FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 73, NO. 2 



60,- 



e40 



30 



20 



Figure 15.— Back-calculated growth curves for 

 1957-61 year classes. (Only otoliths from 7-yr- 

 old specimens were used.) 



10 



3.3 

 AGE 



43 

 ( years ! 



5.3 



6.3 



7.3 



observations were made from mature specimens 

 in commercial samples, and therefore hake less 

 than about 40 cm long were inadequately 

 Femoie represented or not represented at all. The com- 

 mercial data were fitted using the length-weight 

 equation W = aL^, where W = weight in grams, L 

 = length in centimeters, and a and b are cons- 

 tants. In linear form this equation becomes log W 

 = log a + b (log L). The length-weight rela- 

 tionships were calculated to be log W = -1.45990 

 -I- 2.55618 log L for males and log W = -1.68944 -I- 

 2.69509 log L for females (Figure 17). 



Typically the exponent in the length-weight 

 equation for most fusiform fishes approximates 3, 

 implying isometric growth. On the basis of data 



3.3 4.3 5.3 6.3 73 8 3 9.3 103 11.3 12.3 13.3 

 AGE ( yeors ) 



Figure 16. -Von Bertalanffy growth curves for male and female 

 Pacific hake superimposed on mean body lengths at various 

 ages, (o = females; + = males.) 



352 



