Early embryonic cleavage pattern, hatching success, and egg-lipid fatty acid composition: comparison between two cod (Gadus morhua) stocks

1997 ◽  
Vol 54 (10) ◽  
pp. 2410-2416 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Pickova ◽  
P C Dutta ◽  
P -O Larsson ◽  
A Kiessling

Baltic cod (Gadus morhua), from a brackish environment, were compared with oceanic (Skagerrak) cod in terms of early embryonic cleavage pattern, hatching success, and egg-lipid fatty acid composition. The influence of diet on these variables was investigated by analysing eggs from the Baltic stock, caught during three successive years and given controlled food for 24, 7, and 2 months, respectively, before the experiment commenced. Skagerrak cod eggs contained twice as much arachidonic acid (AA) in the phospholipid (PL) fraction as eggs from the Baltic cod, regardless of the length of time the Baltic cod had been kept in captivity and fed a control diet. Correlation between hatching rate and docosahexaenoic (DHA; 22:6n-3)/ eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5n-3) ratio was significant (r2 = 0.56) as well as hatching rate and AA content of the PL fraction (r2 = 0.61). Symmetry during development, which was correlated to egg viability, was higher for eggs from Skagerrak than those from the Baltic stock. We suggest that AA content and DHA/EPA ratio of the PL fraction are important factors influencing egg viability and possibly also egg symmetry.\b Further, it appears that the factor(s) influencing the composition of the PL fraction is mostly related to stock rather than to diet.

AMBIO ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Orio ◽  
Yvette Heimbrand ◽  
Karin Limburg

AbstractThe intensified expansion of the Baltic Sea’s hypoxic zone has been proposed as one reason for the current poor status of cod (Gadus morhua) in the Baltic Sea, with repercussions throughout the food web and on ecosystem services. We examined the links between increased hypoxic areas and the decline in maximum length of Baltic cod, a demographic proxy for services generation. We analysed the effect of different predictors on maximum length of Baltic cod during 1978–2014 using a generalized additive model. The extent of minimally suitable areas for cod (oxygen concentration ≥ 1 ml l−1) is the most important predictor of decreased cod maximum length. We also show, with simulations, the potential for Baltic cod to increase its maximum length if hypoxic areal extent is reduced to levels comparable to the beginning of the 1990s. We discuss our findings in relation to ecosystem services affected by the decrease of cod maximum length.


2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (8) ◽  
pp. 1603-1606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petri Suuronen ◽  
Vesa Tschernij ◽  
Pekka Jounela ◽  
Daniel Valentinsson ◽  
P-O. Larsson

Abstract Suuronen, P., Tschernij, V., Jounela, P., Valentinsson, D., and Larsson, P-O. 2007. Factors affecting rule compiance with mesh size regulations in the Baltic cod trawl fishery. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 1603–1606. In this study, we evaluate the efficiency and applicability of a series of gear-based management measures, enforced since 1990, whose purpose was to improve size selectivity in the trawl fishery for Baltic cod (Gadus morhua). In general, our study revealed that these measures had no marked effect on the capture and discard of young cod. Legal and illegal manipulation of selective codends was widespread. The adoption of a codend design that offered a modest increase in selectivity, but had a good match with the legislated minimum landing size (MLS), led to greater compliance, demonstrating that a mismatch between MLS and selectivity should be avoided. It was also obvious that, generally, the fishing industry did not tolerate large short-term losses. Our evaluation is that overly ambitious rules will be circumvented, and frequent and incoherent changes in the regulations represent bad management practice. A gradual introduction of restrictions and participation by fishers in the decision-making process will increase compliance.


2016 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 1344-1355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin D. Friedland ◽  
Johan Dannewitz ◽  
Atso Romakkaniemi ◽  
Stefan Palm ◽  
Henni Pulkkinen ◽  
...  

