Towards resolving multiple recruitment into loliginid fisheries:Loligo gahiin the Falkland Islands fishery

Data on size structure and maturity of the commercially exploited Loligo gahi population in Falkland Island waters were collected by the Fisheries Department of the Falkland Islands Government for the years 1987–1991. Three methods were used to define the number of broods of squid recruiting to the commercial fishery each year. The three methods combined, using monthly data on mean size for each maturity stage, the relative proportions of each maturity stage in the population, and an application of the software package “MIX”, demonstrated that at least two, and more usually three, broods of squid recruit to the fishery each year. Squid recruit in February, April/May, and August/September. The data also showed that there are nearly always two broods present in the first commercial fishing season and usually two broods present in the second season, with overlap of the April/May recruits from the first to the second fishing season