On the coupling between climate, hydrography, and recruitment variability of fishery resources off West Greenland

In this article we review the past 50 years of climatic conditions off West Greenland, where there has been large variability in the atmospheric and oceanographic conditions as well as in fish stocks. A positive relationship is found between the hydrographic conditions expressed by the water temperature and the fish recruitment of cod and redfish, whereas the recruitment of shrimp and halibut seems to react positively to lower temperatures. Observed shifts in the hydrographic conditions during the second half of the 1990s indicate that a change in the fish stock environment may be expected in the coming years. Relationships between the past variations in fisheries resources, hydrographic conditions, and the large-scale climatic conditions expressed by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) strongly support the incorporation of environmental variability in prediction models for fish stock recruitment and thereby in the assessment of fisheries resources.

Article from Marine Science Symposia Vol. 219 - "Hydrobiological variability in the ICES Area, 1990-1999", symposium held in Edinburgh, 8-10 August 2001. To access  the remaining articles please click on the keyword "MSS Vol. 219".