Population dynamics of the Egyptian Sole Solea aegyptiaca Chabanaud, 1927 (Osteichthyes: Soleidae), in Qarun Lake, Egypt

Abstract

Aspects of population dynamics of Solea aegyptiaca, which is considered one of the most important commercial fish species in Egypt fisheries, the sample was collected monthly between January 2015 to December 2015 from landing sites. Age and growth studies based on otolith reveals that the relatively fast growth occurs at maximum age of 4 years. The back-calculated total length range from 15.29 cm at age I to 27.12 cm at IV years. Growth was described by Von-Bertalanffy model as Lt = 28.60(1-e-0.563(t+0.350)) and Wt = 186.31 (1-e-0.563(t+0.350)2.932. Estimates of total, natural, and fishing mortality were 1.10, 0.29, and 0.81 year-1, respectively. The value of exploitation rate (E= 0.74) indicates that the species is suffering from high fishing pressure.