Multidecadal changes in fish growth rates estimated from tagging data: A case study from the Eastern Baltic cod ( Gadus morhua, Gadidae )

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Mion ◽  
Stefanie Haase ◽  
Jakob Hemmer‐Hansen ◽  
Annelie Hilvarsson ◽  
Karin Hüssy ◽  
...  
2012 ◽  
Vol 117-118 ◽  
pp. 75-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerd Kraus ◽  
Hans-Harald Hinrichsen ◽  
Rüdiger Voss ◽  
Eske Teschner ◽  
Jonna Tomkiewicz ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 1019-1032 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Hüssy ◽  
J. Gröger ◽  
F. Heidemann ◽  
H.-H. Hinrichsen ◽  
L. Marohn

Abstract Annual growth zones in cod otoliths from the eastern Baltic stock are less discrete than in other cod stocks leading to biased age reading, which recently led to a failure of age-based assessment in the eastern Baltic cod stock. In this study, we explored the applicability of minor and trace element patterns in cod otoliths for age determination. By first identifying elements of interest in a stock without ageing problems, western Baltic cod, we then tested their applicability on another stock without ageing problems, North Sea cod, and finally applied this knowledge to estimate age of eastern Baltic cod. In western Baltic cod, matching patterns with respect to occurrence of minima and maxima in both otolith opacity and element concentrations were found for Cu, Zn, and Rb, and inverse patterns with Mg and Mn. No match was found for Pb, Ba, and Sr. In the test stock, the North Sea cod, the same patterns in Cu, Zn, Rb, Mg, and Mn signals occurred. All eastern Baltic cod with low visual contrast between growth zones exhibited clearly defined synchronous cycles in Cu, Zn, Rb and Pb. Using a combined finite differencing method and structural break models approach, the statistical significance of the local profile minima were identified, based on which their age could be estimated. Despite extensive environmental differences between the three areas examined, the element concentrations of Cu, Zn, and Rb were strongly correlated in all individuals with similar correlations in all three areas, suggesting that the incorporation mechanisms are the same for these elements and independent of environmental concentrations.


2002 ◽  
Vol 59 (12) ◽  
pp. 1908-1920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerd Kraus ◽  
Jonna Tomkiewicz ◽  
Friedrich W Köster

Observed fluctuations in relative fecundity of Eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua L.) were related to food availability during the main feeding period and were used to develop a predictive model that explained 72% of the interannual variations in fecundity. Time series of sex ratios, maturity ogives, and relative fecundity were combined with mean weights-at-age and stock sizes from an analytical multispecies model to estimate the potential egg production (PEP). Relationships between PEP and independent estimates of realized daily and seasonal egg production from egg surveys were highly significant. The difference between estimates of potential and realized seasonal egg production was of a magnitude corresponding to the expected loss of eggs as a result of atresia, fertilization failure, and early egg mortality. The removal of interannual variability in sex ratio, maturity, and fecundity on estimates of PEP deteriorated the relationships in all three cases. PEP proved to be superior to spawning stock biomass as measure of the reproductive potential in a stock-recruitment relationship of Eastern Baltic cod. PEP in combination with the reproductive volume explained 61% of the variation in year-class strength at age 2.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. e27568 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Orton ◽  
Daniel Makowiecki ◽  
Tessa de Roo ◽  
Cluny Johnstone ◽  
Jennifer Harland ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 87 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 155-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margit Eero ◽  
Brian R. MacKenzie ◽  
Hrefna M. Karlsdóttir ◽  
Ritma Gaumiga

Marine Policy ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 266-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian R. MacKenzie ◽  
Henn Ojaveer ◽  
Margit Eero

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 1045-1052 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dariusz P. Fey ◽  
Tomasz B. Linkowski

Abstract Six age-prediction models based on otolith size (weight, length, and width) and fish size (standard length, SL, and weight) were developed for juvenile Baltic cod Gadus morhua (SL, 40–153 mm; age, 90–230 d). Models were built based on stepwise selection and compared using the Akaike information criterion (AIC). Reference age was estimated by counting the growth increments in the transverse sections of sagittal otoliths (n = 310). Final comparison of the utility of the six models was based on the AIC. The best model included SL, fish weight, and sampling month as independent variables. Sampling month was added to account for differences in fish growth, after it was shown that otolith size at age was related to differences in somatic growth. The predicted age of all juveniles collected between 1991 and 1995 was used to estimate their hatch dates and growth rates. The average growth rate was 0.78 mm d−1 when estimated from predicted ages (1990–1995; n = 2036) and 0.73 mm d−1 when age based on direct increment enumeration was used (1990–1993; n = 310).


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1321-1331
Author(s):  
Michele Casini ◽  
Martin Hansson ◽  
Alessandro Orio ◽  
Karin Limburg

Abstract. During the past 20 years, hypoxic areas have expanded rapidly in the Baltic Sea, which has become one of the largest marine “dead zones” in the world. At the same time, the most important commercial fish population of the region, the eastern Baltic cod, has experienced a drastic reduction in mean body condition, but the processes behind the relation between deoxygenation and condition remain elusive. Here we use extensive long-term monitoring data on cod biology and distribution as well as on hydrological variations to investigate the processes that relate deoxygenation and cod condition during the autumn season. Our results show that the depth distribution of cod has increased during the past 4 decades at the same time of the expansion, and shallowing, of waters with oxygen concentrations detrimental to cod performance. This has resulted in a progressively increasing spatial overlap between the cod population and low-oxygenated waters after the mid-1990s. This spatial overlap and the actual oxygen concentration experienced by cod therein statistically explained a large proportion of the changes in cod condition over the years. These results complement previous analyses on fish otolith microchemistry that also revealed that since the mid-1990s, cod individuals with low condition were exposed to low-oxygen waters during their life. This study helps to shed light on the processes that have led to a decline of the eastern Baltic cod body condition, which can aid the management of this population currently in distress. Further studies should focus on understanding why the cod population has moved to deeper waters in autumn and on analyzing the overlap with low-oxygen waters in other seasons to quantify the potential effects of the variations in physical properties on cod biology throughout the year.


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