Stock assessment
A scientific estimate of how many fish of one species are in an area, how fast they grow and how hard they are fished.
Also: fish stock
A fish stock is a population of one species managed as a unit, such as the North Sea cod or the Indian oil sardine of the Kerala coast. Stock assessment combines catch records, the ages and sizes of fish landed, surveys by research ships and tagging studies in models that estimate the stock's size and trend. The results guide catch limits and closed seasons. In India, the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Kochi estimates marine landings and assesses stocks along the coast.