Reply to the comment by Francis on “Differences in predicted catch composition between two widely used catch equation formulations”Appears in Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 66: 126–132.

Abstract

Francis (2010. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 67: 763–765) writes a thoughtful response detailing concerns with my suggestion that the continuous (Baranov) catch formulation is preferable to the discrete catch formulation when fishing mortality is high (T.A. Branch. 2009. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 66: 126–132). He suggests the discrete formulation allows for multiple gear encounters and that formulation choice should depend on which formulation better fits the data. Here I first distinguish between gear selectivity and availability and then show that our two views are complementary: the original assumes fish groups with differing gear selectivity but full availability, whereas Francis assumes fish groups fully selected by fishing gear but with differing availability. I maintain that the discrete formulation only models a single instantaneous interaction between fish and fishing gear and therefore only part of the population can be caught if fish groups have equal gear selectivity that is less than 100%, whereas under the same assumptions, the continuous formulation would allow the entire population to be caught. Finally, when the balance between gear selectivity and availability is unknown, I agree that formulation choice could be driven by model fits to the data, although formulation choice could also be based on how the fishery operates.