Comparative Analysis of Algorithms for Estimating Fish Population Dynamics

The aim of the present work is to create a tool for comparing algorithms for estimatingthe dynamics of the abundance of individual fish species in Lake Baikal based on experimentalcatching. For each instance of a randomly selected fish, its age is determined using a specialtechnology. From the obtained data on the numbers of fish of different ages in the sample, theparameters of the given laws of age distribution are estimated. This serves as a basis for theformation of ideas about the dynamics of mortality and changes in the abundance of fish of thisspecies in previous years. Various algorithms can be used to estimate the parameters ofdistribution laws, sometimes leading to considerably different results.

The discussed technique for comparing parameter estimation algorithms is basedon multiple computational experiments using the Monte Carlo method to simulate randomsamples of fish. The proposed method analyzes several algorithms for estimating the parametersof a truncated exponential distribution law for different sample sizes. As an example, the problemof estimating the mortality dynamics of the Baikal oilfish (Comephorus), the major biomass fish ofLake Baikal, is considered.