Biology and Ecology of Atlantic Cod - Paperback

by Nataliia Kulatska (Editor), Daniel Howell (Editor), Peter J. Wright (Editor)

Atlantic cod is an important fish species in human history and continues to be a major influence on North Atlantic fisheries management, as stock collapses and recoveries impact coastal communities and shelf sea food webs. This book provides an overview of Atlantic cod biology and ecology, focussing on regional differences in life-history and stock dynamics that affect productivity and the challenges faced by management. By comparing the success of management approaches and the local influence of changing climate and food webs, the book highlights the different pressures facing stocks and identifies knowledge gaps across the species' range.

Author Biography

Dr. Nataliia Kulatska is a researcher at the Department of Aquatic Resources at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden. She has developed a multispecies Gadget model of cod, herring and sprat in the Baltic Sea, to study the effects of both cod and fisheries on herring and sprat including size preferences. Her current projects concentrate on ecosystem analysis, stock assessment and spatial analysis.

Dr. Daniel Howell is a Research Professor at the Institute of Marine Research, Norway. His interests include stock assessment and Management Strategy Evaluations, as well as multispecies modelling and improving the ecological realism in practical management advice. Apart from developing and running fisheries models, he also chairs the main assessment groups giving advice in the Barents Sea and waters around Northern Norway.

Dr. Peter J. Wright, MBE, advises on marine conservation and formerly was a principal scientist at the Scottish Government's Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen and UK representative on the ICES Science Committee. His research into fish reproductive biology, recruitment, population structuring and predator-prey interactions has led to 200 publications including many on Atlantic cod. His research informed changes to cod management, including the recent boundary revision of the North Sea and West of Scotland cod stocks.

Dr. Ingibjörg G. Jónsdóttir is a scientist at the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland. Her current projects include the organisation and execution of annual bottom trawl and northern shrimp surveys as well as conducting research on the ecology of northern shrimp and Atlantic cod in Icelandic waters. The research includes studies on stock structure, tracking migration routes and analysing factors influencing recruitment of Atlantic cod.