Age and growth rate of perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) from a special angling lake Skomielno

Abstract

Summary . During control fishing surveys carried out in the 2005 and 2006 on the special angling lake Skomielno, 56 perches were captured and their scales examined for determination of this species age and growth rate. There were performed individual measurements of fish, while its growth rate and body weight were established by the length-based methods and back-reading procedure. Perch condition was determined by calculating the Fulton coefficient. The age of perch from Skomielno fishing site ranged within I+ up to VIII+ age classes, while IV+ age group was a clear dominant (contributing 30.5% of all fish examined) as well as VI+ (22.2% of fish). The highest average perch length increment was recorded for juvenile fish of VII+ age-group (172 g) and slightly lower for V+ and VI+ ones, i.e. 91 g, 80 g, respectively. A condition coefficient calcu-lated for perches from Skomielno Lake averaged 2.3. Key words: perch, Perca fluviatilis, fish age, growth rate, Skomielno Lake INTRODUCTION Perch (