Histological Assessment of Sexual Maturity in Greenland Halibut in Div. 3LM

11 páginas, 6 tablas, 1 figura.-- Scientific Council Meetin

Histological Assessment of Sexual Maturity of the Flemish Cap Cod (Division 3M) in 1995

6 páginas, 5 tablas, 2 fisguras.-- Scientific Council Meetin

Sexual Maturity of Cod (Gadus morhua) in Flemish Cap (Div. 3M)

6 páginas, 3 tablas, 2 figuras.-- Scientific Council Meetin

Spawning biomass variation in Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) in Flemish Cap in Relation to Changes in Growth and Maturation

Drastic changes in both age- and length-at-maturity of cod (Gadus morhua) on Flemish Cap have been observed during this decade. In the present paper, growth by cohort in this period was analyzed and compared with the observed trend in maturation. Different cohorts displayed different growth rates, the strongest 1990 year-class showing fastest growth. The compensatory response to lower population density alone did not explain the decline in both age- and size-at-maturity. Strong changes in fishing pressure during the period could have provoked a size-selectivity for early maturity, i.e. genetic selection. An estimate of the spawning biomass, accounting for the corresponding size-at-age distributions, on a cohort basis is given. The influence of changes in spawning biomass and spawning stock biomass age structure on the probability of future stock rebuilding is also discussed. It is shown a low spawning biomass composed of young and recruited females will hardly rebuild the stock to historical levels

Histological Assessment of Sexual Maturity of the Flemish Cap Cod in 1995

In this paper the proportion of females with postovulatory follicles in their ovaries in July 1995 is used to determine the length- and age-at-maturity of cod (Gadus morhua) in the year 1995. The proportion of females in the cortical alveoli stage is then used to estimate the same parameters for 1996. This histological method allows to accurately detect the proportion of both adult and primiparous females in the population at the very beginning of the gonad development, as it happens in the summer, and few months after spawning, when it is very difficult to make a visual diagnosis of the sexual maturity stage. Length and age at 50% maturity obtained from the curves plotting the proportion of cortical alveoli were 39.07 cm and 3.1 years, respectively. The same parameters obtained from postovulatory follicle frequencies were 42.65 cm and 3.9 years, respectively. During the period from 1990 to 1995, a decrease in both length- and age-at-maturity was observed for cod on Flemish Cap. It seems likely that in those recent years the age-at-maturity of female cod was fixed around age 3. The possibility that these features could be a density-dependent response is discussed

Distribution and Abundance of Cod on the Flemish Cap, July 1988 and 1989

12 páginas, 5 tablas, 8 figuras.-- Scientific Council Meetin

The Use of Daily Growth to Analyze Individual Spawning Dynamics in an Asynchronous Population: The Case of the European Hake from the Southern Stock

Daily growth patterns and their relationship with reproduction was analyzed in the European hake from the Galician Shelf, where it shows a very protracted spawning with three spawning peaks. The daily growth analysis was performed in otoliths of adult females on the transversal section of the sagittae otolith. Daily increments were measured from the border to the nucleus in females until they were discernible. Results show that daily growth of females decreases during the spawning period because they allocate less energy to somatic growth in favor of the production of gametes, with an increase in growth in July. Lastly, daily growth individual trends showed a “spawning pattern” in 28% of medium and large females, suggesting an individual spawning period of one to two months, with 4–5 valleys of narrow daily increments, likely associated to batch release: individual spawning frequency would be 4–5 days. This is the first time that individual spawning frequency in hake is estimated based on individual data. Finally, the spawning pattern is detected only once per year, indicating that a single female participates only in one spawning peak per year, supporting the hypothesis of the existence of two or more spawning components in the stock.Versión del edito

Atlantic Cod Growth History in Flemish Cap Between 1981 and 2016: The Impact of Fishing and Climate on Growth Performance

Flemish Cap cod collapsed in the early 90’s after facing multiple threats due to climate variability and anthropogenic pressures. A master 35-year cod growth chronology was reconstructed in the present study by using sclerochronology techniques. Three additional chronologies were developed to account for the age-dependent effect of maturity and fishing intensity on growth. All chronologies showed that cod growth has decreased over the years and it is currently at the minimum level in the historic of data series. Hierarchical mixed-effects models were applied to the master chronology to identify extrinsic drivers of growth. The master chronology was divided into 3 periods: Premoratorium (1988-1998), Moratorium (1999-2009), and Postmoratorium (2010-2019). Our results showed that drivers of cod growth in the Flemish Cap varied between periods (Premoratorium: bottom temperature and fishing mortality, Moratorium: cod and pandalus abundance, and Postmoratorium: cod abundance and thickness of the cold intermediate layer). Our results suggest that density-dependence processes, food availability, and global warming may be behind the lack of recovery of the Flemish Cap cod stock. The Flemish Cap cod growth chronology shows variations on growth over time and identifies its drivers, having the potential to be included in the NAFO stock assessments or to be used to set dynamic reference points that guarantees the stock sustainability. IntroductionVersión del edito