scholarly journals Essential relationships incorporating the influence of age, size and condition on variables required for estimation of reproductive potential in Atlantic cod Gadus morhua

2002 ◽  
Vol 235 ◽  
pp. 235-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Marteinsdottir ◽  
GA Begg
2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 980-994 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Tara Marshall ◽  
Coby L Needle ◽  
Anders Thorsen ◽  
Olav Sigurd Kjesbu ◽  
Nathalia A Yaragina

Stock–recruit relationships that use spawning stock biomass (SSB) to represent reproductive potential assume that the proportion of SSB composed of females and the relative fecundity (number of eggs produced per unit mass) are both constant over time. To test these two assumptions, female-only spawner biomass (FSB) and total egg production (TEP) were estimated for the Northeast Arctic stock of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) over a 56-year time period. The proportion of females (FSB/SSB) varied between 24% and 68%, and the variation was systematic with length such that SSB became more female-biased as the mean length of spawners increased. Relative fecundity of the stock (TEP/SSB) varied between 115 and 355 eggs·g–1 and was significantly, positively correlated with mean length of spawners. Both FSB and TEP gave a different interpretation of the recruitment response to reductions in stock size (overcompensatory) compared with that obtained using SSB (either compensatory or depensatory). There was no difference between SSB and FSB in the assessment of stock status; however, in recent years (1980–2001) TEP fell below the threshold level at which recruitment becomes impaired more frequently than did SSB. This suggests that using SSB as a measure of stock reproductive potential could lead to overly optimistic assessments of stock status.


2000 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 815-825 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvan Lambert ◽  
Jean-Denis Dutil

The influence of a lower condition on reproductive investment, somatic energy losses, and postspawning condition of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) was examined under the hypothesis that females, in response to lower available energy reserves, would reduce reproductive investment in order to limit somatic energy losses. Laboratory experiments revealed that female cod with high prespawning condition factors ended reproduction in better condition than females with low prespawning condition factors. Fecundity and total egg dry weight were significantly lower in poor-condition females. The loss in somatic mass and energy in these poor-condition females was nevertheless higher, in relative terms, than the losses experienced by females in good condition. Consequently, energy reserves invested in reproduction by poor-condition females increase their risk of mortality. In the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence during the early 1990s, reproductive females had lower fecundities and were in worse prespawning and postspawning condition. The condition of spent females suggested a greater impact of changes in environmental conditions on adult than on immature cod. Reproductive potential and possibly recruitment may have suffered from that situation and could have contributed to the failure of that stock to recover despite the moratorium on commercial fishing.


1999 ◽  
Vol 56 (10) ◽  
pp. 1882-1890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth Scott ◽  
Gudrun Marteinsdottir ◽  
Peter Wright

The use of spawning stock biomass as a direct measure of reproductive potential may not be valid because of age- or size-specific differences in fecundity and the effect of maternal size and condition on offspring viability. In this study, we examine the potential significance of these effects using modelled Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) populations. We quantify how changes in the age composition of the spawning stock, due to a range of fishing pressures and under different stock-recruitment relationships, could influence the reproductive output. Quantitative comparisons were made between a "standard" population where all age-classes only suffer natural instantaneous mortality (M = 0.2) and populations that suffer increasing levels of fishing pressure (F = 0.0-1.0). The results of the modelling exercise suggests that if the effects of the loss of more fecund older/larger individuals in the population are not considered, the number of potential recruits produced by populations under higher levels of fishing mortality could be overestimated by as much as 60%. When age/size-related maternal effects on egg viability are also considered, the amount of potential recruits can be overestimated by a further 10% in the heavily exploited populations.


2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Joanne Morgan ◽  
John Brattey

Abstract Variation in maturity-at-age, sex ratio, and potential egg production (through changes in length at age) were examined for northern cod (NAFO Division 2J + 3KL), southern Grand Bank cod (3NO), and southern Newfoundland cod (3Ps). All showed significant interannual variability in each stock. Estimates of reproductive potential were produced by sequentially incorporating estimates of proportion mature at age, sex ratio at age, and potential egg production. The estimates of reproductive potential produced by each method were broadly similar, but there were important differences. This leads to differing perceptions of stock productivity, as measured by relative rate of recruitment of a stock and in the spawning stock produced per recruit. These differing perceptions can have a major impact on expectations for the recovery of depleted stocks and the sustainability of various levels of fishing. Efforts should be made to improve estimates of reproductive potential by further exploring the impacts of changes in the spawning characteristics of populations, and by collecting such basic information as fecundity data.


