A Resolution to the Blue Whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) Population Paradox?
We provide the strongest evidence to date supporting the existence of two independent blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou (Risso, 1827)) populations in the North Atlantic. In spite of extensive data collected in conjunction with the fishery, the population structure of blue whiting is poorly unde...
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Online Access: | https://zenodo.org/record/11943 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0106237 |
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ftzenodo:oai:zenodo.org:11943 2023-06-06T11:57:03+02:00 A Resolution to the Blue Whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) Population Paradox? Pointin, Fabien Payne, Mark R. 2014-09-03 https://zenodo.org/record/11943 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0106237 unknown info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/264933/ info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/308299/ https://zenodo.org/communities/euro-basin https://zenodo.org/communities/ecfunded https://zenodo.org/communities/zenodo https://zenodo.org/record/11943 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0106237 oai:zenodo.org:11943 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Plos One 9(9) e106237 (2014) info:eu-repo/semantics/article publication-article 2014 ftzenodo https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0106237 2023-04-13T21:46:40Z We provide the strongest evidence to date supporting the existence of two independent blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou (Risso, 1827)) populations in the North Atlantic. In spite of extensive data collected in conjunction with the fishery, the population structure of blue whiting is poorly understood. On one hand, genetic, morphometric, otolith and drift modelling studies point towards the existence of two populations, but, on the other hand, observations of adult distributions point towards a single population. A paradox therefore arises in attempting to reconcile these two sets of information. Here we analyse 1100 observations of blue whiting larvae from the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) from 1948–2005 using modern statistical techniques. We show a clear spatial separation between a northern spawning area, in the Rockall Trough, and a southern one, off the Porcupine Seabight. We further show a difference in the timing of spawning between these sites of at least a month, and meaningful differences in interannual variability. The results therefore support the two-population hypothesis. Furthermore, we resolve the paradox by showing that the acoustic observations cited in support of the single-population model are not capable of resolving both populations, as they occur too late in the year and do not extend sufficiently far south to cover the southern population: the confusion is the result of a simple observational artefact. We conclude that blue whiting in the North Atlantic comprises two populations. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Zenodo Porcupine Seabight ENVELOPE(-13.000,-13.000,50.500,50.500) Rockall Trough ENVELOPE(-15.036,-15.036,53.825,53.825) PLoS ONE 9 9 e106237 |
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description |
We provide the strongest evidence to date supporting the existence of two independent blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou (Risso, 1827)) populations in the North Atlantic. In spite of extensive data collected in conjunction with the fishery, the population structure of blue whiting is poorly understood. On one hand, genetic, morphometric, otolith and drift modelling studies point towards the existence of two populations, but, on the other hand, observations of adult distributions point towards a single population. A paradox therefore arises in attempting to reconcile these two sets of information. Here we analyse 1100 observations of blue whiting larvae from the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) from 1948–2005 using modern statistical techniques. We show a clear spatial separation between a northern spawning area, in the Rockall Trough, and a southern one, off the Porcupine Seabight. We further show a difference in the timing of spawning between these sites of at least a month, and meaningful differences in interannual variability. The results therefore support the two-population hypothesis. Furthermore, we resolve the paradox by showing that the acoustic observations cited in support of the single-population model are not capable of resolving both populations, as they occur too late in the year and do not extend sufficiently far south to cover the southern population: the confusion is the result of a simple observational artefact. We conclude that blue whiting in the North Atlantic comprises two populations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pointin, Fabien Payne, Mark R. |
spellingShingle |
Pointin, Fabien Payne, Mark R. A Resolution to the Blue Whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) Population Paradox? |
author_facet |
Pointin, Fabien Payne, Mark R. |
author_sort |
Pointin, Fabien |
title |
A Resolution to the Blue Whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) Population Paradox? |
title_short |
A Resolution to the Blue Whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) Population Paradox? |
title_full |
A Resolution to the Blue Whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) Population Paradox? |
title_fullStr |
A Resolution to the Blue Whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) Population Paradox? |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Resolution to the Blue Whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) Population Paradox? |
title_sort |
resolution to the blue whiting (micromesistius poutassou) population paradox? |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://zenodo.org/record/11943 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0106237 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-13.000,-13.000,50.500,50.500) ENVELOPE(-15.036,-15.036,53.825,53.825) |
geographic |
Porcupine Seabight Rockall Trough |
geographic_facet |
Porcupine Seabight Rockall Trough |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Plos One 9(9) e106237 (2014) |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/264933/ info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/308299/ https://zenodo.org/communities/euro-basin https://zenodo.org/communities/ecfunded https://zenodo.org/communities/zenodo https://zenodo.org/record/11943 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0106237 oai:zenodo.org:11943 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0106237 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
e106237 |
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1767964999598211072 |