Atlantic Cod Stock Structure in the Gulf of Maine

• Main Author: Stonington Fisheries
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: atlantic cod; Gadus morhua
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.562.2760; http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/GARM-Public/2. Models Meeting/background/Atlantic Cod Structure in the Gulf of Maine _Ted Ames_Fisheries _Jan 2004.pdf

I-- Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in the Gulf of Maine provide an important but depleted • fishery that needs to be made sustainable. However, restoring and maintaining robust I • population components to achieve sustainability is made difficult when their distribu-• tion and character is unknown. This study clarifies the structure of the Gulf of Maine I•1 cod grouping by deriving the distribution, movements, and behavior of population • components from 1920s data nd surveys of retired fishermen. These derivations are consistent with current cod populations and with the existence of localized spawning components. Nearly half the coastal spawning grounds of 50 to 70 years ago are aban-doned today and their spawning components have disappeared, suggesting depletion, undetected by system-wide assessments, may have been well advanced by the 1980s. Edward R Ames Ames is a commercial fisherman with the