Exploring Dynamic Variability and Interactions of Marine Fish Populations

Exploring Dynamic Variability and Interactions of Marine Fish Populations

Hui Liu, Jason Link, Mike Fogarty, Caihong Fu, Sarah Gaichas, George Sugihara

We compared the dynamics and underlying interactions of marine fish populations across 11 Large Marine Ecosystems in the northern hemisphere using a nonlinear time-series approach.  The study includes functionally similar fish communities from the Gulf of Alaska, Eastern Bering Sea, and Hecate Strait in the northern Pacific, the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, Eastern Scotian Shelf, Western Scotian Shelf, the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Labrador/Newfoundland in the northwestern Atlantic, and the Barents and Norwegian Seas in the northeastern Atlantic.  With a focus on exploited species across a broad trophic spectrum within each ecosystem, we examined how change in one population was dynamically linked to other species under environmental change and human influence.  Preliminary results show distinct dynamic patterns within ecosystems and across ecosystems, with specific taxa groups of species responding more similarly, both within and across systems, rather than contiguous ecosystems in similar ocean basins responding coherently.  This work suggests potential mechanisms to be explored for better understanding those factors important for implementing ecosystem-based management of marine living resources.