Effect of Wind on the Recruitment of Canadian Arctic Cisco ( Coregonus autumnalis ) into the Central Alaskan Beaufort Sea

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• Main Authors: Fechhelm, Robert G., Griffiths, William B.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1990
• Subjects: Aquatic Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Arctic; Canada; Arctic cisco; Barter Island; Beaufort Sea; Coregonus autumnalis; Prudhoe Bay; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f90-241; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f90-241

The recruitment of age 0 + Arctic cisco (Coregonus autumnalis) from Canada into the Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, area for the period 1981–88 was compared with summer wind data collected at Barter Island, Alaska. Four years of poor recruitment (1981, 1982, 1984, and 1988) were characterized by winds with net easterly components [Formula: see text] for the period 1 July—15 August. Four years in which moderate to strong recruitment occurred (1983, 1985, 1986, and 1987) were characterized by winds with net easterly components [Formula: see text]. Results suggest that the recruitment of young-of-the-year Arctic cisco from Canada to central Alaska is strongly influenced by wind-driven currents along the Beaufort Sea coast. Recruitment may be impaired by the absence of "strong" east winds without the actual presence of prevailing west winds.