This unique book, a long-term project of the EIFAC Working Party on Ageing of Coarse Fish, is the culmination of years of research into satisfactory methods for determining the ages of freshwater fish, a matter of paramount importance to fisheries managers. The book contains photomicrographs of scales and otolith and fin-ray sections, which can be used reference. All material used in the preparation of the micrographs was taken from fish of known age grown in European waters. Where possible, examples have been provided for young, middle-aged and old specimens of each species. The most common non-salmonid species of European fish are covered here, with salmonid species covered in volume 2.