Documenting recovery of a spawning aggregation through size frequency analysis from underwater laser calipers measurements

Many spawning aggregations of marine fishes have been fished beyond the point of sustainability, leading to increased calls for protection through seasonal and/or site-specific fishery closures. Once a closure has been put in place, monitoring the aggregation is imperative in order to learn whether protection leads to the recovery of the population. Current methods for monitoring the status of spawning aggregations rely largely on counts, either...