Tidal location of atlantic cod in icelandic waters and identification of vertical and horizontal movement patterns in cod behavior

Abstract

The Atlantic cod is one of the most important commercial species known. The behavior of this species, important for fisheries, research, and stock assessment, is in many ways masked by extensive horizontal and vertical dispersion in its habitat. A tidal location model has been developed to predict location and movement of adult cod in Icelandic waters from signals from data storage tags. The time series were prepared for T-pattern analysis, including detection and delimitation of tidal influence in the data and event basing raw data according to predefined events. A high number of temporal patterns were detected, patterns of repeated vertical and horizontal movements and speed and acceleration changes. Number of specific temporal patterns was also identified across vertical and horizontal movements of individual cod.