Production Responses for Multi-species Fisheries

1981 ◽  
Vol 38 (11) ◽  
pp. 1393-1404 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Agnello ◽  
L. G. Anderson

Production equations are estimated for five major species of fish harvested in the Northwest Atlantic including Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), flounder (Pleuronectiformes), redfish (Sebastes marinus), and herring (Clupea harengus) using data collected by the International Commission for the Northeast Atlantic Fisheries from 1960 to 1974. A log-linear regression specification is used in which the relationship between catch of a vessel and several factors including days fished and vessel characteristics is estimated simultaneously. Vessel characteristics are represented as (0, 1) categorical variables, and include a variable indicating the target species designated by the caption. Various settings for the target species variables allow the estimated equation to represent either a by-catch or target catch equation. The production parameters estimated by the regressions are used to analyze the effects of current quotas set by the New England Fisheries Management Council. For some fleets we find a likelihood of idle capacity given the current quotas.Key words: fisheries economics, multi-species harvesting, Northwest Atlantic fisheries


1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (11) ◽  
pp. 1890-1897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Cabilio ◽  
David L. DeWolfe ◽  
Graham R. Daborn

Selected long-term fisheries catch data from the New England – Fundy area and the Grand Banks were examined for concordance between changes in fish catches and the 18.6-yr nodal cycle of the tides using a nonlinear regression model. Significant positive correlations were found for Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus harengus), and scallop (Placopecten magellanicus), with lag times that are biologically appropriate for the time from hatching to recruitment into the fishery. A significant negative correlation with the nodal cycle was evident for Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus), for which this area constitutes the most northerly part of its range. Cod catches on the Grand Banks showed no correlation with the nodal cycle. It is suggested that the correlations between the nodal cycle and the changes in fish catches are caused by correlated changes either in sea surface temperature or in productivity resulting from changes in the degree of vertical mixing.



2000 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 1321-1325 ◽  
Author(s):  
D P Swain ◽  
A F Sinclair

Like most other stocks of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in the Northwest Atlantic, cod in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence declined to low abundance in the early 1990s. Recovery has been slow in contrast with the rapid recovery from similar levels of abundance in the mid-1970s. This difference reflects remarkably high prerecruit survival of cod in the earlier period of low abundance rather than unusually poor survival in the 1990s. The period of high prerecruit survival of cod coincided with the collapse of herring (Clupea harengus) and mackerel (Scomber scombrus) stocks resulting from overfishing. These pelagic fishes are potential predators or competitors of the early life history stages of cod. We report a strong negative relationship between the biomass of these pelagic fishes and recruitment rate of southern Gulf cod. This is consistent with the recent suggestion that the success of large predatory fishes may depend on "cultivation" effects in which the adults crop down forage fishes that are predators or competitors of their young. Our results also point to the possibility of a triangular food web involving cod, seals, and pelagic fishes, making it difficult to predict the effect of a proposed cull of seals on the recovery of cod.



1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Anthony Koslow ◽  
Keith R. Thompson ◽  
William Silvert

Year-class success of both Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) stocks in the northwest Atlantic exhibits large-scale coherence and low-frequency variability with apparent periodicities of 10–20 yr. Several physical and biological variables in the region exhibit similar large-scale coherence and apparent periodicity. Multiple regression analysis indicates that year-class success in northwest Atlantic cod stocks tends to be associated with large-scale meteorological patterns and offshore winds. Recruitment to most haddock stocks from the Scotian Shelf to Georges Bank is negatively associated with abundance of 0-group mackerel, which may be due to predation over winter and/or to a combination of environmental features including sea-surface temperature, large-scale atmospheric pressure systems, and freshwater outflows. Statistical analyses often did not define a unique set of variables that best predicted fishery recruitment due to widespread intercorrelations among environmental processes and the likelihood that not all relevant processes entered directly into the analyses. There is little evidence that stock reproductive output during the study period was significantly related to year-class success.



