Estimation of growth parameters integrating tag-recapture, length-frequency, and direct aging data using likelihood and Bayesian methods for the tropical deepwater snapper Pristipomoides filamentosus in Hawaii

Pristipomoides filamentosus is an economically and culturally important species of deepwater snapper found throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific. From 1989–1993, the State of Hawaii initiated a tagging program with fish opportunistically recaptured by scientists and fishers to quantify growth and other life history parameters. Over approximately 10 years, 10.5 % of 4179 tagged P. filamentosus were recaptured. We used these data to compare von Bertalanffy growth parameters estimated using Bayesian and likelihood approaches. Next, we defined an objective cost function to estimate growth parameters that integrated the tagging data with direct aging and length frequency data used in previous regional growth studies. Our results reconcile 30+ years of effort from various methods to estimate growth parameters for P. filametosus in Hawaii (L∞ = 68.14 cm FL [95 % Confidence Interval (CI): 65.42–69.54] and K = 0.22 yr−1 [CI: 0.20–0.25]), demonstrate the importance of individual variability in the species due primarily to the asymptotic length parameter L∞, and suggest the effects of sexual dimorphism on growth as a focus of future inquiry. These results have direct management implications as growth is a critical input for age-based stock assessment models and often used as a proxy for other life history traits.