Comparative analysis on distribution of common cetacean and fish species in the Barents Sea

• Main Authors: R. N. Klepikovskiy, V. А. Ivshin, A. G. Trofimov
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Russian
• Published: Transactions of the Pacific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography 2021
• Subjects: малый полосатик; горбач; финвал; беломордый дельфин; морская свинья; баренцево море; распределение; мойва; сайка; треска; Aquaculture. Fisheries. Angling; SH1-691; Barents Sea; Norway; Balaenoptera acutorostrata; Balaenoptera physalus; baleen whales; Boreogadus saida; Fin whale; Gadus morhua; Humpback Whale; Lagenorhynchus albirostris; Megaptera novaeangliae; minke whale; Phocoena phocoena; polar cod; toothed whales; White-beaked dolphin
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.26428/1606-9919-2021-201-755-764; https://doaj.org/article/7048dd57948d480488a055763c62d70f

Comparative analysis of cetacean and fish species distribution in the Barents Sea is conducted on the data of joint Russian-Norwegian ecosystem surveys in August-October of 2005–2014. The number of observed minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris), and harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), as well as the acousticmeasured distribution density of fishes, as capelin (Mallotus villosus), polar cod (Boreogadus saida), herring (Clupea sp.), cod (Gadus morhua), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), saithe (Pollachius virens), blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassoumes), redfish (Sebastes sp.), norway pout (Trisopterus esmarkii), and fish fingerlings are summarized by the squares 50 x 50 km and maps of their distribution are drawn. A degree of overlapping between distributions of cetacean and fish species is estimated for each pair of species, as ratio of number of the squares where the species were presented together to total number of the squares where the species were found. Associations between cetaceans and their potential prey are determined by the methods of principal components and correlation analysis applied to the log-transformed data. Distribution of the widely distributed cetaceans, as minke whale and white-beaked dolphin, overlapped largely (up to 42 %) with many of studied fish species, therefore their possible predation on these species was significant. On the contrary, locally distributed cetaceans, such as harbor porpoise, had possibly lesser impact on fish because of low overlapping with their distribution (< 11 %). By the results of correlation analysis, capelin and polar cod were the priority potential prey for baleen whales (p < 0.01 and p = 0.02, respectively), whereas cod, haddock, blue whiting, and redfish – for toothed whales (p = 0.02, 0.01, 0.02, and < 0.01, respectively), in particular for white-beaked dolphin.