Development and drift of northern shrimp larvae ( Pandalus borealis ) at West Greenland

Abstract

This is the first study of the West Greenland offshore population of Pandalus borealis in recent history that covers all larval stages. Shrimp larvae were sampled on the fishing banks off the west coast of Greenland from 63.5°N to 67°N in May, June and July. Abundances decreased during the summer as did cumulated mortality rates [0.06 day−1 (ZI) to 0.04 day−1 (ZVI)]. Modelling stage development time as a function of temperature alone by means of the Bělehradek function \( {[D = a(T + b)^{c} ]} \) gave decreasing stage durations from 22.7 to 16.7 days. Drift buoys showed a northbound current with an average velocity of 0.06 m s−1. Potential spawning grounds of shrimp larvae were located from back-calculation by coupling development times and mortality rates with current velocity. This showed larval transport of up to 500 km. The adult female shrimp abundances were estimated to 0.12–96 females per 100 m2, and locations of the estimated spawning stock agreed with observations from trawl surveys.