Coherent trends in contiguous survey time-series of major ecological and commercial fish species in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem

• Published in: ICES Journal of Marine Science
• Main Authors: Nye, Janet A., Bundy, Alida, Shackell, Nancy, Friedland, Kevin D., Link, Jason S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2009
• Subjects: Ecology; Aquatic Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Oceanography; Canada; atlantic cod; Northwest Atlantic; spiny dogfish
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsp216; http://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article-pdf/67/1/26/29134877/fsp216.pdf

Abstract Nye, J. A., Bundy, A., Shackell, N., Friedland, K. D., and Link, J. S. 2010. Coherent trends in contiguous survey time-series of major ecological and commercial fish species in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 26–40. Fish are often delineated into distinct population or stock units that reflect human institutional borders more than ecological factors. In the Northwest Atlantic, there are many species in the broader Gulf of Maine area (GOMA), yet the area is surveyed and managed for the most part in the south by the United States and in the north by Canada. Biomass time-series of 19 representative fish species and total biomass from 7 different surveys conducted by the United States and Canada in the GOMA are compared. All species showed coherent trends in relative biomass across at least two survey time-series, and in many species a single trend could describe all time-series trends accurately. For instance, Canadian and the US time-series of Atlantic cod, Atlantic herring, haddock, thorny skate, and goosefish had comparable trends. Conversely, species such as longhorn sculpin and spiny dogfish showed differing survey time-series trends and asynchronous event timing, suggesting that their population dynamics differ spatially. Collectively, the results demonstrate the value of comparing time-series for common species from contiguous ecosystems and elucidate the relative importance of environmental and fishing factors on each species.