Variation in abundance of Norwegian spring‐spawning herring (Clupea harengus, Clupeidae) throughout the 20th century and the influence of climatic fluctuations

Abstract

A long‐term (1907–98) virtual population analysis (VPA) was made for Norwegian spring‐spawning herring (NSSH), which is a huge pelagic fish stock in the north‐east Atlantic. It shows that this herring stock has had large fluctuations during the last century; these fluctuations have mainly been determined by variations in the temperature of the inflowing water masses to the region. The spawning stock biomass (SSB) increased from a rather low level in the early years of this century and reached a high level of around 14 million tons by 1930. The spawning stock biomass then decreased to a level of around 10 million tons by 1940, but increased again to a record high level of 16 million tons by 1945. The stock then started to decrease and during the next 20‐year period fell to a level of less than 50 000 tons by the late 1960s. Through the 1970s and 1980s, the stock slowly recovered and after the recruitment of strong year classes in 1983 and 1990–1992 the stock recovered to a spawning stock biomass of about 10 million tons. The long‐term fluctuation in spawning stock biomass is caused by variations in the survival of recruits. It is found that the long‐term changes in spawning stock abundance are highly correlated with the long‐term variations in the mean annual temperature of the inflowing Atlantic water masses (through the Kola section) into the north‐east Atlantic region. The recruitment is positively correlated with the average temperature in the Kola section in the winter months, January–April, which indicates that environmental factors govern the large‐scale fluctuations in production for this herring stock.