The use of otolith microstructure in resolving issues of first year growth and spawning seasonality of white hake, Urophycis tenuis, in the Gulf of Maine-Georges Bank region

White hake, Urophycis tenuis, has become an increasingly important commercial species in the northeastern United States. Landings from the Gulf of Maine-Georges Bank region steadily increased from less than 1,000 metric tons (t) in the late 1960's to approximately 7,500 t in 1984, averaged about 5,800 t during 1986-91, and increased to an average of 9,300 t during 1992-93. An assessment of white hake conducted in 1984 indicated that landings above 6,000 t would probably not be sustainable. However, a lack of information regarding the biology of the species and the fishery (e.g. catch-at-age data) left the evaluation uncertain. Recent analyses have estimated the long-term potential catch to be about 6,500 t. The stock structure of white hake in the Gulf of Maine-Georges Bank region is uncertain. While previous assessments of the population in U.S. waters have assumed a single stock inhabiting the waters of the Gulf of Maine south to the mid-Atlantic Bight, the existence of two reproductively isolated stocks in the northwest Atlantic has been revealed, and their spawning seasonality determined.