Weight-based population analysis: an estimation method

Generally, the individual weight of large fish is measured at landing, and thus, their weight composition is easily obtained. In this paper, we develop a method of population analysis using weight composition of fish, called weight-based population analysis, or WPA. WPA needs data of catch-at-weight, weight composition, weight from the growth and natural mortality M. We apply the method to the walleye pollack fishery in Funka Bay to evaluate its validity. The results show that the population size estimated from WPA reflects the features of population dynamics, and the estimated parameters reflect this walleye pollack fishery. Further, we compare the results of WPA with those of virtual population analysis (VPA) using catch-at-age data. The trend of population dynamics estimated using WPA was comparable to the results of VPA, suggesting that WPA can estimate population size as well as VPA. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.