Understanding The Long-Term Dynamics Of Non-Traditional Species In Bentho-Demersal Communities ...

• Main Author: Link, Jason S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: ASC 2003 - Q - Theme session 2024
• Subjects: Fisheries and aquaculture; Pressures, impacts, conservation, and management; Northwest Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.25348798.v1; https://ices-library.figshare.com/articles/conference_contribution/Understanding_The_Long-Term_Dynamics_Of_Non-Traditional_Species_In_Bentho-Demersal_Communities/25348798/1

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author.The demersal component of many fish communities usually consists of high profile and commercially valuable species that are targets of fisheries, plus a diverse group of lesser known species that have minimal commercial value and focus. Yet ecologically these traditionally nontargeted species are often a major biomass sink in marine ecosystems and can also be critical in the functioning of bentho-demersal food webs. I examined the biomass trajectories of several species of skates, cottids, lophiids, anarhichadids, zooarcids and similar species in the U.S. northwest Atlantic ecosystem to determine if their relative abundance has changed across the past four decades. Distribution and stomach contents of these species were also evaluated over time to further evaluate the relative importance of these species. Of particular emphasis was testing the hypothesis of a possible competitive release from gadids and pleuronectiformes, groups which have ...