Relative importance of population size, fishing pressure and temperature on the spatial distribution of nine Northwest Atlantic groundfish stocks.

ABSTRACT: The spatial distribution of nine Northwest Atlantic groundfish stocks was documented using spatial indicators based on Northeast Fisheries Science Center spring and fall bottom trawl survey data, 1963-2016. We then evaluated the relative importance of population size, fishing pressure and bottom temperature on spatial distribution with an information theoretic approach. Northward movement in the spring was generally consistent with prior analyses, whereas changes in depth distribution and area occupancy were not. Only two stocks exhibited the same changes in spatiotemporal distribution in the fall as compared with the spring. Fishing pressure was the most important predictor of the center of gravity (i.e., bivariate mean location of the population) for the majority of stocks in the spring,

SUBMITTER: Adams CF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5919506 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature