Ecosystem Variability in West Greenland Waters

Erik Buch

Danish Meteorological Institute
Lyngbyvej 100, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark

Søren Anker Pedersen

Greenland Institute of Natural Resources and Danish Fisheries Research
Kavalergaarden 6, DK-2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark

Mads Hvid Ribergaard

Danish Meteorological Institute and Greenland Institute of Natural Resources
Lyngbyvej 100, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark

Publication (Upload) date: 24 September 2004

BUCH, E., S. A. PEDERSEN, and M. H. RIBERGAARD. 2004. Ecosystem Variability in West Greenland Waters J. Northw. Atl. Fish. Sci., 34: 13-28. https://doi.org/10.2960/J.v34.m479

Abstract

A review of the climate conditions off West Greenland during the past 50 years shows large variability in the atmospheric, oceanographic and sea-ice variables, as well as in fish stocks. A positive relationship is found between water temperature and the recruitment of cod and redfish, whereas the recruitment of shrimp and halibut is negatively related to temperature. Observed shifts in the hydrographic conditions during the second half of the 1990s indicate that some changes in the environment may be expected in the coming years. Relationships between the past variations in fish resources, hydrographic conditions, and the large-scale climatic conditions, as expressed by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), strongly support the incorporation of environmental variability into prediction models for fish recruitment and therefore into the assessment of the fish resources.

Key words:  biomass, climate, cod, fishery, West Greenland, salinity, shrimp, temperature, variability, NAO

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