Skate mortality: Bayesian state-space model ===== The goal of the model was to obtain decadal mortality estimates of three different size classes of winter skates (*Leucoraja ocellata*) on the eastern Scotian Shelf. The time series are largely non-informative for several of the model parameters (catchability, recruitment rate, and stage transition probability), so informative Bayesian priors are used. The model described here is a Bayesian state-space model implemented in both JAGS and AD Model Builder. The model description and alternative model formulations are fully described in Swain et al. (2009) authors: Trevor Davies and Steve Martell