2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (7) ◽  
pp. 1338-1347 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Stares ◽  
R. M. Rideout ◽  
M. J. Morgan ◽  
J. Brattey

Abstract Stares, J. C., Rideout, R. M., Morgan, M. J., and Brattey, J. 2007. Did population collapse influence individual fecundity of Northwest Atlantic cod? – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64:1338 –1347. We examined the influence of population collapse on individual potential fecundity and total population egg production (TEP) of three northwest Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) populations: northern cod (Divisions 2J3KL), southern Grand Bank cod (NAFO Divisions 3NO), and southern Newfoundland cod (Subdivision 3Ps). Fecundity at length increased in conjunction with population collapse for two (3NO, 3Ps) of the three populations. Subsequent moderate population recovery between the 1990s and 2000s in 3Ps was accompanied by a decrease in fecundity at length. A large decrease in fecundity at length for 3NO during the same time period, despite little or no population recovery, coupled with the fact that there was no obvious difference in fish condition between the two time periods, suggested that density-independent factors could be contributing to the changes in fecundity. Use of pre-collapse fecundity–length relationships to estimate TEP in the post-collapse period resulted in underestimation of TEP by as much as 30% in 3NO and 46% in 3Ps, whereas in 2J3KL, TEP was overestimated by as much as 18%. Although the results do not fully support the hypothesis of an inverse relationship between population size and fecundity, they do demonstrate the variable nature of cod fecundity which, if not accounted for, can lead to erroneous perceptions of stock reproductive potential.


2002 ◽  
Vol 59 (10) ◽  
pp. 1685-1695 ◽  
Author(s):  
J S Wroblewski ◽  
H W Hiscock

We investigate the feasibility of enhancing the reproductive potential of northern Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) populations resident in Newfoundland and Labrador bays by "catch, grow out, and release". This entails trapping juvenile and young adult fish from the local population, increasing their growth, maturation rate, and potential fecundity by feeding them a natural diet in net pens, and then returning the fish to their natal bay habitat to spawn. To determine whether multiyear farming affects spawning success, we determined the spawning period and egg quality of cod held in captivity for three growth seasons. Farmed cod spawned in a net pen concurrently with wild cod in Trinity Bay during 1995 and produced fertilized eggs from which viable larvae hatched. Sonic tracking showed that cod farmed for 3 years and then released reintegrated with wild cod aggregations over known spawning grounds. Recaptures of tagged fish several years after release suggest that farmed fish remained in the bay as members of the resident population. Fishing mortality (bycatch in coastal fisheries for lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) and winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus)) of released farmed cod was not negligible, emphasizing that any enhancement effort must be carried out under a complete fishing moratorium.


2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 618-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvan Lambert

Time series of life history traits determining the reproductive potential and productivity of Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua ) in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence (nGSL) were obtained for the period covering the collapse and failure of the stock to recover. Decreasing trends in these traits were observed under unfavourable oceanographic conditions, with lowest values reached in the early 1990s. These changes had a negative impact on reproductive rate and instantaneous rate (r) of population growth. Estimates of r used as a proxy of stock productivity were negative when the stock collapsed, indicating that the biomass would have decreased even without fishing. Population abundance projections for the recent period suggest a potential increase in population size of 7.3% per year, with a doubling time of 10.5 years in the absence of exploitation and a near 0% rate with current fishing mortality, indicating that present harvesting does not allow any rebuilding of the stock. Given the similarities in environmental conditions and key life history traits, the situation in the nGSL might reflect the state of many northwest Atlantic cod stocks.


1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (7) ◽  
pp. 1766-1783 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Tara Marshall ◽  
Olav Sigurd Kjesbu ◽  
Nathalia A Yaragina ◽  
Per Solemdal ◽  
Øyvind Ulltang

The assumption that spawner biomass is directly proportional to total egg production by fish stocks underlies most spawner-recruit relationships. Despite its importance, this assumption is largely untested. Data describing the reproductive potential of Northeast Arctic (NEA) Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) were used to test the proportionality assumption for a period showing strong variation in condition and abundance of spawners. At the individual scale, relative fecundity varied with length and condition. This decreases the likelihood that the proportionality assumption is valid. At the stock level, total egg production was estimated (1985-1996) using acoustic estimates of total abundance and demographic information from trawl sampling in combination with year-specific fecundity-length relationships. For NEA cod, spawner biomass estimated by virtual population analysis (VPA) was not proportional to total egg production. Compared with VPA-based estimates of spawner biomass, total egg production is an improved index of recruitment potential because (i) the magnitude of variation observed in total egg production was closer to that observed in recruitment and (ii) the relationship between recruitment at age 1 and total egg production approaches the origin. The results suggest that further progress in explaining recruitment variation will be achieved using more sensitive measures of the true reproductive potential of the stock.


2014 ◽  
Vol 514 ◽  
pp. 217-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
HY Wang ◽  
LW Botsford ◽  
JW White ◽  
MJ Fogarty ◽  
F Juanes ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 883-891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo C. Lazado ◽  
Christopher Marlowe A. Caipang ◽  
Sanchala Gallage ◽  
Monica F. Brinchmann ◽  
Viswanath Kiron

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