Publication Abstract

Climatic influences on the spawning success growth and recruitment of bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, in British waters

M.G. Pawson

Sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) around Britain are near the northern limit of the species' geographical range, and climate changes have been implicated in historic fluctuations in year-class abundance. There is a major spawning and nursery area along the English coast of the central English Channel, where seasonal inshore water temperatures have undergone a cycle of warming, cooling, and warming again during the 1980s. This pattern is reflected in the abundance indices of juvenile bass, and their growth rate has also been positively related to temperature. It appears that the climate has had a strong influence on the recruitment of juvenile bass to the fishery in the English Channel, and that survival and growth are more dependent on temperature than on population density.

Reference:

M.G. Pawson, 1992. Climatic influences on the spawning success growth and recruitment of bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, in British waters. ICES Marine Science Symposium, 195: 388-392.