Life history traits and abundance of Northeast Atlantic fish

<p>Life history characteristics such as asymptotic length <i>L</i>_<i>∞</i>, growth rate<i> K</i>, the length at which 50% of the individuals have reached maturity <i>L</i>_<i>mat</i>, and natural mortality <i>M</i> are therefore often used to indicate the sensitivity of different species to fishing. When species-specific information is missing, an estimate of the maximum length<i> L_max</i> of a species can be used to infer asymptotic length, growth rate, natural mortality, and proportion mature at length. Here, we provide a data base containing life history parameters of 271 species along with the references of these values and gear efficiency estimates for all species. Further, we provide average annual catch indices within inhabitated areas for each species. </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>