Energetic consequences of reproduction in Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua) in relation to spawning level of somatic energy reserves

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• Main Authors: Lambert, Yvan, Dutil, Jean-Denis
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2000
• Subjects: atlantic cod; Gadus morhua
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f00-022; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f00-022

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.