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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />9 <br /> <br />sample size to increase as the overall population increases. thereby reducing <br />the uncertainty of the results, <br /> <br />If the existing population continues to age. but there is little recruitment. <br />the population would experience a dramatic decline as it reaches its life <br />expectancy (Table 7, Figure 7). Also. fish may become senescent and too old <br />to reproduce. reducing the potential for population growth in the future. A <br />negative response is illustrated by the population shifting toward the right <br />side of the length-frequency graph, Mean length increases between 1998 and <br />2007 and remains constant thereafter. as the population becomes more skewed <br />toward older age-classes. while the number of age-classes decreases between <br />2003 and 2010. as these older age-classes begin dying off, <br /> <br />The neutral response is somewhat more difficult to define (Table 8. Figure 8). <br />While the existing population ages. some recruitment into the adult population <br />appears to be taking place: however. there are no strong age-classes coming up <br />nor any apparent trends indicating overall population growth. However. there <br />is no immediate concern of a significant decline in population either, because <br />the age-class structure is diverse and is not shifting toward the right side <br />of the graph, <br />