NOT TO BE CITED WITHOUT PRIOR REFERENCE TO THE AUTHOR(S) Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization

• Main Author: Erik Buch
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2002
• Subjects: Greenland; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation; Northwest Atlantic; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.605.6462; http://archive.nafo.int/open/sc/2002/scr02-016.pdf

(Authors listed in alphabetic order) A review of the past 50 years climate conditions off West Greenland is given. We find large variability in the atmospheric, oceanographic and sea-ice conditions as well as in the fish stocks. A positive relationship is found between the hydrographic conditions expressed by the water temperature and the fish recruitment of cod and redfish whereas the recruitment of shrimps and halibuts seems to react positive to lower temperatures. Observed shifts in the hydrographic conditions during the second half of the 1990s indicate, that a change in the fish stock environment may be expected in the coming years. Relationships between the past variations in fisheries resources, hydrographic conditions, and the large-scale climate conditions, expressed by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), are analyzed and tested for links. 1.