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Links between the recruitment success of northern E uropean hake ( M erluccius merluccius L .) and a regime shift on the NE A tlantic continental shelf
Author(s) -
Goikoetxea Nerea,
Irigoien Xabier
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
fisheries oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1365-2419
pISSN - 1054-6006
DOI - 10.1111/fog.12033
Subject(s) - hake , merluccius merluccius , copepod , merluccius , abiotic component , biology , fishery , population , oceanography , biomass (ecology) , productivity , fishing , abundance (ecology) , jellyfish , plankton , environmental science , ecology , fish <actinopterygii> , crustacean , demography , macroeconomics , sociology , economics , geology
The distribution of northern E uropean hake ( M erluccius merluccius L .) extends from the B ay of B iscay up to N orwegian waters. However, despite its wide geographical distribution, there have been few studies on fluctuations in the European hake populations. Marine ecosystem shifts have been investigated worldwide and their influence on trophic levels has been studied, from top predator fish populations down to planktonic prey species, but there is little information on the effect of atmosphere–ocean shifts on E uropean hake. This work analyses hake recruitment success (recruits per adult biomass) in relation to environmental changes over the period 1978–2006 in order to determine whether the regime shift identified in several abiotic and biotic variables in the N orth S ea also affected the N ortheast A tlantic shelf oceanography. Hake recruitment success as well as parameters such as the sea surface temperature, wind patterns and copepod abundance changed significantly at the end of the 1980s, demonstrating an ecological regime shift in the N ortheast A tlantic. Despite the low reproductive biomass recorded during the last decades, hake recruitment success has been higher since the change in 1989/90. The higher productivity may have sustained the population despite the intense fishing pressure; copepod abundance, warmer water temperatures and moderate eastward transport were found to be beneficial. In conclusion, in 1988/89 the N ortheast A tlantic environment shifted to a favourable regime for northern hake production. This study supports the hypothesis that the hydro‐climatic regime shift that affected the N orth S ea in the late 1980s may have influenced a wider region, such as the N ortheast A tlantic.