2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (7) ◽  
pp. 1101-1116
Author(s):  
Allan J. Debertin

An acoustic-based index of biomass was developed due to concerns that the existing bottom-trawl index for western component pollock (Pollachius virens) was inaccurate and imprecise. Acoustic data were recorded during annual summer ecosystem surveys. Pollock and other common groundfish could not be readily identified from echo-traces within echograms. Survey catch data were analyzed concurrently with acoustic data to estimate biomass from echo-integrals contributed by the six most commonly caught fish species: pollock, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), redfish (Sebastes fasciatus), Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus), and spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias). A cluster analyses that used a Bayesian conditional probability classified homogeneous regions based on species composition. Species composition, nautical area scatter coefficient, and backscattering cross-section of fishes for regions were used to calculate the biomass of fishes. Acoustic indices were considered as appropriate as bottom-trawl indices for fisheries management advice because the bias and variance were similar between the indices when analyzed using repeated K-fold cross-validation.



2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 1393-1404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie J Underwood ◽  
Shale Rosen ◽  
Arill Engås ◽  
Terje Jørgensen ◽  
Anders Fernö

Abstract In-trawl camera systems promise to improve the resolution of trawl sampling used to ground-truth the interpretation of acoustic survey data. In this study, the residence time of fish in front of the Deep Vision camera system, used to identify, measure and count fish inside the trawl, was analysed to determine the reliability of spatial distribution recorded by the system. Although Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), and most Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) moved quickly back through the aft part of the pelagic trawl, saithe (Pollachius virens) spent up to 4 min in front of the system. The residence time increased for saithe and cod when other individuals were present, and cod swimming in the low water flow close to the trawl netting spent longer there than cod at the centre of the trawl. Surprisingly, residence time was not related to the size of the fish, which may be explained by the collective behaviour of shoaling fish. Our findings suggest that while in-trawl images can be used to identify, measure and count most species, when sampling fast-swimming species such as saithe the position inferred from when they were imaged may not reflect the actual spatial distribution prior to capture.



1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (10) ◽  
pp. 1805-1818 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Lawson ◽  
Garry B. Stenson ◽  
Dave G. McKinnon

The nearshore diet of northwest Atlantic harp seals (Phoca groenlandica) was determined by reconstructing the contents of 1167 prey-containing stomachs (78.3% of 1490) collected from 1990 to 1993. Although harp seals consumed at least 62 species, 6 accounted for most of the mass consumed and their relative importance varied by area. Based on percent wet mass, sculpins (Cottidae) and Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) were the main components of the diet of older seals (> 1 year old) off Labrador, whereas Arctic cod and Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) were the main prey of seals from northeastern Newfoundland. A more diverse diet was observed in seals taken off the west coast of Newfoundland, where capelin (Mallotus villosus), herring, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), redfish (Sebastes spp.), and Arctic cod were the main species. Redfish and Atlantic cod were important to seals along the south coast of Newfoundland. Eighty percent of fish consumed were less than 18 cm long, smaller than those taken by commercial fisheries. Pups (less than 1 year old) consumed fewer and smaller prey of a less varied assortment. Annual and seasonal variation in the diets was observed in the collection from northeastern Newfoundland. Arctic cod was the major prey consumed throughout the year by seals of all ages, although the relative importance of herring, capelin, and squid (Teuthoidea) increased during the summer. Invertebrates and capelin made up a greater proportion of the diet in 1992, owing to a decline in consumption of Arctic cod. This finding was associated with a decrease in the mass of stomach contents. Diet diversity did not change significantly over the study period.



