Local, Seasonal, and Yearly Condition of Juvenile Greenland Halibut Revealed by the Le Cren Condition Index

• Published in: Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
• Main Authors: Ghinter, Léopold, Ait Youcef, Wahiba, Lambert, Yvan, Morgan, M. Joanne, Audet, Céline
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: French
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Greenland; Northwest Atlantic
• Online Access: https://semaphore.uqar.ca/id/eprint/2353/; https://semaphore.uqar.ca/id/eprint/2353/1/Leopold_Ghinter_et_al_juin2021.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/tafs.10324

An understanding of biological characteristics, such as growth patterns, condition, and energy reserves, is important for better understanding the environmental constraints exerted on fish populations. This is especially true for exploited fish stocks in the current context of climate change. Using biological data collected from 2006 to 2009 during bottom trawl research surveys by Fisheries and Oceans Canada in the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence (EGSL) as well as data from 2000 to 2018 in the northwest Atlantic, we sought to improve our knowledge on the seasonal condition of Greenland Halibut Reinhardtius hippoglossoides juveniles and to better understand the divergence in some life history traits between juveniles captured in these two regions. We validated the use of the Le Cren condition index and evaluated its relationship with energetic status in juvenile (20–32-cm TL) Greenland Halibut. In the EGSL, juvenile condition was higher in winter and spring compared to summer and fall. Such variations may result from this species’ pelagic predation activity and prey availability. Juveniles captured in the EGSL during 2016–2017 were larger but had a lower condition index than those captured in the northwest Atlantic, but we found no indication of earlier sexual maturation in the EGSL that could explain the sex ratio differences we observed in catches from these two areas.