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Analysing historical Herring (Clupea harengus) monitoring data and the search for explanatory abiotic variables
Citable as data publication
Hooyberg, A.; Everaert, G.; Lescrauwaet, A.-K.; Flanders Marine Institute: Belgium; (2023): Analysing historical Herring (Clupea harengus) monitoring data and the search for explanatory abiotic variables. Marine Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.14284/622

Availability: Creative Commons License This dataset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Description
Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) are found in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean and have been one of the most important fish on European markets since the middle ages. One of the main goals of this pilot study was to search for, and elucidate trends in individual fish characteristics during the (short) increase in herring catches in the 1940s (by means of the dataset from Gilson and Gilis). The individual fish characteristics were also linked to AMO and Temperature (T) anomalies data. Secondly, long term trends in the herring fishery data were investigated (by means of the ICES dataset), especially in relation to environmental variables. First, data exploration methods were used to give insights in the data and show possible correlations, after which we used correlation tests and modelling approaches to statistically test these relations. more

As a conclusion, it can be stated that the individual fish characteristics are related to each other, with Age correlated to the vertebrae number and the condition index BMI. BMI, Age and Vertebrae number showed differences over the years, the Vertebrae number also showed seasonal differences. The changes in AMO and T anomalies were correlated with changes in BMI and Landings in the 1940s, while only the T anomalies were correlated with changes in the Vertebrae number. The long term trends in herring landing data showed increases in Landings during the period 1920-1960. The information gathered during this pilot study will be used to give directions to future research conducted at the VLIZ. The entire project will provide essential understandings in the herring fish characteristics, population dynamics and factors influencing them in the Southern Bight of the North Sea. This is of vital importance to the sustainable management (e.g. Marine Strategy) of this important food source, as well as optimizing herring catches to ensure harmony between maintaining healthy fish stocks and sufficient income for the fisherman.

Scope
Themes:
Biology > Fish, Fisheries > Fish stocks/catches/taggings
Keywords:
Marine/Coastal, ANE, North Sea, Clupea harengus Linnaeus, 1758

Geographical coverage
ANE, North Sea [Marine Regions]

Temporal coverage
1 January 1900 - 1 January 1960

Taxonomic coverage
Clupea harengus Linnaeus, 1758 [WoRMS]

Parameters
Fish landings
Salinity
Water temperature

Contributors
Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (VLIZ), moredata creator

Publication
Based on this dataset
Hooyberg, A. (2023). Analysing historical Herring (Clupea harengus) monitoring data and the search for explanatory abiotic variables. Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee: Oostende. 37 pp., more

Dataset status: Completed
Data type: Data
Data origin: Research: field survey
Metadatarecord created: 2023-08-31
Information last updated: 2023-09-08
All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy