Determining the Effect That Genetics has on Capelin Stock Structure over Many Generations in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Description

Capelin (Mallotus villosus) is a commercially fished, key prey-fish species found in the northern waters of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Based on shape analysis, tag returns, and seasonal distribution patterns, four capelin stocks are assumed to inhabit the northwest Atlantic. However, a previous study has suggested that groupings are somewhat different than the current stock structure used for fisheries management and indicate that some changes in management practices in the Canadian northwest Atlantic may be required.

A total of 1,234 individual capelin tissue samples were collected across 2 well-known beach spawning locations in the north-west Atlantic at or near spawning time over the period 2002 through 2008 and each animal was aged to establish its date of birth or year class. This sampling method was not previously employed for capelin and it allowed researchers to study genetic changes over time. While significant genetic differences related to adaptations to different environments (geographic separation) was identified, accounting for 17% of the variability in the data, a generational effect was also detected in the data which researchers expect to be larger than the geographical effect based on preliminary analyses. This study will focus on two locations (Bellevue Beach and Little Lawn, NL), by re-analysing data, in order to identify genetic generational effects of this critical forage species.

Scientific title for this project:

Discriminating Capelin Populations in the Northwest Atlantic: Generational Effects

Program Name

Genomics Research and Development Initiative (GRDI)

Year(s)

2014 - 2017

Principal Investigator(s)

Ellen Kenchington
lead

Lorraine Hamilton

Brian Nakashima

Fran Mowbray
Fisheries and Oceans Canada