Are life histories of Norwegian fjord herring populations of Pacific ancestry similar to those of Atlantic or Pacific herring?

Abstract

Abstract Herring from two unexploited fjord populations, Lake Rossfjord (LRH, n = 100) and Balsfjord (BFH, n = 420) in northern Norway, were sampled in 2014 and 2015. Life history characteristics were analysed and compared to the oceanic Norwegian spring-spawning herring (NSSH), and other Atlantic and Pacific herring stocks. Genetic studies have shown that LRH and BFH are ancestors evolved from Pacific herring that hybridized with Atlantic herring. This study shows that both LRH and BFH mature at a relatively early age, at 2–3 years and ca. 4 years respectively, compared to ca. 5 years for NSSH. The spawning stocks of LRH and BFH consist of small fish and contain relatively few age classes. Both fjord populations have slow growth after sexual maturity; LRH has a very low asymptotic length ( L ∞ = 19.8 cm), while that of BFH is higher ( L ∞ of 28.5 cm); both these values being lower than that of NSSH ( L ∞ of ca. 37 cm). The somatic relative fecundity of LRH is 176.6 oocytes g − 1 , while the somatic relative fecundity of recruit and repeat BFH spawners is 152.4 and 183.1 oocytes g − 1 , respectively. These estimates are lower than those for NSSH and other Atlantic herring fjord populations, but comparable with other Pacific herring. Due to the smaller body sizes of the spawners in the LRH and BFH populations, absolute fecundity is much lower than in NSSH. The gonadosomatic indices of prespawning fish are similar in LRH and BFH, being slightly higher compared to the NSSH, but lower than values reported for Pacific herring. The natural mortality rates of LRH and BFH ( M = 0.64 year − 1 and M = 0.76 year − 1 , respectively) are much higher than in NSSH ( M = 0.15 year − 1 ) and most other Atlantic herring populations, except the Lusterfjord herring. However, these high mortality rates are similar to those of several Pacific herring populations. It is concluded that LRH and BFH show low somatic growth and high natural mortality rate. These life history characteristics differ from those of NSSH, but are similar to some Pacific herring populations adapted to a coastal high-mortality risk environment.