Title: Long-term changes in Baltic herring (<i>Clupea harengus membras</i>) growth in the Gulf of Finland
Abstract: We used the longest available weight-at-age (WAA) time series (from 1950 to 1999) for Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras L.) in the Gulf of Finland to investigate which environmental factors affect Baltic herring growth. The relationships among WAAs, annual weight increments, and growth rates for different herring year classes, water salinity, temperature, zooplankton abundance, and biomass, as well as stock sizes of herring, sprat, and cod, were evaluated. Our results showed that in the Gulf of Finland, herring weight and growth rate correlated positively with salinity, and WAA correlated positively with the abundance of the marine zooplankton species Pseudocalanus minutus elongatus. A density-dependent mechanism was not likely to explain the changes in herring WAA in the Gulf of Finland, because no significant correlation between herring WAAs and herring abundance could be found. Instead, the zooplankton community structure changed during the research period, which supports the theory of bottom-up controlling mechanism. A strong negative correlation between herring weight and sprat biomass may indicate competition for food between these species.
Publication Year: 2004
Publication Date: 2004-02-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 78
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