Ecosystem variability in west Greenland waters

A review of the climate conditions off West Greenland during the past 50 years shows large variability in the atmospheric, oceanographic and sea-ice variables, as well as in fish stocks. A positive relationship is found between water temperature and the recruitment of cod and redfish, whereas the re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science
Main Authors: Buch, E., Pedersen, Søren Anker, Ribergaard, M. H.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2004
Subjects:
Online Access:https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/b907bcf9-246f-4d80-837b-00d4018eddc7
https://doi.org/10.2960/J.v34.m479
Description
Summary:A review of the climate conditions off West Greenland during the past 50 years shows large variability in the atmospheric, oceanographic and sea-ice variables, as well as in fish stocks. A positive relationship is found between water temperature and the recruitment of cod and redfish, whereas the recruitment of shrimp and halibut is negatively related to temperature. Observed shifts in the hydrographic conditions during the second half of the 1990s indicate that some changes in the environment may be expected in the coming years. Relationships between the past variations in fish resources, hydrographic conditions, and the large-scale climatic conditions, as expressed by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), strongly support the incorporation of environmental variability into prediction models for fish recruitment and therefore into the assessment of the fish resources.