Stock Identification Methods, 2e, continues to provide a comprehensive review of the various disciplines used to study the population structure of fishery resources. It represents the worldwide experience and perspectives of experts on each method, assembled through a working group of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. The book is organized to foster interdisciplinary analyses and conclusions about stock structure, a crucial topic for fishery science and management. Technological advances have promoted the development of stock identification methods in many directions, resulting in a confusing variety of approaches. Based on central tenets of population biology and management needs, this valuable resource offers a unified framework for understanding stock structure by promoting an understanding of the relative merits and sensitivities of each approach. - Describes 18 distinct approaches to stock identification grouped into sections on life history traits, environmental signals, genetic analyses, and applied marks - Features experts' reviews of benchmark case studies, general protocols, and the strengths and weaknesses of each identification method - Reviews statistical techniques for exploring stock patterns, testing for differences among putative stocks, stock discrimination, and stock composition analysis - Focuses on the challenges of interpreting data and managing mixed-stock fisheries

Ocean harvests have plateaued worldwide and many important commercial stocks have been depleted. This has caused great concern among scientists, fishery managers, the fishing community, and the public. This book evaluates the major models used for estimating the size and structure of marine fish populations (stock assessments) and changes in populations over time. It demonstrates how problems that may occur in fisheries dataâ€"for example underreporting or changes in the likelihood that fish can be caught with a given type of gearâ€"can seriously degrade the quality of stock assessments. The volume makes recommendations for means to improve stock assessments and their use in fishery management.

This selection of methods is based on lecture notes used at a FAO/DANIDA training course held in Mombasa, Kenya, in May-June 1980. The methods presented are: regression and correlation, estimation of growth parameters from length-frequency data, estimation of mortalities (total, natural, fishing mortality) and analysis of catch and effort data. A brief annotated bibliography of tropical fish stock assessment is included.

This publication contains guidelines for fish stock assessment and fishery management using the software tools and other outputs developed by the UK Department for International Development's Fisheries Management Science Programme (FMSP) from 1992 to 2004. It includes a CD-ROM with the installation files for each of the four FMSP software tools: LFDA (Length Frequency Data Analysis), CEDA (Catch Effort Data Analysis), YIELD and ParFish (Participatory Fisheries Stock Assessment).

"The identification of discrete resource units, whether they be called stocks, populations, migratory groups or management units, is critical to the effective management of our aquatic resources. Advances in techniques and equipment have been made in recent years in the area of such identifications. A workshop to review these advances was organized by the Panama City Laboratory of the Southeast Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service. It was held at the Miracle Mile Complex, Panama City Beach, Florida, Nov. 4-6, 1985. The major objective of the Stock Identification Workshop was to gain a more comprehensive understanding of stock identification problems and approaches to their solutions. The workshop was designed to give an opportunity to the participants to share information on methods of stock identification and to review their application to aquatic resources. The program format consisted of three sections--" Preface, paragraphs 1-2.

Intraspecific differences in erythrocyte antigens (blood types) were shown to occur in four species of Pacific salmon, the sockeye or red salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), the chinook or king salmon (O. tshawytscha), the chum salmon (O. keta), and the pink salmon (O. gorbuscha). Antisalmon-erythrocyte sera prepared in rabbits and chickens were used after absorption of species-specific antibodies. Some of these blood types were shown to differ in their frequency of occurrence between different geographic races. In addition, isoimmunizations were prepared and at least eight different patterns of antigenic composition were displayed by the cells tested. These results indicate that considerable antigenic diversity exists in salmon. Reagents to detect valuable markers for the investigation of geographic races of salmon should be obtained through further research.

This review provides an appraisal of existing, state-of-the-art fish identification (ID) tools (including some in the initial stages of their development) and shows their potential for providing the right solution in different real-life situations. The ID tools reviewed are: Use of scientific experts (taxonomists) and folk local experts, taxonomic reference collections, image recognition systems, field guides based on dichotomous keys; interactive electronic keys (e.g. IPOFIS), morphometrics (e.g. IPez), scale and otolith morphology, genetic methods (Single nucleotide polymorphisms [SNPs] and Barcode [BOL]) and Hydroacoustics. The review is based on the results and recommendations of the workshop "Fish Identification Tools for Fishery Biodiversity and Fisheries Assessments," convened by FAO FishFinder and the University of Vigo and held in Vigo, Spain, from 11 to 13 October 2011. It is expected that it will help fisheries managers, environmental administrators and other end users to select the best available species identification tools for their purposes.--