Evidence that the Migration of the Northern Subpopulation of Pacific Sardine (Sardinops sagax) off the West Coast of the United States Is Age-Based

Analysis of fish movements has been an important area of study for fisheries ecology and population dynamics for decades. Pacific sardine, Sardinops sagax, along the west coast of the United States exhibit a well-defined large-scale seasonal migration. Larger and older fish are found in the northern reaches of their range during summer and contract to southerly offshore areas for spawning during spring. Because of the close correlation between fish size and age it has not yet been determined if movements are size- or age-based. Measuring spatial changes in the age structure conditioned on individual lengths was used to determine the roles of age versus length in the seasonal migration. S. sagax have a pattern of increasing age-at-length with seasonal northward movements and offshore movements for spawning. The pattern of increasing age-at-length with distance from the origin eliminates a solely length-based process of movement and supports age-based movement. Patterns in the size and age when fish first show migratory behaviors, coupled with the patterns observed during the spawning season, support a hypothesis that migratory behaviors are linked to age-based ontogenetic changes associated with maturation.