Beach seine fish survey along the coast of Newfoundland from 1960-1964 (Fleming Survey) and from 1992-1996 (Resurrected Fleming Survey)

• Main Author: McCain, James Scott Patrick
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2017
• Subjects: Amblyraja radiata; Ammodytes spp.; Anguilla rostrata; Anisarchus medius; Area/locality; Bald Point Beach; Beach seine; Bridgeport; Bristols Hope Cove; Bryants Cove; BSE; Burgoynes Coves; Cannings Cove; Cape Cove; Clupea harengus; Comment of event; Cottidae; Crockers Cove; Cyclopterus lumpus; Dactylopterus volitans; DATE/TIME; Davies Head North; Davies Head South; DEPTH; water; Event label; Fortune Harbour Fox Cv2; Fortune Harbour Southeast Bottom; Fortune Harbous Souwthwest Bottom; Fox Island; Gadus morhua; Gadus ogac; Gasterosteus aculeatus; Grassy island; Green Island; Half Island; Halls Bay Beachy Cove; Harricot Beach; Hemitripterus americanus; Hippoglossoides platessoides; Indian Bay; Julies Harbour; Kings Point green bay; Latitude of event; Leptoclinus maculatus; Limanda ferruginea; Little Mosquito Cove; Lockstons Arm; Long Beach East; Long Beach West; Indian; Long Beach; Green Bay; Fortune Harbour; Mosquito Cove; atlantic cod; Newfoundland; Northwest Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.873256; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.873256

The collapse of the Northwest Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) stocks in the early 1990s led to widespread ecological changes offshore. Changes in coastal fish communities are less known, largely due to the lack of historical records and long-term, standardized research surveys in coastal ecosystems. We aimed to overcome this with a unique dataset known as the Fleming survey. From 1959 to 1964, a systematic beach-seine survey was conducted to examine juvenile cod abundance in 84 bays (42 of which were consistently sampled and therefore analysed) along the east coast of Newfoundland. In addition to cod, all other fish collected in the seines were recorded. These surveys were repeated from 1992 to 1996 after the cod collapse, and document a substantial reduction in a dominant inshore species - juvenile Atlantic cod. We show that total fish abundance declined significantly with the decrease of cod, whereas Shannon diversity and species evenness significantly increased. Species richness increased in some regions but decreased in others. We also found significant changes in the composition of the fish community likely due to a combination of release from predation from fewer large cod feeding in inshore areas as well as a release from competition from fewer juvenile cod occupying the coastal habitat. Region and the presence of vegetated habitats also significantly influenced the fish community. This study shows a strong reorganization of coastal fish communities after a large-scale fisheries collapse with implications for ecosystem-based and cross-ecosystem management.