Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-rwnhh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-16T21:41:57.117Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Movements of Atlantic Cod (Gadus Morhua) Within the Spring Thermocline in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

J.S. Wroblewski ,
Sally V. Goddard ,
R. Kent Smedbol  and
Wade L. Bailey
J.S. Wroblewski
Affiliation:
Fisheries Oceanography Group St John's, Newfoundland, A1B 3X7, Canada
Sally V. Goddard
Affiliation:
Ocean Sciences Centre, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, Newfoundland, A1B 3X7, Canada
R. Kent Smedbol
Affiliation:
Fisheries Oceanography Group St John's, Newfoundland, A1B 3X7, Canada
Wade L. Bailey
Affiliation:
Fisheries Oceanography Group St John's, Newfoundland, A1B 3X7, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Using depth-telemetering, sonic tags orally inserted into the stomachs of Gadus morhua (Pisces: Gadiformes) found over-wintering in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, the movements of individual fish were observed as surface waters warmed in early spring. Physiological measurements (antifreeze protein levels in the blood) indicate that many cold-adapted, bay cod change their thermal regime at this time. Fish acclimatized to subzero water temperatures enter the newly-formed thermocline and become available to a cod trap fishery. Most sonically-tagged fish resided in 0–1°C waters along the shoreline. Tracking data confirmed indications from declining antifreeze protein levels that cold-adapted cod, having moved into shallow waters in early spring, do not return to deeper, subzero-temperature waters for any appreciable time. At night some cod swam pelagically near the surface. Fish moved at times in the same direction as the tidal current, but ground speeds were several times greater than current velocities. Nocturnal pelagic swimming was also observed during the summer when temperatures within the thermocline exceeded 10°C.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 75 , Issue 2 , May 1995 , pp. 265 - 284
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anonymous, 1992. Canadian tide and current tables, 1992, vol. 1. Atlantic coast and Bay of Fundy. Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans Publication, 45 pp.Google Scholar
Arnold, G.P. & Greer Walker, M., 1992. Vertical movements of cod (Gadus morhua L.) in the open sea and the hydrostatic function of the swim bladder. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 49, 357–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnold, G.P., Greer Walker, M., Emerson, L.S. & Holford, B.H., 1994. Movements of cod (Gadus morhua L.) in relation to the tidal streams in the southern North Sea. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 51, 207–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, X., 1993. Spatial and temporal patterns of landing variation in the Newfoundland northern cod inshore fishery. MSc thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada.Google Scholar
Clark, D.S. & Green, J.M., 1990. Activity and movement patterns of juvenile Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, in Conception Bay, Newfoundland, as determined by sonic telemetry. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 68, 1434–1442.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collins, J.W., 1881. Gill-nets in the cod-fishery: a description of the Norwegian cod-nets, with directions for their use, and a history of their introduction into the United States. Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, 1, 1–17.Google Scholar
Fletcher, G.L., King, M.J. & Kao, M.H., 1987. Low temperature regulation of antifreeze glycopep-tide levels in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 65, 227–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goddard, S.V., Kao, M.H. & Fletcher, G.L., 1992. Antifreeze production, freeze resistance, and overwintering of juvenile northern Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 49, 516–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goddard, S.V., Wroblewski, J.S., Taggart, C., Howse, K.A., Bailey, W.L., Kao, M.H. & Fletcher, G.L., 1994. Overwintering of adult northern Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in cold inshore waters as evidenced by plasma antifreeze glycoprotein levels. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 51, in press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goode, G.B. & Collins, J.W., 1887. The cod, haddock and hake fisheries. In The fisheries and fishery industries of the United States. Section V. History and methods of the fisheries (ed. G.B., Goode), pp. 123–243. Washington: US Commission of Fish and Fisheries, Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Hawkins, A.D., Maclennan, D.N., Urquhart, G.G. & Robb, C., 1974. Tracking cod Gadus morhua L. in a Scottish sea loch. Journal of Fish Biology, 6, 225–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
He, P., 1991. Swimming endurance of the Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua L., at low temperatures. Fisheries Research, 12, 65–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutchings, J. A., Myers, R. A. & Lilly, G.R., 1993. Geographic variation in the spawning of Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, in the northwest Atlantic. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 50, 2457–2467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lear, W.H., 1984. Discrimination of the stock complex of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) off southern Labrador and eastern Newfoundland, as inferred from tagging studies. Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science, 5, 143–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lear, W.H. & Green, J.M., 1984. Migration of the ‘northern’ Atlantic cod and the mechanisms involved. In Mechanisms of migration in fishes (ed. J.D., McCleave et al.), pp. 309–315. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lear, W.H. & Parsons, L.S., 1993. History and management of the fishery for northern cod in NAFO Divisions 2J, 3K, and 3L. In Perspectives on Canadian marine fisheries management (ed. L.S., Parsons and W.H., Lear), pp. 55–89. Ottawa: National Research Council of Canada. [Canadian Bulletin of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, no. 226.]Google Scholar
Lucas, M.C. & Johnstone, A.D.F., 1990. Observations on the retention of intragastric transmitters, and their effects on food consumption, in cod, Gadus morhua L. Journal of Fish Biology, 37, 647–649.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearcy, W.G., 1992. Movements of acoustically-tagged yellowtail rockfish Sebastes flavidus on Heceta Bank, Oregon. Fishery Bulletin, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Washington, DC, 90, 726–735.Google Scholar
Petrie, B., Akenhead, S., Lazier, J. & Loder, J., 1988. The cold intermediate layer on the Labrador and northeast Newfoundland shelves, 1978–86. NAFO Scientific Council Studies, 12, 57–69.Google Scholar
Rose, G.A., 1993. Cod spawning on a migration highway in the north-west Atlantic. Nature, London, 366, 458–461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, G.A. & Leggett, W.C., 1988. Atmosphere-ocean coupling and Atlantic cod migrations: effects of wind-forced variations in sea temperatures and currents on nearshore distributions and catch rates of Gadus morhua. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 45, 1234–1243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, W.B. & Scott, M.G., 1988. Atlantic fishes of Canada. University of Toronto Press. [Canadian Bulletin of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, no. 219.]Google Scholar
Templeman, W., 1966. Marine resources of Newfoundland. Bulletin. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, no. 154, pp. 1–170.Google Scholar
Templeman, W. & Fleming, A.M., 1956. The Bonavista longlining experiment, 1950–1953. Bulletin. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, no. 109, pp. 1–55.Google Scholar
Templeman, W. & Fleming, A.M., 1963. Longlining experiments for cod off the east coast of Newfoundland and southern Labrador, 1950–1955. Bulletin. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, no. 141, pp. 1–65.Google Scholar
Templeman, W. & Fleming, A.M., 1965. Cod and low temperature in St Mary's Bay, Newfound-land. ICNAF Special Publication, no. 6(A-4), pp. 131–135.Google Scholar
Templeman, W. & May, A.W., 1965. Research vessel catches of cod in the Hamilton Inlet Bank area in relation to depth and temperature. ICNAF Special Publication, no. 6, pp. 149–165.Google Scholar
Wroblewski, J.S., Collier, A. & Bailey, W., 1993. Ocean temperatures in the Random Island region of Trinity Bay, 1991–1992. Data Report no. 1. The NSERC/Fishery Products International/ National Sea Products Chair in Fisheries Oceanography, Memorial University of Newfound-land, St John's, Newfoundland, 48 pp.Google Scholar
Wroblewski, J.S., Bailey, W.L. & Howse, K.A., 1994. Observations of adult Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) overwintering in nearshore waters of Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 51, 142–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar