Effects of water temperature and pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) abundance on the stock–recruitment relationship of Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis) in the northern Baltic Sea

Abstract

How spawning stock size, environmental conditions and recruitment relate to each other is an essential question in understanding population dynamics of exploited fish stocks. We estimated the recruitment of Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis), one of the most important species in coastal fisheries in northern Baltic Sea, and examined the factors that determine perch recruitment success. We hypothesized that perch spawning population biomass and summer water temperature would increase perch recruitment, with potential density dependence, while the effect of the population size of pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) would be negative. Different forms of general stockrecruitment functions, with and without density dependence, and with and without water temperature and pikeperch population size as environmental factors were fitted to long-term (1981-2014) stock assessment data of perch and pikeperch in the Archipelago Sea, southwestern coast of Finland. Perch spawning stock biomass (ages 5-14), water temperature in June-July and pikeperch stock size (ages C 1) at spawning year best explained variation in perch recruitment. The results supported the predictions: perch recruitment increased with spawning stock in density-dependent manner, pikeperch effect on perch recruitment was negative and summer temperature effect was positive suggesting environmentally affected competitive interaction between these two percids.

Model‐based decomposition of environmental, spatial and species‐interaction effects on the community structure of common fish species in 772 European lakes

“…The third major piscivorous fish species in the dataset was the pikeperch, which was present in only 27% of the lakes. Strong effects of pikeperch on other fish species are also well described (Keskinen & Marjomäki, 2004; Kokkonen et al., 2019; Kopp et al., 2009). It is interesting to note that the dominant negative correlations of pikeperch in the p/a dataset were found with pike and perch, suggesting that intraguild predation and competition between the piscivores might contribute to structuring the local presence or absence of these three piscivorous species (Kokkonen et al., 2019; Schulze et al., 2006).…”

“…Strong effects of pikeperch on other fish species are also well described (Keskinen & Marjomäki, 2004; Kokkonen et al., 2019; Kopp et al., 2009). It is interesting to note that the dominant negative correlations of pikeperch in the p/a dataset were found with pike and perch, suggesting that intraguild predation and competition between the piscivores might contribute to structuring the local presence or absence of these three piscivorous species (Kokkonen et al., 2019; Schulze et al., 2006). The local presence of both pike and pikeperch might also be affected by intentional stocking for fisheries purposes (e.g., Henriksson et al., 2016); hence, the p/a correlations between these two predatory species might in part reflect anthropogenic effects not covered by direct species interactions.…”

Study of the mortality and exploitation parameters of Sander lucioperca (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Al Massira Reservoir

“…The natural mortality of Sander lucioperca is equal to 0.42 year -1 , which is almost similar to the results of [18] at the Sidi Salem dam in Tunisia, of [19] in three Algerian lake systems and of [20] in Lake Karataş in Turkey. On the other hand, [21] found it to 0.31 in Caspian Sea in Iran, [22] to 0.22 at the Ghrib Dam in Algeria, [23] to 0.1 in the Baltic sea in Finland. From these results, we find that the instantaneous coefficient of natural mortality differs from one author to another and from one region to another, this amounts to the divergence of the parameters used for its determination.…”

Lifting the Vendace, Coregonus albula, on the Life Table: Survival, Growth and Reproduction in Different Life-Stages during Very High and Low Abundance Regimes

“…In presently oligotrophic boreal lakes, the enhancing effects of climate change on water temperature and trophy promote reproduction and growth, and consequently abundance of perch (e.g. Le Cren 1958, Lehtonen & Lappalainen 1995, Sarvala & Helminen 1996, Linløkken 2003, Hayden et al 2017, Kokkonen et al 2019. The average level of perch-induced predation mortality of vendace, especially at pre-recruitment stage, may increase (red arrow in Fig.…”