Oceans of Redfish

A female redfish may spawn as many as 1,500,000 eggs annually. It takes approximately five years for the eggs to develop into mature adults. At this time the life cycle may be repeated. Using this information, determine how many redfish could develop from the original pair only, if all were to survive.

 

  1. If all survive, how many redfish will there be in five years?
  2. In nature this does not actually happen. What prevents this from occurring.
  3. If the redfish population stays the same (stabilizes), how many of the 1,500,000 eggs usually reach maturity? 
  4. Is the fact that all the redfish do not survive a good thing? Why?