The influence of temperature on some fish population parameters in the Barents Sea

• Main Author: Harald Loeng
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1989
• Subjects: Barents Sea
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.424.1764; http://journal.nafo.int/j09/loeng.pdf

At the beginning of this century it was clear that in the Barents Sea, variations in the physical conditions have a great influence on the biological conditions of fish. The cold period during 1977-82 initiated new investigations on the influence of oceanographic conditions on recruitment, distribution and growth of commercial fish species in the Barents Sea, both by Norwegian and USSR scientists. A review of some of the most important results achieved so far is presented. Rich year-classes of cod occur only in years with relatively high temperature on the spawning grounds and the areas of their distribution during the first half-year of their lives. Feeding distributions of cod, haddock and capelin depend on the climatic conditions in the Barents Sea with more easterly and northerly distributions noted in warm years than in cold ones. The growth of fish also seems to depend on the environmental temperature, but the temperature-growth relationships are probably not simple. The climatic fluctuations also influence the plankton production and thereby the food conditions for all plankton feeders. Temperature effects linked to the variability of food may therefore be as important as the direct effect of temperature on the biological conditions of fish.