Svajunas Stankus
Institute of Ecology, Akademijos 2, 2600 Vilnius, Lithuania

Key words: turbot, growth, sex structure, catches, the Lithuanian EEZ.

Abstract.
The growth of turbot in length and weight is described using the modified von Bertalanffy equation on the basis of data obtained from back calculations. The study suggests differences in male and female growth rate in both length and weight. The rate of turbot length growth is the highest in age groups 1 and 2, while the difference between the male and female growth rate becomes more apparent in age group 3. The greatest weight increments of turbot females was observed in age group 8 and of males in age group 7. The range of turbot age groups caught in the 1998-2000 period was 1-16 for females and 1-11 for males. The amount of females in the coastal zone was on average from 1.4 to 1.9 times lower than that of males. Analysis of the turbot commercial catch age structure in different years showed a tendency towards a decline in the catch of fish from older age groups, females in particular. The CPUE index decreased from 20.3 kg per net in May 1995 to 2.1 kg per net in May 2001. Intensive turbot fishery in the coastal zone has influenced the abundance of juvenile fish.