08-29-2013, 04:51 PM
Show me your data. I'd love to see it.
I'm not saying you're wrong, but I have a hard time finding good data on growth rates for smaller perch. I do see studies on ages that indicate about 11 or so years is how old they typically can get, but beyond that you have to know big words to be able to understand what they are saying.
If they grew 2 inches per year up to about 9 inches, and then slowed down to about 1 inch per year, and then they only live to 10-14 years (which is what I'm seeing), then that would explain why we have a lot of 13-15 inch fish, but that they don't seem to get much bigger. 2 inches per year up to 9 would be 4.5 years, then 1 inch per year after that would put a 15 inch perch at about 10.5 years old.
My guess is they do grow fast at smaller sizes. Probably more like egg to 4 inches in the first 1 to 1.5 years, then probably about 2 inches per year for a couple years, then they slow down to about 1 inch per year. Obviously, it is not linear.......
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I'm not saying you're wrong, but I have a hard time finding good data on growth rates for smaller perch. I do see studies on ages that indicate about 11 or so years is how old they typically can get, but beyond that you have to know big words to be able to understand what they are saying.
If they grew 2 inches per year up to about 9 inches, and then slowed down to about 1 inch per year, and then they only live to 10-14 years (which is what I'm seeing), then that would explain why we have a lot of 13-15 inch fish, but that they don't seem to get much bigger. 2 inches per year up to 9 would be 4.5 years, then 1 inch per year after that would put a 15 inch perch at about 10.5 years old.
My guess is they do grow fast at smaller sizes. Probably more like egg to 4 inches in the first 1 to 1.5 years, then probably about 2 inches per year for a couple years, then they slow down to about 1 inch per year. Obviously, it is not linear.......
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