Population Trends and Status of Two Exploited Northwest Atlantic Grenadiers, Coryphaenoides rupestris and Macrourus berglax

Roundnose grenadier Coryphaenoides rupestris and roughhead grena- dier Macrourus berglax are well known slope species in the North Atlantic. Dramatic population declines in both species in Canadian waters of the Northwest Atlantic raised the question: was the decline a result of environmental changes or exploi- tation? Min-max autocorrelation factor analysis and dynamic factor analysis, two types of time series analysis, showed that a combination of factors acting on dif- ferent temporal scales explained the trends in both species. Those in Macrourus were best explained by environmental factors operating on long time scales; those in Coryphaenoides were related to exploitation. Our results support the view that an unregulated deep-ocean fishery, as experienced by Coryphaenoides, has serious con- sequences for species that are slow-growing, long-lived and late-maturing.

[1]  W. B. Scott,et al.  Atlantic fishes of Canada , 1988 .

[2]  J. Gordon,et al.  Environmental and Biological Aspects of Slope-Dwelling Fishes of the North Atlantic , 1995 .

[3]  V. Allain,et al.  Assessment of the roundnose grenadier (Coryphaenoides rupestris) stock in the Rockall Trough and neighbouring areas (ICES Sub-areas V–VII) , 2001 .

[4]  Ransom A. Myers,et al.  What can be learned from the collapse of a renewable resource? Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, of Newfoundland and Labrador , 1994 .

[5]  L. Mysak,et al.  Evidence for stability enhancement of sea ice in the Greenland and Labrador Seas , 1991 .

[6]  Jennifer A. Devine,et al.  Fisheries: Deep-sea fishes qualify as endangered , 2006, Nature.

[7]  J. Hutchings.  Spatial and temporal variation in the density of northern cod and a review of hypotheses for the stock's collapse , 1996 .

[8]  R. Haedrich,et al.  Spatial and temporal changes in the groundfish assemblages on the north‐east Newfoundland/Labrador Shelf, north‐west Atlantic, 1978–1991 , 1995 .

[9]  P. Connolly,et al.  Maturity, oocyte dynamics and fecundity of the roundnose grenadier from the Rockall Trough , 1996 .

[10]  Geir Ottersen,et al.  Indirect climatic forcing of the Barents Sea capelin: a cohort effect , 2004 .

[11]  M. Clarke,et al.  A Life History Approach to the Assessment and Management of Deepwater Fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic , 2003 .

[12]  I. Belkin.  Propagation of the “Great Salinity Anomaly” of the 1990s around the northern North Atlantic , 2004 .

[13]  Karim Erzini,et al.  An application of two techniques for the analysis of short, multivariate non-stationary time-series of Mauritanian trawl survey data , 2005 .

[14]  O. Jørgensen.  Survey for Greenland Halibut in NAFO Divisions 1C-1D, 2014 , 2005 .

[15]  Ian T. Jolliffe,et al.  Estimating common trends in multivariate time series using dynamic factor analysis , 2003 .

[16]  H. Murua.  Population structure, growth and reproduction of roughhead grenadier on the Flemish Cap and Flemish Pass , 2003 .

[17]  H. Murua,et al.  A Review on Roughhead Grenadier (Macrourus berglax) Biology and Population Structure on Flemish Cap(NAFO Division 3M) 1991-2004 Based Upon EU Flemish Cap Bottom Survey Data , 2005 .

[18]  A. Zubchenko.  Parasitic Fauna of Some Macrouridae in the Northwest Atlantic , 1981 .

[19]  S. Jørgensen.  Integration of Ecosystem Theories: A Pattern , 1994, Ecology & Environment.

[20]  Richard J. Beamish,et al.  The regime concept and natural trends in the production of Pacific salmon , 1999 .

[21]  Alain F. Zuur,et al.  Common trends in northeast Atlantic squid time series , 2004 .

[22]  C. Roberts,et al.  Deep impact: the rising toll of fishing in the deep sea , 2002 .

[23]  D. M. Cohen.  Gadiform fishes of the world (Order gadiformes) : an annotated and illustrated catalogue of cods, hakes, grenadiers and other gadiform fishes known to date , 1992 .

[24]  Karim Erzini.  Trends in NE Atlantic landings (southern Portugal): identifying the relative importance of fisheries and environmental variables , 2005 .

[25]  Brad deYoung,et al.  On Recruitment and Distribution of Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) off Newfoundland , 1993 .

[26]  W. Broecker,et al.  A Climatic Freshening of the Deep Atlantic North of 50�N over the Past 20 Years , 1983, Science.

[27]  Reproduction in the North Atlantic oceanic ichthyofauna and the relationship between fecundity and species’ sizes , 1994 .

