Ecological trend on demersal community in the Southern Grand Banks (NAFO Div. 3NO) from the Spanish Surveys: 2002-2011

• Main Authors: Nogueira, A. (Adriana), Paz, X. (Xabier), González-Troncoso, D. (Diana)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) 2013
• Subjects: atlantic cod; Gadus morhua; Newfoundland; North Atlantic; northern shrimp; Northwest Atlantic; Pandalus borealis
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10508/1717

Some ecological indices were calculated from the data obtained in the research surveys conducted by Spain in NAFO divisions 3NO between the years 2002 and 2011. These indices were calculated for individual populations (intrinsic population rate of growth and mean length) and for all the community (ABC curves, indices about faunal diversity, proportion of non-commercial species, mean length in community and size spectra). We use the data of twenty five species caught in the survey along the years, included Northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis). The data of Northern shrimp, capelin (Mallotus villosus) and Northern sand lance (Ammodytes dubius) have a great influence in the value of the indices, as their abundance is very high in relation to their contribution to the biomass. The indices present a general stable pattern with a slight improvement in recent years. After two decades of moratorium, yellowtail flounder (Limanda ferruginea) seems to be recovered and other important commercial species as Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides) begin to recover in the South of the Grand Banks.