Including independent estimates and uncertainty to quantify total abundance of fish migrating in a large river system: walleye (Sander vitreus) in the Maumee River, Ohio

摘要: Walleye (Sander vitreus) in Lake Erie is a valuable and migratory species that spawns tributaries. We used hydroacoustic sampling, gill net Bayesian state-space modeling to estimate the spawning stock abundance, characterize size sex structure, explore environmental factors cuing migration of walleye Maumee River for 2011 2012. estimated abundance be between 431 000 1 446 000 individuals 386 400 857 200 2012 (95% credible intervals). A back-calculation from concurrent larval fish study produced an 78 000 237 000 spawners 2011. The ratio was skewed towards males early season but approached 1:1 later, larger entered river earlier than smaller individuals. greater during low discharge intermediate temperatures. Our approach estimating absolute uncertainty as well character...