, maturity and sex ratios in the population have also been extensively collected, often allowing for establishment of time series of annual data that could be used for assessing spawning stock biomass and female spawning stock. However, possibilities for estimating stock potential egg production are constrained by scarcity of fecundity data. Data on fish condition, which can be useful in developing fecundity models, were seldom collected in earlier times, but have increased in recent decades. A data richness index, combining information about data quantity and quality, ranked most gadoid stocks as "data comprehensive" with a high proportion of stocks possessing some fecundity information. Flatfish stocks generally were "data moderate" owing to slightly shorter time series of data, while redfish and grenadier stocks in general were "data restricted". Published studies linking aspects of reproductive potential with parental characteristics and/or recruitment have become more frequent as "data richness" has improved for many stocks, but generally the prevalence of such studies remains low.
Bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix, are distributed worldwide and found regionally along the eastern United States in the Gulf of Mexico and from Florida to Maine. The species supports a major recreational fishery and to a lesser extent a seasonal commercial fishery in NAFO Divisions 5 and 6. The ages of 3 334 bluefish were determined using scales from bluefish collected off the U.S. northeast coast during Northeast Fisheries Science Center autumn bottom trawl surveys in 1985 96, a period within which bluefish abundance decreased substantially. This study used length and age data to estimate growth rates by sex and by year. Maturation patterns were examined for the period 199396. The autumn geographical distribution of age-classes 0, 1, 2 and 3+ fish was also analyzed.The oldest bluefish in the study was twelve years old and the largest was 88 cm (fork length). No significant differences were found in growth between sexes or on an inter-annual basis; von Bertalanffy growth parameters for both sexes and all years combined were L inf = 87.2 cm, k = 0.26 and t 0 = -0.93. Incremental growth rates in length showed a significant decrease after the age of two. The median length at maturity was 33.9 cm for males and 33.4 cm for females. The median age at maturity was 1.2 and 1.1 years for males and females, respectively. Younger fish were almost always found inshore and older age-classes tended to be found mostly offshore.
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