Mion, Monica
- Department of Aquatic Resources (SLU Aqua), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Research article2022Peer reviewedOpen access
Mion, Monica; Griffiths, Christopher A.; Bartolino, Valerio; Haase, Stefanie; Hilvarsson, Annelie; Hussy, Karin; Kruger-Johnsen, Maria; Krumme, Uwe; Lundgreen, Regitze Benedicte Carlstedt; Lovgren, Johan; McQueen, Kate; Plikshs, Maris; Radtke, Krzysztof; Raitaniemi, Jari; Casini, Michele
Knowledge of the movement patterns and area utilisation of commercially important fish stocks is critical to management. The Eastern Baltic cod Gadus morhua, one of the most commercially and ecologically important stocks in the Baltic Sea, is currently one of the most severely impacted fish stocks in Europe. During the last 2 decades, this stock has experienced drastic decreases in population size, distributional range, individual growth and body condition, all of which may have affected the movements between different areas of the Baltic Sea. In this study, we investigated the seasonal movement patterns of Eastern Baltic cod by re-analysing historical tagging data collected by the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea (1955-1988) and compared historical patterns with contemporary data from a recent international tagging experiment (2016-2019). Our re-analyses of historical data showed the presence of different movement behaviours, i.e. resident or seasonally migratory, with larger distances moved by cod released in the northern and central Baltic areas compared to cod released in the southern Baltic areas. Furthermore, trends from the recent tagging experiment indicate a persistent resident strategy in the southern Baltic area. These findings present additional information on general movement patterns and area utilisation of Eastern Baltic cod that could inform future management actions and aid stock recovery.
Baltic Sea; Gadus morhua; Fish movement; Mark-recapture; Historical data; Home range; Kernel density estimation; Generalized additive model
Marine Ecology Progress Series
2022, Volume: 689, pages: 109-126 Publisher: INTER-RESEARCH
Fish and Aquacultural Science
Fish and Wildlife Management
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14047
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/118044