Early Life History and Recruitment in Fish Populations

Fish populations fluctuate widely in their abundances. Many of the processes influencing recruitment to the adult population or entry into a fishery occur very early in life. The variation in life histories and behaviours of young fish, and the selective processes operating on this variation, ultimately determine the identities and abundances of survivors. This volume focuses on 3 themes of importance in the analysis of the role that fish early life history plays in the number and quality of recruits: relationships between parents, progeny, and their environment; selective processes in the early life history; and contributions of early life history to the understanding of recruitment.