In a Fish and Fisheries publication earlier this year, we present a method of identifying sources of mortality for larval and juvenile fish from common survey observations (abundance and size). We apply the method – a statistical state-space model – to identify vulnerable life stages (and important sources of mortality) for six economically and ecologically important fish populations. Our results identify size-dependent survival and highlight habitat transitions (pelagic to demersal) as important mechanisms influencing fish recruitment.
The work is a collaboration including those from the University of Oslo, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography, Institute of Marine Research, Oregon State University, University of Hawaii at Mānoa, and Aarhus University. The collaboration arose from the NAMOR workshops organized by J. Durant with funds from the Research Council of Norway. An open-access pdf is available here.
