The Population Biology of Blue Whiting in the North Atlantic

Overlap in distribution and diets of Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus), Norwegian spring-spawning herring (Clupea harengus) and blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) in the Norwegian Sea during late summer

“…Blue whiting, on the other hand, performs pronounced vertical migrations with normally deep distribution during daytime (Bailey 1982), and is expected to be partly unavailable to the surface trawl. Also, herring migrate vertically during summer and could have been unavailable to the surface trawl, but likely to a much less degree than blue whiting Nøttestad et al 2007).…”

“…Blue whiting are normally found in the same areas of the Norwegian Sea as herring and the distribution can also extend to the west of Iceland (Zilanov 1968). Mackerel and herring are typically distributed in the upper water column throughout the day to feed (Godø et al 2004;Prokopchuk & Sentyabov 2006), while blue whiting have more of a mesopelagic distribution down to 300Á500 m, with vertical migrations to shallow waters during night-time (Bailey 1982;Bjelland & Monstad 1997;Prokopchuk & Sentyabov 2006).…”

“…also make up a significant bulk of the total zooplankton biomass in the Norwegian Sea (Dalpadado 2002;Melle et al 2004). These groups of larger zooplankton are also among the preferred prey of mackerel, herring and blue whiting, and have in particular been reported to be a main prey of blue whiting (Bailey 1982;Bjelland & Monstad 1997). Recent years have seen some of the highest biomass of pelagic fish feeding in the Norwegian Sea area on record (Anon.…”

The rise and fall of the NE Atlantic blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou)

“…Blue whiting spawn and spend the larval stage and part of the juvenile stage in the waters west of the British Isles, both along the continental shelf and on and around the Rockall Plateau and Rockall Trough (Bailey, 1982;Hatún et al, 2009a) (Figure 1). The marine climate (temperature, salinity, currents) in this region is highly variable (Holliday 2003) and provides the background against which changes in the recruitment dynamics have occurred.…”

“…and Oithona spp. and vice versa when the gyre is strong (Hátún et al (2009b): these species are among the most important larval prey items for blue whiting (Bailey, 1982). Furthermore, an increasing mean water temperature in the feeding area shifted the southern distribution edge of C. finmarchicus, an important prey item for 0-and 1-group blue whiting, northwards (ICES 2008).…”