Atlantic Herring: Stock Discreteness and Abundance

Iles, T. D.; Sinclair, Michael

doi:10.1126/science.215.4533.627

Cited by 493 publications

(342 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…O'Boyle et al (1984) reported that the larvae remained largely over the spawning banks on the Scotian Shelf. They speculated that bank retention during early development was gyre-associated and that it plays a n important role in the maintenance of stock integrity, a proposal put forth earlier for Atlantic herring Clupea harengus by Iles & Sinclair (1982). A similar static drift pattern has been reported in the eastern North Atlantic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Retention of larval haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus in the Georges Bank region, a gyre-influenced spawning area

Smith¹,

Morse²

1985

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Retention of larval haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus in the Georges Bank region, a gyre-influenced spawning area

Smith¹,

Morse²

1985

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…This is also supported by genetic data that suggest restricted gene flow among the Georges Bank and more southern populations as well as heterogeneity within the GOM (Lage et al 2004, Wirgin et al 2007. By tailoring fisheries guidelines to a flawed 2-stock model, management practices may negatively affect the smaller and more vulnerable populations (Larkin 1977, Iles & Sinclair 1982, Ruzzante et al 1999, Bradbury et al 2008.In this study, we provided the most comprehensive analysis of Atlantic cod population structure in US waters to date. By means of microsatellite and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and the PanI locus, we expanded on our previous research (Wirgin et al 2007) in which we found evidence for an alternate interpretation of management units.…”

mentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Resale or Republication Not Permitted Without Written Consenmentioning

confidence: 89%

Fine-scale spatial and temporal genetic structure of Atlantic cod off the Atlantic coast of the USA

Kovach¹,

Breton²,

Berlinsky³

et al. 2010

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Atlantic cod Gadus morhua in US waters are currently managed as 2 stocks: (1) a Gulf of Maine stock and (2) a Georges Bank and south stock. This designation is decades old and warrants re-evaluation in light of concerns that fisheries management units may not reflect biologically meaningful population units. In this study, we used 10 microsatellite loci, the PanI locus, and 5 single nucleotide polymorphism markers to characterize the population genetic structure of cod in US waters. We found significant differentiation among temporally and spatially divergent populations of cod (global F ST = 0.0044), primarily stemming from 2 potentially non-neutral loci, and evidence for a population structure that strongly contradicts the current 2-stock management model. This genetic structure was stable over a 5 yr period. Our results indicate that cod in US waters are broadly structured into 3 groups: (1) a northern spring-spawning coastal complex in the Gulf of Maine (GOM), (2) a southern complex consisting of winter-spawning inshore GOM, offshore GOM and sites south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and (3) a Georges Bank population. The strongest differentiation occurs between populations in the northern and southern complex (mean F ST = 0.0085), some of which spawn in the same bays in different seasons. By means of mixture analysis, young-of-the-year fish sampled on juvenile nurseries were assigned to the spawning complex of their origin. Our findings contribute to a growing body of knowledge that Atlantic cod and other marine fish populations are structured on a finer scale than previously thought and that this structure supports biocomplexity and locally adapted populations. As such, it may be warranted to re-evaluate current management units and tailor management plans toward this finer scale.KEY WORDS: Atlantic cod · Microsatellite DNA · Single nucleotide polymorphism · Population genetic structure · Stock identification · Gadus morhua Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 410: [177][178][179][180][181][182][183][184][185][186][187][188][189][190][191][192][193][194][195] 2010 the importance of processes that limit dispersal and promote self-replenishment of local populations, such as sedentary adult life history strategies (Robichaud & Rose 2004, Howell et al. 2008, spawning site fidelity (Taggart 1997), natal homing (Thorrold et al. 2001, Svedäng et al. 2007), egg and larval retention (Jones et al. 1999, 2005, Bradbury et al. 2008) and local adaptation (McIntyre & Hutchings 2003, Conover et al. 2006, Hutchings et al. 2007). The implications of such fine-scale population structure are important for effective management (Palumbi 2003, Bradbury et al. 2008, Reiss et al. 2009).One marine fish species known to exhibit fine-scale population structure in parts of its distribution is Atlantic cod Gadus morhua L. (see reviews in Waldman 2005 andCarvalho 2008). Atlantic cod is one of the most commercially important marine fishes in the world and comprises a p...

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“…As with most herring populations (15), the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank population is made up of numerous subpopulations, with the maximum size of these subpopulations related to the physical characteristics of their spawning areas (16). Although this rich population structure is well recognized, the current stock assessment and associated data are at the level of the overall population (17).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Herring are migratory as juveniles and adults and planktonic as larvae. Herring populations tend to be made up of numerous subpopulations that mix during most of the year but have discrete spawning locations (15,16). At these spawning locations benthic eggs are spawned in large masses that are neither buried nor guarded.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of egg predation by haddock in the decline of an Atlantic herring population

Richardson

Hare

Fogarty

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Theoretical studies suggest that the abrupt and substantial changes in the productivity of some fisheries species may be explained by predation-driven alternate stable states in their population levels. With this hypothesis, an increase in fishing or a natural perturbation can drive a population from an upper to a lower stable-equilibrium population level. After fishing is reduced or the perturbation ended, this low population level can persist due to the regulatory effect of the predator. Although established in theoretical studies, there is limited empirical support for predation-driven alternate stable states in exploited marine fish populations. We present evidence that egg predation by haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) can cause alternate stable population levels in Georges Bank Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus). Egg predation by haddock explains a substantial decoupling of herring spawning stock biomass (an index of egg production) from observed larval herring abundance (an index of egg hatching). Estimated egg survival rates ranged from <2-70% from 1971 to 2005. A population model incorporating egg predation and herring fishing explains the major population trends of Georges Bank herring over four decades and predicts that, when the haddock population is high, seemingly conservative levels of fishing can still precipitate a severe decline in the herring population. These findings illustrate how efforts to rebuild fisheries can be undermined by not incorporating ecological interactions into fisheries models and management plans.depensation | predator pit | population dynamics | fish recruitment C lassic single-species fishery models, which assume that changes in population abundance are largely a function of fishing mortality and density-dependent population responses, cannot account for the rapid and persistent shifts in abundance observed in some marine fish populations (1, 2). This lack of agreement between model predictions and observed trends may be explained by the inability of single-species models to resolve alternate stable states in population levels caused by species interactions (1, 3). In the simplest form, a population with alternate stable states has three equilibrium levels: an upper and lower stable equilibrium and an intermediate unstable equilibrium, above which population growth is positive and below which it is negative. This contrasts with the single upper stable equilibrium, or carrying capacity, of classic population models, including most single-species fisheries models. One mechanism that can generate alternate stable states in a population is consumption by a predator that becomes satiated at high prey abundances (1,(4)(5)(6). With this mechanism, per capita mortality from predation increases as the prey population declines. Below the unstable equilibrium, predation mortality is sufficient to cause negative population growth. At very low population abundances, prey switching by the predator or the existence of a predation refuge results in the lower stable equilibrium; this low...

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Atlantic Herring: Stock Discreteness and Abundance

Cited by 493 publications

References 28 publications

Retention of larval haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus in the Georges Bank region, a gyre-influenced spawning area

Retention of larval haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus in the Georges Bank region, a gyre-influenced spawning area

Fine-scale spatial and temporal genetic structure of Atlantic cod off the Atlantic coast of the USA

Role of egg predation by haddock in the decline of an Atlantic herring population

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