1 Yellow Perch Length-Fecundity and Length-Egg Size Relationships in Indiana Waters of Lake Michigan

Abstract. – This study was undertaken to quantify the length-fecundity and length-egg size relationships for yellow perch Perca flavescens in the Indiana waters of Lake Michigan. Data were pooled from gill net collections made in 1985-86 and 1999, resulting in a wide length range of mature female yellow perch (172-332 mm TL). The length- fecundity relationship was: log10F =-3.220 + 3.223 log10TL (r2 = 0.89), where F = fecundity and TL = total length in mm. The mean preserved egg volume increased with yellow perch TL and was represented by the equation: log10V =- 2.06 + 1.10 log10TL (r2 = 0.48), where V = preserved egg volume (mL), and TL = total length. These results reveal that larger females produced both more and larger eggs than smaller females. Therefore, intense harvest targeting large yellow perch (primarily females) in the 1980s and 1990s may have had an effect on the quantity and quality of eggs spawned by the population, possibly resulting in reduced recruitment. 3 Fecundity may be defined as the spawning potential of fish for a particular season or alternatively, the number of ripening eggs in a female prior to the next spawnin