A multivariate stock–recruitment function for cohorts with sympatric subclasses: application to maternal effects in rockfish (genus Sebastes)
I present a multivariate stock–recruitment function (MSRF) for calculating recruitment when a cohort comprises sympatric subclasses. Sympatric subclasses emerge when there are closely interacting subgroups occupying a very similar niche, but whose ecology dictates distinct mortality rates. Examples include multispecies complexes of juvenile rockfish ( Sebastes spp.) in the California current and juvenile salmon ( Oncorhynchus spp.) in streams following different life history strategies. I derive an MSRF and apply it to the ecology of larval and juvenile rockfish with maternal effects. In several species of rockfish, older mothers produce superior larvae. This is called a maternal effect. For these species, larval and juvenile cohorts comprise several sympatric subclasses, each with a distinct mortality rate related to the age of their mothers. I apply this model to data for black rockfish ( Sebastes melanops ) in California and Oregon and find the recruitment estimates based on data from a declining population may overestimate productivity of a recovering population if maternal effects are neglected. The MSRF proves to be a flexible framework for studying recruitment in the presence of sympatric subclasses.