of the weekly catch of individuals larger than 150 mm was examined to 

 determine the state of gonad development. From 1977 to the present all 

 fish larger than 150 mm were sexed. The subjective reproductive categories 

 of gonad development included near-ripe, ripe, and spent; fish considered 

 to be in a non-reproductive condition were simply classified as male, 

 female, or sex unknown. The percentage of females categorized as repro- 

 ductive from the beginning of the population survey until the second 

 week of April was used with population estimate data to calculate the 

 total number of spawning females. This number when used with the length 

 distribution of spawning females and the length-fecundity relationship 

 gave the total fecundity for a particular year. Originally the number 

 of spawning females was calculated as: 



(% females) x (% age 3 and older ) x (estimated population). 

 In 1980, this formula was changed and the number of female spawners in 

 each year was calculated as: 



(% length frequency length group) x (% female) x 



(% reproductive) x (estimated population) . 



This gave the percentage of spawning females within a length 

 group. The sum of the number of females for all length groups gave the 

 total number of spawning females. 



Both otoliths and scales were removed from winter flounder for 

 aging during 1977 and 1978. In 1979 and thereafter only scales were 

 used since good agreement was made using both parts and scale removal 

 was non-destructive. Fifty to 100 fish were selected for aging per 

 week; all fish larger then 100 mm from one or more tows were selected. 

 If the fish for aging came from just one station during a week, another 

 station was chosen for the sample the following week. Measurements of 



44 , 