[28]  G. Kitagawa,et al.  Akaike Information Criterion Statistics , 1988 .

[29]  D. Pauly,et al.  In a Perfect Ocean: The State Of Fisheries And Ecosystems In The North Atlantic Ocean , 2003 .

[30]  K. Brander.  Fisheries in a changing climate , 2009 .

[31]  I. Falk-Petersen,et al.  Reproductive biology of the roughhead grenadier (Macrourus berglax Lacepède) (Pisces, Gadiformes) from the continental slope of northern Norway , 1985 .

[32]  O. Bergstad,et al.  Deep-water resources of the Northeast Atlantic: distribution, abundance and exploitation , 1987 .

[33]  G. Rowe.  Deep-sea biology , 1983 .

[34]  J. Hutchings,et al.  WHY DO FISH STOCKS COLLAPSE? THE EXAMPLE OF COD IN ATLANTIC CANADA , 1997 .

[35]  John F. Piatt,et al.  Community reorganization in the Gulf of Alaska following ocean climate regime shift , 1999 .

[36]  B. Worm,et al.  Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities , 2003, Nature.

[37]  K. Broad,et al.  Environmental ‘loopholes’ and fish population dynamics: comparative pattern recognition with focus on El Niño effects in the Pacific , 2003 .

[38]  A. Solow.  Detecting change in the composition of multispecies community. , 1994, Biometrics.

[39]  K. Zwanenburg,et al.  The effects of fishing on demersal fish communities of the Scotian Shelf , 2000 .

[40]  Mark V. Lomolino,et al.  Dynamic biogeography and conservation of endangered species , 2000, Nature.

[41]  Pascal Lorance,et al.  Continental slope and deep-sea fisheries: implications for a fragile ecosystem , 2000 .

[42]  Keith Sainsbury,et al.  Impact of fishing on size composition and diversity of demersal fish communities , 2000 .

[43]  W. Ekau.  Morphological Adaptations and Mode of Life in High Antarctic Fish , 1991 .

[44]  J. Musick.  Criteria to Define Extinction Risk in Marine Fishes: The American Fisheries Society Initiative , 1999 .

[45]  J. Casas-Sanchez,et al.  Calculation of the Calibration Factors from the Comparative Experience between the R/V Cornide de Saavedra and the R/V Vizconde de Eza in Flemish Cap in 2003 and 2004 , 2005 .

[46]  D. Duplisea,et al.  Fishing under low productivity conditions is further delaying recovery of Northwest Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) , 2006 .

[47]  A. Zuur,et al.  Dynamic factor analysis to estimate common trends in fisheries time series , 2003 .

[48]  B. deYoung,et al.  Comparison of hydrography and circulation on the Newfoundland Shelf during Pages 19901993 with the long-term mean , 1997 .

[49]  S. Levitus,et al.  “Great Salinity Anomalies” in the North Atlantic , 1998 .

[50]  A. Bakun.  Definition of environmental variability affecting biological processes in large marine ecosystems , 1986 .

[51]  W. B. Scott,et al.  Fishes of the Atlantic Coast of Canada , 1966 .

[52]  L. Klyashtorin.  Long-term climate change and main commercial fish production in the Atlantic and Pacific , 1998 .

[53]  A. Zuur,et al.  Analysing Ecological Data , 2007 .

[54]  R. A. Campbell,et al.  Parasitism and ecological relationships among deep-sea benthic fishes , 1980 .

[55]  G. Kitagawa,et al.  Akaike Information Criterion Statistics , 1988 .

[56]  Lewis M. Alexander,et al.  Large Marine Ecosystems: Stress, Mitigation and Sustainability , 1995 .

[57]  Fridtjof Nansen,et al.  The polar oceans and their role in shaping the global environment : the Nansen centennial volume , 1994 .

[58]  Alexei M. Orlov and Tomio Iwamoto,et al.  Grenadiers of the World Oceans: Biology, Stock Assessment, and Fisheries , 2008 .

[59]  I. Nakamura,et al.  Fao Species Catalogue , 1972 .

[60]  M. Giannoulaki,et al.  Fish farming effects on local fisheries landings in oligotrophic seas , 2006 .

[61]  D. B. Atkinson.  The Biology and Fishery of Roundnose Grenadier ( Coryphaenoides rupestris Gunnerus, 1765) in the North West Atlantic , 1995 .

[62]  James W. Hurrell,et al.  The North Atlantic Oscillation: Climate Significance and Environmental Impact , 2003 .

[63]  Z. Kabata.  Parasites as biological tags. , 1963 .

[64]  M. Clark.  Are deepwater fisheries sustainable? — the example of orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) in New Zealand , 2001 .