Oscillations in abundance of some economically important fishes related to hydro-climate of the Northwest Atlantic

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Analysis of oscillations in meteorological and oceanographic parameters in the Northwest Atlantic (NWA) in the last 50 years revealed three periods in their development. The first one lasted from the end of the 1950s to the end of the 1970s–beginning of 1980s; the second one from beginning of the 1980s to the mid‐1990s and the third one from the mid‐1990s to today, which is to be completed soon. These periods and their sequence appear in the many‐years trend of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, in temperature variations at the surface and near bottom on the NWA shelf, in the volume of the cold intermediate layer, in the variability of ice‐covered areas, and in shifts of hydrological fronts along the meridian. These variations in environmental conditions are well‐coordinated with oscillations in the abundance and stocks of generations in some economically important fish of NWA (Greenland halibut, redfish, cod, thorny skate, Atlantic mackerel, herring). Here we present diagrams of water temperature changes, NAO indices, the dynamics of the localization of oceanic fronts, and oscillations in fish abundance.