Work

Occurrence of Arctic Cod (Boreogadus Saida) Schools and Their Vulnerability to Predation in the Canadian High Arctic

Year: 1993

Type: article

Abstract: We document the occurrence of large schools of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) in the Barrow Strait region of the eastern Canadian Arctic during the open water season. Schools were most frequently observed near shore, often in depressions inside bays. Schools ranged up to 130 000 sq m surface area and contained on the order of 4 x 10**8 fish, weighing 12 000 tonnes. Evidence indicates that schools form before the arrival of predators, but when they occur in shallow water, they are often subjected to intense predation by thousands of seabirds and marine mammals, primarily black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla), northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis), harp seals (Phoca groenlandicus), beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) and narwhal (Monodon monoceros). The reasons for such schooling behaviour are unknown.

Source: ARCTIC

DOI: 10.14430/arctic1361

Authors: Harold E. Welch, Richard E. Crawford, Haakon Hop

Institutions: Fisheries and Oceans Canada, University of Alberta, Government of Canada, National Estuarine Research Reserve Association

Language: English

Topic: Marine and fisheries research

Subfield: Global and Planetary Change

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Life below water

Open Access status: bronze

OpenAlex ID: W2118024454

FWCI: 3.034

Cites: 17

Cited by: 136

Related to: 10