JPR Advance Access originally published online on April 29, 2005
Journal of Plankton Research 2005 27(6):597-602; doi:10.1093/plankt/fbi019
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SHORT COMMUNICATION |
An exceptional haddock year class and unusual environmental conditions on the Scotian Shelf in 1999
Ocean Sciences Division, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B2Y 4A2, Canada
* Corresponding Author: heade{at}mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Received October 18, 2004; accepted in principle March 14, 2005; accepted for publication April 5, 2005; published online April 29, 2005
Communicating editor: K.J. Flynn
The number of settled year-0 haddock on the eastern Scotian Shelf (ESS) in July 1999 was the highest seen since record keeping began in 1970. The average length indicated that most had hatched in late February, well before the historical peak spawning period. In the data record above average year-0 abundance leads to good recruitment, suggesting that early spawning incurs survivability advantages. Conditions may have been particularly favourable for haddock recruitment in 1999: (i) because an unusually large number of adults spawned early and (ii) because the earliest larval stages encountered an unusually plentiful supply of food, since the spring bloom and Calanus finmarchicus reproduction peaked in late February, 24 weeks earlier than usual.