Use of Scales, Otoliths and Fin Rays to Determine Age, Growth, and Life History Characteristics of Fishes

Growth is a key factor affecting the survival, age, and life history characteristics of fishes. Calcified fish tissues, such as scales, otoliths, and fin rays, provide an archival record of growth as reflected in daily growth increments (otoliths), circuli (scales) and annuli (otoliths, scales, and bone) in addition to the environmental chemistry encountered by an individual fish during its life cycle.   This makes these tissues well-suited for studies of age, life history, and growth and  effects of environmental variation and climate change  on these characteristics.  Age, in particular, is of interest for estimating growth, mortality, and maturation rates as well as for run reconstruction. To increase collaboration in this area, we invited researchers to present results of their growth pattern interpretation studies of salmon and other species.  We also called on scale and otolith age readers to present current protocols for aging fish using scales, otoliths, and other hard structures useful to researchers and biologists.