Maturity and Spawning in Fish

Abstract

In order to manage a stock effectively it is very important to understand the dynamics of that stock. Three critical pieces of information required to manage any fishery properly are: (1) Location of spawning areas; (2) Timing of spawning seasons; (3) Estimation of size at maturity. This information can be obtained by studying the spawning patterns of a stock. This type of data was vital in the Irish Sea cod recovery programme (the closure of the Irish Sea box from February to May of this year). This area represents a large spawning ground for the Irish Sea cod and the closure was to protect the spawning adults.