Herring fisheries in the White Sea in the 18th-beginning of the 20th centuries: spatial and temporal patterns and factors affecting the catch fluctuations
Lajus, D.L.; Alekseeva, Y.I.; Lajus, J.A. (2007). Herring fisheries in the White Sea in the 18th-beginning of the 20th centuries: spatial and temporal patterns and factors affecting the catch fluctuations. Fish. Res. 87(2-3): 255-259. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2007.06.018
Ojaveer, H.; MacKenzie, B.R. (Ed.) (2007). History of marine animal populations and their exploitation in northern Europe. Fisheries Research, 87(2-3). Elsevier: Amsterdam. 100-261 pp., more
The paper describes the history of herring fisheries in the White Sea, analyses main trends in catches, and discusses factors, which effect herring catches from the end of the 17th Century up to 1930s. First records on the herring fisheries in the White Sea dated from the 16th Century, and by the 18th Century this fishery had become as economically important as the Atlantic salmon and cod fisheries. However, we found that significant spring herring fisheries in Kandalaksha Bay developed only in beginning of the 19th Century. Herring catches showed considerable short-term fluctuations. Assumed reasons for these were biological and physical factors. Among biological factors are fluctuations in size of herring populations, migration of herring schools which make herring available or unavailable for inshore fisheries. And among physical ones are meteorological influences such as wind forces and waves, ice conditions, air temperature, and social pressures, such as market demands and availability of salt and barrels. Accounting for these factors allows for better analysis of long-term trends. Currently our analyses of long-term trends revealed (i) positive relationship between catch size and human population in the area, likely reflecting an increase of fishing effort, and (ii) no relationship between catches and temperature in Western Europe. The latter can be explained by specific climate variation in the White Sea area and high short-term variability of catches.
All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy
