Derivation of Safety Factors for Setting Harvest Quotas on Adult Walleyes from past Estimates of Abundance
- 1 September 1991
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
- Vol. 120 (5) , 620-628
- https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1991)120<0620:dosffs>2.3.co;2
Abstract
Past population estimates of adult walleyes Stizostedion vitreum can be used to set harvest quotas, provided that temporal variability in abundance of adult walleyes is accounted for. We used a long-term data set from Escanaba Lake, Wisconsin, to evaluate the accuracy of past population estimates for setting current-year quotas for adult walleyes. The results from Escanaba Lake were corroborated by comparison with other lakes where adult walleye abundance was estimated in more than 1 year. The accuracy of estimates of adult walleye abundance declined over time from the year the estimate was obtained to the year it was used to set a harvest quota. We derived safety factors for application to past estimates of population size; these factors limit the occurrence of an exploitation rate exceeding the maximum sustainable rate (35%) to approximately 1 in 40. These safety factors declined from 35% for 1-year-old estimates to less than 20% for 10-year-old estimates.Keywords
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