The use of historical catch data to trace the influence of climate on fish populations: examples from the White and Barents Sea fisheries in the 17th and 18th centuries

Abstract

We analysed catch records of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), cod (Gadus morhua), and halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus and Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) from the 17th and 18th centuries from several locations of the Barents and White Seas areas. Historical records, found in Russian archives, allow analysis of long-term series of catches, and sometimes of the average weight of the fish. In total, we obtained data on catches of salmon for 51 years (for the period from 1615 to 1772) and of cod and halibut for 33 years (for the period from 1710 to 1793). These data are comparable with respect to fishing effort within the series. The data on Atlantic salmon are also comparable with statistical data for the period 1875–1915. We found notable fluctuations in catches and sometimes in the average weight of salmon. There was also fluctuation in catches of cod and halibut. Both observational comparison of catch series and temperature data and formal statistical analysis showed that catches tended to decrease during relatively colder periods.

Historical trends in the incidence of strandings of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) on North Sea coasts: An association with positive temperature anomalies

“…Historical catch records are available for some exploited fish, e.g. catches of salmon and other species in the 17th and 18th centuries (Lajus et al, 2005), while the historical abundance of penguins and seals in the Antarctic has been inferred from the isotopic signatures of their excreta in marine sediments (Sun et al, 2005). The North Sea strandings records for sperm whales represent the longest time series available for any cetacean.…”

Atlantic salmon fisheries in the White and Barents Sea basins: Dynamic of catches in the 17–18th Century and comparison with 19–20th Century data

“…In addition to extremely high weights of salmon, 1763 is characterized by very low catches, less than 1000 fish, although normally catches were around tens of thousands. The catches decreased in several locations in the same year (Lajus et al, 2005).…”

“…This factor probably is especially important in the Russian North where winter lasts for several months. Climate effects on Atlantic salmon from Russia were discussed by Lajus et al (2005) where we described a decrease in catches in colder periods considering either qualitative association with historical records for the Russian North or statistical relationship with available temperature curves.…”

“…. A recently published study on the base of generalized data traced the influence of climate on several fish species, including Atlantic salmon (Lajus et al, 2005). In the present paper, we describe the methodology of using historical catch records for analysis of population dynamics, report quantitative data for salmon catches from four locations in the basins of the White and Barents Seas, and compare these data with catch statistics from the end of 19th Century to beginning of the 20th Century.…”

Herring fisheries in the White Sea in the 18th–beginning of the 20th Centuries: Spatial and temporal patterns and factors affecting the catch fluctuations

“…Thus, according to the exponential model, the human population increased 3.03 times during a period 1781-1915. To analyse possible climate effects, the data of the White Sea herring catches for period 1781-1927 (n = 70) were compared with three temperature time-series and catch time-series for herring and cod from Norway, described in our earlier study, using the same statistical technique (Lajus et al, 2005).…”