Age and growth of chub mackerel (Scomber colias) in North and Northwest Iberian waters based on direct age estimation and back-calculation in otoliths.

First approach to the growth and age corroboration of Northeast Atlantic chub mackerel (Scomber colias) in Northern Iberian waters

“…Accurate age and growth information (e.g., parameters, age-length keys) and validated/corroborated age estimation criteria are necessary to provide unbiased data for the analytical assessment models (ICES, 2020b). The individual age estimation criteria based on otoliths of Atlantic chub mackerel were internationally standardized in 2015 (ICES, 2016) and ICES international calibration exercises among European otolith age readers were performed in 2012, 2015 and 2017 (Martins et al, 2014;Navarro et al, 2015;Silva and Navarro, 2018). However, few age validation or corroboration studies to support them were then available (Villamor et al, 2019;ICES, 2020c).…”