can always be reduced by combination; the converse is not always true. 

 A final recommendation would be to double brand a certain number of fish 

 in a designed experiment. This would allow the detection of the proportion 

 of brand "loss" or misidentif ication in the field. 

 Item 



4. Eegin the population estimate surveys as early as possible to more 

 accurately determine the adult spawning population. Cease field work by 

 mid-April after which many adults have left the River and the population 

 is predominantly small fish. 



Comment 



Adult winter flounder are probably in the Niantic River and in 

 spawning condition well before the population surveys commence. Movements 

 following spawning may be complex and the influx of adults into the 

 river which have spawned elsewhere may occur to an unknown degree. The 

 usefulness of the population survey data mostly lies in its applicability 

 in various models assessing plant impact. Furthermore the data used are 

 mostly adult population parameters such as age structure, fecundity, 

 mortality, and so forth. Therefore prolonging the sampling period to 

 encompass a period when the majority of the population is smaller, 

 mostly immature fish may not be warranted. In addition, the continuous 

 distribution of age 1 and perhaps age 2 fish both inside and outside the 

 Niantic River makes the estimation of their numbers impossible and no 

 justification can be made to use survey data to measure their numbers. 

 Item 



5. Further investigate the relationship between the population estimates 

 and CPUE. 



42 



