Density and temperature dependent growth of pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) in the Archipelago Sea

Abstract

In the Archipelago Sea, pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) is an important species in both commercial and recreational fisheries. Pikeperch is caught mainly with small mesh size gillnets, and annual fishing mortality is high. The possible effects of such fisheries, as well as temperature or density on pikeperch growth have not been studied earlier. The first hypothesis of this study was that the effect of temperature on growth is positive and that of density is negative. The second hypothesis was that size-selectivity of gillnets causes the fast-growing individuals to be caught at younger ages than the slow-growing ones. The results showed that temperature had a significant positive effect on growth, and this was greater than the negative effect of year-class density, which was also significant. The gillnet selectivity caused a difference of up to 60 mm in back-calculated lengths in the fully recruited age groups within the same year class, between pikeperch caught at age 6+ and age 9+. Thus, the Rosa Lee phenomenon caused by gillnet size-selectivity led to the removal of faster growing specimens from the population at younger ages. This can potentially cause underestimation of real growth, and thus, poor fishery management.