Fisheries in boreal ecosystems

Northern boreal shelf ecosystems are characterized by relatively few dominant species with strong interactions. The environment is highly dynamic, with strong impacts from oceanographic events that have major influences on fish stocks by altering recruitment, growth, and migration patterns. Excessive catches of one species may lead to the collapse of an important predator or prey in the system and may cause changes in the growth and survival patterns of other species in the food web. Four ecosystems - the Barents Sea/Norwegian Sea, the Bering Sea, the Iceland/Jan Mayen area, and the Newfoundland Shelf area - are compared and the impacts of climate and fishing are discussed on the basis of the recent literature. 2000 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea