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Is proximity to the North Atlantic Drift and the Continental Shelf Current sustaining freshwater European eel populations in western Scotland?
Author(s) -
ADAMS COLIN E.,
GODFREY JASON D.,
DODD JENNIFER A.,
MAITLAND PETER S.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
freshwater biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.297
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2427
pISSN - 0046-5070
DOI - 10.1111/fwb.12021
Subject(s) - electrofishing , continental shelf , oceanography , geography , current (fluid) , fishery , gulf stream , western europe , population , fishing , period (music) , fish <actinopterygii> , geology , biology , demography , european union , sociology , economic policy , business , physics , acoustics
Summary 1. We report on freshwater resident eel numbers in western Scotland based on two time series of data, independent of each other, spanning 28 years and that do not rely upon fisheries information. 2. Data from eel captures on trash screens of a pumping station (1982–2003) on Loch Lomond and electrofishing data from a stream in Lochaber, the Allt Coire nan Con (1989–2010), are compared with similar time series eel population data from elsewhere in the British Isles and more widely in Europe. 3. Over the period of the study, indices of eel numbers from across Europe declined by between 72 and 95%; in stark contrast, neither time series from western Scotland showed evidence for decline between 1982 and 2010. 4. We provisionally conclude that freshwater populations in western Scotland are being maintained by regional processes directly related to the proximity of the leading edge of the North Atlantic Drift and the Continental Shelf Current and the direction of prevailing winds.