Changes and trends in the demersal fish community of the Flemish Cap, Northwest Atlantic, in the period 19882008

Abstract

The Flemish Cap fish community (NAFO Division 3M) has been fished since the 1950s, and major changes in the biomass and abundance of its most important commercial species have been reported since the late 1980s. Variations in oceanographic conditions at the Cap, with alternating periods of cold and warm weather, have also been described. This work examines the existence of common trends in the biomass levels of the main demersal species over time using dynamic factor analysis, and the occurrence of "occasional species" was explored in relation to temperature conditions. Overall, there have been significant changes in community structure involving both commercial and non-commercial species. Common trends among species were identified and overall fishing pressure, environmental conditions (represented by a moving average of the North Atlantic Oscillation, NAO), and predation pressure (represented by the abundance of piscivorous fish) emerged as important drivers of the temporal dynamics. The NAO influence in the dynamics of most species was in agreement with their temperature preference. For occasional species, their pattern of occurrence appears also to be linked to changes in temperature regimes. © 2012 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.