Length-weight relationship of bigeye scad, Selar crumenophthalmus (Bloch, 1793): Regular vs hierarchical bayesian methods

Fisheries management or conservation requires information on length-weight relationship (LWR) for the fishing regulation and biomass estimation. This study aims to assess LWR estimation using two methods, regular and Bayesian hierarchical approached for big-eye Scad (Selar crumenophthalmus). Samples of big eye Scad were collected at several fish landings around Ambon Island from March to August 2020. Length-weight relationship measurement to obtain the parameters of W = a*Lb was tested using generalized linear model and t-test. The parameter b for monthly sampling was not significantly different (F = 0.77, df = 70, P = 0.89) and showed isometric growth b=3 (t = -1.13, df = 4, P = 0.32). Regular measurement resulted parameter log10(a) = -1.99 (±SD = 1.06) dan b = 3.06 (±SD = 0.084). Bayesian method produced parameter log10(a) = -2.07 (±SD = 0.2365) dan parameter b = 3.21 (±SD = 0.1497). Weight measurement from HB approach was significantly higher than the regular method (t = 1.65; df = 405; P <0.0001), and might produce over-estimated of weight from length data. Discrepancy of these methods was overcome by combining all information of LWR to obtain the best estimation on LWR parameters.