Growth of silver hake within the US continental shelf ecosystem of the northwest Atlantic Ocean

Von Bertalanffy growth parameters were estimated for silver bake Merluccius bilinearis within four regions of the United States continental shelf ecosystem of the northwest Atlantic Ocean during 1975-1980, 1982-1987 and 1988-1992. Differences in silver hake growth were found between the Middle Atlantic and southern Georges Bank regions (P<0.01) over all three time periods. Growth also differed between northern Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine (P<0.01) during 1975-1980 and 1982-1987, and significant differences between southern Georges Bank and northern Georges Bank were found only during 1982-1987. Silver hake in the Gulf of Maine exhibited larger asymptotic sizes, but attained their asymptotic size at slower rates (L(infinity)=47 cm and K=0.33) in comparison to silver bake in the Middle Atlantic (L(infinity)=43 cm and K=0.51), while growth parameter estimates for silver bake on Georges Bank were intermediate between these. Although significant differences in growth of silver hake between the various regions are consistent with separate stocks in the U.S. continental shelf ecosystem, the growth characteristics from the different regions are inconsistent with the presently assigned stock boundaries. (C) 1996 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles