We examine long-term trends in the average growth rates and maturation schedules of herring and sprat populations using survey data collected from the North Sea and west of Scotland since the 1960s and 1980s respectively. Otolith age data and maturity data are used to calculate time series of mean lengths at age, von Bertalanffy growth parameters, and probabilistic maturation reaction norms. As the growth and maturation of fish is known to be influenced by temperature and stock abundances, we account for these variables using Generalised Additive Models. Each of the herring populations displayed either steady declines in mean length across multiple age groups, or declines in length followed years later by some recovery. Depending on region, lengths at age of sprat increased or decreased over time. Varying temporal trends in maturation propensity at age and length were observed across herring populations. Many of the trends in growth rate and maturation were correlated to population abundance and/or temperature. In general, abundance is shown to be negatively correlated to growth rates in herring and sprat, and positively correlated with maturation propensity in herring. Temperature is also shown to be correlated to growth and maturation, and although the effect is consistent within species, the temperature effects differ between herring and sprat. This study provides detailed information about long-term trends in growth and maturation, which is lacking for some of these pelagic stocks, especially in the west of Scotland.
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6402831 | PMC |
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0212176 | PLOS |
Genome Biol Evol
July 2024
Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
The European sprat is a small plankton-feeding clupeid present in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, in the Mediterranean Sea, and in the brackish Baltic Sea and Black Sea. This species is the target of a major fishery and, therefore, an accurate characterization of its genetic population structure is crucial to delineate proper stock assessments that aid ensuring the fishery's sustainability. Here, we present (i) a draft genome assembly, (ii) pooled whole genome sequencing of 19 population samples covering most of the species' distribution range, and (iii) the design and test of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-chip resource and use this to validate the population structure inferred from pooled sequencing.
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February 2024
Section for Marine Living Resources, National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU Aqua), Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Silkeborg, Denmark.
Pelagic fish like herring, sardines, and mackerel constitute an essential and nutritious human food source globally. Their sustainable harvest is promoted by the application of precise, accurate, and cost-effective methods for estimating bycatch. Here, we experimentally test the new concept of using eDNA for quantitative bycatch assessment on the illustrative example of the Baltic Sea sprat fisheries with herring bycatch.
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January 2024
Univ. Lille, CNRS, Univ. Littoral Côte d'Opale, IRD, UMR 8187 - LOG - Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences, 59000, Lille, France.
Knowledge of the trophic structure and variability of planktonic communities is a key factor in understanding food-web dynamics and energy transfer from zooplankton to higher trophic levels. In this study, we investigated how stable isotopes of mesozooplankton species varied seasonally (winter, spring, autumn) in relation to environmental factors and plankton size classes in a temperate coastal ecosystem. Our results showed that spring is characterized by the strongest vertical and size-structured plankton food-web, mainly fueled by the phytoplankton bloom.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Fish Biol
January 2025
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Due to the growth of aquaculture and the finite supply of fishmeal and oil, alternative marine protein and lipid sources are highly sought after. Particularly promising is the use of side streams from the fish processing industry, allowing for the recovery and retention of otherwise lost nutrients in the food production chain. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the potential of three fish processing side streams as fish feed ingredients.
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July 2023
ANSES, Laboratory for Food Safety, 62200 Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.
Fish are often speckled with "black spots" caused by metacercarial trematode infection, inducing a host response. Cryptocotyle spp. (Opisthorchiidae) are among the parasites responsible for this phenomenon.
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