Pelagic fish stocks and their response to fisheries and environmental variation in the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem | Pelagic fish in the CCLME | Oceanographic and biological features in the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem.
2015
Braham, Cheikh-Baye | Corten, Ad | Valdés, L. | Déniz-González, I.
Pelagic fish stocks are the most important fish stocks in terms of biomass and catches in the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem. The small pelagic stocks include species with an affinity for temperate waters (sardine, chub mackerel and Atlantic horse mackerel) and species that prefer tropical waters (sardinella and Cunene horse mackerel). Hence, the distribution of the various stocks is strongly determined by the seasonal displacement of the tropical front. As small pelagic fish feed primarily on plankton, changes in primary production may affect the abundance of the stocks. The waters of the Canary Current have shown a drop in primary production over the past three decades, which may be related to the observed increase in water temperature. However, the drop in primary production is not yet reflected by the pelagic fish catches. On the other hand, changes in the abundance and distribution of sardine and sardinella are probably the effect of climatic change. Present management of small pelagics is hampered by a lack of scientific data. Because these stocks are very important to the human population of the region, good quality data should be collected in order to improve the assessments.
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