1991 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 1350-1357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth T. Frank

Recruitment prediction has been an elusive and seemingly unobtainable goal with no entirely satisfactory general approach yet available. I propose the use of meristic variation, traditionally applied to problems associated with stock discrimination studies, as a new method to predict recruitment variation. The approach is evaluated using literature data on year class strength (YCS) and year class specific average vertebral counts (VS), two apparently interrelated variables that are affected by environmental factors operating during the early life history. Three marine stocks at the southern limit of their species geographic range (Georges Bank haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), North Sea Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), and North Sea Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus hargenus)) and one stock at its northern limit (Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi)) generally conformed to the prediction of a positive relationship between YCS and VS for southern stocks and a negative relationship for northern stocks. Exceptions to these patterns were found among stocks showing low temporal variability in recruitment or for stocks whose year class formation is not linked to environmental factors that establish the vertebral count of a year class. The approach adopted is consistent with the growing initiative of focusing on characteristics of the survivors of a population to provide insight into recruitment mechanisms.



1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (11) ◽  
pp. 2315-2322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Gislason

A multispecies model (MSFOR) is used to predict the relative change in equilibrium yield and spawning stock biomass (SSB) of commercially important fish stocks in the North Sea resulting from a reduction in the fishing mortality generated by the roundfish fishery. Because predation mortality is a function of the abundance of prey and predators the results will depend on recruitment. Assuming recruitment to be independent of stock sizes the effect of changes in recruitment is studied by repeating the predictions at all possible combinations of ±50% changes in predator and prey recruitment levels. All of the predictions result in a relative increase in the SSB of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and saithe (Pollachius virens) and in a relative decrease in the SSB of Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) and Norway pout (Trisopterus esmarkii). In these cases the sign of the relative change is robust to recruitment changes. However, for haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), sprat (Sprattus sprattus), and sandeel (Ammodytes marinus) the relative change in SSB is found to be either positive or negative depending on the level of recruitment. The predictions for haddock are highly sensitive to changes in the level of saithe recruitment.



1984 ◽  
Vol 41 (12) ◽  
pp. 1722-1729 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Anthony Koslow

By analysing recruitment time series for 14 stocks of northwest Atlantic fish, I have found consistent positive correlations in recruitment among stocks within such species as cod (Gadus morhua), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), and herring (Clupea harengus). Significant positive correlations are also often found in recruitment among demersal, offshore-spawning species (cod, haddock, and redfish (Sebastes spp.)), and recruitment in these groups tends to be negatively correlated with that of pelagic species, which spawn inshore (herring) or in restricted waters (mackerel (Scomber scombrus)). These patterns emerge as well from a principal component (PC) analysis of the recruitment data. Three dominant patterns (PC 1–3) explain 78% of the variance of the data set. I suggest that the spatial extent of these patterns, which span the region from west Greenland to Georges Bank, indicates that large-scale physical forcing, rather than local biological interactions, predominantly regulates recruitment to northwest Atlantic fisheries.



2000 ◽  
Vol 57 (12) ◽  
pp. 2455-2469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lance P Garrison ◽  
William Michaels ◽  
Jason S Link ◽  
Michael J Fogarty

We investigated the relationship between hydrographic variables on Georges Bank and the spatial distribution of larval Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), larval haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), and two planktivorous fish, Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) and Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus). We conducted cruises during April-May of 1990, 1994, and 1995 to document spatial distributions and employed logistic regression and a spatial-overlap index to assess relationships between hydrographic variables, spatial distributions and spatial overlap between gadid larvae and planktivorous fish. Cod larvae were more abundant in shallow well-mixed areas, while both haddock larvae and herring were more abundant in stratified areas. Atlantic mackerel occurred in deeper water and had little spatial overlap with the other species. In 1995, the presence of Scotian Shelf water and an intrusion of continental slope water altered temperature and salinity distributions and increased spatial overlap between cod larvae and herring. The stratified areas offer a higher concentration of prey for larval haddock, however there is increased exposure to planktivorous fish predators, creating a potential trade-off between predation and starvation. Due to the high abundance of planktivorous fish and high spatial and temporal overlap, predation is likely an important factor influencing survival of gadid larvae on Georges Bank.



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