Climatic influences on the survival of southern gemfish (Rexea solandri, Gempylidae) in New Zealand waters
✍ Scribed by Renwick, James A.; Hurst, Rosemary J.; Kidson, John W.
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 212 KB
- Volume
- 18
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0899-8418
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✦ Synopsis
Catches of the southern stock of New Zealand gemfish, Rexea solandri, reached a peak of nearly 7000 tonnes in 1985-1986 but have since declined dramatically to only 130 tonnes in 1995 -1996. Analysis of commercial and research data over the last 15 years suggests that the fish stock has undergone a major decline in abundance in New Zealand waters and that there have been large interannual fluctuations in the numbers of young fish recruiting into the commercial fishery. Such fluctuations appear to be strongly related to the frequency of occurrence of southwesterly wind flow over New Zealand and to sea surface temperature variations during the winter spawning period. Spawning success is reduced when local sea surface temperatures are lower than normal, and there is a higher than normal frequency of southwesterly flow patterns. A causal relationship has not been established, but a number of possible mechanisms capable of accounting for the statistical results, are discussed.