Revisiting Newfoundland Capelin (Mallotus villosus) Recruitment: Is There a Wind Effect?

Abstract

Previous studies, which have indicated the existence of links between the recruitment of eastern Newfoundland capelin (Mallotus villosus) and wind driven water mass replacement in the coastal zone, were reconsidered from an oceanographer’s point of view. It has been assumed that a simple wind index can be usefully employed in predicting capelin recruitment, based on the observation that larval survival requires the presence of favourable coastal water masses whose occurrence is controlled by the wind. It is shown here that a single wind index is unlikely to be suitable for these studies, since the response of water masses to the wind shows great spatial complexity and since coastal temperature records at sites separated by fairly small distances may not be coherent.