Life-history evolution and elevated natural mortality in a population of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua).

ABSTRACT: Fisheries-induced evolution has been hypothesized to delay the recovery of collapsed fish stocks through effects on their productivity. The cod stock in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (SGSL) collapsed in the early 1990s and has shown no recovery since then, due mainly to high natural mortality of adult cod. Age and size at maturation of SGSL cod decreased sharply over time in cohorts produced in the 1950s and 1960s, likely reflecting an evolutionary response to intensified fishing, and have remained low since then, despite severe reductions in fishing mortality over the past 15 years. A predicted consequence of early maturation is increased natural mortality due to higher costs to reproduction. Early maturation may be a cause of increases in natural mortality of SGSL cod in the 1970s bu

SUBMITTER: Swain DP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3352523 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature