| Summary: | The year class strength of the Iberian sardine is regulated by hydroclimatic conditions in the North Atlantic. The low recruitment values of recent years have been caused by reduction of the reproductive stock. The reproductive strategy of the sardine,with autumn and spring spawning seasons, produces two recruitment periods each year. This reproductive strategy is adapted to the oceanographic regime in the area, with coastal upwelling between April and September, and a northerly surface coastal current in winter. Variations in the intensity and timing of the winter current affect the success of the autumn spawning and can lead to recruitment failure at the end of spring. Variations in the intensity and timing of the northerly wind component, which generates upwelling, control the success of spring spawning. On the basis of oceanographic data and yearly recruitment from 1975 to 1997, we try to analyze the recruitment variability induced by the marine climate to the Iberian sardine stock.
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