Fishery Biology Program

The Fishery Biology Program, part of the Population Biology Branch at the Woods Hole Laboratory of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), seeks to measure important biological processes of fish and shellfish off the northeast coast of the United States. This includes determining the ages of over 50,000 samples each year and studying the reproductive output of various species.

Basic biological data are the foundation on which all assessments of fisheries resources are built. These include parameters such as the size and age composition of the population and catch (both landed and discarded), growth rates, and maturation. The most thorough assessments include age specific estimates of stock biomass, mortality rates, and predictions of future stock conditions. These require knowledge of the size and age composition of the catch and indices of relative abundance by age. Rates of growth, mortality (due to natural causes and fishing), and reproduction can only be calculated if changes in maturity or size (and numbers) at age can be monitored over time. Fish age is also a critical correlate to many biological and pathological processes.