Methodological Tools for Assessing Tropical Fish Stocks: A Practical Guide Using R Vol.1

Dash, Gyanaranjan and Kumar, Rajan and Muktha, M and Dash, Swatipriyanka Sen and Rahangdale, Shikha and Bhendekar, S N and Dineshbabu, A P and Sasikumar, Geetha and Sreenath, K R and Gopalakrishnan, A (2024) Methodological Tools for Assessing Tropical Fish Stocks: A Practical Guide Using R Vol.1. CMFRI Special Publication (153). ICAR- Central Marine Fisheries Research institute, Kochi. ISBN 978-93-82263-67-8

Text CMFRI Special Publication No. 153_2024_Gyanaranjan Dash.pdf Download (14MB)

Abstract

Tropical fisheries represent some of the most biologically diverse and economically significant marine resources globally. The abundance and variety of tropical fish species support millions of livelihoods, providing food, employment, and cultural value to many coastal communities. Effective management of these resources is essential for ensuring their sustainability and resilience in the face of increasing environmental and anthropogenic pressures. Stock assessment, the scientific evaluation of the status of fish populations, forms the backbone of sustainable fisheries management, offering critical insights into fish stock health and guiding management decisions. Tropical fish stocks face unique challenges that distinguish them from their temperate counterparts. The high diversity of species, variability in life history traits, and often limited data availability pose significant hurdles to effective stock assessment. Besides this, tropical fisheries are highly dynamic and complex, characterized by the use of crafts and gear targeting multitude of species. This diversity makes stock assessment particularly challenging. Traditional stock assessment methods, developed primarily for temperate fisheries, may not fully capture the dynamics of tropical ecosystems. Therefore, it is crucial to adapt and develop methodologies that account for the specificities of tropical fisheries, enabling accurate assessments that inform sustainable management practices. R, a powerful statistical programming language, has emerged as a crucial tool in fisheries science, providing a versatile and comprehensive environment for data analysis, visualization, and modeling. R’s extensive package ecosystem, particularly those tailored to fisheries science, such as TropFishR, offers a robust framework for implementing advanced stock assessment techniques. This book is designed to guide fisheries scientists and practitioners through the process of using R for stock assessment of tropical fishes, equipping them with the skills and knowledge needed to conduct detailed and reliable assessments. It provides a step-by step approach to stock assessment using R, covering installation and setup of R and RStudio, application of length-based methods, and catch-based methods. Each section builds on the previous, offering a comprehensive guide from basic setup to advanced analytical techniques.

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