Interpreting Relative Weights of Lake Trout Stocks

Interpreting relative weight (Wr) data can be facilitated by comparing mean Wr values in a sample to percentiles from a cumulative frequency distribution of population-mean Wr values from populations sampled over the range of the species. We developed a cumulative frequency distribution of population-mean Wr values for length categories of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush across their North American range. Then, we compared Wr values from seven populations in Wyoming to the cumulative frequency distribution of population-mean Wr values to gain insight into lake trout population status.