Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Total lipid energy as a proxy for total egg production by fish stocks

Nature volume 402, pages 288–290 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

The indeterminate relationship between the total biomass of mature fish (spawner biomass) and the number of offspring produced (recruitment) has puzzled population dynamicists1 and impeded fisheries management2. The relationship assumes that spawner biomass (in tonnes) is proportional to the total number of eggs produced (TEP) by the stock3, an assumption under increasing challenge4,5,6,7,8. Most stocks require proxies for TEP because contemporary and/or historical fecundity data are lacking. Here we show a positive association between recruitment and the liver weights of spawners in the Barents Sea cod stock which suggests that recruitment is constrained by the amount of lipid energy stored in the liver. This stimulated our interest in estimating total lipid energy (TLE; in kilojoules) for mature females in the stock. We examined the suitability of TLE as a proxy through correlation and simulation analyses. The results indicate that TLE is proportional to TEP and exhibits a similar response to varying food abundance. Replacing spawner biomass with more accurate measures of reproductive potential is essential to developing a rational basis for stock conservation9. Correctly specifying the first-order maternal effect on TEP is a prerequisite to detecting environmental and ecological effects on recruitment10.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Empirical relationship between recruitment to age three years18 and the mean liver condition index estimated for a single spawning year (defined as the mean of monthly values recorded for July the preceding year through to June of the spawning year).
Figure 2: Simulated relationship between mean values of the three output variables expressed relative to the value at the minimum capelin biomass.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Rothschild,B. J. Dynamics of Marine Fish Populations (Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1986).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Hilborn,R. & Walters,C. J. Quantitative Fisheries Stock Assessment: Choice, Dynamics and Uncertainty (Chapman and Hall, New York, 1992).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  3. Beverton,R. J. H. & Holt,S. J. On the Dynamics of Exploited Fish Populations (Fish. Invest. Ministry of Agriculture Fish. Food Ser. II, Salmon Freshwater Fisheries, London, 1957).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Trippel,E. A., Kjesbu,O. S. & Solemdal,P. in Early Life History and Recruitment in Fish Populations (eds Chambers, R. C. & Trippel, E. A.) 31–62 (Chapman and Hall, London, 1997).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  5. Marteinsdottir,G. & Thorarinsson,K. Improving the stock–recruitment relationship in Icelandic cod (Gadus morhua L.) by including age diversity of spawners. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 55, 1372–1377 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Marshall,C. T., Kjesbu,O. S., Yaragina,N. A., Solemdal,P. & Ulltang,Ø. Is spawner biomass a sensitive measure of the reproductive and recruitment potential of Northeast Arctic cod? Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 55, 1766–1783 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Lowerre-Barbieri,S. K., Lowerre,J. M. & Barbieri,L. R. Multiple spawning and the dynamics of fish populations: inferences from an individual-based simulation model. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 55, 2244–2254 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Marshall,C. T. & Frank,K. T. The effect of interannual variation in growth and condition on haddock recruitment. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 56, 347–355 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Painting,S. J. et al. Environmental and biological monitoring for forecasting anchovy recruitment in the southern Benguela upwelling region. Fisheries Oceanography 7, 364–374 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Jarre-Teichmann,A. et al. Stock-recruitment relationships for cod (Gadus morhua callerias L.) in the central Baltic Sea incorporating environmental variability. ICES J. Mar. Sci. (in the press).

  11. Lambert,Y. & Dutil,J.-D. Condition and energy reserves of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) during the collapse of the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence stock. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 54, 2388–2400 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Lambert,Y. & Dutil,J.-D. Can simple condition indices be used to monitor and quantify seasonal changes in the energy reserves of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua)? Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 54 (Suppl. 1), 104–112 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Yaragina,N. A. & Marshall,C. T. Trophic influences on seasonal and interannual variation in the liver condition index of Northeast Arctic cod (Gadus morhua). ICES J. Mar. Sci. (in the press).

  14. Henderson,B. A., Wong,J. L. & Nepszy,S. J. Reproduction of walleye in Lake Erie: allocation of energy. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 53, 127–133 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Henderson,B. A. & Wong,J. L. Control of lake trout reproduction: role of lipids. J. Fish Biol. 52, 1078–1082 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Adams,S. M. in Lipids in Freshwater Ecosystems (eds Arts, M. T. & Wainman, B. C.) 132–160 (Springer, New York, 1999).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  17. Boyd,A. J., Shannon,L. J., Schülein,F. H. & Taunton-Clark,J. in Global versus Local Changes in Upwelling Systems (eds Durand, M.-H. et al.) 195–209 (Éditions de l'Orstom, Paris, 1998).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Report of the Arctic Fisheries Working Group ICES CM 1999/ACFM:3 (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, Copenhagen, 1999).

  19. Gjøsæter,H. The population biology and exploitation of capelin (Mallotus villosus) in the Barents Sea. Sarsia 83, 453–496 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Huggett,J. A., Boyd,A. J., Hutchings,L. & Kemp,A. D. Weekly variability of clupeoid eggs and larvae in the Benguela jet current: implications for recruitment. S. Afr. J. Mar. Sci. 19, 197–210 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Mukhina,N. V. The use of Russian ichthyoplankton survey data in the forecasting of recruitment to Arcto-Norwegian cod stock. ICES CM 1999/Y:15 (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, Copenhagen, 1999).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Sargent,J. R., Bell,J. G., Bell,M. V., Henderson,R. J. & Tocher,D. R. Requirement criteria for essential fatty acids. J. Appl. Ichthyol. 11, 183–198 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Pickova,J., Dutta,P. C., Larsson,P.-O. & Kiessling,A. Early embryonic cleavage pattern, hatching success, and egg-lipid fatty acid composition: comparison between two cod (Gadus morhua) stocks. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 54, 2410–2416 (1997).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Bell,M. V. & Sargent,J. R. Lipid nutrition and fish recruitment. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 134, 315–316 (1996).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. Lawson,J. W., Magalhães,A. M. & Miller,E. H. Important prey species of marine vertebrate predators in the northwest Atlantic: proximate composition and energy density. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 164, 13–20 (1998).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. Olsen,Y. in Lipids in Freshwater Ecosystems (eds Arts, M. T. & Wainman, B. C.) 161–202 (Springer, New York, 1999).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  27. Frisch,R. E. Fatness and fertility. Sci. Am. 258, 88–95 (1988).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Boersma,M. & Vijverberg,J. Resource depression in Daphnia galeata, Daphnia cucullata and their interspecific hybrid: life history consequences. J. Plankton Res. 16, 1741–1758 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Kjesbu,O. S., Witthames,O. R., Solemdal,P. & Greer Walker,M. Temporal variations in the fecundity of Arcto-Norwegian cod (Gadus morhua) in response to natural changes in food and temperature. J. Sea Res. 40, 303–321 (1998).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the staff at the Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography who maintained the liver condition database. This work was supported by the Norwegian Research Council (CTM), the Norwegian Foreign Department (NAY), the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (YL) and the European Union (OSK).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine Research, PO Box 1870 Nordnes, Bergen, N-5817, Norway

    C. Tara Marshall & Olav S. Kjesbu

  2. Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography, 6 Knipovich Street, Murmansk, 183763, Russia

    Nathalia A. Yaragina

  3. Ministère des Pêches et des Océans, Institut Maurice-Lamontagne, C.P. 1000, Mont-Joli, G5H 3Z4, Canada

    Yvan Lambert

Authors
  1. C. Tara Marshall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nathalia A. Yaragina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yvan Lambert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Olav S. Kjesbu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to C. Tara Marshall.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Marshall, C., Yaragina, N., Lambert, Y. et al. Total lipid energy as a proxy for total egg production by fish stocks. Nature 402, 288–290 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/46272

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/46272

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing