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ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access originally published online on June 23, 2009
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2009 66(8):1784-1792; doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsp173
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© The Authors: G. D. Melvin, R. L. Stephenson and M. J. Power for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans of the Government of Canada 2009

This article appears in the following ICES Journal of Marine Science issue: Herring: linking biology, ecology, and status of populations in the context of changing environments [View the issue table of contents]

Oscillating reproductive strategies of herring in the western Atlantic in response to changing environmental conditions

Gary D. Melvin, Robert L. Stephenson and Michael J. Power

Fisheries and Oceans, St Andrews Biological Station, 531 Brandy Cove Road, St Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada E5B 2L9

Correspondence to G. D. Melvin: tel: +1 506 529 5874; fax: +1 506 529 5862; e-mail: melving{at}mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca.

Melvin, G. D., Stephenson, R. L., and Power, M. J. 2009. Oscillating reproductive strategies of herring in the western Atlantic in response to changing environmental conditions. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 1784–1792.

Herring are broadly distributed in the western Atlantic, but reproductive activity is restricted to the central portion, from Cape Cod to northern Newfoundland. Spawning extends from early spring to late autumn. Two spawning types are recognized: spring spawners and autumn spawners. At the southern extreme, spawning occurs almost exclusively in autumn, whereas in the north, spring spawners prevail. Mid-range, both strategies are common, with spawning occurring throughout the entire season. We postulate that the temporal intra-stock dominance of spawning type is an adaptive reproductive strategy to changing environmental conditions. A conceptual model is presented to describe how reproductive success can oscillate between spawning strategies. In most years, environmental conditions appear to favour one type or the other, although strong year classes can co-occur when conditions are right. The recent change in environmental conditions, characterized by a general warming trend, favours autumn spawners and is consistent with our model. At the distributional extremes, stocks are restricted to a single spawning strategy, and broad-scale environmental changes can introduce large interannual variability and limit the reproductive and recovery potential of a stock. The dependence of a stock on a single spawning season may result in longer times to recover to target levels.

Keywords: climate change, herring, reproductive strategy, spawning, temperature

Received 3 September 2008; accepted 23 March 2009; advance access publication 23 June 2009.


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R. L. Stephenson, G. D. Melvin, and M. J. Power
Population integrity and connectivity in Northwest Atlantic herring: a review of assumptions and evidence
ICES J. Mar. Sci., September 1, 2009; 66(8): 1733 - 1739.
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