FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 73, NO. 2 



Table 3.-Average body length at various ages for male and 

 female hake taken off California, Oregon, and Washington dur- 

 ing 1965-69. 



'Assigned value based on the mean of all 1-yr-old hake; sex 

 determinations were not available for 1-yr-olds. 

 2Does not include the unsexed 1-yr-old group 



While there is little variation apparent within 

 year class groups, length at age may vary by as 

 much as 4 cm betv^een year class groups. 



These data suggest that some variation in 

 growth can occur among year classes, but the 

 irregular sampling of all ages, particularly the 

 youngest, precludes construction of complete 

 growth curves by year class using length-at-age 

 data. Therefore a back-calculation technique was 

 utilized to reconstruct the growth curves for 

 several year classes as a means of further 

 examining year-class variation. 



Back calculation of body lengths was based on 

 an otolith radius-body length relationship derived 

 from hake samples collected in 1966-68. 

 Approximately 10 otoliths (5 male and 5 female) 

 per 1-cm body length interval were selected for 



70r 



60 



50 



E 

 o 



X 



I- 



Z 

 UJ 



o 



40 - 



30- 



20 



10 



. '- — Moles 



California, Oregon a Washington 

 samples combined. 



California sample (ages 4-13 females only) 



Females 



2 3.3 4.3 5.3 6.3 7.3 8.3 9.3 10.3 IL3 12.3 13.3 



AGE (years) 



Figure lO.-Average fork lengths at various ages for Pacific hake collected off California, Oregon, and 

 Washington combined, and from California alone (Best 1963). 



Table 4.-Mean body length (cm) at various ages (in years) for 1956-62 year classes of hake. 



348 



