Dg. Worthington et al., DETERMINING THE MOST EFFICIENT METHOD OF AGE-DETERMINATION FOR ESTIMATING THE AGE STRUCTURE OF A FISH POPULATION, Canadian journal of fisheries and aquatic sciences, 52(11), 1995, pp. 2320-2326
Less precise, but economic methods for estimating the age of individua
l fish can provide better estimates of age structure than precise, but
expensive methods. The benefits of using a precise ageing method can
be compromised by its cost, which may restrict the size of the sample
aged. If sample size is restricted, the effect of sampling error on an
age structure may be greater than the effect of ageing error from a l
ess precise ageing method that does not restrict sample size. We used
Monte Carlo simulations to assess the relative size of sampling and ag
eing errors when estimating the age structure of populations of Pomace
ntrus moluccensis from the southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Sam
pling error associated with ageing less than 200 individuals was, on a
verage, larger than the effects of most commonly reported ageing error
s. Other factors that may complicate this comparison of ageing methods
involve the financial cost of different methods and the logistics of
sampling more fish.