Age Composition, Growth and Mortality of European Hake Merluccius merluccius (Linnaeus, 1758) (Actinopterygii: Merlucciidae) from the Sea of Marmara, Turkey

This study deals with the age composition, growth and mortality of European hake Merluccius merluccius (L.) from the Sea of Marmara, Turkey. A total of 777 European hakes were sampled monthly from October 2014 to September 2015. Total lengths of all sampled individuals ranged from 10.4 cm to 55.3 cm. The length-weight relationship for all samples was calculated as W = 0.9656 L-2.989. The ages of the specimens ranged from 1 to 6. Growth parameters calculated according to the von Bertalanffy Growth Equation were L-infinity=106.358 cm, k = 0.082, t(0) = -1.097 for females, L-infinity = 102.431 cm, k = 0.091, t(0) = -0.829 for males, and L-infinity = 103.971 cm, k= 0.087, t(0) = 0.926 for all samples. According to age structure analysis, the total, natural and fishing mortality rates were calculated as 2.01, 0.19, and 1.81, respectively. The exploitation rate, E = 0.90, indicated an over-exploitation on the European hake stocks in the Sea of Marmara