Comparative Analysis of Algorithms for Estimating Fish Population Dynamics

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

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