Observed size distribution changes in American lobsters over a 12-year period in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada.

ABSTRACT: Size distribution and size frequency information of American lobsters (Homarus americanus) are often used to help estimate the age distributions, and reproductive output for the species and to guide the determination of appropriate minimum legal sizes for the fishery. This study used truncated linear regression models to estimate the effects of sampling year, sampling month, lobster sex and water depth on the lobster size. A dataset of almost 130,000 trap-caught lobsters from the two most important lobster fishing areas of Atlantic Canada collected over a 12-year period (2004-2015) was analyzed. It was shown that truncated models can help to account for biases due to the trap sampling method from vessels and from wharf samplings. There were significant annual and seasonal changes in size d

SUBMITTER: Koepper S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10703322 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature