Spawner weight and ocean temperature drive Allee effect  dynamics in Atlantic cod, <i>Gadus morhua</i>:  inherent and emergent density regulation

Winter, Anna-Marie; Vasilyeva, Nadezda; Vladimirov, Artem

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3683-2023

Articles | Volume 20, issue 17

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3683-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3683-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 17

Research article

|

13 Sep 2023

Research article |

| 13 Sep 2023

Spawner weight and ocean temperature drive Allee effect dynamics in Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua: inherent and emergent density regulation

Anna-Marie Winter, Nadezda Vasilyeva, and Artem Vladimirov

Data sets

Extended Reconstructed Sea Surface Temperature (ERSST), Version 4 B. Huang, V. F. Banzon, E. Freeman, J. Lawrimore, W. Liu, T. C. Peterson, T. M. Smith, P. W. Thorne, S. D. Woodruff, and H.-M. Zhang https://doi.org/10.7289/V5KD1VVF

Short summary

There is an increasing number of fish in poor state, and many do not recover, even when fishing pressure is ceased. An Allee effect can hinder population recovery because it suppresses the fish's productivity at low abundance. With a model fitted to 17 Atlantic cod stocks, we find that ocean warming and fishing can cause an Allee effect. If present, the Allee effect hinders fish recovery. This shows that Allee effects are dynamic, not uncommon, and calls for precautionary management measures.