A detailed characterisation the spawning distribution of Blue Whiting ...

• Main Authors: Pointin, Fabien, Payne, Mark R.
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: ASC 2013 - Theme session N 2024
• Subjects: Fisheries and aquaculture; Pressures, impacts, conservation, and management; Porcupine Seabight; Rockall Trough; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.24753861.v1; https://ices-library.figshare.com/articles/conference_contribution/A_detailed_characterisation_the_spawning_distribution_of_Blue_Whiting/24753861/1

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author. We provide here the strongest evidence to date supporting the existence of two independent Blue Whiting (Micromesistius poutassou Risso, 1827) stocks in the North Atlantic. In spite of extensive data collected in conjunction with the fishery and management of this species, the population structure of Blue Whiting is poorly understood. In particular, genetic, otolith and drift modelling studies point towards the existence of two stocks, but observations of adult distributions point towards a single stock. A paradox therefore arises in attempting to reconcile these two pieces of information. Here we analyse 1100 observations of Blue Whiting larvae from the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) from 1948‐2005 using modern statistical techniques. We show a clear separation between a Northern spawning component, in the Rockall trough, and a Southern one, in the Porcupine Seabight. We further show a difference in the timing of spawning between these ...