Statistics of Reproduction and Early Life History Survival of the Georges Bank Sea Scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) Population
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Richard McGarvey, Fredric Serchuk and Ian A. McLaren

Department of Biology, Dalhousie University
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4J1

Source - Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science, Volume 13: 83-99
ISSN-0250-6408

Abstract

In a spatial analysis of the Georges Bank sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) population, variables of population reproduction and abundance are calculated from Canadian and USA research survey size-frequency data. Using commercial catch as a scaling factor to obtain absolute estimates, the time averages of harvestable-sized population numbers and meat-weight biomass, annual recruit numbers, and egg production were calculated from 1977 to 1988 for five principal subregions of Georges Bank. Average survival from egg to age 2 was obtained directly.

Incorporating recent field sampling measurements of larval densities in the water column, survival and thus natural mortality was estimated for egg to larva and larva to age 2 juvenile. The size-specific fecundity vector was also employed in a lifetime egg production-per-recruit analysis. Detailed error analysis of the scaling coefficient and sensitivity analysis of potential error due to gear selectivity were combined into confidence intervals for the estimated population statistics.

Language - English
Publisher - Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), Dartmouth, N.S., Canada
Publication Date - December 1992
Publication Type - Journal Article
Descriptors - abundance, Georges Bank, molluscs