scholarly journals Fecundity of Atlantic Herring (Clupea harengus) from three Spawning Areas in the Western Gulf of Maine, 1969 and 1982

1985 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 149-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
K H Kelly ◽  
D K Stevenson
2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Redwood W. Nero ◽  
Charles H. Thompson ◽  
J. Michael Jech

Abstract Acoustic measurements at 1.5–5 kHz on fish in the Gulf of Maine showed a swimbladder-resonance peak near 2.5 kHz at 160–190-m depth. Midwater trawls confirmed that the fish were likely to be Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) of 19–29 cm length. Calculation using a model of swimbladder resonance gives swimbladder volumes of 1.2% of fish weight at 160–190 m. Extrapolation of this volume of gas using Boyle's Law suggests that at the sea surface, these herring would need to inflate their swimbladders by up to five to six times the volume required for neutral buoyancy. If these fish were to maintain this volume of gas with surface “gulping”, they would need to submerge from the sea surface with a 30% excess buoyancy. In general, swimbladders of the Clupeidae may have greater volumes of gas than if the fish were neutrally buoyant at the sea surface and the interpretation of HF-echosounder surveys may be additionally complex when the volume of gas and swimbladder volume are difficult to predict. Mechanisms of how herring obtain additional swimbladder gas are discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothee Moll ◽  
Paul Kotterba ◽  
Lena von Nordheim ◽  
Patrick Polte

2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (8) ◽  
pp. 1215-1229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren C. Scopel ◽  
Antony W. Diamond ◽  
Stephen W. Kress ◽  
Adrian R. Hards ◽  
Paula Shannon

Ecosystem-based fishery management requires understanding of relationships between exploited fish and their predators, such as seabirds. We used exploratory regression analyses to model relationships between Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) in the diet of seabird chicks at nine nesting colonies in the Gulf of Maine and four types of fishery- and survey-derived herring data. We found several strong relationships, which suggests spatial structuring in herring stocks and likely patterns of herring movements before they recruit into the fishery. Some types of herring data seldom used in stock assessments — notably acoustic surveys, fixed-gear landings, and mass-at-age (i.e., weight-at-age) — correlated as strongly with seabird data as more commonly used series, such as mobile-gear landings and modeled spawning stock biomass. Seabird chick diets collected at specific locations thus offer a promising means to assess the size, distribution, and abundance of juvenile herring across a broad area prior to recruitment, which is a major source of uncertainty in fisheries. Common terns (Sterna hirundo) showed the most potential as a bioindicator, correlating well and showing consistent spatial patterns with 11 of 13 fishery data series.


1960 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 933-942 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. N. Tibbo ◽  
J. E. Henri Legaré

Plankton surveys in the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine in 1958 and 1959 indicated that the largest herring spawning areas in this region are on the northern edge of Georges Bank and off the southwest coast of Nova Scotia. The drift of larvae from the spawning grounds as indicated by increasing size and by the direction of non-tidal surface currents suggest that Bay of Fundy herring stocks are supplied chiefly from the Nova Scotia spawnings.


1985 ◽  
Vol 42 (S1) ◽  
pp. s158-s173 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. C. Anthony ◽  
M. J. Fogarty

Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus harengus) recruitment in the Gulf of Maine since 1947 has varied by a ratio of 20 to 1. Since heavy fishing began in the mid-1960's, recruitment has fluctuated by only a factor of 9 to 1. The greatest fluctuations in recruitment, therefore, historically occurred in the absence of high fishing mortality. Recruitment predictions and understanding of the causes of fluctuations are extremely important, since strong year classes traditionally have sustained the herring fisheries in the Gulf of Maine. The effect of environmental variables (particularly temperature) on herring recruitment and growth were examined in detail. Vulnerability of Gulf of Maine herring in response to moon phase is also considered. Indices of abundance of Atlantic herring in the Gulf of Maine were calculated for three time periods using three different procedures. Indices of abundance for the periods of 1915–67 and 1951–81 indicated that productivity, or amount of recruitment per amount of spawning stock, was positively related to temperature or other factors (e.g. food availability) related to temperature at intermediate to high levels of spawning stock biomass. For the shorter and most recent time period (1965–81), abundance was calculated by virtual population analysis and an attempt was made to relate temperature effects during several periods in the first year of life to recruitment levels at age 2. The mean, maximum, and minimum water temperatures during (1) September–December (spawning – early larval development), (2) January–April (overwintering and late larval development), and (3) May–August (postlarval) periods were correlated with abundance. Significant effects of mean and minimum temperature during period 2 and minimum temperature during period 3 were observed, suggesting that environmental influences on determination of year class strength occur during late larval – early juvenile phases. Possible reasons for the discrepancy between the long-term analyses bases on abundance indices and the more detailed analyses using population size estimates based on virtual population analysis are discussed. An indication of environmental limitation is also shown by density-dependent growth. Growth appears to be related to both age 2 abundance and summer water temperature. When abundance is great, its effect overcomes the positive effect of temperature (or other factors indicated by temperature). The environment also alters the availability and vulnerability of herring to the inshore fisheries. Young herring are more available and vulnerable to fixed gear during the dark phase of the moon. This effect is pronounced when abundance is low.


2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (12) ◽  
pp. 2130-2141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cindy J.G. van Damme ◽  
Mark Dickey-Collas ◽  
Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp ◽  
Olav S. Kjesbu

Atlantic herring ( Clupea harengus ) have contrasting spawning strategies, with apparently genetically similar fish “choosing” different spawning seasons, different egg sizes, and different spawning areas. In the North Sea, both autumn- and winter-spawning herring share the same summer feeding area but have different spawning areas. Females of both spawning types start their oocyte development in April–May. Oocyte development is influenced by the body energy content; during the maturation cycle, fecundity is down-regulated through atresia in relation to the actual body condition. Hence, fecundity estimates must account for the relative time of sampling. The down-regulation over the whole maturation period is approximately 20% in autumn- and 50% in winter-spawning herring. The development of the oocytes is the same for both spawning strategies until autumn when autumn spawners spawn a larger number of small eggs. In winter spawners, oocyte development and down-regulation of fecundity continues, resulting in larger eggs and lower number spawned. In theory, autumn and winter spawners could therefore switch spawning strategies, indicating a high level of reproductive plasticity.


1958 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 1451-1469 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. N. Tibbo ◽  
J. E. Henri Legaré ◽  
Leslie W. Scattergood ◽  
R. F. Temple

A major portion of the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine has been surveyed for occurrence and distribution of herring larvae. Plankton samples obtained with Hardy continuous plankton recorders and plankton nets confirm major spawning areas off the southwest coast of Nova Scotia and on the northern edge of Georges Bank. Newly hatched larvae were found in abundance in these areas, but nowhere else. Drift of larvae as indicated by non-tidal surface currents suggests that Nova Scotia spawnings may contribute substantially to commercial stocks of herring in inshore areas of Maine and New Brunswick. It is possible that Georges Bank spawnings also supply herring to this region.


1982 ◽  
Vol 39 (12) ◽  
pp. 1610-1621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irv Kornfield ◽  
Bruce D. Sidell ◽  
P. S. Gagnon

Ripe Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus harengus) were sampled from seven discrete spawning grounds in the Gulf of Maine and Gulf of St. Lawrence over a period of 3 yr. Genetic polymorphisms were observed at 13 enzyme loci by starch gel electrophoresis. Five highly polymorphic loci were used to assess population structure of herring stocks by contingency analysis of log-likelihood differences in gene frequencies. Significant temporal variation was observed at several localities. Within both spring spawning and fall spawning populations, significant spatial heterogeneity was noted for particular years, but was not temporally stable. By contrast, overall heterogeneity between spring and fall spawning populations was highly significant indicating genetic isolation of spring spawning populations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence from fall spawning aggregates in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Gulf of Maine. The low levels of genetic heterogeneity and absence of both temporal stability within fall spawning samples and spatial stability among samples is not consistent with the existence of more than a single genetic population of fall spawning herring in the northwest Atlantic.Key words: Clupea harengus harengus, population genetics, biochemical genetic variation, stock differentiation


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