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Earliest References to Age Determination of Fishes and Their Early Application to the Study of Fisheries
Author(s) -
Jackson James R.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
fisheries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1548-8446
pISSN - 0363-2415
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8446(2007)32[321:ertado]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - fish <actinopterygii> , context (archaeology) , fishery , scale (ratio) , population , history , section (typography) , geography , sociology , computer science , biology , archaeology , demography , cartography , operating system
Age data are routinely used in fish population studies today. While various works have touched upon aspects of the history of fish aging techniques, there does not appear to be a single source that attempts to summarize the earliest literature on age determination of fishes in a broad historical context. The Fisheries Management Section formed the ad hoc Assessment of Fish Aging Techniques Committee in 2006, with development of such a review as a goal. The earliest references to rings on the hard structures of fish by Leeuwenhoek and Hederström date to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Scientific validation of annuli on the scales offish did not take place until the late 180Os, with the work of Hintze and Hoffbauer. The work of Reibisch on otoliths and Heincke with other hard structures quickly followed. These later studies on fish aging techniques came at a time when large‐scale studies offish populations were gaining momentum. While the new aging methods were adopted rapidly by many fisheries workers, debates about their validity were not uncommon. A notable example took place between Hjort and Thompson, centering on Thompson's doubts concerning the validity of scale‐based ages in Hjort's seminal 1914 paper.