Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus L.) stocks and genes: A review

• Published in: ICES Journal of Marine Science
• Main Authors: Jamieson, Alan, Smith, Peter J.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 1987
• Subjects: Articles; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/44/1/66; https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/44.1.66

The stocks of Atlantic mackerel ( Scomber scombrus L.) are normally described according to their regional, phenotypic, and behavioural properties. The management of these resources has been based on a practical stock classification without investigating the genetic nature of mackerel variability or indeed testing for the possible genetic divergence of the stock units. Electrophoretic techniques permit the identification of some of the genes which code proteins. A survey of protein genes in mackerel populations gives an independent indication of their natural variability. The detected gene variants are evenly distributed throughout the tested parts of the range of this species and indicate that this species has not evolved genetically divergent stocks in the Northeast Atlantic.