Growth changes in plaice,cod, haddock and saithe in the North Sea: a comparison of (post-)medieval and present-day growth rates based on otolith measurements |
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| Institution: | 1. Netherlands Institute for Fisheries Research, P.O. Box 68, 1970 AB IJmuiden, The Netherlands;2. IPA V-09, Royal Museum of Central Africa, 3080 Tervuren, Belgium;3. Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, NR33 0HT, UK;4. Institute for the Archaeological Heritage of the Flemish Community, Phoenix-building, Kon. Albert II-laan 19, Box 5, 1210 Brussels, Belgium;5. Fisheries Research Station, Ankerstraat 1, 8400 Ostend, Belgium;1. Technical University of Denmark, National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU Aqua), Kemitorvet, DK-2800 Kgs, Lyngby, Denmark;2. Marine Biological Section, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Strandpromenaden 5, DK-3000, Helsingør, Denmark;1. DTU Aqua, National Institute of Aquatic Resources, North Sea Science Park, Hirtshals, Denmark;2. Marine Scotland, Marine Laboratory, 375 Victoria Road, Aberdeen, AB11 9DB, United Kingdom;3. SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture, Fishing Gear Technology, North Sea Science Park, Hirtshals, Denmark;4. Section of Biology and Environmental Science, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark;5. Thünen Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries, Alter Hafen Süd 2, 18069, Rostock, Germany;1. IFREMER, Unité de Sciences et Technologies halieutiques, Laboratoire de Technologie et Biologie Halieutique, 8 rue François Toullec, F-56100, Lorient, France;2. Gulf Fisheries Centre, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Moncton, NB, E1C 9B6, Canada;3. Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft, United Kingdom;1. Archipelago Research Institute of University of Turku, Turku, Finland;2. Center of Excellence in Metapopulation Biology, Dept. of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland;3. School of Science, Faculty of Information and Computer Science, Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland;4. Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, Rostock, Germany;5. Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, Norrköping, Sweden;6. Department of Meteorology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden |
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| Abstract: | Fishing effort has strongly increased in the North Sea since the mid-19th century, causing a substantial reduction in the population size of exploited fish stocks. As fisheries research has developed simultaneously with the industrialisation of the fisheries, our knowledge of population dynamics at low levels of exploitations is limited. Otoliths retrieved from archaeological excavations offer a unique opportunity to study growth rates in the past. This study compares historical and present-day growth rates for four commercially important demersal fish species. A total of 2532 modern otoliths (AD 1984–1999) and 1286 historical otoliths (AD 1200–1925) obtained from archaeological excavations in Belgium and Scotland were analysed. Comparison of the growth patterns between eras revealed a major increase in growth rate of haddock, whereas growth changes were not observed in saithe and only in the smaller size classes of plaice and cod. Comparison of our results with literature data indicates that the observed growth rate changes in plaice and cod occurred within the 20th century. Apparently the onset of industrialised fisheries has not greatly affected the growth of plaice, cod and saithe populations in the North Sea. This result contradicts the expectation of density-dependent limitation of growth during the era of pre-industrialised fishing, but is in agreement with the concentration hypothesis of Beverton (Neth. J. Sea Res. 34 (1995) 1) stating that species which concentrate spatially into nursery grounds during their early life-history may ‘saturate’ the carrying capacity of the juvenile habitat even though the adult part of the population is not limited by the adult habitat. |
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