The survival of Baltic salmon Salmo salar during the first year at sea (post-smolt stage) has declined since the beginning of the 1990s. In this analysis, we complement previous studies on possible causes of this decline by considering a suite of environmental parameters, potential change in predation pressure, and post-smolt growth. Marine survival estimates were found to be negatively correlated with temperature, indicating that warming conditions have not favoured survival. Survival was also found to be positively correlated with dissolved oxygen levels and regionally related to shifts in salinity. These relationships were further studied in context to the potential predation on post-smolts by one of the main piscivores in the Baltic, Eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua callarias). Concomitant with changes in environmental conditions, Baltic cod has changed its latitudinal range, moving northward in the Baltic, possibly in response to warming conditions. These changes lead us to hypothesize that predation pressure on salmon may have increased in recent years as cod has now occupied habitats used by salmon post-smolts during their southward feeding migrations. This predation may have been intensified as a result of anoxic conditions in the central basin by concentrating predation interactions in coastal waters and/or the upper water column typically occupied by salmon post-smolts. Indicators of post-smolt growth were applied to test the alternate hypothesis that mortality is growth-mediated; these indicators lacked a time series trend, which supports the contention that shifting predation pressure rather than feeding opportunities is responsible for the decline in post-smolt survival in Baltic salmon.


2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 1459-1471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Hüssy

Abstract Hüssy, K. 2011. Review of western Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) recruitment dynamics. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 1459–1471. Important processes in the recruitment dynamics of western Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) are identified. Spawning areas are in the deep, saline waters below 20–40 m, depending on area topography. Spatial distribution remains relatively stable over time. Peak spawning shows an area-specific pattern, with progressively later spawning towards the east. Genetic stock structure and tagging indicate some degree of natal homing for spawning. The highly variable hydrodynamic conditions and the fact that cod eggs float in the water column cause their entrainment by currents, and their destination is determined by the prevailing winds and currents. Drift is almost exclusively to the east, but the magnitude and its impact on the structure of the affected stocks (Kattegat, western Baltic, and eastern Baltic) remains unresolved. Salinity limits the east–west exchange of eggs as a consequence of the stocks' differential requirement for neutral buoyancy. Superimposed on this, oxygen content and temperature have a significant effect on fertilization, egg/larva development, and survival. Within the Baltic Sea ecosystem, mixing of stocks may be anticipated and is particularly pronounced in the Arkona Basin because of its use for spawning by both western and eastern stocks, the advection of early life stages from the west and immigration/emigration from the east.


2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (10) ◽  
pp. 2019-2028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Harald Hinrichsen ◽  
Bastian Huwer ◽  
Andrejs Makarchouk ◽  
Christoph Petereit ◽  
Matthias Schaber ◽  
...  

Abstract Hinrichsen, H-H., Huwer, B., Makarchouk, A., Petereit, C., Schaber, M., and Voss, R. 2011. Climate-driven long-term trends in Baltic Sea oxygen concentrations and the potential consequences for eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua). – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 2019–2028. Variations in oxygen conditions in the Baltic are influenced by several mechanisms. Generally, the frequency and magnitude of major inflows have been identified as the most crucial process for the renewal of oxygen-depleted water masses in the Baltic Sea. Furthermore, enhanced degradation of suspended organic matter by bacteria over the past few decades has increased oxygen consumption. Finally, the effects of large-scale climate warming are causing long-term variations in oxygen content and saturation as an observed increase in temperature has led to a general decrease in oxygen solubility of water masses. Oxygen-dependent relationships based on field data and laboratory experiments were used to analyse the impact of the observed decrease in oxygen content on eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) stock-specific processes (e.g. survival rates of eggs, settlement probability of juveniles, habitat utilization of spawning fish, age structure of successful spawners, food consumption rates of adult fish). The observed long-term decline in oxygen conditions in the Baltic Sea has had a seemingly generally negative impact on oxygen-related processes for the different life stages of eastern Baltic cod. Experimentally derived results of oxygen-driven processes were validated by field data.


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