Population Trends and Status of Two Exploited Northwest Atlantic Grenadiers, Coryphaenoides rupestris

• Main Authors: Macrourus Berglax, Jennifer A. Devine
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: North Atlantic; Northwest Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.568.9327; http://www.bio.uib.no/evofish/papers/Devine_2008_Population_trends.pdf

dier Macrourus berglax are well known slope species in the North Atlantic. Dramatic population declines in both species in Canadian waters of the Northwest Atlantic raised the question: was the decline a result of environmental changes or exploi-tation? Min–max autocorrelation factor analysis and dynamic factor analysis, two types of time series analysis, showed that a combination of factors acting on dif-ferent temporal scales explained the trends in both species. Those in Macrourus were best explained by environmental factors operating on long time scales; those in Coryphaenoides were related to exploitation. Our results support the view that an unregulated deep-ocean fishery, as experienced by Coryphaenoides, has serious con-sequences for species that are slow-growing, long-lived and late-maturing.